In an Atlanta currently populated with colorful stars such as Migos, Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug and Rome Fortune, Peewee Longway tends to slip under the radar. He's not as prolific as his peers, has yet to score a big radio hit and had the misfortune of being signed to 1017 Records just as Gucci Mane went away to prison, all of which make him less visible to the public. But even with those factors working against him, Longway has crafted quite the resume, collaborating with a top-tier rolodex of ATL stars, helming his own MPA crew and dropping three consistent tapes. The most recent of these, The Blue M&M Vol. 2: King Size, impacted yesterday, and if you haven't copped it yet, you're really missing out.
Longway does have a small-but-loyal following, but in an effort to see some growth in their numbers, we're here to convince those who haven't yet realized Peewee's brilliance. These are the top five reasons why The Blue M&M should be in your listening history.
versatility
Versatility
When Peewee first started popping off in 2013, many complained that him and Young Thug sounded too similar, as their nasally voices appeared alongside each other on a few 1017 Thug cuts, as well as the loose cut "Loaded." Once we got better acquainted with Longway though, it became clear how effortlessly he can slip in and out of different styles. On those early cuts, the Thugga comparison was apt, but Longway can also hijack the sounds of nearly every one of his Atlanta collaborators, sounding like Quavo at one moment and Rich Homie Quan at the next. Rather than rendering him a faceless clone, this makes Longway an eclectic weapon, able to sing hooks and rap unpredictably, using the Migos flow one second and sounding like Gucci Mane in the next. Most people are more familiar with his rapping voice, so here's one that has him singing for the most part:
Compare that warbly R&B to the Houston bounce of "Servin Lean," the gothic Memphis trap of "Good Crack," or the unhinged bar-for-bar salvos with Young Thug on "Juice," and Longway seems like an entirely different person on each track. He's able to switch his flow on a dime, and hold his own with any of his contemporaries, whether that entails writing catchy hooks, squawking hilarious ad-libs or slaying a guest verse. Peewee's truly the ATL's jack-of-all-trades.
connections
Connections
If you show up on a Gucci Mane mixtape when you're virtually unknown outside of Atlanta, odds are you're about to blow up. Longway first showed up, along with Young Thug, on GuWop's great Trap House III tape in May 2013, and since then he's notched collaborations with just about everyone who matters in Atlanta. He's technically signed to 1017, but also seems to be affiliated pretty closely with Quality Control, as he always seems to pop up on tracks with Migos, Jose Guapo and Johnny Cinco. Other than every aforementioned ATLien in this article, Longway's also collab'd with Yo Gotti, Young Dolph, K Camp, Travi$ Scott, Low Pros, Soulja Boy and A$AP Rocky, the last of whom gave him arguably his biggest track to date:
With all of these cosigns under his belt and little to show for it in terms of commercial success, Longway is more likely to be your favorite rapper's favorite rapper than he is to appeal to someone who's not very familiar with hip-hop. Perhaps this is a wise strategy though, as Longway has now made enough in-roads with big names to ensure that he's not going to disappear anytime soon.
mpa
The MPA Squad
Behind Longway is a crew of even lesser-known rappers who all fall under his "MPA" (Money, pounds, ammunition) umbrella. There are Duke, Wicced, 5th Roc and Spud, all of whom put an "MPA" before their respective names, and Shitro, who recently dropped the title in favor of "Bricc Baby." Some of these guys, like Wicced and Shitro, have dropped their own tapes, and all of them have popped up on songs by Peewee, Young Thug and others. Shitro in particular seems poised for his moment next, as Kid Ink recently featured him on "Like A Hott Boyy" with Thugga, and his own track "6 Drugs" has one of the craziest videos you'll see all year.
Taking Longway's "Sneakin N Geekin" mentality even further, Shitty gives us the most drugged-out hit in a city of drugged-out hits since Fabo was seeing spaceships on Bankhead. Duke and Wicced are also on the come-up, showing up on a few Young Thug tracks apiece last year, but Shitro seems like he'll be the next to blow.
blue m&m
The "Blue M&M" Tapes
With the first arriving last spring, and the second coming in yesterday, Peewee's two Blue M&M tapes are both great. When compared with his other scattered material, including the Running Around The Lobby tape, the Lobby Runners compilation and his White Album with Gucci Mane, these two stand out as highlights. Both boast production from ATL's finest, including Metro Boomin, Honorable C Note, Zaytoven and Dun Deal among others, and both feature a good balance of guest verses and solo cuts. We've included both below for your listening pleasure.
flows
The Flows
Many people are quick to dismiss young rappers' flows as unoriginal or indebted to a certain past style, but Peewee seems to have made it his business to improve upon already-established flows. The best evidence of this is found on the intro track to Gucci Mane's World War Three: Lean tape, where Peewee kicks off his verse using an instantly-recognizable GuWop cadence but then continues to stuff his bars with more syllables as the verse goes on:
On this and other tracks, Longway hops between Migos-style triplets and standard double and quadruple bars with ease, sometimes within the same line. His mini-hit "Sneekin N Geekin" is probably the best illustration of this specific aspect of his flow, as each line ends with a different cadence than it begins with. The subject matter-- popping molly with a girl at a party-- may be simplistic, but Peewee spins his words in an even more dizzying fashion than his pals in QC.