Young Thug Made The Best Album of 2015 (And You Should Get It Right Now)

Young Thug just wants to be like Lil Wayne. The cackles, crackles, and the howls - oh yes, the howls - are all signature Wayne. Sort of. Because Thugger is purely influenced by Wayne - he's definitely not biting. And those are two totally different things. There's articles out there explaining the difference - I read a good one comparing Travis Scott's work to that of a pure biter - but I'm not going to delve into that topic here. Instead - I'm here to review Young Thug's sorta debut, sorta mixtape, known as 'Barter 6'. Yes, as in the infamous 'The Carter' series by Mr. Dwayne Carter himself. And no, Dwayne did not take kindly to that seemingly gesture of respect. Because apparently, it wasn't? Or it was? Either way feelings got hurt and names were called and shots fired and tracks recorded but not like in a real, dedicated need kinda way. Because the relationships of both artists are tied to a common thread in Birdman. Baby was either once Wayne's mentor, or still is - it all really murky with the details right now due to the ongoing legal actions on behalf of Wayne & Co against Baby for money shit and all that stuff that Cash Money is infamously known for (yet still nuckas be signing with them. why? influence? spotlight? idk. but always ends the same). Anyway - 'Barter 6'. Young Thug. There's a lotta stuff going on here. Both artistically and all the other stuff which is really white noise compared to the artistic side of this tape. It's an awesome record, to be sure. Starting with the stellar track 'Constantly Hating', featuring Mr. Birman himself, Young Thug goes IN. The beat by frequent collaborator (if not just straight-up partner IN MUSIC. No shots fired.) London On Da Track is a somewhat sleeper monster track. It's bare minimum instrumentation wrapped in hard-hitting drums. Perfect to showcase Thuggers "unique take on flow. I say that in quotes because Young Thug is definitely a polorizing rapper. You either hate him or love him. But I've realized that rap flow fanatics usually tend to love Thug. Birman spits one of his two surpisingly better-than-average 16's on this album on this track. You can tell he's a bit more excited than his usual self - probably due to the surge of energy that he's feeding off of Young Thug's meteoric rise in popularity within the rap and pop world. Another stand-out track on the album (amongst an entire album of stand-outs) is 'Can't Tell' featuring another frequent collabrator - TI - as well as Lil' Boosie, who has seen a rise in popularity since finishing his prison sentence last year. All three rappers come hard AF, but Thug manages to dodge getting killed-on-his-own-shit by providing one of his most creative displays of verbal dexterity yet. I can't even begin to truly describe the moment - you have to listen for yourself to get the full experience. But I'll just say that he starts his verse by mumble-speak-flowing (kinda like Jay-Z on lean) a few bars then picks-up the pace and returns on-beat like he snorted a line of coke and feels the need to make-up for lost time. Then he hits the pocket with a line about 2004 and Gucci Mane and Big Cat and the dust settles on his rhyme scheme and he finishes the track (somewhat) tame. Boosie Bad Azz (awesome post-prison name change btw) bats clean-up here, and his verse is trademark BOOSIE BABY, oozing with confidence and his thoughts about post-prison life and his recent successes (and shit, I would too if I just served an extended prison sentence and coming out harder and more popular than ever). 'Check' follows-up 'Can't Tell' and is one of the tape's "internet singles" as I like to call them. The video is YouTube budget-friendly and all the creatives involved are frequent collaborators aka friends aka hirable on the cheap. It's a good promo song. My boy's favorite track. My fabvorite track from the album that falls into the promo single category is 'Halftime' which is Thug's ode to excess - or his version of it. Personally, popping half of ANYTHING isn't even enough to get lit but hey, I lived that life and also it's personal preference and perspective, right? I could go on, but really you need to hear this album for yourself. Other personal favorites: 'Dream', 'Amazing', and 'Knocked Off'. 'Knocked Off' is my personal favorite track on the album. Baby comes good - definitely NOT bad - on his opening verse. Thug then meditates on his upcoming wedding, plus the usual things like drugs, cars, and the color red. Definitely the color red. But the beat is just so, idk, chill? fun? The whole album is. Young Thug has so much potential it's insane. He could also crash-and-burn at a moment's notice. I just have that feeling about him. Maybe it's the perceived street-softness via his fashion choices and such. He has that Tupac complex. That feeling of a need to go EXTRA hard - in everything. And, gang relations. The artist that keeps popping up in my head that he resembles is Charlie Parker. No, he probably won't be remembered as a genius of his music genre. But the complex, non-sequitur bebop-type flow and the tortured, gritty persona reeks of Bird. Anyway, go get 'Barter 6', now. Like, NOW. Or download it? I think it was an album-turned-free mixtape due to the beef with Wayne? Idk. But it's awesome. My pick - so-far - for best music album of 2015 that I've listened to. I'm out.