Young Thug – “UY SCUTI” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper & singer/songwriter Young Thug releasing his 4th studio LP fresh off a series of controversial jail phone calls being leaked. Proving himself to have impacted the modern sound of trap music whether some heads like him or not, he has achieved this by dropping classic mixtapes like Barter 6 & JEFFERY or starting up his 300 Entertainment imprint YSL Records & even the clothing line SP5DER. He made his full-length debut So Much Fun in 2019 executive produced by J. Cole & was one of the best trap projects of that year, but the 2021 sophomore effort P*nk received mixed reviews although I thought it was still solid although not as good as the debut & Business is Business felt like the closest we’ll get to a Metro Thuggin’ project for now. Approximately a month following his now ex-girlfriend Mariah the Scientist’s most important offering of her career Hearts Sold Separately, the Atlanta trap trailblazer has finally made up for UY SCUTI’s delays.

“Ninja” produced by Southside & Dez Wright starts with a surprisingly exciting trap intro derailed by dropping the hard R whereas “Yuck” featuring Ken Carson teams up over a Taurus instrumental to discuss shit getting lit. “On the News” featuring Cardi B finds the pair on top of a London on da Track beat to ask what it feels like seeing their faces on the television while “Catch Me I’m Falling” recalls meeting with Brian Steel when incarcerated.

Metro Thuggin’ reunites for “Fucking Told U” to talk about their respective lifestyles just before “Whoopty Doo” hilariously pokes fun at his interview on the Perspektives podcast earlier this month with Wheezy. “Blaming Jesus” has one of my least favorite instrumentals on the album despite the theme of needing real love & pleading that it’s not a phase prior to “Sad Slime” talking about his falling out with Gunna.

“R.I.P. Big & Mack” featuring T.I. unites both trap pioneers of their own generations for a historic Atlanta moment remembering the late Lil Keed who Thug wishes he cherished more than some of the other former artists on YSL while “Invest Into You” by Metro Thuggin’ goes pop rap/trap to talk about investing into Mariah & vice versa. “I’m So Dope” boisterously boasts of his legacy within the subgenre of trap while “Pardon My Back” featuring Lil Baby starts the 2nd half dropping braggadocio.

Sexyy Red joins Thug on “Mami” for a fun strip club banger while “Whaddup Jesus” featuring YFN Lucci squashes the beef between the 2 with an average collaboration over a synth-heavy TM88 beat. “Walk Down” featuring 21 Savage unites both local trap stars over a trap instrumental with some bells to rep their own sets while “Pipe Down” by Cactus Slatt locks in with Metro Boomin’ talking about nobody being richer than them.

“Spider or Jeffery” featuring Quavo lets their lovers know the 2 names that they prefer them to call them by whilst praising God for allowing them to beat the corrupt system while “Revenge” featuring Lil Gotit & 1300SAINT unites the trio to seek pure vengeance.“Money on Money” featuring Future talks about loyalty to their individuals circles & disdain for snitches while “Dreams Rarely Do Come True” featuring Mariah the Scientist is a 2-parter humorously comparing him crying to Gunna snitching to crying over a bitch.

The final single “Miss My Dogs” ends with an apology to everyone addressed in the leaked jail calls while the country trap hybrid “By the Police” starts the deluxe run throwing it back to the Beautiful Thugger Girls era. “Pussy Smell Like This” asks if any younger artist is shinin’ the way he is while “All Your Time” leans heavier towards the pop rap style with lustful lyrics. “Safe” with Leon Thomas III tackles his insecurities that his reputation overshadows while “I Put A” featuring the late Lil Keed talks about these rap dudes not being his kind over a Mike WiLL-Made It beat.

“Rosetta Stone” appreciably takes its cues from the Beautiful Thugger Girls days again although the “fuck that lil’ 13” line made me cringe while “Yes You Can” suggests to let others take his style as long as they ain’t taking his life. “Fighting Depression” happens to be a P*nk outtake that ATL Jacob cooked up talking about feeling superb yet trying to fight for something that he feels deserving of while “It’s Ok to Cry” remembers his late homie who passed away in 2020. “Spit in My Mouth” talks about getting freaky with a Japanese woman in bed & the final bonus track “Birthday Boy” featuring Mariah the Scientist reunites with each other 1 last time for an R&B/pop rap duet seeking trust.

