Tony Shhnow is a 26 year old rapper from Atlanta, Georgia whom my brother J$zpiech introduced me to off the strength of his 4th mixtape Black Billionaires Club & the song “Vet” taken from the full-length debut Da World’s Ours 3. He just dropped his 8th mixtape Reflexions to critical acclaim over the summer & I honestly wish I covered it considering that some of his best songs are on there like “Finessin’” or “Forgive Don’t Forget”. So when Tony announced his 6th album right here, the interest was most definitely there & I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.
The title track is a triumphant opener to the album produced by MexihkoDro & Popstar Benny taking you through the trials & tribulations of the rich & famous whereas “5 P’s” takes a more pluggier route discussing pints, pounds, pills, pussy & power. “Trust” works in some synths to tell all the pussies to quit flexing prior to the delicately produced “A to Z” cleverly using the alphabet to describe his lifestyle.
As far as “Fuck da Rap Game” goes, we have Tony keeping the plugg vibes going talking about becoming a boss just before “Life n Hard Times” confesses that he’s clean as a bitch & his trap house is dirty over a dreamy beat. The Darkside Mally feature on “Shook Dem Haters Off” doesn’t do it for me even though I like Tony’s verse & the CashCache instrumental, but then “Hell’s Hot” has a more darker quality to it getting on some bitter ex-boyfriend shit.
“Everything I Should” blends some synths & keys talking about having literally every single thing he believes he should in his possession until “Paper Trail” returns to pluggier territory telling a bitch he might dip on her because “I got chips, no you can’t Frito-Lay with me” & the hook from Bear1boss just so happens to be the best feature on the entire album in my personal opinion. “Sorry!” laces some more synths apologizing for not spending time with this woman while “10 Blocks” with SB Nunkk weaves some organs into the fold talking about how much their wrists cost.
Moving on from there, the cheery atmosphere of the “Can’t Say I’m Broke” instrumental is something I really enjoy as Tony brags about his wealth while “M’s” with ManMan Savage has a more calmer sound to it talking about how that’s all they just want. “Dat’s Me” is a bassy plugg banger comparing himself to a dog on a leash while “Jugg” with Diego Money finds the 2 dropping some gangsta raps over a quirky MexihkoDro beat.
“World on My Back” has a more energetic tone to it talking about having power & Darkside Mally returns once more on the aggressive “Join the Campaign” with his verse here being better than “Shook da Haters Off” showing off their big dog statuses. “Not the Same” has an entrancingly psychedelic atmosphere to the instrumental talking about being cut from a different cloth while “Don’t Know” with Seddy Hendrinx comes through with an awkwardly sensual ballad.
The song “Know Us” sees Tony over a trap beat with some horns talking about how everyone is familiar with him & his squad while the penultimate track “Mean” explains how he likes his women over a plugg instrumental. “Work Like Dis” though is an explosive closer to the album going into detail as to what happens when one decides to grind as hard as he does.
This dude‘s a pretty much a pioneer in the plugg scene so for him to return to that style on Plug Motivation will definitely appeal to any fan of his old or new. He has a unique voice, his gangsta themed bars are ear-grabbing for all the right reasons & the BeatPluggz were the perfect people to enlist behind the boards as they whip up is some of their finest batch of beats to date.
Score: 4/5
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