Published Feb. 3, 2022
By RYAN JALILI
“DRIP SEASON 4EVER” is the fourth and latest installment of Gunna’s “Drip Season” series, which gives fans a strong beginning, but fails to maintain a cohesive flow as a trap album as the beats become more and more melodic.
With features on songs with the likes of Future, Young Thug, Kodak Black, 21 Savage, Lil Baby and more, this album has a stacked roster.
The album starts off slow with the song “private island,” but quickly picks up the pace with the album’s currently most popular song, “pushin p,” featuring Future and Young Thug who perform well on this strange but fitting beat. Lyrically it’s a confusing mess with lines like “she’s not a lesbian, for p, she turn pesbian,” but all three rappers’ flow works well and fits the song’s overall vibe.
Young Thug stands out on the track “mop” with a classic Thug flow on this track reminsinact of his older albums. However, the clear show-stealer of the album is “thought i was playing” featuring 21 Savage. This track feels like it is straight off of Savage Mode with amazing production from Metro Boomin and great performances from both Gunna and 21 Savage; they both deliver a classic savage track.
“P power” is a well produced, but uncomfortable track featuring Drake, consisting of both rappers rapping over a beat of women moaning, and while both artists perform well, it is just overall awkward to listen to. Kodak Black performs pretty well on the track “how you did that” with a more mellow tone, but the song also features a subpar verse from Gunna.
(Courtesy of YOUNG STONER LIFE RECORDS)
The second half of the album completely diminishes any flow or cohesion the album previously has by using more melodic and slower beats, which does not work at all for Gunna’s vocals or lyricism. Songs like “livin wild,” “you and me” and “die alone” are prime examples of this. This really makes the second half of the album forgettable, with each song sounding virtually the same and boring.
Perhaps the most disappointing song on the album is “25k jacket” featuring Lil Baby who gives a lazy performance with a horrible beat that features out-of-place dog barks. The production on this track is awful.
A common theme is that a large majority of the album’s featured artists, specifically Future and Young Thug, outshine Gunna. Both of these artists appear multiple times and seem to have a much better overall flow and lyricism than Gunna himself. Where the album succeeds is usually at the hands of Gunna’s features, and where the album fails is when Gunna is melodically rapping over an dull beat with absolutely no flow.
With a phenomenal start, but slow and painful finish, apart from a few hit tracks this album is most likely not going to be remembered.
6/10
