A$AP Ferg has this incredible ability to make his worst songs his most endearing. Here's two examples: "Bonnoroo" and "Weaves". On the former, a track that hilariously misspells the festival's name, Ferg expresses his excitement over the fact that Lauryn Hill watched his set, while also talking about how cool it was to see some of his favorite artists. "Weaves", on the other hand, is a song centered around the hook of "Back That Azz Up" while Ferg recalls a night where he fucked five women. And that's really it. The experience made Ferg so happy that he spent an entire song basically being like, "holy shit, I'm really about to fuck five women". Both of these songs are terrible, and probably should have been kept for Ferg himself to enjoy, but both of them make me like Ferg even more than I already did. They're dumb songs, but they only expand on the idea that Ferg is just like a child simply happy to be literally making a living off of rapping. You're lying if that doesn't make you a little bit happier.
Since I've already subject myself to Doris, (an album I quite liked, I may add) I saw no reason for me to not go full out on the mainstream-ignorant-as-fuck albums that highlighted August. My summary of Odd Future can easily be applied to the A$AP Mob, but I'll run through it again for infrequent leaders. I don't like most of A$AP mob, and I don't have plans on continuing my listening experience. Rocky isn't on the level of Tyler, The Creator, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I only thing about them that I do enjoy is their placement in the beast coast movement, which is honestly the only reason I've checked any of them out. I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to this review, but I thought it was time to start updating the blog with more reader friendly music. With that being said, Mr. Ferguson is up next.
The biggest difference between A$AP and Odd Future, is that I actually like at least one member from the latter. I've heard enough Earl to call myself a fan, but that's far from the case with Ferg. I'm familiar with "Work", and "Shabba", but so is everyone else on the fucking planet, so I'm coming into this thing with the knowledge provided by the local radio stations. I do know that he's supposed to be the next big thing to come out of the A$AP crew, which is reason enough for me to not completely toss Trap Lord out the window. For what it's worth, he also appeared on the latest addition of XXL's Freshmen list, a list know for more discovering artist way after everyone else had already heard their music. Yeah sure, I could tell you Trinidad James and Action Bronson are going to be huge as well, but you already know that.
As I did with the Odd Future gang, it'd serve a good purpose if I introduce the A$AP members that might be making sporadic appearances throughout the album. A$AP Rocky. That's about all I could find worthy of mentioning. I'm sure there's some dumbass' that will claim their best rapper is someone I haven't heard of, but I don't care. They seem perfectly content with rolling out their members one by one, and I will listen to them accordingly. Besides, what's the point in listening to the weed carriers of someone I don't even like that much. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I don't have to listen to this shit, but I've dedicated enough time for this intro to turn back now. We're in full on A$AP Ferg mode, so I'll try to make the most out of it and return to the next paragraph with a more positive mood.
Hi guys, anyone else ready to listen to the hottest album on the streets right now? Trap Lord is sure to impress anyone with any taste of music, it's going to be highly entertaining throughout. I mean come on, who the hell wouldn't want to listen to an album with a title as cool as Trap Lord. Seriously guys, that's some groundbreaking shit right there. I've been rocking "Work" for the whole summer and it's been totally awesome! So good that Ferg was forced to remix it with such as star studded cast, featuring the awesome likes of Trinidad James, Schoolboy Q, A$AP Rocky, and the best for last: French Montana! I don't know, though, the new single "Shabba" might have been even better, it's just so freaking good. Either way, they're two of the best singles have heard this past decade. Wow, I can't wait to get into the new album!
I'll cut the sarcasm now, as I can genuinely be quoted for saying, "Trap Lord is sure to impress anyone with any taste of music". Man I hope you read that in context... 1. Let It Go No rap intro hear fellas, Fergusun start off with an odd little intro from some A$AP member that I don't care about, before bursting into a pretty decent song. Apparently he brings that same unorthodox flow and technique to all his song, not just his singles. The hook is just flowing with a Rastafarian feel. Even the wording, (well, not that much) I could see coming from the mouth of Bob Marley. The instrumental has some pretty generic feels to it, such as the snare overload, but I was surprised how well it goes with the style of Ferg. This opener wasn't bad, but I can see this getting redundant as hell after a couple tracks. Also, what the hell kind of laugh was that during the outro. 2. Shabba (Feat. A$AP Rocky) Picking up where the last track, Ferg brings the same type of flow, while we get a look into what kind of music a trap lord enjoys. For those unfamiliar, which is almost all of you, Shabba Ranks was a very famous Jamaican artist who is often considered a legend of whatever kind of music they make over there. A$AP Rocky, the group ring leader, makes his first appearence, delivering a pretty horrible verse. The way he said "damn" repeatedly pissed me off, but that's just how I feel about everything the guy does. Sorry, but his music is merely average and his face looks highly punchable. Looks like I'm taking our hosts side here.
