YN Jay is a 24 year old rapper from Flint, Michigan emerging in the late 2010s/early 2020s off his first 3 EPs MVP, Coochie Land & Watch This as well as the subsequent trilogy of mixtapes Ninja Warrior, Coochie Chronicles and Young, Wild & Free. His profile began to grow from there, following those up with the full-length debut Album Mode, preluding the sophomore effort Coming 2 Coochie Land with a 4th tape Coochie Goat. Looking to bounce back from the mixed to negative reception of Life Before Death & Been Havin’ last summer however, the Coochie Man returns for his 3rd album.
“Difference” featuring Kash Doll & Tay B begins with the trio over prominent bells & hi-hats comparing & contrasting themselves to their opposition whereas the only song without a guest “I Ain’t Done Yet” stands out for it’s cloudy Detroit trap flare to the beat talking about being nowhere near finished musically. “US 23” featuring Grindhard E & Rio da Yung O.G. takes a bit of a rubbery turn instrumentally vividly painting images of the gangsta lifestyle, but then another highlight “She the 1” featuring Babytron & Baby Money talks about the special women in their lives over more upbeat 808 percussion.
Sada Baby & Skilla Baby join YN Jay on the distorted, string-laced “Hangover” energetically passing the mic to one another nonstop breaking down their lifestyles for almost 4 minutes leading into “Boss” featuring Payroll Giovanni jumping on top of 808s & pianos to spit that G shit. “Stupid & Crazy” featuring Icewear Vezzo displays an exciting back-&-forth chemistry for 100 seconds keeping the keys & upbeat percussion in the fold while “Figure It Out” featuring Drego brings the bells back to discuss getting it on their own.
“Dear Rio” featuring Peezy serves as a touching open letter to Rio da Yung O.G. since already he’s incarcerated for a while just before “Rich Ugly Motherfuckers” featuring Babyface Rayhumorously talks about being wealthy & unhandsome. “Cup Holder” featuring Band Gang Lonnie Bands mixes strings & 808s for an ode to lean while “3 Stooges” featuring Los & Nuttylikens themselves to the titular comedy trio.
Cash Kidd appears for the penultimate track “I-75” referencing the interstate that runs north–south from Miami, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and “Flint Stones” featuring Babyfxce E, BFB da Packman, Grindhard E, Krispylife Kidd, Louie Ray, RMC Mike& YSR Gramz ends with a 6 minute posse cut representing some the finest artists in Flint currently. Standout verses excluding Jay’s for me are Krispylife’s, Ray’s & Mike’s.
Normally I get skeptical about projects with an insane amount of features top to bottom, but I didn’t mind it throughout the Coochie Man’s latest album here because I understand what he was going for & that would be a star-studded love letter from Flint 2 Detroit. Both cities are represented properly as YN Jay takes some of the biggest names in the Detroit trap scene for the ride, a lot of whom I’ve already covered in the past & the production is really what you’d expect from this style of music.
Score: 3.5/5
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