I think the answer is simple, Jacob simply wasn't actually a genius of all musical trades. Which is fine, no one is, but people seemed to expect this guy who is, granted, good at a lot of things and once in a generation good at a few specific things, to simply perform EVERYTHING when he has always exhibited a broad selection of clear weaknesses that have only grown more apparent with time. Well, he's remedied some of them, he finally figured out how to sing like a soloist on vol. 4 and no longer sounds like he's constantly missing the other 19 voices in the choir, he's ALMOST learning how to mix, but his greatest weakness is still present as it always was, but not always exemplified. Jacob Collier cannot utilize the talent of other musicians.In My Room is the best collier because it is the most collier, and not because his guests can't match his freak, but because he is fundamentally incapable of wielding them coherently. Every Djesse volume has multiple collaborations that were wasted so badly I feel like it should have gotten him cancelled. He made the Metropole Orkest sound like a kontakt library, I can barely hear Take 6 on All Night Long, Steve Vai is a non-presence everywhere he appears, and Rapsody's poor little verse speaks for itself. Every vocal feature feels purposeless and incidental, all the most talented vocalists you'll ever hear just presented one after the other like pretty wigs. Obviously, Djesse volume 4 has the most collaborators, so it exemplifies this problem the most. He just can't be on the level of a Bjork or Solange, where you'll have villages worth of musicians from different backgrounds coming together to make something that flawlessly maintains a holistic image and vision. Honestly, I don't think volume 3 was the beginning of the end, I think it was just a different issue. Jacob doesn't have the same background for electronic music as he does for the rest of the pastiches on parts previous, so the end result is just pop music but you can occasionally tell he's heard some flying lotus.