3. Lord (Feat. Bone Thugs N Harmony) Oh hey Bones Thugs, haven't see you all in several years. A$AP makes his first hire of odd old school rappers that have been given mythical unicorn status by bloggers and hip hop heads. (See track twelve for the other one) Bone Thugs have always sounded better over these atmospheric beats, so its no surprise that I completely forgot Ferg was even in this shit. I'm partial to Bizzy, but Krazy Bone lays what is easily the best verse. I hope I'm not shocking anyone, but Ferg isn't a very good rapper, so I'm glad to see him utilize features. I don't know if I could get through thirteen tracks of straight trap lord. 4. Hood Pope Another song that I believe was a single, or maybe it was just released earlier on ITunes. I've never understood why rappers felt the need to release half their album before it even hits shells. I know promotion is necessary, but the people who bought the album really need some surprises. Anyways, Ferg raps and sings his lyrics in a way a would best compare to Ol' Dirty Bastard, but to a much lesser degree. Nothing he could really do about this, but his singing ended up reminding me of Kid Cudi. I could go on but that last sentence should get my point across just fine. 5. Fergivicious Alright Ferg, I've been pleasantly surprised with the project so far, but if you want that trend to continue, there's no way I'm going to allow anymore track names like "Fergivicious". It all but bites Fergies shit, and I'm almost embarrassed to say the name out loud. Right after I just made fun of him for creating stupid names, I actually thought it was hilarious when he described his fans as "trap lordians". I'm not sure he was trying to be funny, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The beat features more of the spacey feel, but our host fails to say anything very interesting. Can't say I enjoyed this song, but if he was just trying to be weird as fuck, he's succeeding in a major way.
6. 4:02 The songs title has nothing to do with the track length, so I'll stay away from trying to explain what it means. The last thing I want is a bunch of trap lordians telling me I'm doing this review wrong. I'll probably get that reaction anyways, though, because this song is fucking terrible. Sounds like one of those weird ass spoken word sex rap that were prevalent in the early nineties. The reasons they stopped so abruptly is because no one liked them. Yeah, the instrumental is fairly creative, but it sounds just like everything else we've heard.
7. Dump Dump Throw away all your favorite trap songs with ignorant-as-fuck hooks, because nothing's touching this one. By no means a technically good songs, or even a good song in general, but when he just starts yelling "I fucked yo bitch", this approaches the legendary status of mr. muthafucking eXquire's "Illest Niggas Beathin'". Ferg must have had me in mind when creating this shit, as he even through a Diamond Dallas Page reference in there. I've repeatedly stated that there's no one reference that will get me on your good side, but this may have done the trick.
8. Work REMIX (Feat. A$AP Rocky, French Montana, Trinidad James, & Schoolboy Q) The ultra-mega-fuck-yo-bitch single that elevate Ferg to another status on the radio. Ferg cooks up his most commercial friendly beat yet, but somehow manages to keep the dark feel while in the context of the album. Unfortunately, his idea of a star studded cast consistent of some of the worlds worst rappers. Aside from Schoolboy Q, the other three have almost single handedly give the mainstream a bad name in terms of lyricism. Trinidad James has long been considered one of the lesser rapper among hip hop purists, but I don't see how Frenchie gets more of a pass. Obviously his rap are horseshit, but the man can't make a catchy hook to save his life. Please let me know, what is he supposed to be good at?!
9. Didn't Want To Do That I've forgot to address that every single song on this album brings nearly identical tones. Its worked in terms if making a cohesive feel, but this redundancy is not making this album any more enjoyable. Ferg's rhymes are fairly boring, but I found its pretty funny whenever he went into the hook. It's short as hell too, which makes this beat feel even more unfinished than it already sounds. Not as bad as I may have made it sound, but I can't imagine ever listening to this again.
10. Murda Something (Feat. Wacka Flocka Flame) Oh trap lord, that title and feature is just a recipe for disastor. Oddly enough, this song could have been light years worse. Jim Jonsin's beat is actually really damn good. I think that might have been a Danny Brown sample as well, and you all know how much I love Danny. Ferg manages to keep Wack fairly contained for the entirety of the song, which is disappointing to a point, but makes for a much more enjoyable listen when you're not just trying to turn up. Not bad, but does Flocka ever change up his style on the hooks; I swear he just throws in random words like a mad-libs game.
11. Make A Scene (Feat. Maad Moiselle) Not overly noticeable, but here's that slight change of pace I've been looking for all album. This is actually my favorite song on the album, as well. I'll admit that might just be because it sounds different from the rest of the songs, but I'm getting a real Outkast, or Big K.R.I.T. feel in the hook. Sometimes a little southern G-Funk is all it takes to revive an album. Fergs still not very good at rapping, but I'll let it slide. Not familiar with the work of Maad Moiselle, but I guess she does good enough on the hook.
12. Fuck Out My Face (Feat. Onyx, B-Real, & Ashton Matthews) And the award for most unexpected guest appearance goes to Onyx in a landslide. Even I forgot Oxyn was still rapping, but I guess B-Real isn't doing very much nowadays either. Unlike the hook on "Dump Dump" the hook just sounds like its overkill, as "Fuck out my face" isn't nearly as fun to say as "I fucked yo bitch". The guest appearances are fairly full, which is one of the most disappointing things I've wrote in quite a while. At least A$AP Ferg isn't out shined on his own shit, but I'm not feeling this song.
13. Cocaine Castle Sorry, no.
Rating: 3.5/5 Well, that was at least ten times better than thought it would be. You can say what you want about Ferg and his A$AP mob, but there's no denying their creativity. Trap Lord gets redundant as at times, but it has a very cohesive feel, which is more than I can say about most other releases. Obviously, this isn't a perfect album. That same cohesiveness brings a redundancy that is overwhelming at times. The mellow mood that makes this album so enjoyable could have been even better if he showed some aggression at times. Also, there's no getting around the fact that Ferg isn't a very good rapper. Most of these tracks have some pretty poor lyrical performance, but he makes up for it with his unorthodox style. Even though he sounds like Scott Mescusi at times, I'll admit that he's a decent singer. Ferg also manages to pick up of of the oddest assortment of features I've even seen. Since this years been so disappointing, you should go out and buy this. Not a classic album, but still more enjoyable than Earl, Chance The Rapper, Jay Z, Kanye, and J. Cole's respected albums.