Over the course of my gradually enhancing admiration for the incongruous flows that escape the voice box of Jeffery Lamar Williams, there is one consistent lyrical element of his that has stuck out like a sore thumb. And it’s the fact that he manages to wipe his dick off with the curtains of his Rolls Royce, which is plain ridiculous to do any more than once.
Back in 2014, a turning point in life where I originally discovered Young Thug’s music, the first track that I genuinely enjoyed by the Atlanta-bred crooner was “The Blanguage,” a remix to Drake’s synth-heavy cut off of “Nothing Was The Same.” And although the original version is undoubtedly a burnt out classic, the mystique behind Thugger’s version made for an entirely new experience.
The first lyric of the song? Oh, I thought you’d never ask: “I f—– her and washed off my dick with the curtains inside of the Phantom.” Nasty, right? Repulsive, ridiculous, risible, yes. But even more so, reasonable, trailblazing and downright left-field, which is exactly how YONG THOK (the way I prefer to pronounce his pseudonym among my peers) has developed such an immense following.
Fast-forward four years, and we make it to the tail-end of summer 2018, an oddity in the space-time continuum where the newest member of the kursed Kardashian klan (yeah, I said that s—), Travis Scott, constantly manages to thwart Nicki Minaj from a first seed on the Billboard chart, even though the thought of seeing either of them on there is staggering to consider a legit competition. So, what else is going on in hip-hop?
Only “Slime Language,” Young Thug’s best impression of Jay-Z’s “The Dynasty,” made for a premier compilation concocted of 15 songs, alongside all his Young Stoner Life label mates, and made its way onto streaming services this past week. And honestly, it’s my personal favorite drop of the summer.
What, did you expect me to say “Scorpion“? Maybe on the first day that it came out. “EVERYTHING IS LOVE“? I don’t f— around with post-2009 Jay-Z, so this wasn’t even worth mentioning. “TESTING”? It was a little too messy for my liking. “KIDS SEE GHOSTS“? A very close second, to be honest. “BEAST MODE 2“? Do any more rappers want to yell their titles at me this summer?
After having the best verse on Travis Scott’s album (sorry, Frank Ocean), Gunna is sure having himself one hell of a month.
When the first set of drums burst on “Dirty Shoes,” you can genuinely feel the entire human race punch a wall with every ounce of force in each individual’s body. Do you remember that lyric I mentioned at the very start of this review? Jeffery admittedly wiped her fluids on these f—– $6,200 set of drapes, (“Bought the Rolls Royce and came through Bleveland swervin’ / I just wiped my dick off with the Rolls Royce curtain”) and refers to himself as the “GOAT” all on the same track, and he’s sure inching his way into the argument with more punchlines.
The one song that stands out above all else is “Oh Yeah,” a light-hearted ballad featuring his own flesh and blood, his sister HiDoraah. Not only is this the best song on this project by arguably a mile, but it is honestly one of the more lush symphonies that I’ve wrapped my head around all year long.
From the second those strings creep up on you, Young Thug’s swanky vocals chime in and showcase addiction (“Gucci shirt on, color my spleen / I can’t get enough of codeine,”), affection (“I just wanna show you some love / I’m the one that got you Frank Chesters,”) and an ultimatum of a lifetime (“If you make me stop, you know you owe me / Good p—-, good money, good genes”).
“Scoliosis” and “Gain Clout” exhibit a pair of Thugger flows that have rarely been put out for the public’s listening pleasure. I genuinely can’t even remember the last time that he rapped as fast as he did on the latter of the two.
On “Gain Clout,” it can get difficult to keep up with what he’s saying — I get it. But when you listen to the track 27 times over a two-day span, it somehow evolves to a form of native tongue. This is no reason to feel disheartened, though; as a matter of fact, it seems as if the rapper himself is having as hard a time picking up the pieces (“I go to Finland and I got a tall breezy comin’ from Greece / I don’t believe her, I think she Belize or she from Middle East”). I really hope he got to figure out where this girl was from, solely for the sake of sanity.
The fact that I can only enjoy five of the featured verses was expected, but it’s still bothersome. For example, the hook on “STS” is a doozy, as Young Thug croons about slamming the door on his Aventador, but the first verse that follows is a verse from Strick where he raps, “Cuban link ‘round my neck takin’ a bird bath.”
I mean, that’s cool and all, but where’s the Young Thug verse? And no offense, I’ve heard my fair share of Duke features dating back to 2015, and I could’ve gone without it this time around, but these are really my only issues.
Otherwise, I truly am very surprised and infatuated with “Slime Language” for a handful of reasons. Let alone the fact that I surely wasn’t expecting only two solo songs from the Y.S.L label head, his auto-tune heavy harmonies and ludicrous flows glisten as they have for the past half-decade. Hell, it may even be the cure all your biggest issues, so I wouldn’t bet against it.
