WHAM

About

A chart fixture since 2017, Lil Baby has earned the right to a little nostalgia. Holding it down for Atlanta in the 2020s, his lengthy run of rap hits over a seven-year stretch inevitably led the hip-hop star back to his beginnings, at least thematically. <i>WHAM</i>, a bespoke acronym for Who Hard As Me, calls back to some of those earlier successes by reclaiming the titular fortitude of breakthrough projects like <i>Harder Than Ever</i> and <i>Too Hard</i>. Still operating at the fore of trap’s commercial evolution, indeed with some of the same producers he’s been with throughout his journey, he comes through with reliably polished bangers “F U 2x,” “Say Twin,” and the Southside- and Wheezy-helmed “Stiff Gang.” On “I Promise,” he looks back on where he started from his now-vaunted vantage point, with nods to the illicit activities that prepared him for his contemporary money moves. He frequently focuses his attention on personal and romantic matters, evidenced best on the conciliatory yet booming “So Sorry.” At this stage in Lil Baby’s career, he could have just about anyone he wants as a feature. <i>WHAM</i> demonstrates his pull from early on, grabbing ATL titans Future and a newly freed Young Thug on the flex-fest “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber.” 21 Savage maintains an ominous vibe on “Outfit,” while Rod Wave and Rylo Rodriguez tap in for the comparatively sleeker “By Myself.” Yet it’s GloRilla who offers the rapper his finest foil here, giving as good as she gets on the standout “Redbone.”

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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