6.3/10
Favorite Track: "Just How It Is" Least Favorite Track: "Sup Mate (Feat. Future)"
Atlanta rapper Young Thug is undoubtedly one of the most influential rappers that has come out of the last ten years. For almost half a decade now, Thugger has been shaping the hip-hop landscape quite particularly and innovating trap music every step of the way. The slimeball’s influence is so widespread that it’s strange to think that this new project; So Much Fun, is his true major label debut. With executive production from J. Cole, Thugger has finally decided to enter album mode. He kicks off his first “complete” body of commercial work with “Just How It Is”; a guitar-backed, moody, and subtle intro that sees Thug bring an inspirational tone to a Wheezy-produced beat that just about every other rapper would of most likely taken in a completely different direction. It's a grand and reflective way to kick off the project. After this we get the Future-assisted “Sup Mate”, which is pretty much unlistenable. Future’s “verse” sounds like it was written in about fifteen minutes with a melody that was crafted in even less time. This pattern is pretty common throughout So Much Fun. For every few hits on this album there is a juxtaposing miss, but generally the former outweighs the latter. The former generally is saved by Thugs ability to write a hook catchier than just about any artist around. Standout choruses on tracks like “Ecstasy” (feat. MGK)” and Mannequin Challenge (feat. Juice WRLD)” hit incredibly hard. On the downside however, within the nineteen songs that we have here there are a few where Thugger carries his proteges for a little too long. Songs like these really could of been cut from the nineteen-song, bloated tracklist. For example, I truly get nothing out of either of the Gunna features on this thing nor does Lil Keed impress me on “Big Tipper”. I will admit however, that I do think the Lil Baby hook on “Bad Bad Bad” turned out a lot better than I expected it to. So Much Fun is a mixed bag. More often than not when this album swings it makes contact but sometimes Thug carrying his porteges around like backpacks can result in some pretty big strikeouts, but when this thing hits its stride it's well… fun. Is it So Much Fun? Sometimes.