Gunna likes to rap about fly shit, punched-up by spontaneous flow and melody switch-ups that seem minor the first time, until days later when they’re still on your mind. The Audemars Piguet watch and Fendi fur he boasts about on “Top Off” are memorable because he pivots from soulful wails to punchlines delivered like a freestyling R2-D2. The references to Versace boxers and Isabel Marant on “ARGENTINA” only matter because his flow zigs and zags like a car through an obstacle course.
But those small moments are an afterthought on Gunna’s latest album, DS4Ever. His breezy Atlanta sing-rap tracks—centered on foreign whips and more designer clothes than an episode of Real Housewives—have never sounded so dull. The record lacks the excitement of a project like last year’s Punk, by his closest collaborator Young Thug, who, instead of staying the course of his highest-selling album to date, So Much Fun, stripped down his sound to melancholy acoustics and dreary pianos. With DS4, Gunna is on autopilot.
This is not a plea for Gunna to blow up his sound—that’s not his style. But DS4 is monotonous, short on the quirks and out-of-body experiences of his better projects. If “alotta cake,” with its textbook Metro beat and Gunna’s mild singing, were to play on my Spotify account unexpectedly, I wouldn’t notice until it was over. The track “south to west” has a similar effect; his typically playful, rapid-fire delivery doesn’t sound as lively, and Gunna is way more interesting when he’s naming all his favorite luxury goods than when he’s just rapping about having lots of money to buy them.
Too many songs feel like items on a checklist. The mandatory back-and-forth with Lil Baby proves their chemistry hasn’t waned, but the formula to their joint tracks is due for an update. The Chris Brown collab “die alone” is predictably indistinguishable from the shit-ton of other Chris Brown-and-rapper collaborations that have radio DJs in a chokehold. There’ve been rumors that Gunna is dating Chlöe Bailey, so to capitalize on that, there’s a half-assed R&B duet.
The saving grace of DS4EVER is the all-star roster of producers who pop in and out. The Mike WiLL Made-It beat on “thought i was playing” could have lived on Dirty Sprite 2; it was made to soundtrack leaving the club as the sun rises. The 808s on Southside and Metro Boomin’s “poochie gown” pound like your heart after a triple espresso, punctuated by a Gunna diss of Freddie Gibbs that’s so bizarre it’s hilarious.
And as forced as Gunna’s new “pushin’ P” motto may be, the Wheezy instrumental it’s laid over is so ominous it’ll make the hairs stick up on the back of your neck. The middle section of the song, where Gunna raps gibberish for a moment, is the most fun he’s having on the entire album.
But fun shouldn’t feel like a rarity on a Gunna album. In the past, it sounded like he got a rush crooning about just how much plusher and more expensive his life is than ours. On DS4Ever, it feels like he’s doing it out of obligation.
Buy: Rough Trade
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