Young Thug - “So Much Fun” Album Review

Story posted September 2, 2019 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Connor Trask

“Don’t play with me,” said Thugger on an Instagram post flexing the success of his recent album “So Much Fun.” The post was a screengrab of @Chartdata’s post on Twitter, “'So Much Fun' earns the second biggest streaming week for a hip-hop album in 2019 (167.9 million).”

“So Much Fun” was a hit across the boards and marks the first number one album on the Billboard 200 for Young Thug. Ten songs from the energetic album broke the Billboard’s Hot 100 and Young Thug currently holds 11 spots on the chart.

Thug’s latest album is a daunting 19 songs, but bolsters a star-studded list of features. Many of these features are familiar faces from Young Thug’s YSL label or Atlanta rappers that he has been known to collaborate with, such as Future and 21 Savage. Nonetheless, the album’s diversity shines and has something to offer for all listeners.

”So Much Fun” is loaded with ad-libs, punchlines and colorful wordplay. The greatest strength of the album is the quality of production and complexity of the beats. Wheezy, ATL Jacob and Pi’erre Bourne are just some of the big names from the Dream Team of producers on this project.

Not to take anything away from Young Thug himself, of course, he is credited with writing his verses on the project and consistently delivers for his listeners. However, Young Thug’s atypical flows can miss at points. Full points for creativity, but the unusual vocals can be hard to understand and a turn-off for new listeners.

The introductory song to the album “Just How It Is” is rather simple and eases the listener into the project. The lyrics reference the hardships Young Thug has faced prior to his career taking off. They also allude to some past problems, notably his altercations with YFN Lucci. There is speculation that the 15th track on the album is a diss track towards Lucci as well.

The second track is lackluster after the promising intro. It is disappointing because Future and Young Thug have made hits before. “Sup Mate” features Future, and the lively beat by ATL Jacob gave the track some potential. You can tell Future and Young Thug were trying to have some fun on this one, but the majority of the song is nonsense and hard to understand.

The listener is in for a treat as the album progresses. Songs three through eight have guest features from Gunna, Lil Baby and Machine Gun Kelly. All five of those songs made their debut on Billboard’s Hot 100.

The two collaborations with Gunna are instant hits, both bold in their own way. “Hot” has a beat reminiscent to J Cole’s “Middle Child” and opens with Gunna’s resounding hook. “Surf” is the most exuberant song on the album and was a great listen for the summer. Along with these two hits, Young Thug and Lil Baby link up for “Bad Bad Bad.” “Surf” is the only song to have a music video so far but each one is worth a listen.

The middle of the album is much weaker than the beginning, yet it gives listeners a feature from Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Duke. “What’s The Move” featuring Lil Uzi stands out as it is a smooth listen and gives Uzi fans something to listen to as they continue to wait for a new project.

The project picks back up if listener’s give it the chance too, and provides solid songs on tracks 12 through 15. Duke has a better feature this time around. “I’m Scared” and “Big Tipper” both stand out.

The album comes to a close with four collaborations featuring Quavo, Juice Wrld, Nav, Travis Scott and J Cole. With a superstar line up off features, the album ends with a desire for more. The only standout from the group is “The London” and that was released as a single prior to the album.

“Boy Back” is probably the one song off the album that is not worth a second listen. The song is an obvious attempt at recreating the success of Nav’s “Tap.” The lyrics play off of the repetitiveness of the hook from Nav’s hit song and the whole song just comes off as annoying.

“So Much Fun” is exactly what the title reads, a great pleasure for the listener. This is arguably Young Thug’s most complete project since “Barter 6” and adds to his impressive catalog. “So Much Fun” is a project of excellent quality, with a personality of its own.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewer’s Favorite Track: “Surf,” “Big Tipper” & “I’m Scared”

Reviewer’s Least Favorite Track: “Boy Back”

 

 

Connor Trask is a senior majoring in telecommunications and minoring in business liberal arts. To contact him, email cst5140@psu.edu.