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Atlanta trap goliath Young Thug is still in custody after being imprisoned over a year ago, but that hasn’t stopped him from releasing new music. On June 23, Thug dropped his third studio album “Business is Business,” displaying his boundless ability to smoothly glide over any sort of beat.

The album cover depicts Thug surrounded by co defendants in a courtroom, but the project doesn’t mention his legal situation as all of Thug’s contributions were recorded before his arrest. Instead, “Business is Business” attempts to set the benchmark for a great, though conventional, trap album. Thug pairs his entertaining flows, zany bars and erratic squawks with polished beats, reminding the rap world that he’s still here.

Thug is one of the most prolific and influential contributors to the current Atlanta rap scene, but he’s still awaiting trial, along with 26 others, for conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Last May, Thug and company faced 56 charges, and the rapper was cited as the leader of the Atlanta street gang Young Slime Life – commonly known as YSL.

The bulk of “Business is Business” consists of Thug’s signature upbeat and highly refined trap style. He frequently switches between rapping and singing – often annunciating each syllable so sharply that you can almost hear the spit spewing from his tongue – and enlivens each line with exuberant ad-libs.

Lyrically, the record consists of the standard trap themes that have dominated hip-hop charts in recent years. Each song comes with a handful of designer brand and sports car name drops, but Thug’s boisterous braggadocio evokes undeniable energy on songs like “Wit Da Racks” and “Gucci Grocery Bag.”

The record is executively produced by Metro Boomin – who is fresh off curating the soundtrack for “Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse” and releasing his sophomore album “Heroes & Villains.” It features some of rap’s biggest names like Travis Scott, Drake and Future.

A few features and samples bring morsels of currency and clarity regarding his case. Drake raps from Thug’s perspective in the intro track “Parade on Cleveland,” singing “I’m comin’ home / I’m comin’ home.” And the outro begins with an unconventional feature from former Fun frontman Nate Reuss, who sings “They will try to lock you up / Drag your name through the mud / Afraid of what you’ll become.”

These few moments that were added to “Business is Business” after Thug’s arrest afford the album some semblance of thematic continuity, but feel disjointed in contrast to Thug’s dated verses.

While Metro Boomin produced most of the album, Thug also enlisted trap veterans like Southside and Wheezy for a few tracks. The beats are generally inundated with classic trap motifs like booming 808s, hi-hat drum layers and spacey synthesizers, serving as the perfect platforms for Thug to cultivate the record’s bullish and high-octane mood. Highlights include the gothic organ loop on “Money on the Dresser” and the subdued vocal sample on “Jonesboro,” which is named after the apartment complex Thug grew up in.

Thug returns to form in “Business is Business” after his feature-glutted sophomore album “Punk” in 2021. He utilized some of trap’s premier beatmakers and put together some solid verses in one of the best rap albums so far this year. Still, fans are eager to hear new verses from when he returns to the studio.

Published on June 26, 2023 at 9:43 pm