Young Thug has solidified himself as one of the top artists of his generation. It’s wild to think about right? He operates on a level that I don’t think I fully understand. Societal norms mean nothing to him as he’ll wear a dress while holding a gun and call his best friends his “baes”. Everytime Young Thug posts on Instagram a Hotep has a nose bleed. He took the idea of modern masculinity and burned it down to one truth: “it doesn’t matter what I say or do because I will also shoot the shit out of you”.
I call Thug a generational artist because he takes the lessons of the past era and advances them WHILE also laying the ground work for the artists who come after him. So with that said, let’s get into his “debut” album, “So Much Fun”.
I am very confused.
Thug calls this a Debut Album even though he already has a pretty impressive discography. However the fact that he calls this his debut means that he doesn’t consider those complete bodies of work in comparison to this album. The Album structure caught me off guard because it almost starts in the middle and works it’s way back to the beginning. There’s no intro; you’re just thrust into it. On one end it was hard for me to understand what was happening, but on the other end I found that it was easier for repeat listens since I didn’t notice it was starting over. This album reminds me of those nights I took an edible before bed and woke up higher than I ever expected to be at 3:44 AM. This is an album for organized chaos, if you need to clean out a fridge or pay 6 overdue bills back to back, listen to “So Much Fun”
This album has a lot of features but none of them feel mandatory. Some times features can feel like label requirements so things come off very inorganic and stiff (I’m looking directly at you DJ Khaled). On So Much Fun it’s clear that the features are people Young Thug genuinely likes. This is where things get very interesting because it’s clear that every feature in some way has been inspired by Young Thug, whether it be in their flows or cadences, Thugger is a big part of who they are. Remember when LeBron was on the Cavs the first time and the whole team started getting tattoos that sort of looked like LeBron’s? This is what the features sound like on So Much Fun; everyone wants to impress Thug.
Ok now flaws, if you’ve never listened to Young Thug you will be the most confused person on the planet. Usually “debut” albums ease new listeners into the artist. So Much Fun doesn’t do that shit at all. Listening to this album is like watching a Quentin Tarantino movie with no knowledge of his foot fetish or how much he loves saying “Nigga” with a hard R. However beyond that, I can’t think of anything wrong with this album. So Much Fun is like wearing mismatched socks or eating two cereals at once. It’s unorthodox but it does what it sets out to do.
“So Much Fun” is in fact so much fun. Young Thug is an artists that’s built a name for himself while building up the people around him, I’m happy with this album. I give “So Much Fun” 8 Women’s Tank Tops out of 10.