Role Model

About

Before his tragic passing in 2021, Young Dolph was one of the more impressive self-made success stories in modern trap music. Without a major viral moment or a major-label contract, the prolific Memphis MC and independent label head had become a mentor to numerous rising rappers and a rap star on his own term. He accomplished this largely by flooding his fans with product, releasing a variety of mixtape, album, EP, and collaborative projects every year, and by being a go-to feature for some of the industry’s biggest artist. On his fourth album, <i>Role Model</i>, Dolph reflects on his slow and steady rise, facilitated without a sellout moment, and gloats about his untouchability. Maintaining the laser-focused style of most Dolph’s project, the LP is a set of creeping, no-frills trap anthem, with Dolph’s charisma oozing through his sneering similes and autobiographical aside. Though it foregrounds lighthearted swagger and X-rated anecdote, the album takes place in the shadow of high-profile violent incidents involving Dolph in the previous couple of years—most notably, a Los Angeles shooting in 2017 that left him in critical condition. In the midst of broad-strokes trash talk, Dolph lapses into more reflective mode. On highlight "On God," he vacillates in the span of a couplet between self-interrogation and talking big: "Why I always give and don't never want nothin' back?/Why I'm missin' time with my kids? 'Cause I’m chasin’ these stack." .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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