Taking into consideration that this is the first proper solo effort from Young Thug since P*nk because Metro Boomin’ produced 60% of Business is Business over 2 years ago, all the controversy surrounding the YSL founder a few weeks ago had me a bit worried regarding the final product of UY SCUTI. However, I actually enjoyed his final project under 300 Entertainment & Atlantic Records a lot more than P*nk excluding Business is Business & would easily put it above The Last Wun. It’s exciting to hear him with other producers on Metro’s level & Thugger’s more introspective since coming home.

Score: 4/5

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Gordo – “Diamante” review

Gordo or formerly known as Carnage is a 33 year old Guatemalan American DJ, producer & former rapper breaking through the mainstream in the fall of 2015 off the strength of the festival trap full-length debut Papi Gordo. He further established himself forming the duo Young Martha with Young Thug, putting out an eponymous EP nearly 23 months later. Battered, Bruised & Bloody mainly explored trap music as a subgenre to mixed reception & Carnage subsequently became Gordo after transitioning from trap to techno & house. Further cementing his artistic reinvention, he’s coming back 6 years following the sophomore effort for his 3rd album.

“Guard Down” co-produced by &ME & featuring additional vocals from Alice Aera begins by venturing out into the latter’s signature deep/tech house sound for nearly 6 minutes whereas “Sideways” by Drake is one of 2 leftovers from the Honestly, Nevermind sessions admitting to this woman that he used to love her when she was never hers to begin with. “Honeyland” featuring additional vocals from Afshin Momadi moves on from there with a cool afro house detour for nearly 4 minutes, but then “Easier” puts a bigger emphasis on the tech house side of things instrumentally with the help of Rampa.

T-Pain on “Target” has to be one of the best guest performers during the entire LP singing over a house beat with the pitch of his vocals being slowed down that he got a big target on his back even when he’s in motion that is until the out-of-body experience “Lake Como” disappointingly doesn’t have Larry June rapping at all, instead providing additional vocals throughout the playful instrumental. “Candid Zone” by Leon Bridges has a funkier house flare feeling quite rather frank him just before “Nene” by Fuerza Regida gives the corrido tumbado band shine showcasing their sierreño/trap style in front of a wider audience.

“Cafecito” by Nicki Nicole & Sech decently blends Latin pop & reggaeton with house music all together professing their love for one another dating back to when they were children starting the 2nd half of Diamante while the 2nd single “Parcera” by Maluma unpleasantly mutates tech house, balearic beat & tropical house talking requesting that the light be turned off. “Hombres Y Mujeres” by Feid was a superior tech hip house choice of a lead single in comparison to the previous cut talking about the rich smelling if there are men & women while “Kill for This Shit” featuring additional vocals from the late Young Dolph couldn’t have been a better Memphis/house crossover.

The tech house influences make their way back in the spotlight for “Take Control” advising one on the verge of leaving to do literally that on the way out while “W.D.Y.M. (What Do You Mean?)” by Karolina Falk sings about being the same as previously over a guitar/house hybrid. “Aura” by NTO clashes elements of house & techno telling people to take a 2nd look inside themselves & the inspirational “Healing” by Drake has to be my favorite appearance of the 2 that he makes singing that he doesn’t want to hurt himself anymore.

Of the 3 solo efforts that Gordo has given the world under his belt in the span of almost a decade, Diamante consistently celebrates his heritage significantly more than the previous couple LPs did. So much that I can say what we have here unquestionably stands out as his most personal album in his discography yet. He mainly keeps it in afro house/amapiano turf occasionally pulling from contemporary R&B, tech house, hip house, balearic beat, tropical house, deep house, hip hop, pop, reggaeton, corrido tumbado, jazz & indie music for a dedication to his grandmother narratively centering it around his Nicaraguan-American roots.

Score: 3.5/5

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Young Thug – “Business is Business” review

Young Thug is a 31 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia who’s proven himself to have impacted the modern sound of trap music whether some heads like him or not whether it be dropping classic mixtapes like Barter 6 & JEFFERY or starting up his 300 Entertainment imprint YSL Records & even the clothing line SP5DER. He finally dropped his full-length debut So Much Fun a few summers back executive produced by J. Cole & was one of the best trap projects of that year, but the 2021 sophomore effort P*nk received mixed reviews although I thought it was still solid although not as good as the debut. He was then arrested on R.I.C.O. charges last spring & hasn’t really been around much since then aside from a few features until announcing his 3rd album the previous weekend.

