November 15, 2018
I have never been more surprised by an album or mixtape than I was with “Drip Harder.” The lead up to the mixtape was very short, so it was hard to have a lot of expectations for it. However, I wasn’t expecting such a refreshing showcase of talent from Lil Baby and Gunna. This mixtape shows this duo is not to be questioned and that there is chemistry between them that not many others rap duos or groups can compare to.
Lil Baby and Gunna are rappers from Atlanta that have been blowing up recently with different singles and features. Both were born in Atlanta, and grew up listening to artists like Outkast and Cam’ron. They’ve released songs with big artists like Drake and Young Thug, and that’s made them gain even more popularity. Near the middle of September, they announced they were going to release a mixtape together and dropped the single “Drip Too Hard.” The single was a huge hit and made the hype for this album crazy. Nobody knew what to expect, but we found out when the mixtape dropped at the beginning of October.
This mixtape is great. Besides the lacking production, everything from the guest features to the split flows between Lil Baby and Gunna, made this mixtape enjoyable. The chemistry between the two rappers is electric and almost becomes a fun competition throughout the mixtape. They both shine when they rap melodically and this works great when they put their verses together. This very apparent in “Close Friends” and “Never Recover.” They’re constantly one-upping each other in their verses and this creates a fun and energetic listen for the fans.
The one downfall of the mixtape was the lack of producers on it. Turbo was the main producer and that hurt the project. A lot of his beats blended together and weren’t unique enough to be the backbone of a mixtape. The lack of diversity with their beats made it hard to remember which song was which. Drip Harder should have had more variation in producers to keep the mixtape sounding fresh and not stagnant at times. The lack of variation in producers didn’t allow the album to sound cohesive and unique, but repetitive and sometimes boring.
A highlight of this mixtape was how concise it was. It only has thirteen songs, which is a breath of fresh air compared to other rap albums released this year. Artists like Drake and Migos release albums with almost thirty songs on them because it gets them more streams on streaming services. The goal is to make the most money possible, but in the process there are a lot of songs on those albums that aren’t great. Drip Harder doesn’t follow that path and boasts a much more potent track list. There are still a couple tracks that aren’t the best like “I Am” and “Seals Pills”, but that happens on almost every rap album. It’s obvious that the purpose of this mixtape wasn’t to just make money, but to put out the best product they could. The short track list allowed Lil Baby and Gunna to flex their skills just enough without it getting old and boring. The concise nature of this project also limits the amount of music they have out together. This will make the hype for their next project even bigger because fans will have been waiting to hear the duo team up for new music.
The biggest success of this mixtape was their ability to create their own fresh sound coming out of Atlanta where a lot of artists sound similar these days. Baby and Gunna prove they are a strong duo and could be a staple in the Atlanta rap scene for years to come. Their sound and energy is refreshing and Drip Harder begins to pave their own lane in rap. The Atlanta rap scene has been overrun the past few years with rappers who all sound the same because they’re using the same Migos flow. Lil Baby and Gunna’s confidence to avoid the popular flow and shine rapping their way is a huge boost for this mixtape.
Ultimately, Drip Harder does a great job of showcasing Lil Baby and Gunna’s skills, but the stagnation of beats stops the project from being amazing. This mixtape acted as a coming out party for the duo and showed how successful they can be together. Lil Baby and Gunna’s chemistry makes Drip Harder the refreshing and fun vibe that Atlanta rap needed. Drip Harder is a great mixtape, and that means the future for the duo is bright if they keep on improving and working together.
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