In a series of menacing, raw and honest records, Boosie Badazz has become something of an evangelist for getting out of the thug life, offering his take on the dark side of the drug game and gangbanging with vivid storytelling. The results have been some of the most vulnerable and transformative street-rap in years, and Thug Talk continues down that path. "We say sister be cool, even when it ain’t cool / Tell our nephews to chill, but they wan' live just like you" Boosie ruminates, reflecting on the dichotomy of living wrong while striving to be an example of stability and morality for those around you.
Thug Talk works almost as a concept record in which Boosie, like a peer rather than a judge, relates to the rush of gangsta life while trying to warn against it. "Wake Up" puts a fine point on it by sampling the late Pimp C, Boosie's mentor, from his most famous radio interview, in which he urged rappers to "talk about the bad side of the drug game too." Boosie snarls with the urgency of a teacher in an inner-city school drama: "You distributed well, hung with all the stars/Now they done took ya crib, repoed all ya cars / Sentenced all ya boys, locked ya momma up/ Now you gon turn rat or leave ya mama stuck." His preaching is effective because it’s rooted less in righteousness than the simple need for survival.
Yet Boosie still zeros in on the aspects that are too attractive for even him to still deny about that sordid lifestyle. On songs like "Off The Chain" he raps about violent altercation with the fearlessness and braggadocio of his younger, more reckless self. The unfortunately titled "Retarded," meanwhile, harkens back to the old, looser "ratchet" party records that put him on a larger platform.
The real highlights come from the pulsating, thumping "For da Love of Money", about the perils that money and shine bring, and the sobering, meditative "Right Game Wrong N***a" about the ways in which the people around you will double-cross and take advantage. Meanwhile, the elegant ode to his children "Found Love n U" captures a father’s love and dedication with complete earnesty, and it’s a testament to Boosie’s artistic range that he can go from vicious and cold to extremely tender and loving with relative ease and no sense that he should hide any of his feelings.
Thug Talk might not have the emotional weight of In My Feelings, and it doesbn't outshine the ferocity and incredible production of* Out My Feelings,* but it pulls its weight against both records by continuing Boosie’s incredible 2016 streak. On the intro, he promises us that by the end of the album, "you will understand thug talk," and his innate gift as a teacher and a philosopher on record all but guarantees that to be the case.