“Paradise on Cleveland” by Metro Thuggin’ featuring Drake is legitimately one of the best openers to an album in this subgenre that I’ve heard all year with it’s cloudy trap instrumental from Metro Boomin’ combined with Big Slime & the 6 God’s lyrics about business being exactly that appropriately nodding to the album title along with the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Nickelodeon reference whereas “Money on the Dresser” works in some organs & hi-hats detailing his luxuries. “Gucci Grocery Bag” is a playful trap ode to his own personal grocery bag made from the Italian high-end luxury fashion house Gucci just before “Cars Bring Me Out” featuring Future blends these acoustics & hi-hats thanks to Wheezy once again exploring the lifestyle of the rich & famous.

Cactus Slatt links up with Yak Gotti & 21 Savage for the spacey trap banger “Wit da Racks” obviously flexing their wealth in their own distinctive fashion leading into “Uncle M” reuniting Metro Thuggin’ once more with the bell-infused trap beat talkin’ comparing himself to Uncle Murda for nearly 2 & a half minutes. “Abracadabra” gives off a more drearier vibe featuring co-production from Young Thug’s longtime collaborator London on da Track so Cactus Slatt can join forces 1 last time to drop some braggadocio, but then Dr. Luke’s angelic trap instrumental on “Went Thru It” surprisingly caught my interest as did the line during the hook about saving the world in a dress referencing the artwork of his classic Jeffery mixtape.

Drake returns 1 last time on “Oh U Went” by Metro Thuggin’ co-produced by G.O.O.D. Music in-house producer BoogzDaBeast & the Australian production duo FNZ going for a more sample-based vibe with some hi-hats of course discussing playing how it is along with the fact that they’ve been players for years now while “Want Me Dead” featuring 21 Savage starts off sampling a couplet of lines from the outro from 2Pac’s 4th posthumous album albeit 8th overall Better Dayz which I think might surprise some heads prior to Metro, Dre Moon & Allen Ritter all cooking up a gorgeously shimmery trap beat going in to detail of being up yet coming from the struggle.

“Hellcat Kenny” dives into more upbeat territory courtesy of F1LTHY from Working on Dying so Thug & Lil Uzi Vert can both boast together while “Mad Dog” by Metro Thuggin’ shifts gears with it’s atmospheric trap instrumental talking about his top dog status once again. Also, the way he started the song by saying the Metro Thuggin’ album is long overdue is 110% facts & that gives me hope we’ll get it down the line. The crooning sample throughout “Jonesboro” is something I absolutely can’t get enough of & the idiots theorizing that the “N***a told & he was my homie. I can’t miss him, ain’t nobody feel him” line being about Gunna is hilarious especially since he himself shared the tracklist & QR code of this very album on his Instagram. I’d say it’s more towards YSL Woody & anybody else in the YSL/R.I.C.O. case that also took plea deals since Gunna wasn’t the only one at all.

The penultimate track “Hoodie” featuring BSlime & Lil Gotit also happens to be a So Icey Boyz reunion with Metro & the 808 Mafia co-founder Southside whipping up a piano trap ballad that talks durag business except BSlime’s verse in the middle of it is underwhelming compared to Young Thug’s at the start & even Lil Gotit’s verse at the end although his music overall generally tends to be more hit or miss compared to his older brother Lil Keed who unfortunately passed away of eosinophilia last spring. “Global Access” wraps things up with Metro Thuggin’ going in a mellow trap direction nodding the “Bought a crib for my mama off that mumblin’ shit” bar on “R.I.P.” off Playboi Carti’s groundbreaking debut Die Lit.

However, there are 2 bonus cuts that’ve been added onto the album as part of the official deluxe version that I felt like were most certainly with mentioning. The first of them being “Money” featuring the late Juice WRLD & Nicki Minaj over a sample of the “Momey Song” by Monty Python flipped by another G.O.O.D. Music in-house producer Charlie Heat redeeming himself after wasting 3 of his beats on DaBaby’s latest EP Call da Fireman almost a couple months back so Thugger, Juice & Nicki can showboat exactly how fresh all 3 of them are. The 2nd & final bonus track “Sake of My Kids” has a more tropical trap vibe from Wheezy calling himself a king like Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean John & REVOLT TV founder Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy & Diddy or to Roc like JAY-Z.

I stand by P*nk being a solid sophomore effort despite it not being on par with the debut which has quickly become a top 5 Thug project for me, but Business is Business has already revealed itself to be his best since So Much Fun. Easily better than A Gift & A Curse on top of that. The production’s stronger due to Metro overseeing & producing 60% of it as well as the outside producers mostly matching his caliber, the features are more toned down rarely missing the mark & Young Thug himself gets a lot off his chest about what he’s been going through. And 1 last thing: Lyrics should never be used against artists in court regardless of whether you like them or not. Free Sex!

