BY NATE MARTINEZ
Pima Post
The month of October has been very kind to fans of hip hop across the United States. Recently, the highly touted singer/songwriter Young Thug dropped his second studio album “Punk” on Oct. 15.
The album opens up with a soft alternative rock kind of flow, something Young Thug fans have been used to for a while now.
Young Thug has been known to mix alternative genres with hip hop. In 2016, he dropped the mix tape, “JEFFREY,” which mixes influences of reggae and rock. Young Thug also gave his fans “Beautiful Thugger Girls,” which had heavy tones of country rock mixed in.
Mixing punk and soft rock with hip hop may sound like an album that was destined for failure. Young Thug actually does an amazing job in blending the sounds together, ultimately making catchy, rhythmic songs that fans can’t help but sing to.
The song “Real Recognize Real” featuring Gunna, for example, blends a slow guitar picking riff with angelic beats and melodic vocals by both rappers. They talk about their struggles in the streets, with women and with the ones trying to stab them in the back.
The album eventually shifts back into mostly trap hip hop, for which Young Thug is mostly known.
The song “Rich ***** S**t” featuring the late Juice Wrld is probably the most rap-heavy song in the album. The beat, produced by Pierre and Kanye West, is heavy and almost evil sounding.
In “Day Before,” featuring Mac Miller, the sound is soft and makes the audience think of elements of life and death.
For all 20 songs, Young Thug showed his audience that he has not been afraid to experiment with different kinds of sounds. Each song sounds different from the last.
By mixing different genres together, Young Thug was able to make yet another master album. Clearly, it has been shown that Young Thug still has a hold on this generation of rappers.