By Alec Palombo
If you thought that Young Thug was simply going to be another phase rapper, Thug put that notion in a casket, literally. After teasing fans with wrong release dates for months, Thug brought out a casket to his South By Southwest performance donned in spray paint, reading “Slime Season 3: 3/25/16”. After all the hype around the Slime Season series, Thug definitely delivered and put the trilogy to rest properly.
With songs like “Power” and “Best Friend” peaking high on the charts from the previous two Slime Season’s, Thug continued his momentum. Prepping for his debut album “Hy!£UN35” (formally pronounced HiTunes), Thug has built a cultish following after releasing a high volume of projects in a short amount of time.
Formally a Gucci Mane protégée, Thug’s career really took off after his 2015 release “Barter 6” a play on words of Lil Wayne’s series of “The Carter’s”. Lil Wayne did not take lightly to this, dissing the Atlanta rapper and urging his fans not to support Young Thug. Things even escalated to Wayne’s tour bus getting shot up in Atlanta, and Young Thug being investigated for being responsible for it.
The mixtape itself saw a lot of success, with songs like “With That,” “Check,” and “Halftime” seeing major commercial success. Since then, Williams has cemented himself as a legitimate star in hip-hop. Let’s hold off on comparing him to someone like Lil Wayne just yet, but Thug’s unique flow and beat picking definitely remind fans a little bit of Wayne. But don’t tell Lil Wayne fans that.
Slime Season 3 starts off with the banger “With Them,” produced by fellow Atlanta artist and longtime collaborator Mike Will Made-it. The song was previously premiered at Kanye’s fashion show at Madison Square Garden earlier this year, and was the first of eight songs on the tape. Much to fans demise, Slime Season 3 is shorter than the previous Slime Season’s, but was done as an attempt to eliminate “filler” music and make for a more cohesive tape
Though the project is only eight tracks long, Thug arguably made his best work yet, returning to making otherworldly sounding trap music. Songs like “Slime S***,” “Problem,” and “Memo” are perfect examples of why Thug has been on such a hot run lately, making himself one of the most polarizing rappers of 2016. Outside of Future and Young Thug, I don’t think any rapper in the game right now is releasing music as frequently as the rappers hailing from Atlanta.
“Memo,” “Digits,” “Tattoos,” and “Worth It” were all produced by London On Da Track, which should come as no surprise to people that have been listening to Thug for a while. London and Thug have been collaborating out of Atlanta since Thug’s career took off in 2014 with his hit singles “Stoner” and “About the Money.” Since then, the duo has gone on to release hits like “Power,” “Again,” and “Lifestyle.”
Despite seeing a decrease in the project length, it is a very good mixtape overall. Thug is mastering the far-out flow over peculiar, trancing beats and has landed himself in the middle of raps spotlight as a result. I would give the tape a solid 5/5 for Thug, with maybe the biggest complaint being that there was no Metro Boomin placement on the tape. Keep your eyes open for a slew of Thug projects set to release in 2016, with “HiTunes,” “MetroThuggin,” and “MigosThuggin” up on deck.
