Still Dangerous is the fifth full-length project from YG. YG is best known for his west coast gangsta rap and also contributed to making blood speak a meme. He first came on the scene with the single "My Hitta," which features one of DJ Mustard's most iconic beats and one of Rich Homie Quan's best hooks. His 2016 album, Still Brazy, is one of the best modern west coast albums of all time, so he had a lot to live up to for this release. I didn't think his singles were any special, but I was looking forward to it regardless because I like YG's music.
I'm gonna be up front: this album is not great. There aren't too many positive things to say when it comes to this project. His flow and voice still sound pretty good, with the exception of a few songs like "Handgun" and "Slay." Even though there weren't many, I enjoyed any non-DJ Mustard production. Which leads to one of the album's biggest problems...
DJ Mustard's production was terrible. Back in 2014 when he was the hottest producer, I will admit that I've enjoyed several songs produced by DJ Mustard, including YG's debut album My Krazy Life. I still think that his songs can be fun in certain settings (mainly parties), but they all sound the same. When I reviewed "Big Bank" back in May, I said that DJ Mustard is at his best when he's producing for YG. It's gotten to the point where he's holding YG back more than anything and I enjoyed his production on My Krazy Life much more. Another thing that bothered me was that many songs on this project end in weird ways, and that isn't a good thing. On "10 Times," there's random gospel singing at the end that doesn't fit at all. On "Handgun" and "666," there are long spoken word outros that would have worked better as separate skits or better yet, just don't include them at all. "Big Bank" ends with these abrupt alarm sounds that sound really annoying. "Power" ends with this really long bridge about how good this woman is at having sex with YG. And "Too Brazy" ends with YG saying "ay" a bunch of times.
There are many weak hooks throughout the album that rely too much on repetition and it's not like most of these verses are any better. YG's lyrical talent has declined significantly and this album has some of his worst verses. In the first verse of "Handgun," YG starts playing Duck Duck Goose in the middle of it for some arbitrary reason. Both of his verses on "Slay" are just cringeworthy attempts at trying to sound soft and sexy. "Deeper Than Rap" has these lyrical gems:
"As I look in the mirror, takin' this fucking selfie" - a terrible way to start a song. It sounds like he's trying too hard to be deep or parodying people trying too hard to be deep.
"Don't come to me mixin' up stories by DJ Skrillex" - A Skrillex reference? In 2018? Why?
All in all, most of these songs are a verse too long.
This album cover is atrocious. YG is literally just standing there doing nothing while there's a dragon making an "OK" sign in the background. It would be a lot better if YG wasn't on there. This album has an all-star guest list and somehow the only ones worth mentioning were 2 Chainz, Mozzy, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Oh, and I also liked this line from Big Sean on "Big Bank":
"I'm rare as affordable health care"
I don't normally praise Big Sean for his lyrical prowess but he can come up with a funny one-liner every now and then. Overall, I did not like this album. It was a major step back from Still Brazy and moving away from that sound was a huge mistake.
Singles
Handgun - feat. A$AP Rocky [Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, GOOSE!]
Suu Whoop [Meh song.]
Big Bank - feat. 2 Chainz x Big Sean x Nicki Minaj [Probably the best song on the album if we're being honest...that's kinda unfortunate.]
Best Songs
Can't Get In Kanada
Big Bank
666 - feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Too Brazy - feat. Mozzy
Worst Songs
Handgun
Too Cocky [Why? Why in the absolute fuck did you think referencing "I'm Too Sexy" by RightSaidFred was a good idea?]
Slay - feat. Quavo
Score: 4/10
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