Bop or Flop August 2019

Blueface – Dirtbag: After releasing “Bust Down,” taking social media and TikTok by storm, Blueface has gained immense media coverage and continues to find his way onto Worldstar, TMZ, meme pages and various other media platforms. He resurfaced in the news after recent drama, kicking his mother and sister out of his home to make room for his two new girlfriends. Shortly after, he hopped on an interview with Big Boy and claimed that he’s slept with over 1000 women in a period of 6 months. There are roughly 180 days in a 6 month period. Do the math, I’m not sure if I’m more impressed or disgusted. 

But I’m not here to critique his life choices, just his music. Early August the “Deadlocs” artist released the Dirtbag EP. This eight song project includes five features and three solo songs. Now before I get into this critique and people assume I just hate Blueface, I too did the Bust Down and actually really enjoyed his feature on NLE Choppa’s “Shotta Flow” remix. But so did all of Instagram.

But Dirtbag was god awful. I get his trademark is being off beat, but it gets so old so fast. Five of the tracks feature terrible beats that I’m pretty sure my 12-year old sister could have topped on a free trial of FL studios. The only songs that might be worth your time are “Bussdown (feat. Offset)”, “Bussin (feat. Lil Pump)”, and “Bleed It.” 

His lyrics are dense, mostly consisting of disrespecting women, killing people, how many guns he has, drugs and other stereotypical rap things. In the title track “Dirtbag” his hook consists of literally nothing but “Ay, i’m back on my dirtbag. Im back off that Henny in a brown bag. Stick on me, like a n***ga with a bad back (on the gang). Up the .40, bet it blow a n***ga back, back,” repeated twice. That’s basically the gist of all of the songs on the album lyrical content. 

With all of the experimental and influential rappers coming into the game, if Blueface wants to stay relevant for anything other than his obscene life choices, he needs to switch up his flow, lyrical style and overall image. Dirtbag is just a terrible project, and I don’t suggest wasting your time listening to it. 

Fave: ”Bussdown”

Least: “Disrespectful”

Bop or Flop: Flop

Flop-to-Bop scale: 2

Trippie Redd – !  : Since Trippie Redd’s 2017 debut, he has moved from an underground Soundcloud rapper to a mainstream hip-hop artist. As someone who has watched his musical style evolve, I have noticed similarities to the late rapper Xxxtentacion. They both started as Soundcloud rappers with more aggressive themes, and as they grew more popular their music grew more sensitive toward more common themes. But the “Love Scars” artist’s newest album !, has gained attention for the similarities to X’s last album before his death, ?, and Trippie confirmed that this album was dedicated to the late rapper. Both albums are softer, speaking on heavier and more depressing topics such as depression, heart break, and suicide. 

With the release of !, Trippie reached his peak position as an artist on the Billboard 100 at number 13, but he currently sits at 35 after eight weeks on the chart. ! is a 13-song project with only three features. The album combiness lower beats than we’re used to seeing from Trippie, sadder lyrical content, and more singing than rapping. “Under Enemy Arms” was released a month or so before he dropped the album as a sort of teaser, but the single was honestly better than any other song on the album. It wasn’t terrible, but Trippie’s traditional style fits his flow so much better than this sad boy rock/rap in my opinion. 

Fave : “Under Enemy Arms”

Least : “Be Yourself” 

Bop or flop : Bop

Flop-to-Bop scale : 6

Drake –  Care Package: I don’t remember when Drake blew up, but I do know he is king. He’s one of the richest rappers in the world, tied for number 11 with Lil’ Wayne and Pharell Williams with a net worth of $150 million. He’s had 203 songs make their way to the Billboard Hot 100, with six songs topping at number one and 35 hits in the top 10. Drake lifts us up with songs like “In My Feelings” that took over the media last year. He breaks our heart with songs like “Marvin’s Room,” and he ended the hot girls’ summer with his latest album Care Package. 

Care Package is the Canadian rapper’s first compilation album, including songs he recorded from 2010-16 that were never released for purchase or commercial streaming. Drake released this comp on August 2, and 5 of the 17 songs made their way to the Hot 100 as well as reaching number one on the Billboard 200. This will make it Drake’s ninth time at the top of the Billboard 200 since 2010. 

This 17 song project mixes both sides of Drake, with 11 of the 17 songs being what I would listen to at 3 a.m. when I’m in my feelings, and the other six are what I listen to in the car with my friends. I didn’t hate any of the songs on this album. I didn’t add all of them to my playlists, but I wouldn’t skip over any of them if they came on the radio. I don’t think it’s the “Marvin’s Room” artists best album, but for a compilation of songs from almost 10 years ago and how much Drake himself and the idea of mainstream music has changed, it’s pretty dang good. 

Fave : “East Side”

Least : “4pm in Calabasas” 

Bop or flop : Bop

Flop-to-Bop scale : 8