YG is a 30-year-old rapper who started off his career scorching hot with his 2014 album My Krazy Life and its 2016 follow-up Still Brazy. Since then, the California MC has struggled to find his footing as he compromised his unique west coast gangster rap persona to sound like your everyday trapper on 2018s STAY DANGEROUS and 2019s 4REAL 4REAL. A few weeks ago, he released a sequel to his debut titled My Life 4Hunnid. Returning to his roots, can YG reclaim Compton’s throne?
While showing flashes of greatness, YG’s burning desire to make the trendiest song on Tik Tok keeps him stuck in mediocrity. My Krazy Life’s stacked tracklist was highlighted by features from Kendrick Lamar and Drake, while its sequel is headlined by Lil Mosey and Lil Tjay, which in itself says enough about the approach taken here. When it comes to guest appearances, their consistently atrocious aside from Lil Wayne’s track saving finale on “Blood Walk”, and Ty Dolla $ign’s silky hook on “Surgery”. On top of this, YG’s terrible singing throughout only makes his failed attempts at a banger even more miserable. Sinking this LP into an even deeper hole is the painfully uncreative “SWAG” and “Thug Kry”, which ultimately suffer from their poor structure and faint lyricism. “FTP” definitely got people stirred up as it tried to recreate the magic of his 2016 protest anthem “FDT” with Nipsey Hussle, and it actually ends up being somewhat interesting due to the raw thoughts skewing out of the 30-year-old rapper’s mind. Adding on this “Jealous” and “Laugh Now Kry Later” add some much-needed potency as YG reminisces on some of his darkest moments. Even with its few memorable songs, My Life 4Hunnid feels like a reheated version of YG’s past two records, which is undeniably terrible.
While credit is deserved on “Rodeo”s awesome flip of 2pac’s “How Do U Want It”, the rest of the record’s production contains about as much creativity as there is in any disposable rap album. Starting off with a climactic instrumental that morphs into a basic trap beat on “Jealous” and concluding with a tripped-out instrumental that’s supposed to challenge the listener on “Laugh Now Kry Later”, this is the exact formula guys like NBA Youngboy and DaBaby are clowned for using. Adding to this strategy, there are your standard woodwind and string infused songs like “Blood Walk”, “SWAG”, “Hate On Me”, and “War Scars”. Finding some positive in this landfill, “Traumatized Interlude”, adds some much-needed context as we hear YG’s daughter cry for her dads life. Its follow-up, “Out on Bail”, is also solid as it embodies modern west coast gangster rap’s sound in 2020. There is little to nothing that can be admired behind the boards, leaving listeners with sizeable disappointment even for YG’s recent standards.
Walking away from My Life 4Hunnid, it’s baffling to think how bad it is. While some albums suffer from being generic, YG can’t even make this record painfully average as his attempts at resonating with the youth make him look like a glorified clout chaser. Nearly every moment is so surface level and underdeveloped, it truly makes you think, who told YG this was good? Going forward, YG has fully soiled his reputation as an MC, and I don’t think he will ever earn it back.
Rating: 2.0/10
Pros
- Lil Wayne feature is decent
- YG occasionally has a good punchline
Cons
- Terrible song structure
- Beats are generic and unpleasing
- YG’s styles all over the place
- Terrible features
- No cohesion/depth
