WUNNA SEASON.
Hip-hop visionary Gunna released his third studio album, DS4EVER, on Friday, Jan. 7. The release was very standard, with days of hype surrounding the record and numerous shoutouts by other rappers and artists featured on the album. Generally, the rollout was solid, balancing exposure and quality.
Following Wunna’s release in Summer 2020, Gunna’s year and a half album hiatus was anything but quiet. The rapper dropped a string of solid singles and features to continue his 3-year-long hype train, leading up to the finale of the “Drip Season” 4-part series.
He delivered.
DS4EVER is a melodious change for a rapper so hinged on aggressive beats and a fast musical flow. Gunna opts for a much smoother rhythm on numerous songs, namely “so far ahead > empire.” Gunna’s original style still appears however, his verse and hook on “thought I was playing” featuring 21 Savage was vintage Wunna. The features were very well picked to compliment the beats and Gunna, Kodak Black, Chloe, Future, Young Thug, Lil Baby and 21 Savage all delivered great verses and were overall solid additions to their respective tracks. Gunna also added a particularly hilarious diss on much more established (and older) rapper Freddie Gibbs after their 3 years-long back and forth about Gunna’s history “snitching” to major news network CNN.
“I can’t f**k with Freddie Gibbs!” The Georgia rapper exclaims on “Poochie Gown.” The entire exchange between him and Gibbs is hilarious, as Gibbs treats Gunna as nothing more than a nuisance. Wunna would proceed to say the highlight of Gibbs’ career was being dissed on his album.
On a more serious note, a highly anticipated deluxe is unconfirmed but widely expected to drop, as Gunna’s last album had a deluxe version as well. Hip-hop fans had hoped Gunna would lay his unnamed leak featuring Drake that has gone viral on social media. The feature had not been leaked in full, leading some to believe it was potentially unfinished. As many artists have in the past half-decade of hip-hop, Gunna is likely to release his deluxe chock full of features from notable artists such as Drake.
As expected from a young trapper like Gunna, the album has critically received mixed reviews. Rolling Stone gave it three out of five stars, while popular YouTube music reviewer Anthony Fantano bestowed the project “not good.” Music videos by Gunna on YouTube have racked up millions of views and likes, however, this is relatively typical in today’s age of virulent new media. Sales for the album have not been released at the time of writing, Jan. 11.
Overall, Gunna delivered a solid album, as he typically does. The songs, as mentioned, were slightly different from the norm but, as a whole, gelled effectively. Wunna is typically thought of as a featured artist, but with his now third studio album and seventh mixtape, he has really put those claims to bed. Garnering plenty of deserved hype, Gunna has solidified himself as an above-average modern hip-hop artist.
Other notable artists dropped alongside Gunna, including unbelievably average R&B musician The Weeknd, who unexpectedly dropped a mediocre album full of songs that sound exactly the same. In comparison to DS4EVER, the album is expected to likely blow Gunna’s project out of the water, unfortunately.
Mediocrity at its finest.
Looking forward, Gunna is not expected to drop for another year or so, as he typically does. However, fans should look out for his upcoming surprise feature verses as he is typically on multiple albums a year as a featured artist. It was truly a successful Wunna season, with the rapper-born Sergio Kitchens hitting on another album which will certainly produce many viral one-liners and hilarious memes for the fans.
Eat up Gunna.
