OG Parker – “Moments” review

OG Parker is a 27 year old producer & songwriter from Fayetteville, Georgia who became an in-house producer for Quality Control Music in 2015. He even went on to form his own label Neutral Records in 2021 & produced DDG’s debut mixtape Die 4 Respect around that same time, except I was highly looking forward to that tape only to be disappointed by the time it officially saw the light of day. However, seeing that Parker was putting out a solo EP most certainly caught my interest.

“No Fuss” by PARTYNEXTDOOR starts with what could easily be the best song on the entire EP telling this girl to stay in her lane over a chilled out guitar passage whereas the trap-flavored “Rain Down” by Chris Brown, Latto, Layton Greene & the late PnB Rock finds the quartet continue to delve further into the themes of romance. “Still Work” by Muni Long & Ty$ is a trap soul duet singing about their numbers are both operationally functioning while the dance-inspired trap joint “All I Need” by Yung Bleu furthermore gets lustful. “In Person” by Lakeyah & Tyga ends the EP with a woodwind trap flare flexing they look better in the flesh.

Producer curated projects are generally looked at as being either hit-or-miss & there’s no question in my mind that OG Parker has the capability of pulling of an entire body of work producing songs for other artists & compiling them together. However, Moments stands out as an average beginning of treading those waters. There’s nothing with his signature take on the stylings of trap & R&B music, but some of the performances from the guests themselves are generally a mixed bag.

Score: 2.5/5

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DDG – “Die 4 Respect” review

DDG is a 23 year old from Pontiac, Michigan who originally broke out in 2015 as a YouTuber. However after being interested in music at a very young age, he put out his debut EP Take Me Serious in 2018 & ended up signing to Epic Records. His profile continued to grow from there in 2019 off the Sorry 4 the Hold Up EP & the full-length debut Valedictorian but after spending last year forming his own label Zooted Entertainment & dropping a boatload of singles (the most notable one being “Moonwalking in Calabasas” of course), the kid is dropping his debut mixtape with Quality Control Music in-house producer OG Parker behind the boards from start to finish.

The opener “Hood Melody” with YoungBoy Never Broke Again finds the 2 talking about their homie’s dying because they don’t know life outside the trap over a piano loop & some snares whereas the next song “Treat Me Right” talks about wanting a bitch who respects him over a spicy beat. The track “Rule #1” with Lil Yachty sees the 2 talking about moving out of the hood after getting rich over a plinky trap instrumental while the song “Impatient” motivates his girlfriend to stay focused & Coi LeRay responds from her perspective over a pillowy beat.

The track “Get What You Want” with PnB Rock finds the 2 getting raunchy over an ample instrumental while the song “Way You Talk” talks about the way his girl drives him crazy over a summery beat. The track “Hakuna Matata” with Tyla Yaweh sees the 2 talking about going from broke to having Gucci over a guitar-tinged trap instrumental while the song “Let ‘Em Go” with 2KBaby finds the 2 talking about bitches who get out of line with them over a sluggish beat.

The penultimate track “Money Long” with 42 Dugg sees the 2 talking about their bread stacking up over an instrumental that sounds like it was made for Sada Baby & then the closer “I Need Security” talks about needing more protection over an acoustic/trap beat. However the bonus cut is a remix to “Moonwalking in Calabasas” with Blueface, which is mediocre in comparison to the original.

Not what I was expecting from DDG, but it’s a pretty good listen. He somewhat overdid it on the features, but his songwriting has gotten better in the last couple year as did his performances & OG Parker hones in on a more improved sound than DDG’s previous efforts.

Score: 3/5