With his 2014 debut album My Krazy Life, YG solidified his status as one of the brightest young stars in the west. Everything he's released since then has been straight fire. Then last week, he made a big announcement: the album will drop sometime in June.
We don't yet have an exact release date or tracklist, we're outchea quivering with anticipation. It's going to be good... but how good? We have some prescriptions that we believe could elevate Still Krazy to borderline blassic status.
Diverse West Coast production
Due in part to the fact that Los Angeles is one of the two capitals of the the entertainment industry, it is home to the highest density of top-notch hip hop producers of any city in the world. Sorry, Atlanta.
You have the Aftermath set (Dre, DJ Khalil, Focus..., Dem Jointz), the Brainfeeder/TDE set (Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Sounwave and the rest of Digi+Phonics), and Ty Dolla $ign's D.R.U.G.S. set (Ty, Chordz 3D, Nate 3D, several more). You have DJ Dahi, DJ Quik, Battlecat, Alchemist, Madlib... the list goes on.
DJ Mustard produced nearly all of My Krazy Life, and judging from YG's recent releases, he's angling slightly more in the direction of G-funk on his sophomore album. Which is 100% fine -- we only hope he utilizes as much of his hometown's production talent as possible.
Another appearance from Big TC
On the low, one of the highlights of My Krazy Live was Big TC's contribution on "Thank God." Big TC is the incarcerated brother of Ty Dolla $ign. He sings just as well as Ty, and his verse on "Miracle" provided the emotional centerpiece of Ty's debut album Free TC.
Big TC literally just released an 18-track mixtape with his cellmate D-Loc. Hopefully he kept one in the chamber for Still Krazy. We want more Big TC!!
Plenty of TDE features
Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, & Schoolboy Q all contributed verses to My Krazy Life. Kendrick's verse in particular (on "Really Be") was unusually manic by his standards. "Hide out when I ride out, ski mask with the eyes out/ Speed past in the Cutlass, me and little Ocho." If YG brought out a previously unseen side of Kendrick, perhaps he could do the same for Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, & SZA. If all six TDE artists appeared on Still Krazy, we wouldn't be mad.
A couple R&B-inflected slow jams
With all due respect to "Twist Yo Fingaz," arguably the best track released by YG in the last year has been "Goapele Freestyle," in which he raps over Goapele's 2007 slept-on classic "Closer." The soothing electric piano proved to be a refreshing change of pace for ol' YG. And as we saw on "Sorry Momma," smooth, pared-down beats bring his underrated storytelling chops to the fore.
More quality storytelling
YG put on a master class in storytelling on My Krazy Life standout "Meet the Flockers," in which he assembles a crack team of gangsters and robs an unsuspecting Chinese household. In spirit and execution the track stands somewhere between Biggie's "10 Crack Commandments," "I Got a Story Tell," and Kendrick Lamar's "The Art of Peer Pressure." Additionally... one should not overlook his ability to weave his family into his hood chronicles and speak in voices other than his own (as proven on "Sorry Momma").