Babystaydown – “Forever Lasting” review

This is the latest studio LP & 4th overall from Athens, Georgia rapper Babystaydown. Somebody who already has his previous 16 EPs under his belt including PL Top Recruits, 1,350, Drugz Sex & Money and it’s sequel, 17, Genesis, his Cegular Records/Sony Music debut Hate da Way Um Livin, Saint, Pain Before Pleasure, Chief 13, Aimai, I.L.M.F. (I Love My Friends), ##Kool ##Kat & the Lost Files duology. His full-length debut Born Anew as well as the sophomore effort Art of War & I.B.S.D.W.M.P. (I Been Still Dealing With My Pain) have all continued to elevate him from an artistic standpoint, coming off the introspective Lil Yae & Soon to have his manager Whyceg fully produce Forever Lasting.

“You a Keeper” cloudily spends the first couple minutes explaining the reason he don’t be stuntin’ to his bitch whereas “Bankroll, Got It” instrumentally leans towards a more standard trap vibe so he can boast his wealth. “Some Typa Way” has a nocturnal atmosphere to the beat brushing off whatever detractors have to say of him just before “Shining” talks about staying down through the storm.

Meanwhile on “Come Back”, we have Babystaydown asking his lover when she’ll be returning to him over a plugg instrumental leading into “Test My Luck” spaciously responds to the claims that he’s changed when he’s still talking crazy & eager to step all over anyone who gets in his way. “Wanna Tell You” talks about his desires of not wanting to get in a fight with a woman when he lets her know the way he truly feels of her while “Lotta Things” admits he doesn’t think the safe after some of the shit he’s seen.

“My Reality” works in some gorgeous piano chords talking about him still shining even when he’s behind bars while “Dying Rich” expresses his hope of having a significant amount of money in the back by the time he’s gone. “Claim I Changed” once again looks put the rumors of him switching up to rest once & for all & after “I’ll Be Fine” assures everyone who’s been worrying for him, the outro “All for You” wraps up Forever Lasting talking about the reason he does this.

One of my favorite producers in past 2-3 years Whyceg solely handing the production of an entire project for the very 1st artist he signed to Cegular Records has been long overdue & not only would I argue Forever Lasting surpasses everything Babystaydown has done to become the greatest entry in his entry discography, but it makes me hope Ceg will do the same for Pradabagshawty or maybe even the newest addition to the label HittMan after the latter’s Cegular debut Revenge later this month & Degenerate respectively.

Score: 4.5/5

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Whyceg – “Cegregation” review

Atlanta, Georgia producer, audio engineer & recording artist Whyceg releasing his sophomore effort under his Sony Music imprint Cegular Records. Properly introducing himself to the underground in the summer of 2022 off his debut EP Grey Areas alongside the superior follow-up Cegular over a year later & of course the debut mixtape Yin & Yang a couple months later, his full-length studio debut Ceg Year would arrive in the previous February, signing both Babystaydown & Pradabagshawty to Cegular afterwards with each of them becoming successful in their own unique ways this past fall. Unlike their mentor’s previous solo efforts however, he chooses to take a backseat vocally approaching Cegregation & a list of guest performers to do what they do best over his production.

“Go Far” by 2sdxrt3all begins with a plugg intro talking about being disappointed by people tearing his heart in half whenever he shows them love whereas “Creep” by B6 decently blends gangsta rap lyrics & a dark plugg instrumental together for a passable single if you’re a fan of those styles. “In the Blind” by FBLMANNY talks about others hating to play a game they don’t want him to win leading into a personal favorite of mine “Old Lady Purse” by RRoxket co-produced by Goxan admitting to getting nervous around the feds.

Big Yavo gets a song of his own with the pluggy “Yay Ball” pulling out a stick & he’s not referring to chicken when he says that just before “Jetson” by Lil Tony fuses these trippy synthesizers & hi-hats shouting out one of the 2020s’ most popular trap beatsmiths: JetsonMade. “Dominoes” by Lazer Dim 700 & 2sdxrt3all finds the 2 teaming up for a dark plugg track cautioning to not choke if you don’t want smoke while “No Mental” by Yhapojj talks about giving a fuck less regarding his haters.

