Avoiding a sophomore slump is a hard task; avoiding one after your debut album was crowned as the rap album of the year by many publications is even harder. Such is the uphill battle YG faces right now, having just announced his follow-up to last year's My Krazy Life. Still Krazy doesn't have a release date yet, but we just got the first single, and YG seems like he's ready to kick things into high gear again.
This time around, some changes will have to be made for reception to be as positive-- no one likes a nearly identical sequel. What must YG do to protect against the slump? We've got five pretty good ideas...
More storytelling
In these "5 things we want" articles, we usually include ways that artists could improve on their past works, but with My Krazy Life being one of last year's best albums, we think a bit of the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality wouldn't hurt Still Krazy. Chiefly, the album succeeded on similar terms to Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city-- that is, a compelling story that tied everything together, and gave us a better window into the artist's life than most other competing projects.
The "day in the life" theme would obviously be hard to do again, but we're guessing that YG's had far more than just one krazy day in his life. Especially after the recent shooting, dude's probably got some new grievances to air out. His rapping's always been pretty no-frills (mostly free of wordplay and fast-rapping pyrotechnics), and it truly seems like he's at his best when relating real-life tales in a linear way.
Some features from West Coast OGs
On his just-released single "Twist My Fingaz," Mr. 4Hunnid raps "I'm the only one that made it out the West without Dre," referring to his relative lack of cosigns from L.A.'s rap legends (namely the biggest one). It's truly an honorable feat for YG to have come up relying only on his fellow Pushaz Ink members for support, but now that he's ascended to the top, it'd be nice to see some of those legends make amends and support their hometown's current best hope for continued national relevancy.
The fact that he got Krayzie Bone on "Cash Money" is promising, as it really marked the first time YG collabed with a '90s veteran, but we need some Cali in Still Krazy's DNA. Snoop Dogg, DJ Quik, Kurupt, Ice Cube, Suga Free or B-Real would be amazing, and of course, a beat from Dre is the holy grail.
More funk, less ratchet
As the wave of Mustard chants, bass thumps and skittering hi-hats hits its high-water mark, breaks and rolls back out to sea (word to Hunter S. Thompson), we hope YG doesn't see himself inextricably linked to the trend. Again, "Twist My Fingaz" bolsters our wishes for Still Krazy, with a classic G-funk stomp (based around a song by Funkadelic, who formed the backbone of many tracks from the genre's heyday) fueling the decidedly retro-sounding track.
OF course, we'd still like a few YG/Mustard turn up anthems, but the album's potential to have a more timeless feel should hopefully outweigh attempts to rule the radio. To do that, YG will need an all-star cast of producers (and maybe even instrumentalists), which brings us to...
More production from TDE affiliates
Not to rag on DJ Mustard, but he's seeming more and more like a one trick pony as we get further away from 2014's "Summer of Mustard." YG isn't a likely candidate to go full To Pimp A Butterfly on us, but some increased input from some of the music geniuses who made that album happen (Sounwave, Rahki, LoveDragon and Terrace Martin) would be a welcome addition to his sound.
After all, Martin produced "Twist My Fingaz," and YG sounds right at home. That song takes the organic element of TPAB, but (wisely) leaves the jazzy, knotty experimental touches on the table, creating something a little grittier and more human-sounding than Mustard's snapped-to-grid robo-ratchet. Mustard should still be on-board as an executive producer, but unless he can branch out his own sound a bit, YG's going to need to bring on some more versatile collaborators.
Improved lyrics and rapping
The last, and maybe most critical element the album hinges on, falls on YG himself. While his ability to set the scene and relate stories of Bompton struggles was often impressive on My Krazy Life ("Meet The Flockers" is one of the most vivid retellings of crime life in recent memory), he didn't ever seem very imaginative or inventive with his technical rapping skills. At worst, he gave us subpar Big Sean lines like "Where the bad bitches at? Let me know though / I can send this dick your way baby, postal" (on "Left, Right"), which may have glanced off listeners ears that were more trained on the overarching narrative or instrumentals, but there's certainly room for improvement.
YG's rapping wasn't far and away the weak link on My Krazy Life, but then again, no one seemed ready to hand him a plaque for his abilities on an album many called the best of last year. Hopefully, he's been spending more time focusing on writing, because either way, we'll be able to tell when Still Krazy drops.