Young Thug’s first studio LP, one that comes after being a feature of trap for years, is one that may not be a masterpiece, but certainly lives up to its title: So Much Fun.
Young Thug, better known as Thugger, has been one of the earliest innovators in the popular trap subgenre of hip-hop, first making himself known on the joyously fun Barter 6 in 2015. He’s kept up a pretty consistent output since then, peaking with 2016’s tight and ridiculous Jeffrey, but a studio album seemed to be where he’d finally put it all together and make something truly great. So Much Fun is, unfortunately, not that, but at the very least it provides more evidence that Thugger is nothing if not a good time.
Opening with a soft “UwU” within the first few seconds of the album had me anticipating a great deal from this project and for a while he lives up to it. The first five tracks are all bangers, especially ‘Ecstasy’ and ‘Hot’, both of which have already become party staples of mine despite the short time since their releases. While the middle of the album leaves a bit to be desired, it is bookended nicely with closing tracks that are just as triumphant as the opening. Thugger chooses his beats carefully and has a number of rather exultant and tight hooks throughout the project. He is also consistently ridiculous and clever with his bars, though his most notable examples are ones a bit too profane to print here. The album truly shines when he embraces his personality and goes hard over a beat deserving it.
However, there is unfortunately a fair amount of filler on the album, especially towards the middle of the project. Not much distinguishes So Much Fun from his other mixtapes outside of a longer runtime and I feel that while every song is perfectly passable, it is not the banger-after-banger album I had hoped for. Thugger also leans too heavily on unnecessary features from less talented artists, especially for a debut studio LP (the fact that Gunna appears on 2 songs in a 3 song span should say it all). It arguably doesn’t even reach the high moments of Jeffrey, which has aged surprisingly well considering one of its singles was called ‘Harambe.’
It can’t be held against Thugger that his debut LP isn’t amongst trap masterpieces like Die Lit or DS2, but if it is taken for what it is, it’s a rather enjoyable record. There are many clever moments to be had on it and several songs will be sure to make their way onto my party mixes this year.
Image: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images.