The Homixide Gang are a duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Homixide Beno! & Homixide Meechie. They started turning heads a year & a half ago after dropping their debut EP Snotty World, which led to trap trailblazer/rage pioneer Playboi Carti making them the 3rd act to sign to his Interscope Recordsimprint Opium Records following Ken Carson & Destroy Lonely respectively. Ken showed a more mature side to himself on his sophomore effort X with Lonely revealing himself to be the most versatile Carti protégé yet in the form of HIS full-length debut No Stylist, so it was only a matter of time until Beno! & Meechie stepped up to the plate with a debut album of their own.
“Lifestyle” starts off the album with a chaotic trap instrumental with an amazing vocal sample talking about how nobody can’t copy them whereas “Guitars” works in some synths & hi-hats to slide on the op block. Biggavelli’s verse on “Can’t Go” is a bit underwhelming despite the rage beat & lyrics about being unable to go to the club without the Drac’ leading into “Tatted”, which is a trap/rock fusion showing off the Homixide ink that they got.
Continuing with “5 Ways”, where Beno! & Meechie over some hypertrap production both speak on being the realest leading into “V-Friends” keeping things in rage turf talking about meeting a bitch from out of town that’s fucking their homie on the low. “B.B. (Big Coat Balenci)” has more of synth-trap flare to it detailing the rockstar lifestyle, but then “Lif3” surprisingly fused acoustic with trap talking about going through this pain throughout their entire lives.
Biggavelli returns with Destroy Lonely for “TF!” asking what motherfuckers are gonna say when they pull up with the blick over a rage beat with Lonely’s verse outshining Biggavelli’s while “Notice It” keeps things in hypertrap territory talking about how they really be running shit. “None 2 Some” however laced some hi-hats & synthesizers speaking on going from nobodies to where they are today while “Scale Stretcher” with Biggavelli has a wavy vibe to it talking about moving weight.
Following that, “Tripping” touches on getting to blastin’ & whackin’ in this bitch prior accompanied by a monstrous rage beat prior to Ken Carson coming through with my 2nd favorite feature on the album on “Stunt” getting on the more braggadocious side & the instrumental here is a futuristic groove to it that I really don’t mind. “Drakon!” goes full blown trap metal spitting that gun talk while the song “CV” brings back the rage talking about being on drugs as of late. The penultimate track “Wings” swearing that they don’t give a fuck over an alarmingly blaring beat & the 5unna-assisted Shots Off” rounds it out with some quirky synthesizers as the trio talk about pulling up on the gang in the southside.
I’m well aware of the flack that Opium has been getting recently due to Anthony Fantano’s harsh reviews of both X & No Stylist over the summer, but Homixide Lifestyle is just as solid in my personal opinion. I’ll even say it’s right in the middle behind Lonely & above Ken’s latest efforts. With all respect to the Melon because he’s the one who actually inspired me to write reviews myself to begin with & I’ll die on that hill, Beno! & Meechie both sound 10x hungrier than they did on their debut EP whilst refining their style for a wider audience.
Score: 3.5/5
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