Hood Favorite

Brooklyn’s Jay Critch has been heralded as the sound of contemporary New York rap since at least his 2016 alignment with Rich the Kid. Critch would utilize the Atlanta rapper’s 2017 *Rich Forever 3* label compilation as a coming-out party of sorts, but *Hood Favorite*, the MC’s debut full-length mixtape, is Critch fully spreading his wings. As an artist, he exists at the nexus of traditional NYC lyricism and the often Auto-Tuned R&B line-toeing necessary to chart in this era. The MC splits the difference on songs like “Brown Hair,” produced by frequent collaborator and fellow Brooklyn native Laron, who has several tracks on the project. Elsewhere, Critch is out-and-out barring up for “Smutty (Intro)” and then waving a flag alongside French Montana and Fabolous on “Try It,” another modernist New York rap anthem in the vein of previous Harry Fraud collaboration “Thousand Ways.”