42 Dugg – “Part 3” review

Detroit, Michigan rapper & singer/songwriter 42 Dugg back with his 5th mixtape. His breakout debut EP 11241 Wayburn in 2018 would catch the attention of both Yo Gotti & Lil Baby, who jointly signed him to their respective labels Collective Music Group & CBFW Records shortly after. Dugg’s profile continued to grow in a year later when he dropped his debut tape Young & Turnt, which was followed up last year by the sequel Young & Turnt 2& the mature Free Dem Boyz. He returned last summer dropping 4eva Us Never Them, closing out the 11241 Rayburn AND the Young & Turnt trilogies combining the final chapter of both throughout Part 3.

“I.D.B. (I Done Been)” moderately starts off talking about his experiences of previously being shot past muhfuckas whereas “Fake Friends” produced by 30 Roc taking shots at those specific type of people. “It Is What It Is” featuring Lil Baby & Rylo Rodriguez finds the trio talking about the real ones always catching Ws leading into “No Fakin’” featuring EST G reunites the 2 so they can give off more gangsta rap vibes lyrically although the Republican line at the end of EST G’s verse seems kinda tacky.

Reaching the halfway point, “Still on Dat” featuring G Herbo trades verses with one another without the need of a hook portraying the gangsta lifestyle once more just before “Thick One” featuring Skilla Baby joins forces over a Helluva beat talking about their preference in women. “We Not Done” makes it clear he’s still trapping’ even after his music career has taken off continuing to sell bricks & pints while “To the Side” featuring Glorilla employs a back-&-forth delivery again, except I like it more than “Still on Dat”.

“Going Through It” winds down the last few minutes of Part 3 taking a more introspective approach to his songwriting, talking about missing all of his friends & children admitting that he has no idea if he’ll get the chance of seeing a couple of them ever again while “It Get Deeper 3” featuring Doughboy Clay finishes with a Detroit trap cut where they’re sharing the microphone & trying to triple their bags since street money’s the only thing either one of them have come to know.

Being somebody who considers 42 Dugg to be amongst the greatest CMG signings alongside Glorilla & Mozzy, I have to admit Part 3 being the conclusion of the 11241 Rayburn and Young & Turnt series left me somewhat disappointed considering some of my favorite songs appear on those earlier installments although it’s very much average at best. I commend him for revisiting the concepts of that earlier material, but the overabundance of guests & some of the production choices can be somewhat spotty.

Score: 3/5

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42 Dugg – “4eva Us Neva Them” review

Here we have the 4th mixtape from Detroit rapper & singer/songwriter 42 Dugg. His breakout debut EP 11241 Wayburn in 2018 would catch the attention of both Yo Gotti & Lil Baby, who jointly signed him to their respective labels Collective Music Group & CBFW Records shortly after. Dugg’s profile continued to grow in 2019 when he dropped his debut mixtape Young & Turnt, which was followed up last year by the sequel Young & Turnt 2 & the mature Free Dem Boyz. Now that he’s home from a prison stint, Dugg is making it clear on the 4th of July that it’s 4eva Us Never Them.

The intro is a soulful Detroit trap opener to the tape hanging with the killas whereas “Win wit Us” talks about everyone wanting to catch Ws by his side all of the sudden over a grisly trap beat. “4×4” featuring Meek Mill works in an apocalyptic sample & hi-hats ridin’ whips with engines that supply power to all 4 wheels instead of the usual 2, but then “Fresh From the Feds” takes the atmospheric trap route instrumentally to talk about needing a miracle & being down bad when he was incarcerated.

Rylo Rodriguez joins Dugg for the bell-infused “Case Closed” advising that a killa in their feelings is the summarization of a Drake song just before “Wrong Right” somberly talks about wanting everyone in his squad to live long lives. “N.P.O. (No Panties On)”featuring Sexyy Red brings the 2 together for an energetic sex anthem leading into “If I Can’t” bringing the Detroit trap vibes back into the fold talking about having everything & being gone.

