My Life 4Hunnid

It would have been impossible to grow up the way Compton MC YG did and not absorb the testimony of stylistic forefathers N.W.A. and their anarchist anthem “F\*\*k tha Police.” Three decades later, and five studio albums in, YG delivers his own “FTP,” the MC sounding just as fed up as Eazy, Dre, Cube, and the rest when they took their disdain for the LAPD global. “Got hidden agendas, it’s the truth I won’t stop/Open cases, police already hate me, why not?” YG opines in the first verse. He could be referring to a robbery accusation police detained him for in 2020, an unrelated murder case he was questioned about while in custody, or another robbery case altogether that stemmed from a 2018 incident in Las Vegas. Either way, it’s clear that fame and fortune haven’t insulated the rapper from trouble. The tone of *My Life 4Hunnid* on the whole skews quite a bit darker than that of, say, “Toot It and Boot It,” but this should be of little surprise to fans who’ve listened to the MC detail his run-ins with the law—and also his issues in the streets—on every release since his 2014 debut. For *My Life 4Hunnid*, he rolls the tints down to show his teeth on album opener “Jealous,” and then airs out his frustration with the same lifestyle that made him on songs like “Out on Bail” and “Thug Kry.” He’s got big-name collabs in Lil Wayne (“Blood Walk”), Chris Brown and Tyga (“Rodeo”), and Ty Dolla $ign and Gunna (“Surgery”), but the most affecting voice on the project might be that of YG’s daughter on “Traumatized Interlude” parts 1 and 2, recounting her own very disheartening impressions of the police.

Compton rapper YG consistently landed at the top of the charts with a sound that was West Coast through and through.