WowGr8 is a 35 year old rapper from Atlanta, Georgia notable for being 1/2 of the EARTHGANG with Olu. They would later form the Spillage Village collective together, which J. Cole signing the EARTHGANG as well as J.I.D & the rest of the crew to his Dreamville Records imprint. He also has a solo mixtape & an extended play of his own on SoundCloud at this point, celebrating his birthday weekend by dropping an official solo debut in preparation for his partner-in-rhyme’s Earth 2 Olu.
After the “Red Band Trailer” intro, the first song “Keep It in Da Fam” sets up shop with a soulful trap instrumental talking about people only hating on him & his crew because they’re unstoppable whereas “Dirty Job” featuring Chris Patrick takes a jazzier approach explaining that they’re doing the tough work because someone has to. “Dumbass” dabbles with trap talking about learning the hard way sometimes leading into “Avant Garde” featuring Flvme explaining that they had to switch up their approach.
“Ya Woah” incorporates some sampling to suggest that any children around his vicinity should head home because he’s got a fully loaded clip on him just before “Debo” featuring Bigg Cup & Deante’ Hitchcock homage Tiny Lister’s character from the Friday franchise. Marco+ later joins WowGr8 for 3 minutes of “Pure Debauchery” prior to “Labrador” talking about not being with the back-&-forth shit.
After the “Doc Deescalates” skit, “At the Same Time” featuring Mick Jenkins takes a psychedelic trap turn describing their partners loving & hating them simultaneously while “Right Now” featuring Nicki Jupiter could have my favorite beat on the LP produced by Powers Pleasant, colorfully fuses pop rap with trap soul. “Alley” featuring MediSun embraces a bit of a reggae vibe continuing the themes of romance while “Flamingo” featuring Tonye Ayeba embraces a heavier R&B direction stylistically.
“Too Much Ass” talking about being a young entrepreneur trying to get a check & run a business experimenting with a neo-psychedelic trap sound while “P.N.C. (Post-Nut Clarity)” themed around the idea of being mentally reset after sex could be the most awkward moment on Howl at da Moon coming out the gate with a PornHub intro sample. “Uh Oh” meshes soul & gospel singing about his partner fucking but after the “N***a Pop” interlude, “Meow” featuring Benji makes playful feline references over a funky beat.
Starting the album’s final leg, “The Equation / Chuck Town Freestyle” divides itself in 2 halves with an EDM instrumental during the 1st & spitting off-the-top with a cloudy trap beat backing him during the other while “Swim” featuring Chaz French talks about needing more time & patience. “Throwbike” samples a flit & throws some hi-hats in the equation promising he’ll always give things his all while “Howl at the Moonlight” finishes by talking about everything coming with a price as a part of life.
It’s most likely safe to assume at this point that Earth 2 Olu will be more lenient towards an R&B style based on all 3 singles we’ve gotten from Olu these past 8 months & Howl at da Moon on the contrary stays rooted in hip hop telling the story of WowGr8’s life these past 3 & a half decades. Aside from a few lackluster tracks, I do appreciate him being more vulnerable & dramatic than normally compared to both EARTHGANG & Spillage Village’s own output as their own units.
Score: 3.5/5
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