FAV TRACKS: One Call, Idk Why, 3 Headed Snake (feat. Young Thug), Same Yung ***** (feat. Playboi Carti)
2018 was a good year for the YSL Records signee, who saw the success of his two releases, Drip Season 3 and a collaborative album with Lil Baby, Drip Harder. He was also featured on Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD, and is currently on tour with him. Gunna needed to strike while the iron was hot, and his attempts were realized through the sequel to his EP, Drip or Drown, which was now set at his studio debut. Unfortunately for the Georgia-based rapper, the project falls short, as the MC does more drowning than dripping.
The album is mostly shouldered by Gunna, and the lone features are Lil Baby, Young Thug, and Playboi Carti. Production is mostly done by Wheezy and Turbo. The Lil Baby song, ‘Derek Fisher’, doesn’t sound like anything new and comes off as a Drip Harder leftover. However, the other two features, especially the Young Thug contribution (‘3 Headed Snake’), are some of the best songs on the project, with both artists bringing out the best in Gunna. Many have drawn similarities between Gunna and Young Thug, and they are front and center on this track. Despite this sonic similarity, Thug’s voice is easily recognizable as the more versatile and iconic. The rappers start with their individual verses, and then finish off the song with two verses in which they trade bars. The album’s last track, ‘Who You Foolin’, features a Chinese-sampled departure from the usual trap production that had made the last fifteen songs sound very similar to each other.
Overall, the new Gunna project, Drip or Drown 2, has more misses than hits. The features, which are sparse, help to spice up the otherwise dry and monotonous album.
LISTEN TO DRIP OR DROWN 2 HERE:
Written by: John Yu (@stimyulus)