TopOppGen – “Peace Doesn’t Reside on My End” review

TopOppGen is a 20 year old rapper from Charlotte, North Carolina who dropped his debut mixtape Mind of a Menace in the summer of 2021. He would go on to follow this up with 3 extended plays & 6 mixtapes including TopOppBusinessAll I Know is 6?6orry for the WaitHouse Arrest TingzThe Last 6ixer…love, topopp & imperfections until signing to Columbia Records. The full-length debut fake pills & real scars along with the sophomore effort kalon have both been making waves & the singles building up towards his 3rd album made it seem like it could be his most defining statement thus far.

“purple fluid” opens things up talking about falling in love with drugs after having his heart broken whereas “don’t cry” fuses rap rock, trap & emo rap assuring his partner that she doesn’t have to do him wrong if he does it initially. “chemistry” talks about love not meaning anything to him until “scrimmage” for some reason admits to stalking this woman’s page when he knows he has better stuff to do.

The 2nd & final single “love war” suggests maybe he’s better off in his deathbed when most would consider it to be the worst case scenario while “don’t wanna do that” talks about being on drugs that his homies have never heard of previously. “emo girl” wraps up the 1st leg of the LP proclaiming the chick he’s been with to be dumber than Patrick Star leading into “everything” talks about remembering all he & an ex have done together.

“I hate relationships” kicks off the 2nd half warns everyone who wants to kill him that he has guns of his own at the crib while “features” talks about being mesmerized by the beauty of this pretty girl with a cold heart. “rampaging” touches base regarding him being on lean for 3 straight weeks & pondering if he’s been losing his feelings while “heartfelt message” blends a guitar & hi-hats expresses hope of him never seeing a hoe’s face again because of their love dissolving.

The song “blow me away” winds down Peace Don’t Reside on My End’s final moments advising to let him be if someone finds him bleeding out all over the ground & his partner’s absence causing him to begin hallucinating while “cavity” talks about making it out the hood even if he couldn’t take the hood with him. The closing track “way past 10” spends the full-length’s last couple minutes taking inspiration from the late XXXTENTACION’s emo-folk stuff, primarily 17.

Proving himself to be one of emo rap’s most prominent forces within the past year, TopOppGen extends the back-to-back streak he’s been on since signing to a major label & making it a 3-peat considering how much Peace Doesn’t Reside on My End feels like a continuation of both it’s predecessors. The production refines his style by maintaining the secondary influences of gangsta rap, pop rap, rap rock & trap and he refrains from having any guests join him in expressing his pain.

Score: 3.5/5

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