Let’s keep it simple — Gunna is at the top of the rap game.
Well, he’s gone and done it again: Gunna has released yet another masterpiece, the type only Gunna could or would ever make. But we’re not Gunna, nor ever will be Gunna, so who are we to judge what Gunna does or doesn’t do? We’re here to praise Gunna, not to bury him; we shall not criticize or make excuses, but to understand a perspective outside of our own: that of Gunna — one Wunna by nickname, Sergio Kitchens by birthright — the man of the hour, one who has practically perfected his artistic process through steady repetition. By this point in time — for those not in the know of Gunna’s chronology, this release is the fourth in his Drip Season series — the facts of this case have been credibly established: Gunna simply has one of the finest ears in modern hip-hop (dare I say in modern music? Sure.) for selecting sensational beats, just complete heaters every time, and sounding crispy as hell over them. Producer Wheezy deserves not only a Grammy for his contributions to “too easy,” but the Nobel Peace Prize; that dizzying harp loop and smooth guitar melody lilt off the clapping bassline like rose petals on a fresh morning dew.
But who was that beat made for? It was envisioned for Gunna, and Gunna alone; that, or Wheezy recognized that Gunna was the most suitable candidate to fulfill his vision, and fulfilled it has been. Sure, there are others on the track (Future and Roddy Ricch on the high-octane remix), but it’s Gunna who is the glue that holds the enterprise together. And in that sense, to take it a step further, Gunna is the caulk of the rap game: he holds together the sturdiest taste-makers in order to produce material better than their individual efforts. On the powerful “pushing P,” a track dedicated to the enthusiastic new “P” meme Gunna has created in order to spread positivity throughout the community, he provides space for his mentors to shine: Future drops one of his more inspired Future-isms in years (“She not a lesbian, for P, she turn Pesbian”) and an equally motivated Young Thug revels in the lunacy (“I just fucked a cup of water”).
Speaking of intercourse, while discussing DS4Ever at any sustained length, one must mention Gunna’s deep love for nutting. The man can’t stop bringing it up here. Like on the chorus for “mop,” where he claims he “nutted all over her face / And now she look like a cow,” or on “lotta cake,” this time flaunting his passion: “Let your ho gеt the nut, she a cashew.” Even on a sweet duet with his girlfriend, R&B-singer Chloe Bailey (“You & Me”), it’s heavily implied he’s going to nut in her — and the two make it sound like the beautiful, sensual act that it is. “P power” has Gunna and Drake mutter-rapping about how much they love pussy, to the point that we begin to love them even more for loving pussy; simply put, no man loves nutting in good pussy like Gunna, and it’s precisely that type of passion that bleeds over into and elevates some of his more live-wire vocal performances throughout. One thing Gunna hates? Freddie Gibbs, viciously roasted on “poochie gown,” extolled as an embarrassed loser who’s gonna need to leave town running after this one. Imagine, you’re major lame Freddie Gibbs, going about your daily activities being a relevant loser, and then suddenly you hear Gunna — objectively one of the most popular and loved musicians in the free world — say you’re telling fibs, the most dishonorable and disloyal practice imaginable? Freddie, thankfully, is out like the garbage he is; Gunna, it seems, is here to stay.
Published as part of Album Roundup — January 2022 | Part 1.
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