No one has garnered a cult following in modern rap quite like YoungBoy Never Broke Again. In 2022, YoungBoyâs devoted army of fans and followers would rival that of Scientologyâs or The Peopleâs Temple. They have propped the Louisiana rapper up so high on the totem pole of modern rap greats that even skeptics and non-listeners alike have to acknowledge thereâs something to his successâŠeven if they donât completely understand it.
The answer: a lethal combination of aggressive raps, melodic delivery and scripture level chorales. Not to mention, his grandiose idea of who he is and what he can achieve in music, along with a level of dangerous authenticity where fans never have to question if YoungBoy lives his raps. Cult-like, indeed.
The proof, however, is in the numbers and YoungBoy puts them up like prime Allen Iverson. Heâs one of Hip Hopâs most streamed artists on DSPs and YouTube. Which is why it comes as no surprise that his latest album The Last Slimeto is jam packed with 30 tracks all primed for algorithmic overthrow.
The album is anchored by its singles â which have been simultaneously in rotation since the beginning of the year. Additionally, 10 of the albumâs tracks were released back in April as a âsamplerâ â so fans and anyone casually listening to a rap-focused playlist would be familiar with their ferocity.
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The first two singles, âMr. Grim Reaperâ and âI Hate YoungBoyâ are two sides to the same coin. Both tracks feature his ravenous flow but with differing moods. On the former, heâs consciously contemplative, as he talks to a higher power about his fallen family members. On the latter, heâs ruthlessly talking shit about his hoards of haters (most notably Lil Durk).
There are more than a few tracks on this album that are directed at those who oppose or doubt YoungBoy. This can quickly be identified on tracks like âFuck Da Industryâ where within the first four bars of his verse he spews a vert warning shot; âIf an opp try to block me off, I shoot this bitch right on the road.â
Surprisingly though, a large chunk of this album highlights the pensive side of YoungBoy; something that made Sincerely, Kentrell notable. Opener âI Knowâ sees YoungBoy waxing spirituals over gushing guitar strings: âYou tellinâ me you leavinâ âcause itâs hard/Guess I should sit here while the devil dance on my soul.â His hallowing croons ring from the listenerâs headphones, presenting him more like a mega-church preacher than a rapper. The first third of the album is quite rhythmic and delivers YoungBoyâs version of gangster rap psalms. For a prime example of these rap sermons, look no further than the chorus on âLost Soul Survivorâ where YoungBoy brazenly belts âHe is a lost soul survivor/And assassination been attempted from rivals/And he say that they all gonâ die When talons fly, they wanna wash away your life/who they desire.â
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But even with this dichotomy, by the midpoint of the album, YoungBoy doesnât just lose steam, he completely evaporates. The songs start to glue together as one great big collision of Auto Tune mumbles, producer tags and chaotic drum patterns. â7 Daysâ and âDigitalâ are nearly identical. The same monotony happens on âThe North Bleeding,â âLoner Life,â and âAcclaimed Emotionsâ â which all have fairly strong singing and production elements but are simply too similar to be effective.
Luckily, the featured tracks provide some serious earworms that cut through the tedium. âDonât Rate Meâ with Quavo shoots some unique adrenaline into the tracklist and makes a case for most re-listenable song on the album. âHome Ainât Homeâ with Rod Wave and âMy Go Toâ with Kehlani are also two of the best ballad-y type tracks on the album; proving once again that YoungBoy, stylistically, is a strong collaborator for anyone in music right now.
As enjoyable as these five or six songs are on The Last Slimeto, its merely too long to appreciate. It doesnât matter who you are in todayâs Hip Hop landscape, 30 tracks is just indigestible and frankly unacceptable, especially with a stark lack of variety. Perhaps itâs a streaming/algorithm strategy or maybe even a way to fulfill his contract with Atlantic Records in attempts to leave the label early; either way The Last Slimeto canât be enjoyed as a full âprojectâ but instead a half dozen songs scattered across playlists that have the same album cover.
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FAN FEEDBACK
how this NBA YoungBoy album got me like ? pic.twitter.com/ztSr4nt2OB
â Ù (@pubIicfigures) August 6, 2022
When NBA Youngboy's I Know starts playing pic.twitter.com/6W3tj7q4IU
â 808s & Youngboy (Realer 2 era) (@ifayeronayeykyk) August 6, 2022
Canât believe weâve seen the day where Youngboy drops a better album than BeyoncĂ©
â ?$???â¶? (@atlstro2) August 6, 2022