COLLEGROVE
While 2 Chainz has become one of the most reliably entertaining personalities in the pop-rap orbit, Lil’ Wayne remains a trickster extraordinaire and rap myth made flesh. A portmanteau of the neighborhoods where they grew up (Chainz in College Park, just outside Atlanta; Wayne in Hollygrove, New Orleans), *Collegrove* is an inspired pairing, from the quiet menace of “Gotta Lotta” (produced by Cash Money legend Mannie Fresh) to the mentholated reggae of “MFN” (produced by Atlantans Mike Will Made-It and Zaytoven) and the sprawling “Rolls Royce Weather Every Day,” where Wayne issues a rare apology: “I do me and love it, Lord I done overdid it.”
2 Chainz made a name for himself by following his mentor Lil Wayne’s lead, but the pair’s new collaborative album finds the teacher struggling to keep up with his student.
Rap duos in the post-Run the Jewels era are a tricky thing to pull off: now, in addition to the expectation of top-notch projects from two a...