Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause is the eighth studio album by American recording artist, Jake Tracey, the album was confirmed on July 24, 2014, the album is slated for release on August 4, 2015. This album is Tracey's first album from Def Jam and Interscope Records, after leaving Columbia Records in 2014 to reach to new audiences.

Unlike Tracey's previous albums, Rebel Without a Cause primarily serves as an edgier trip-hop and rock-oriented concept album. The album is considered partially political, satirical, and personal, introducing Tracey as a rebel in character and music. Tracey sings and raps in a majority of his songs as well. This is also the first album of Tracey's to have a Parental Advisory label, although his previous album, Crash Course included explicit lyrics, while his eighth album would be considered more "aggressive" in its explicit lyrics.

The album also features production from many producers, from Legendary, Tropkillaz, Timbaland, Dope and more.

Upon release, Rebel Without a Cause was a commercial success, peaking on the Billboard 200 at #1. The album received universal acclaim, praising Tracey's delivery, the production, and his political themes.

Background and development
Originally, based on Jake Tracey's interview on November 14, 2012, he already confirmed that he would be making another album soon, right after the release of his previous album, Crash Course. On the other hand, Jake Tracey had decided to take another year break from music in order to work on reviving his acting career with a new film called Me and My Rock Star Brother, which he began filming in 2013 and was released on March 14, 2014.

During this time, Jake Tracey was almost sued by his former label, Columbia Records, as well as his former producers as they believe that he stole the songs they created for him and did not give them any credit based on his previous albums, Point of No Return and Crash Course. Tracey rested his case by saying that he had all rights to the music as he written them and produced them with others.

After that brief conflict, Jake Tracey began to return back to music in July 2014 in order to work on his new material. However, he says that he wanted to try something new, unique and different for his new album and wants to make it the most unexpected, surprising, but interesting album of all. "I want to show everyone that I can mix any genre in one album to make it like it's one. I'm very versatile and I'm confident this album will be my most favorite one working for, where I can pour my heart into it as an artist."

Rebel Without a Cause was originally titled Notorious and Rebellious, but the album title was changed on September 3, 2014. Jake Tracey, during the end of 2014 to the beginning of 2015, worked with many producers to ensure that his album was consistent and ready. Jake Tracey released his lead single from Rebel Without a Cause, "Ride," on January 5, 2015. The song received major airplay on radios, and the music video was released in March 30, 2015, on Jake's birthday. The tracklist for Rebel Without a Cause has went through numerous changes within the two months before Tracey's album release. However, the official tracklist was confirmed on May 3, 2015.

Tracey released his next single, "The Devil Wears Prada" with collaborations from Big Sean and Kanye West on May 4, 2015. The remix to "Ride" featuring Nicki Minaj, is also released as a single.

Writing, production and collabs
Jake Tracey's album titles went through many changes over the course of 2 years. On March 20, 2014, Jake Tracey had confirmed that his title would be called VIII, in order to celebrate his eighth album thus far; however, he began to create new material for the album that he felt like didn't fit in to the album's meaning. Therefore, he scrapped the album's title, and considered the title, Rebel Without a Cause, but also wanted to see what his fans thought.

On March 30, 2013, Jake Tracey's birthday, he created a poll on his website asking what would be the best album title for him, ''Rebel Without a Cause, Portrait of a Rebel or Notorious and Rebellious. ''The most biggest choice was the first, with the third choice being the second closest. Later on, it was then confirmed to be the new title, and on the same day, he had released a song from his album, "Haste" with collaborations from B.o.B. and Azealia Banks. The song leaked on YouTUbe and recieved viral attention. Critics praised each rapper's verses in the song.

During the spring, Jake Tracey wanted to collaborate with a diverse group of singers and rappers. He was originally to do a duet with Rihanna, his favorite, but due to rough schedules, Rihanna couldn't have the chance to get back to him, and they were to create a part two of "Love Without Tragedy." Jake Tracey worked with many producers, such as Mike Will Made It, Spence Mills, Hit-Boy as well as for pop, he began working with Diplo, and most of the songs were co-produced by Tracey himself.

Critical reception
Rebel Without A Cause recieved critical acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average of 88, based on 20 reviews. According to The Guardian, Holson praised Jake Tracey's lyrical development and the experimentation of the production, and acknowledged that Tracey's concept is on par. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, found the songs very "catchy," praising "How It Goes," "Video Vixxxen," and "Rebellious National Anthem" as the catchier songs, and extolling the final track as the best way to close an album. Allmusic praised Jake Tracey's hip-hop style, compaing his raps to the likes of Big Sean, Eminem, and Nicki Minaj, who are both included in the album. Although Allmusic believed the album should have included more of Tracey's vulnerable performances, he praised Tracey's versatility and his growth from his debut album. Also, Allmusic praised the production, noting the hip-hop sound blends in with Tracey's lyrics. Vibe critics gave the album a 5 out of 5 for Tracey's lyrical style, claiming that Tracey seems comfortable with his music and he seems to have the ability to express his creativity and address social issues.

In a mixed review, Spin found the amount of collaborators to be overwhelming on the album. The critics believed that a small amount of collaborations could have been left out, such as Wiz Khalifa. However, he praised the duet with Jhene Aiko, and the collaborations with Drake and Big Sean. Meanwhile, The Guardian believed the political concept seemed "hypocritical," and Tracey's rapping lacks in emotion, but most songs were "unique" and very "aggressive."