On to Better Things is the second studio album by Puerto Rican-born American rapper and singer-songwriter Iann Dior. It was released on January 21, 2022, through 10K Projects. Production was handled by several record producers, including Brian Lee, Cashmere Cat, Cirkut, KBeaZy, Nick Mira, Omer Fedi, Taz Taylor and Travis Barker among others. It features guest appearances from Lil Uzi Vert and Machine Gun Kelly. The album peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard 200, selling 17,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.[1]

On to Better Things
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 21, 2022
Genre
Length36:25
Label10K Projects
Producer
Iann Dior chronology
Still Here
(2021)
On to Better Things
(2022)
Singles from On to Better Things
  1. "V12"
    Released: September 14, 2021
  2. "Let You"
    Released: November 12, 2021
  3. "Thought It Was"
    Released: January 18, 2022

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Clash6/10[4]
NME     [5]
Pitchfork5.2/10[6]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[7]

On to Better Things was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on five reviews.[2]

Kyann-Sian Williams of NME rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying that it "bottles up that teenage angst as perfectly as the golden age of pop-punk music".[5] AllMusic's Fred Thomas found "several tracks ("Heavy", "Heartbreak3r", "Regret") follow a similar emo-rap style, but On to Better Things gets more interesting when Dior commits fully to exploring different approaches".[3] Ims Taylor of The Line of Best Fit wrote: "Complicate It", "Heavy", "Heartbreak3r", all standalone fine, but ultimately all bring the same contribution to the shape of on to better things without providing much else. Where he digresses though, he does so excellently, promising that maybe with the challenge of a feature or with the fire to push his sound a bit more, he could be great».[7] Chris Saunders of Clash wrote: "there are moments where Dior shows his undoubted potential and those moments save this album from being completely mediocre, unfortunately, those moments don't come anywhere near often enough".[4] Dani Blum of Pitchfork stated that the artist "stays vague and vacant throughout the album, invested in his feelings but short on interesting ideas".[6]

Track listing

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On to Better Things track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Is It You"
  • Lee
  • James Chul Rim
2:51
2."Complicate It"
2:36
3."V12" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert)
  • Cxdy
  • Mira
  • Taylor
2:57
4."I Might"2:07
5."Heavy"
  • Olmo
  • Snodgrass
  • Mira
  • Mira
  • Taylor
2:09
6."Dark Angel Interlude"
  • Olmo
  • Bach
  • Andrew Luce
  • KBeaZy
  • Luce
1:29
7."Obvious" (with Travis Barker)
  • Barker
  • Gruft
2:17
8."Heartbreak3r"
  • Olmo
  • Rounds
  • Snodgrass
  • Edgard Herrera
  • Michael Romito
  • Lamarche
  • Cxdy
  • Census
  • Herrera
  • Nash
  • Taylor
2:13
9."Options"
  • Olmo
  • Rounds
  • Snodgrass
  • Romito
  • Lamarche
  • Cxdy
  • Census
  • Nash
  • Taylor
1:42
10."Regret"
3:01
11."Thought It Was" (with Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker)
Barker2:52
12."Sinking Interlude"
  • Olmo
  • Luce
  • Lee
  • Kinderr
  • Luce
  • Lee
  • Kinderr
2:38
13."Let You"
2:31
14."Fallin'"
  • Olmo
  • Jackson Morgan
  • Lee
  • Evan Gartner
  • Lee
  • Gartner
2:14
15."Hopeless Romantic" (featuring Travis Barker)
  • Olmo
  • Fedi
  • Barker
  • Fedi
  • Barker
2:48
Total length:36:25

Personnel

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  • Dale Becker – mastering (1, 2, 4–15)
  • Mike Tucci – mastering (3)
  • Hector Vega – mastering (6, 12)
  • Serban Gheneamixing (1, 6, 10, 12, 13)
  • Edgard Herrera – mixing (2, 3, 8), engineering (9)
  • Teezio – mixing (4, 9, 14)
  • Adam Hawkins – mixing (7, 11, 15)
  • Benjamin Thomas – engineering (3)
  • Young Era – engineering (3, 10)
  • Ojivolta – engineering (4)
  • Mark Schick – engineering (13)
  • Ryan Cantu – engineering (14)

Charts

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Chart performance for On to Better Things
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[9] 183
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[10] 28
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 73
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 81
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[13] 29
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 92
US Billboard 200[15] 28
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[16] 2
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[17] 12
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18] 2

References

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  1. ^ "Hits Top 50". Hits Daily Double. January 28, 2022. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for on to better things". Metacritic. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Thomas, Fred. "Iann Dior - On to Better Things Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Saunders, Chris (January 21, 2022). "iann dior - On To Better Things". Clash. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Williams, Kyann-Sian (January 21, 2022). "iann dior – 'On To Better Things' review: melodic rap star turns high-flying rock and roller". NME. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Blum, Dani (January 27, 2022). "Iann Dior: on to better things". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Taylor, Ims (January 25, 2022). "On To Better Things is Iann Dior moving towards something greater". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  8. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Iann Dior – On To Better Things" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "Ultratop.be – Iann Dior – On To Better Things" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  10. ^ "Iann Dior Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Iann Dior – On To Better Things" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  12. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Iann Dior – On To Better Things" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  13. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Iann Dior – On To Better Things". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  14. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "Iann Dior Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  16. ^ "Iann Dior Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  17. ^ "Iann Dior Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  18. ^ "Iann Dior Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2022.