I first got into Thugger back in around 2018, so fairly late doors. I don't know what inspired me to do this, thinking now, it could have been the feature he did with Swae Lee on the track Fate from the Creed II soundtrack. Either way, I checked a few of his projects, and I wasn't absolutely blown away, I was well aware I hadn't stumbled across some unknown gem with top-tier lyricism that is the modern day answer to Illmatic - but I did find his music fun. It was catchy as hell, original, emotive and easy listening, the project Beautiful Thugger Girls being one I can recall as my favourite. Then his 2019 album So Much Fun really cemented these opinions. To me, his music was cool for a playlist and that's the mentality I had going into this most recent effort, Punk.
4 Minute Read
This album had some really odd/bad bars. Like I said, I don't expect Thug to be the prodigal son of lyricism, but some of his lyrics were really strange, or shit. Couple that with the singing being unenjoyable too, and the performance just misses for me. His singing on previous projects is full of energy and sounds great and he's clearly developed a really inspirational sound for the likes of Gunna and Roddy Ricch, but I'm not sure I could put up with it for any longer than the 63 minute run-time that this album had, as it just felt a bit uninspired and grating this time round.
RIP Juice Wrld, Juice has had some incredible features in the past, including his feature on Mannequin Challenge from So Much Fun, but his verse on Rich Ni**a Shit I really wasn't feeling, and just the song as a whole was boring and plain.
However, a feature that did hold up was Post Malone's on Livin It Up, Post carried this song and it seriously felt like it was his own and Young Thug and A$AP Rocky were the feature artists. Yea Yea Yea felt like a true return to form and came across as a bit of a So Much Fun leftover, but that's cool because I prefer that album way more than this one. Thug sounded happy and energetic, the hook was cool and overall it made for a smooth little track.
I didn't like the production on Scoliosis, the mixing felt a bit off and the vocals came across slightly lo-fi, like how Logic's were on the track Untitled and Logic really suited that affect, but Thug didn't. It didn't match the aesthetic of the album and felt slightly out of place, plus the hook was another one that felt 'phoned in'.
On the track Bubbly, Travis Scott tried to bring as much energy and enthusiasm as possible to his section, but Drake and Thugger sounded bland and bored themselves and this translated into the listening experience. You can see how the 'dullness' of this album is a bit of a theme. Also, the production on Bubbly was generic and really one-dimensional, the beat did change halfway through to a better instrumental, but Drake brought nothing interesting to it. His flow was repetitive but not in a cool lyrical way, it just sounded tedious.
I know his bars aren't the strongest, but I appreciated the Slim Shady wordplay on Faces - "Tryna rob, your chances are slimmer than Shady".
Like on Montero by Lil Nas X, there was another song with a Doja Cat feature that didn't really do anything for me or inspire me at all.
There is a whole middle portion of this album where nothing really happened. No lyrical highlights of note or any big tunes. And the start didn't impress me massively either. But then, you get by far, the best part of the album, which is the last 3 songs. It is a real shame that it was only 3 songs, but thank fuck they existed and savoured some real enjoyment of this project.
Love You More did resonate with me and Nate Reuss (who I haven't heard since his feature on Headlights with Eminem) did an incredible job. A simple but effective hook that sounded fire, and you could also really feel Young Thug on this track, an area that I have mentioned as lacking on this album. The following track Hate The Game was bouncy, catchy immediately and charismatic, where tf was this on the rest of the album. And lastly, it was really really nice to hear Mac Miller over a cool, laid back acoustic instrumental to take the album out. The song title originates as this was recorded one day before Mac's tragic passing. RIP Mac Miller.
Like I said, it was a shame that the real highlights only stretched to 3 songs but I'm glad they were included. This brings me to the conclusion of this review. Will this album trouble my top 10 list for 2021, probably not. But will those 3 songs be added to my playlists, of course, and that is where Young Thug sits with me, and I am content with that. I can't give this album a good review, but I can say thank you to Young Thug for providing me 3 really dope songs that are either heartfelt or exuberant.
4/10
Star Track - Love You More
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