“Megan” featuring Blac Youngsta menacingly boasting the lifestyles that they live while “Org” hooks up some horns & hi-hats to assure that he & his crew are still undefeated. “Catch 1” kinda has this orchestral trap flare to the beat talking about still being bad while the introspective “My Mama” starts the 2nd half of the tape by giving the audience game by telling them what she told & showed him in regards of having only himself & no friends.

EST. G joins Dugg for “Since When” to display a back-&-forth chemistry recapturing the essence of their collab mixtape Last Ones Left from a couple years ago while the menacing Detroit trap cut “Get in Your Bag” tells everybody out there to become 1 with whatever task you are trying to achieve. “BMF” featuring Jeezy is an excellent tribute to the Black Mafia Family especially since the Snowman knows Big Meech himself & the extended version of “Go Again” happens to be better than the original.

“No Love” featuring Lil Baby reunites the pair over a bell-woven trap beat from TM88 calling themselves the mob while “4eva Us” produced by Helluva aggressively details his street mentality. The song “Need You” provides a dejecting tone explaining shit ain’t been the same talks while the penultimate track “Still ‘Bout You” smoothly addressing a woman he cares for. Last but not least, the closer “Real Ones” fittingly ends by promising he ain’t ever going back to prison again.

Dugg has always been one of my top 3 favorite CMG signings alongside Mozzy & Glorilla but when it comes to the CBFW roster, not that many of Baby’s artists stood out besides Dugg other than maybe Rylo’s freestyle of the Wale/Bryson Tiller single “Love…(Her Fault)”. 4eva Us Neva Them reinforces all of it from the elevating production to the tight guest-list & Dugg reassuring his status a standout in the Detroit trap scene.

Score: 3.5/5

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42 Dugg – “Free Dem Boyz” review

42 Dugg is a 26 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Detroit, Michigan breaking out a few summers back off the strength of his debut EP 11241 Wayburn. This would catch the attention of both Yo Gotti & Lil Baby, who jointly signed him to their respective labels Collective Music Group & CBFW Records shortly after. Dugg’s profile continued to grow in 2019 when he dropped his debut mixtape Young & Turnt, which was followed up last year by the sequel Young & Turnt 2. However, it’s all been leading up to his 3rd tape over here.

The intro is a short, violin-laced trap banger much tells all his homies to call him whenever they need anything whereas the next song “Turnest N***a in the City” goes into a more hyphy direction as Dugg proclaims himself as such. The bragging continues on the brief, keyboard-laced “We Know” before he & Roddy Ricch hop over a Scorpions sample for “4 da Gang”.

Future tags along up on the atmospheric “Maybach” to talk about putting it on for their respective hometowns & the Einer Bankz-produced “Bestfriends” returns to a more Bay Area sound with the lyrics paying tribute to Dugg’s childhood friends. Lil Durk pulls up on the dreary “Alone” to express falling outs & being street cats forever & even though I like the heartfelt subject matter on “Still Miss My N****s”, the Rylo Rodriguez verse is atrocious.

The song “Free Merey” is a guitar ballad about how he & Merey will always be together while the Antt Beatz-produced “Quez Free” is a thumping anthem about what Dugg’s been up to lately. Right after that, “Please” is a cloudier cut saying that he’s “still got shit down” & then EST. Gee helps him get on the drug dealer tip on the grim “Rose Gold” produced by Carlo Anthony.

“Judge Please” is a 2-minute hyphy banger crying out for help while the Fivio Foreign & Rowdy Rebel-featured “Still Catching Cases” feels like an off-the-cuff drill joint. Taz Taylor incorporates a piano & hi-hats on “It Get Deeper Pt. 2” as Dugg goes on about how he can’t be outscored & then the Murda Beatz-produced “And I Gangbang” is a lively gangsta rap cut.

The next 2 songs are all homages to 42 Dugg’s friends Woo & Skeet with the production sounding eerily similar to one another, but then we go into Bay territory one last time on the closer “Free Me” which is him showing y’all how life works.

I think to safe to say that Free Dem Boyz is without question Dugg’s most mature effort to date. Pretty sure we all knew he was gonna stick with that signature modern Detroit sound à la Sada Baby, but the lyrics are a lot more personal than they were on previous efforts.

Score: 3.5/5