“IRL” by Lil Dre6o reaches the halfway point of Cegregation poking fun at people who be actin’ hard on the Meta Platforms-owned Instagram only to be scared shitless of him when running into each other while “Dead Ppl” by NDO D & Pradabagshawty kicks off the 2nd act on some dark plugg shit once again talking about smelling corpses near them, the latter having the strongest verse compared to the other. “Need Shells” by iam3hard moves forward continuing to mesh themes of the gangsta lifestyle & plugg instrumentation looking to reload his guns with more ammo while “Claim You Rich” by Jripey takes jabs at anybody who says they’re wealthier than they really are.

Zone1eriic takes the mic during “Clock It” & once another highlight “Undercover” by Babystaydown takes 111 seconds so he can talk about the woman he’s seeing possibly being the one yet simultaneously feeling like he can’t trust her for whatever reason he’s still trying to figure out, 2sdxrt3all returns 1 last time so he can make a sequel to “Crazy Dxrt3all Flow” off his 2nd EP Stop Holdin’ Nuts that recaptures everything that made the original version of it so special.

“OhYeah” by Rx Yp uses a flow reminiscent of Lucki’s using the gat to make muhfuckas dance like it’s the music video to “Thriller” by the late King of Pop himself Michael Jackon while “TF You Goin’?” by luhbrod7 promises to never leave his Heat similarly to how LeBron James did. Ending the album on a high note, “Riches” by diamond* clarifies to his girlfriend that he handles mafia business making others go missing.

I’d recommend checking out the Cegular EP for those curious of Whyceg’s abilities as a rapper, but I’d still take it over Cegregation for the finest entry in his discography so far & it has me hoping I’ll enjoy the next time the CEO of Cegular Records decides to let other artists rock his signature plugg sound throughout the duration of an entire LP a lot more than the averageness of this. This guy’s amongst my favorites in the plugg/dark plugg subgenres of trap & he really has something special going for his imprint, my main criticism with the album’s that the guest-list feels inconsistent.

Score: 2.5/5

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Whyceg – “Cegular” review

Whyceg is a producer, audio engineer & recording artist from Atlanta, Georgia who properly introduced himself to the underground 13 months earlier off his inaugural extended play Grey Areas. His popularity had been growing within the last few months due to producing for the likes of Smokingskul as well as Lil Tony & 2sdxrt3all, the latter of whom dropped his 2nd EP Stop Holdin’ Nuts a month ago. The follow-up to Grey Areas however had me more intrigued after looking at the credits & seeing beatsmiths I’ve been a fan of for a minute making their own contributions.

“Yung N***a” produced by n9ck & ReidMD of Vanguard Music Group boasts of having the ability to turn nerds in a dancers over a plugg instrumental whereas “Wit Me!” refuses to beef with peons because they don’t see shit. Nick Mira & Rio Leyva from Internet Money Records team up behind the boards for “Stuck” giving a fuck less of what the police think about him while “Lapped ‘Em” runs circles around his opponents over a Hariroc instrumental.

SOULJASPIRITS goes for a cloudier more vibe to the beat on “Bad Habit” admitting that he’s fallen out with so many people to the point where he doesn’t know who to trust anymore prior to “Double It” talking about pulling up with a black chopper & he isn’t referring to an Uber ride when he says that. “Hit Me Back” works in some rattling 808s so he can laugh at a dude who’s so broke that he can’t even go rack-for-rack with him while “Sippin’ Red” talks about the consumption of lean & staying in the field throwin’ racks like it’s a game of football.

The self-produced “Locked-N” starts Cegular’s last leg talking about being too tapped in for him to tap out & running it before he’d fall off while “Hungry Like” lets it be known that he can’t relate to anybody who ain’t making the same amount of money he is or isn’t hungry as he is. “Not on This Planet” rounds out the EP with an atmospheric outro talking about standing on business ever since he was young, having to wake up & get the bag every morning because he had it out the mud.

Between this & Grey Areas, I can confidently tell you that Whyceg comes off fully producing 2sdxrt3all’s breakout project earlier this summer to elevate himself as a rapper & putting it all into Cegular ensuring that it would become the greatest thing he’s ever made as a solo artist. The trap/plugg production is significantly more consistent than it’s predecessor was last summer, once again holding the microphone down all by himself for less than a half hour & delivering sharper performances.

Score: 4/5

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