NBA YoungBoy’s Altruism Stalls Ascendency Of ‘Compliments Of Grave Digger Mountain’

There’s a fundamental flaw in most NBA YoungBoy releases that prevent them from ever being truly good: they’re simply too long. There’s too much filler and too many tracks that meander, double down on old styles and rehash already-stale flows. Regardless of the length, though, YoungBoy’s devoted fanbase will run up the streams, launch him to the top of the charts and add some more cash to that bank account.

From an economic perspective, it makes sense for YoungBoy to make these projects as long as possible. If his fans don’t complain — in fact, they seem to actively enjoy these marathons — it would be financially irresponsible to make the product shorter. From an artistic perspective, though, he hasn’t reached the highs of 2022’s brilliant, 13 track 3800 Degreez, despite dropping numerous projects since then.

His new YoungBoy Never Broke Again Presents compilation, Compliments of Grave Digger Mountain, is his most complete work since that album, but continually frustrates as YoungBoy cedes the spotlight to lesser-known and less talented rappers.

The new project features YoungBoy sounding as engaged as he has in recent memory, with some top-notch beat selection and a truly varied amount of interesting flows. The frustrating thing here isn’t the length. At 13 tracks, there are a few songs that can be trimmed but the quality control is much better than previous efforts.

The main issue with Compliments of Grave Digger Mountain is that every time the Baton Rouge MC gains some momentum, strings together two sturdy songs, something inevitably gets in the way and distracts the mission.

Opener “4Shit” finds YoungBoy kicking things off with an introduction that recalls his enticing “Story of OJ” flow. It’s YoungBoy at his best, but he immediately gives way to BBG Baby Joe, a rapper who shows off some nice chops, but is by nature of popularity significantly less interesting than the lead character. Many tracks here find YoungBoy entirely MIA It’s no coincidence that the project’s best moments are the ones where he… actually shows up.

“How We Get” is the emotional core of the record, which features a bunch of MCs but is really NBA YoungBoy’s show. During the chorus, he sings: “I seen murders I seen killings,” and the pain in his voice is real and deeply felt. It’s a portrait of a broken man piecing his life together thanks to the support of a loving family and a more thoughtful approach to life. It’s illustrative of YoungBoy at his best, but unfortunately, like so many of his past projects, it’s an outlier on Grave Digger Mountain, not the norm.

RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2024

RECORD LABEL: Never Broke Again/Motown Records

Listen to Compliments of Grave Digger Mountain below: