Following up his 2018 release Realer, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again has released his mixtape Al YoungBoy 2. The 18-track mixtape is a sequel to his 2017 effort Al YoungBoy, and is loaded with sentiments about his life struggles, his coping mechanisms for those struggles and the many women in his life.
Most of the tracks consist of only YoungBoy himself, but there are guest features from NoCap and Quando Rondo on “Outta Here Safe.”
NBA YoungBoy has been through a large amount of adversity and is only 19 years old. His father was sentenced to 55 years in prison when he was very young, and he dropped out of high school his freshman year to focus on music. Shortly after dropping out he was arrested for robbery and sent to a detention center where he began writing lyrics for his debut project.
With his first mixtape in 2015 , Life Before Fame, and all of his music, NBA YoungBoy expresses and delves into his life struggles.
The Louisiana-based rapper had the help of a roster of talented producers for his latest project, including Mike WiLL Made-It, Jetsonmade, Buddah Bless and more.
Although YoungBoy was released from prison in August 2019, he has been grinding out a lot of music. He has plans to drop his .38 Baby 2 project very soon despite recently dropping Al YoungBoy 2, and has been a guest to other rappers’ songs. NBA YoungBoy jumped on Juice WRLD’s latest Nick Mira-produced “Bandit.” Although the star was on house arrest for one year, he won’t let anything shake his creative process.
“I just keep recording. You never know what you’ll come up with,” YoungBoy told Billboard in 2018. “I’m just trying to be myself — make music how I make music.”
YoungBoy Never Broke Again is consistent with releasing songs with strong lyricism over creative beats, and “Time I’m On” evokes that truth perfectly. The song focuses on how he deals with hardships in his life, through the use of codeine and marijuana to calm his nerves.
On “Lonely Child,” NBA YoungBoy goes through a list of his former girlfriends and vocalizes a line to them. When he gets to Floyd Mayweather’s daughter, Yaya, he expresses that he misses her, “I’m missin’ Yaya daily, the one who don’t make me feel basic.”
One of the toughest songs on the album is Buddah Bless-produced “Make No Sense,” which was leaked previously and titled “Tina Turner.” The song consists of the rapper spouting off lyrics about the money he has earned, comparing himself to 2006 Gucci Mane and the fact that some men are posers when it comes to having money or to respecting him.
In “Make No Sense,” YB lays down the rhyme, “This sh-- ain't sweet, who close to me, I see 'em hatin' like damn / All I know get the money, still gon’ be the one to slay ’em.”
One of the final songs of the project, Beatmonster Marc-produced “I Don’t Know,” starts off with a melodramatic instrumental, and YoungBoy hops on the beat with sentiments that are targeted toward a female, expressing what they could do together, along with expressions about his past and how far he has come
YoungBoy Never Broke Again doesn’t disappoint with his second installment of Al YoungBoy. As he unleashes more incredible melodies and lyrics about his come-up from the streets, listeners can only become more excited for his future releases.
Rating: 4/5
