Vinyl Days was released to positive reviews from music critics.[4]
Background
The project was first announced and teased on his social media on January 11, 2022. "Decades" and "Tetris" were released as the first two singles of the project on April 22.[5] Logic spoke out on social media about mistreatment by his label, Def Jam, detailing that they had messed up his release plans for the singles and subsequent music video.[6] He then announced the project would be slated for a June 2022 release. The album contains a lot of samples, hence Logic announcing that the project would be released once all the samples clear.[7] On the Pep Talk Podcast prior to the album's release, Logic noted that Vinyl Days was created in a 12-day span and that the creative process was turned into a documentary to accompany the release. The album art can be characterized as a photo of Logic's son, Bobby, sitting on an office chair in the middle of a messy room riddled with various pop culture references. Some of the pop culture references on the album cover include a Back to the Future Part II hoverboard, the same type of drum machine that the revered J Dilla used (MPC 3000), a baby Groot from the film series Guardians of the Galaxy, a poster of Quentin Tarantino's ninth film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a teaser poster for Kill Bill: Volume 3, an MF DOOM poster, Eazy-E's 1988 Eazy-Duz-It album, electric guitars, recording equipment, dozens of vinyl records, and a green road sign which previews the title of his next album College Park which he announced on numerous songs throughout the album such as "LaDonda", "Clouds", "Kickstyle", and "Sayonara".
Release and promotion
Vinyl Days was released on June 17, 2022. Prior to the album's release, he released music videos for Breath Control,[8] Clouds,[9] and Tetris[10] respectively. In an interview with NPR after the album's release, Logic said "I chose Vinyl Days because we actually recorded the entire album in about 12 days, for a wild reason that I'll explain another time".[11]
A verse in the song, "LaDonda", revolving around music critic Anthony Fantano, who had given Logic negative reviews in the past, generated controversy and discussion online due to a portion of the verse in which Logic recounts, “I used to fantasize about murdering you, choking you to death and watching from your point of view ’til we got friendly”.[12] Fantano, not having been alerted of the contents of the verse ahead of time, heard the line for the first time during a livestream, causing him to go on a rant. He stated that the line had made him feel “embarrassed”, further adding, “I feel overemphasized. There never should have been any reason Logic should hate me in the first place. Because I’m just reviewing albums. You’re just one of many guys whose albums I review negatively.”[13]
On July 4th, over two weeks after the release of the album, Logic announced that he had signed to BMG[15] Speaking on signing with BMG, he stated “I’m just glad to move on to a place where I can be independent, and respected as an artist, and feel like I’m in control of my career.”[15]
On July 16, Logic released a documentary that detailed the making of and inspirations for the album.[16]
Vinyl Days received generally positive reviews from music critics. Brady Brickner-Wood from Pitchfork gave a mixed review saying, "Both impressive and tiring, Logic's seventh studio album stuffs 30 tracks' worth of throwback beats and technical rapping into overbearing conceptual frameworks."[18] Tim Hoffman from Riff Magazine also gave a positive review stating, "for what it's worth, it's nice to have an energetic and passionate presence like Logic's return."[19] Riley Wallace from HipHopDX gave another positive review stating, "Conceptually, the sequencing and pace of the LP is stellar; it sounds excellent, the features show up and show out and the skits, though maybe overkill, do help give things a ’90s college radio mixtape feel (complete with Funk Flex as a de facto host and hype man)."[4] David Crone from AllMusic stated that "With an end to producing a smaller, more substantive set of ideas, the Vinyl Days sessions might have produced another five-star effort in Logic’s catalog; though all too brief, these flashes of rap’s golden era are colored in all the right hues. Vinyl Days isn’t the second coming of Young Sinatra, but it may mark the start of a compelling new dawn for the MC."[21]
Commercial performance
Vinyl Days was expected to debut on the Billboard 200 with projected sales of 35,000 to 45,000 units.[22] Vinyl Days debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200 chart. This became Logic's eighth US top 20 debut.
