The EARTHGANG is a duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Olu & WowGr8 that’s been at it since the very beginning of the decade. They dropped 3 mixtapes, an EP & 2 studio albums independently until J. Cole signed them to Dreamville Records in 2017. They promoted this new association with a decent trilogy of EPs & not even 2 months after appearing on Revenge of the Dreamers III, the time has come for their highly-anticipated major label debut.
The opener “LaLa Challenge” finds the duo flexing over an instrumental that starts off slow, but then breaks into a faster pace by the end. The next song “UP” brush off their doubters over an oracular instrumental while the track “Top Down” challenges their opponents over a bassy trap beat. The song “Bank” of course talks about the paper over an immense instrumental while the track “Proud of Up” with Young Thug sees the 3 paying tribute to women all across the world over a gleaming beat.
The song “This Side” talks about paranoia over a settle yet dark instrumental while the track “Swivel” that originally appeared on Revenge of the Dreamers III a couple months ago talks about overcoming their insecurities over a funky beat. The song “Avenue” gets confessional over a groovy instrumental while the track “Tequila” with T-Pain of all people is a dedication to the titular alcoholic beverage over a Latin instrumental.
The song “Blue Moon” gets sensual over an instrumental with an amazingly charming vibe to it while the track “Trippin’” with Kehlani is of course a lust anthem with a playful instrumental. The song “Stuck” finds the duo simping over a boom bap beat with a down-tuned guitar lead while the penultimate track “Fields” talks about never changing over a MOSTLY skeletal beat. The album then finishes with “Wings”, where the EARTHGANG talk about their hustle over a psychedelic beat.
Personally, this is the duo’s best work yet. The instrumentals are decent, but the hooks & the verses are mostly pretty great. If you wanna hear Johnny & Dot continue to hone their unique style, then give this a listen.
Score: 3.5/5
Legends Will Never Die 