After only having released mixtapes up until this point, the east Atlanta rapper, Young Nudy — also 21 Savage’s cousin — did not disappoint in his first studio album. I am a relatively new fan of Young Nudy, but when I heard his album “Anyways” was dropping on Feb. 24, my curiosity piqued and I had to listen immediately. Before listening, I took a brief moment to review how many songs were on the album (16) and to see if the rumors about him truly having no features on the album was true. To my excitement, it was.
There were a few song titles that threw me off. I felt like maybe Young Nudy had just looked around the room and picked whatever the first thing he saw was and threw it into a song title. With songs like “Blue Cheese Salad” and “GTA Lyfestyle,” I liked how loose and almost random the title selection was.
I cannot listen to new albums on shuffle; I have to go in order from beginning to end of each and every song. I started off with the first song, “Understanding,” and was immediately impressed with how wavy and well produced the beat was. Young Nudy, aka “Slimeball,” has a way of hopping on a beat and running with it. In my early stages of listening to the tape, he showed me that he was a one man show, repeating masterful ad-libs and even switching up his flow in the music for short anecdotes within the songs. I was pleasantly surprised by this album.
Rap today has become a bunch of mumble with no real message behind any of the words, overhyped by impressive beats and extremely well done production. Rap nowadays is simply mediocre-at-best lyrics from artists and no one ever asks, “Wow, who made this beat?” Instead of his production standing out over him, Nudy’s diverse lyrics complimented his production, highlighted by producers Jake Uno, COUPE and DJ Marc B.
Whenever I listen to music, I always try to think of scenarios where the songs would be perfect “mood setters.” “Anyways” is going to find its way into the concert scene with more aggressive tracks such as “No comprende” and the aforementioned “Understanding.” I can see myself after a long day of work throwing on the album and chilling out with some friends. It’s diverse, it’s unique and it does not disappoint. I am excited to see what’s up next from the up-and-coming artist.
Photo: H. Rui
