Though not exactly a hint of the tone or production of the record to come, opener “private island” does preview what the listener should expect in terms of the uninteresting lyrics and even more uninteresting beats on this album. The track attempts to take a spin on some of Young Thug’s vibes on Beautiful Thugger Girls (because what else does Gunna know better than biting Young Thug?), with one lighthearted guitar section that grows old even with the song’s 2-minute run time. Gunna takes a stab at provoking deeper thought here as well by reflecting on how far he’s made it, but fails to tackle the concept as he returns to his typically insipid bars. Lyrics such as “I used to sell narcotics” become even more ridiculous, however, in the context of Gunna’s “beef” with Freddie Gibbs, incited by Freddie’s posting of Gunna being a rat for snitching on the show Crime Stoppers. “private island” is a good representation of the uninspired, stereotypical trap rap ahead on DS4EVER.
“pushin P” manages to be slightly interesting, gathering a few alliterations throughout the track. Again, though, the instrumental and Gunna’s vocals are bland, with Future’s delivery and Young Thug’s foul imagery of “I just fucked a cup of water” being the few beneficial qualities of the track. Again, Young Thug steals the show on “mop,” with the best parts of the song having nothing at all to do with Gunna. It takes four tracks for the production to not put me to sleep, as the beat here returns to the ordinary. The record takes another step up with “thought i was playing,” where Gunna links with 21 Savage to finally deliver a memorable performance riding on a glimmering beat. The production finally reaches its potential, leaving a distinctive impression in a way that, sadly, is done nowhere else on the record. Kodak Black makes a surprisingly welcome appearance on “how you did that;” this performance, along with the one on Roddy Ricch’s recent album, makes me wonder if I’m coming around to Kodak. He’s two for two in his last couple of appearances for me. The beat selection is okay here, but once again nothing to write home about. “alotta cake” sort of bites off of Gunna’s own sound on WUNNA (see “COOLER THAN A BITCH”), failing to stand out from this previous sound. There’s a pair of bars on this song about Biggie Smalls that made me think of Biggie’s reference to a Richard Pryor joke: Gunna raps “Bitch call me daddy-o / Feel like Biggie, I’m going back to Cali-o.” This just shows another example of the missed opportunity of DS4EVER, however, as this isn’t referenced in any way. A sort of interesting instrumental direction is taken on “livin wild,” with what sounds to be a soul sample pasted on the beat. Unfortunately, some of Gunna’s corniest and worst bars on the album make it on to this cut: “I’m tryna stack it like layers and keep it extra cheesy;” “Codeine all in your colon, you got that shit and squeeze;” “Judging me for trying the whippets…” The next track “you & me” does give a necessary change of pace though, deriving inspiration from artists like Ty Dolla $ign and PARTYNEXTDOOR. We also get a great performance of an artist I’ve never heard before, named Chloé. However, there’s yet another “unfortunately” thrown into the works here: the song builds up steam but ends too soon. It’s not saying much exactly, but we get Gunna’s most memorable performance on “south to west,” where he allows the listener to feed off of his energy while riding the beat. You can feel Gunna’s hunger here through his flow and delivery, something that doesn’t crop up anywhere else on the project. Another thing that works in the track’s favor is that the beat goes hard, harder than any other on the record. I’m soon let down by “25k jacket” and “idk that bitch,” which return the album to second-rate trap raps and beats. The next cut “flooded” is trash, but in a “Way 2 Sexy” kind of way; it is dumb, but it goes dumb too. That being said, I do enjoy it more than I should. We get another R&B-paced cut similar to “you & me” on “die alone,” where Gunna teams up with Chris Brown and Yung Bleu. This one’s just okay, not good. I can understand this though, as this direction is something Gunna isn’t too experienced in; I can appreciate this on an artistic evolution and exploration level, as he finally branches out to something different from his norm; it’s an admirable endeavor. Gunna picks up the pace a bit on “missing me,” where the lyrics level up to an introspective standard worth listening to. Speaking on something relatable to many, Gunna captures something concrete, expressing ideas of not feeling appreciated and being in denial. The proclaimed “biggest moment of Freddie Gibbs’ career” comes on “poochie gown,” where Gunna drops two bars referencing the rapper and then forgets about him for the entire project. Aside from the absurdity of the tweet Gunna sent, what made him think that these two lines would do anything at all to impact the career of Freddie Gibbs? I mean, the tweet did more for both of them than this weak reference ever would. I guess this goes to show how much impact Gunna thinks “disses” have. Aside from this, the track itself is more of the same uneventful trap Gunna gives out on the rest of the album. I personally have no problem with generally vapid lyrics; I’m a huge Playboi Carti fan, and he has some of the most unintelligible and meaningless lyrics of any trap rapper (save for some exceptions). Where it becomes a problem is when no personal unique spice or twist is thrown on the scheme, tone, or delivery of the words. Gunna also manages to overuse this type of rap, failing to deviate from what he always does. All in all, Gunna fails to capitalize off of the momentum from WUNNA, instead reverting to boring music. SUMMARY: Gunna expels another forgettable project in DS4EVER, a record that manages to devolve back to the unattractively vapid raps and stale production of his music before WUNNA. RiYL: Lil Baby, Young Thug, Migos Recommended tracks: “south to west,” “thought i was playing”
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AuthorEnrique Cardenas III Archives
November 2021
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