Young Thug’s second studio album Punk is an acoustic project more reminiscent of 2017’s Beautiful Thugger Girls than 2019’s So Much Fun. It’s a departure from the exuberant, synthesized Thugger we’ve fallen in love with over the years since the Slime Season series. Punk is a navigation of interiority and natural sound from one of the most enigmatic, alien-like, trap-forward celebrities in America. A man who‘s most familiar with autotune ditches the voice modification process almost entirely on this project, and instead opts for a natural, around-the-campfire delivery.
That’s fine and all, but Thug is at his best when he’s on a larger-than-life instrumental like “FACES,” which is the best song on the album by a mile. It's Thugger carrying a producer who fell asleep from smoking too many Backwoods out of an exploding building. I’m less infatuated with Thug becoming a supporting folk singer from Inside Llewyn Davis like he is for most of this project. I’m much more intrigued by the prospect of Thug filling the Stevie Wonder or Prince void; cascading over soft piano instrumentals supported by light drums and chilling bass lines like he does on “DROPPIN JEWELS.”
Because, I’ll be honest — the project lost my attention at certain points, which I thought was impossible for a Young Thug album to do. Those moments largely exist on the front side of the project, where several tracks just didn't work for me. The features, for the most part, are underwhelming. Post Malone doesn’t belong here, Juice WRLD’s felt forced, Gunna’s were just taking up Thug’s real estate, Travis Scott and Drake’s were decent at best, and T-Shyne’s felt like a downgraded Chris Brown impression. On the contrary, Doja Cat absolutely glided on “ICY HOT,” which was the project’s most simple and fun song. Nate Ruess of FUN took over the feature on “LOVE YOU MORE” that was clearly intended for another Elton John appearance on a Thug project, and he ran with it.
I just want to say that I’m largely against the release of posthumous projects or features because they’re typically in bad taste, et cetera, et cetera. But it’s truly sad to hear how perfectly Mac Miller and Thug collide on this album’s closing chapter, “DAY BEFORE.” Mac stans will recall his collaboration with Future on “EARTH,” and how he was a chameleon when it came to meshing with other hip-hop artists while also bringing the most out of his contemporaries. To hear him on a Young Thug project a little over three years after his tragic passing speaks to his universal legacy.
At the end of the day, Punk isn't positive about what it wants to be. It floats back and forth between genres and makes its listener crave another Super Slimey collaboration with Future more than it does an inevitable deluxe album with six extra tracks. There are incredibly high points and fairly low points on the project, which is to be anticipated with most Thug projects, but he hasn't been able to find the same consistency that he did in 2015 with Barter 6. I'm not knocking him for trying new things; I'm just disappointed with the execution of it as someone who holds Thug in the highest regard of hip-hop contributors.
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