Score: 4/5

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Young Thug – “So Much Fun” review

Young Thug is a rapper & singer/songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia that exploded into the mainstream in 2014 due to the collaborative single “Lifestyle” with Rich Homie Quan. The man would eventually go on to reveal himself as a trailblazer in the trap subgenre with a handful of mixtapes. The most notable of which being the Slime Season trilogy, Barter 6, JEFFERY & BEAUTIFUL THUGGER GIRLS. He spent last year showcasing the artists on his 300 Entertainment imprint YSL Records with a mediocre compilation titled Slime Language as well as dropping 2 solid EPs: Hear No Evil & On the Rvn. But to celebrate his 28th birthday this year, he’s giving fans his long-awaited full-length debut & has brought on J. Cole to executive produce the whole thing.

The album kicks off with “Just How It Is”, where Thugger lets the listener in about his fame over an acoustic trap beat from Wheezy. The new song “Sup Mate” with Future sees the 2 flexing over a murky DY beat referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair while the track “Ecstasy” talks about partying over an eerie trap beat. The song “Hot” with Gunna sees the 2 bragging over some victorious horns while the track “Light It Up” flaunts over a bass-heavy Pi’erre Bourne beat.

The song “Surf” with Gunna sees the 2 talking about their places in hip hop over a spacious trap beat & while the track “Bad Bad Bad” with Lil Baby sees the 2 talking about their rich lifestyles, the beat is just ok. The song “Lil Baby” pays tribute to 10 different artists that he’s worked with over a moody Pi’erre beat while the song “What’s the Move?” with Lil Uzi Vert sees the 2 pondering the next steps in their romantic relationships over an atmospheric beat.

The song “I Bought Her” with Lil Duke sees the 2 talking about taking their ladies on a shopping spree over a synth-heavy trap beat from DJ Durel while the track “Jumped Out the Window” talks about trapping over a vicious trap beat from Supah Mario. The song “I’m Scared” with Doe Boy & 21 Savage sees the 3 talking about cops over a cloudy Pi’erre beat while the track “Cartier Gucci Scarf” with Lil Duke sees the the 2 showing off their designer possessions over a bland beat.

The song “Big Tipper” with Lil Keed sees the 2 getting promiscuous over a trap beat from Southside with some cool organs every here & there while the track “Pussy” gets rowdy over an baleful beat from Southside & Pyrex Whippa. The song “Circle of Bosses” with Quavo sees the 2 talking about being top dogs over a country trap beat while the track “Mannequin Challenge” with Juice WRLD sees the 2 boasting over a J. Cole & T-Minus instrumental with some rubbery bass.

“Boy Back” with ΠΔV is of course a boring wealth anthem despite DJ Mustard’s production having some great guitar passages throughout & then the album ends with “The London”, where Cole & Thugger both talk about the things they would do at the titular hotel in Beverly Hills over a vibrant T-Minus beat. I’ve been waiting for Young Thug to drop a full-length album & at the end, it could very well be the best trap project of 2019. It truly lives up to it’s name as most of the material on here is catchy in terms of both vocal melodies & instrumentation.

Score: 4/5

Young Thug – “On the Rvn” review

Young Thug is a 27 year old trap rapper who started out in 2011, but rose to popularity in 2014 with the release of the track “Stoner”. He has continued to constantly release music since, the most recent project of his being 1st EP “Hear No Evil” back in April & the Slime Language compilation from his 300 Entertainment imprint YSL Records last month. However, he’s dropping his 2nd EP in light of his recent arrest for 8 felonies.

The EP begins with the titular track, where Thugger talks about taking out cops over a moody trap beat from longtime collaborator London on da Track. The next song “Icey” of course boasts about the rich life over a bouncy trap beat with a quirky synth lead while the track “Climax” with 6lack is a decent love tune with a BEAUTIFUL instrumental. The song “Sin” is a club banger that gets constantly ruined by the Jaden Smith feature while the penultimate track “Real in My Veins” is a clap-back at his naysayers over a druggy trap beat. The closer “High” with Elton John of all people is a weed anthem with a piano, chilling background vocals & rattling hi-hats.

Even though it’s only 20 minutes, this is definitely an improvement over Slime Language. The first 2 features could’ve been much better & I wish he added 4 or 5 more tracks, but the production is a lot better as & Thugger’s vocal inflections continue to be one of a kind.

Score: 3.5/5