Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano are two Brooklyn MCs from the GS9 imprint. Their latest collaboration, Splash Brothers 2, just released on April 19, following the first Splash Brothers release from 2023. On Splash Brothers 2, Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano flex their street ties and luxury lifestyles over drill beats for 11 tracks which span 25 minutes of run-time. Let's dive into the body of Splash Brothers 2, and review the material therein.
The Project Begins With A Rocky Start
Splash Brothers 2 opens with the track "2024." This song has a loud, abrasive vibe showcasing Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano's drill influences, though the mixing on this record leaves a lot to be desired. Rowdy sounds like Bizarre from D12 drowning in reverb, while a vocal feature from Lil Tjay comes and goes in the blink of an eye. This track doesn't effectively set the tone for some of the highlights to come and could have easily ended up on the cutting room floor.
"Pistons" is another song that does very little to establish Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano's stage presence, as JB completely steals the show with his guest verse. Sonically, the instrumental sounds so similar to Ice Spice's "Deli" that you could make a sound argument that Spice deserves a writing credit. Later in the tracklist, "Can't Talk Hot" features a nearly identical instrumental as well, without the powerful guest vocals of JB. As a result, "Can't Talk Hot" sounds like a poorly conceived B-side of "Pistons," which already sounds like a B-side of "Deli." While Splash Brothers 2 does go on to reach some major highlights, opening with this one-two combo of mediocre songs was certainly a bad move from Rowdy and Fetty.
Some Of The Featured Artists Really Shine
As stated, JB has the most compelling verse on "Pistons" by a country mile. This is not an isolated incident on Splash Brothers 2 as Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano are outshined by their guests numerous times. The track "Shake" is one of many examples of this phenomenon, with Rowdy and Fetty both completely drowning their vocals in autotune effects that make them sound like they just discovered the technology for the first time. The vocal mixing completely drowns out Rowdy to the point of near incoherence while Fetty's interpolation of "I Don't Want To Wait" by Paula Cole sounds embarrassing and unintentionally hilarious. D Sturdy completely sweeps them both on the back end of this track, with one of the hardest guest features on the album.
Things aren't all bad for Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano. The pair hold their own against some other banging features elsewhere on the record. "Pissing Me Off" sees Fivio Foreign stealing the show, though both of the main Splash Brothers artists manage to keep up with some of their best lyrical showings on the album. "Pissing Me Off" is track 3 on Splash Brothers 2, but really sounds like it would have made a better opener.
Then there are tracks like "Spin First" and "My Block," which see guest vocalists Curly and Chubbs blending in perfectly with Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano respectively. The former is a thumping club shaker that sounds like it could soundtrack a fight scene in a bodega in an episode of Mr. & Mrs Smith, while the latter sees Rowdy and Fetty trading bars back and forth with Chubbs, who compares and contrasts the street life of Chicago with the streets of Brooklyn.
The Album Has Some High Highs
"My Block" is probably the best cut on Splash Brothers 2, but it's not the only highlight. "Twin Story Pt2" shows Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano rapping with no assistance, and illustrates their chemistry better than any other song on the project. The track is a direct sequel to track 6 off the first Splash Brothers album from last year and gets straight to the point as to why these two teamed to make an album together in the first place. Subsequent tracks such as "Pop Out (Yeah Yeah)" and "Good Night" also bring the heat, with the former serving as a street anthem loaded with references to smoking opps and luxury whips. "Good Night" brings some sonic diversity to the production which is severely lacking on most of the album, and showcases some versatile flows from Fetty Luciano especially.
At the end of the day, Splash Brothers 2 is more of the same from this crew. If you’re a fan of Rowdy Rebel and Fetty Luciano's previous work, you’ll likely find 3 or 4 new tracks here to add to your playlist. If you’re a die-hard hater of the GS9 crew, this album will definitely not do much to change your mind. Overall, the team has created a solid project, albeit with a few duds thrown into the mix.