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After filling “Slime Language 2” with slatts, slimes and all-star features, Young Thug took an emotional turn on his latest project “Punk.” The Atlanta rap mogul unequivocally abandoned the trap style he’d pigeon-holed himself in for the last few years.

Young Thug has never fit under a single genre, but the last time he used his ability to manipulate his voice over acoustic beats was in 2017 with “Beautiful Thugger Girls.” That album cover is similar to “Punk,” too — both show Thug with a string instrument on his lap — but the instruments themselves point in different directions.

“Beautiful Thugger Girls” is a cohesive 14-track project in which Young Thug — whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams — verbalizes his pent up emotions from his rise to hip-hop royalty. Thug’s second studio album “Punk” mimics the same emotional tone as “Beautiful Thugger Girls,” but the former is less cohesive, filling a strong start and finish with some underwhelming tracks in the 20-track record. He strays away from his deep conversations about love and identity from earlier works in favor of his recent surface-level bars.

The first six songs on “Punk” match up with some of the best lyrical tracks littered through Thug’s discography. The opening song “Die Slow (with Strick),” is a heartfelt monologue with minimal production that he introduced during a Tiny Desk Concert earlier this year. He keeps the same tone as the show, speaking out what’s been on his mind for the last few years — something that he’s suppressed in previous albums.

He talks about love, family and even politics, as he addresses the increasing turmoil between police and Black people in the U.S. Thugger uses strong features from J. Cole, Gunna and Future, who comment on the same topics as Thug since they understand the hardships that come with fame and being Black.

But after this catchy six-track emotional outpour, Thugger makes a random switch and uses some version of a Playboi Carti impression. The trap beat is great for a hard workout, but it doesn’t fit with the theme that was established from the entirety of the album up to that point.

After this detour, Thugger gets back into delicate production using features from Post Malone and A$AP Rocky on “Livin it up.” But he swerves off-road again. After professing his love to an unnamed woman he calls Señorita on the song “Yea Yea Yea,” Thug boasts that he “f*cked that b*tch with a virus” on the track “Scoliosis.”

The most popular song on the entire project is “Bubbly,” with features from Travis Scott and Drake. In the three icons’ first collaboration, they deliver one of the most hype tracks of the year.

Later, Thug brings Nate Ruess — the lead singer of the now-disbanded indie pop band “Fun.” — out from the shadows. On “Love You More,” Thug shows an increased maturity with production and vocal ability, even giving Gunna ample space to shine on the pop song.

The album ends with a track featuring Mac Miller, titled “Day Before,” since Thug said it was recorded a few days before Miller passed away after an overdose. The minimal, string-heavy production from the first half of the album returns in this conclusion with a ukulele.

Thug allows Miller to have the last words on his latest emotional journey, ending with the lines “Swear I’m always shinin’, couldn’t tell you if it’s dark or not.” After some detour throughout the project, Thugger reaches his final destination with this line that speaks to the highs and lows of life.

Best track: Stupid/Asking

Dual tracks have been a mainstay in music for centuries, more recently popularized in the rap game by Tyler, the Creator, who has had this type of song in all but one of his studio projects. Like Liam Neeson in “Taken,” this requires a very particular set of skills — the ability to marry two completely different themes into one track.

Thugger makes his first attempt at a dual track on “Stupid/Asking,” singing on a vibey slow beat by Charlie Handsome and Metro Boomin followed by a bass-boosted minute produced by Taurus, Crater and Yo Benji. Both parts are related, having choruses from the perspective of an unnamed lover.

Thugger says “You must be stupid, you must be stupid” over and over again in the first part, not trying too hard but instead focusing on riding the production. The beats with Thug’s vocal inflection are paired perfectly together, making this one of the best-sounding songs on the entire project.

“Asking” isn’t as strong as the first part, but the transition between both stories is executed seamlessly as Thug uses a variety of vocal inflections to introduce the different beat. In vintage Thug fashion, he expresses his passion towards this person, saying “I’m tired of asking” with a piano and violin concluding the song.

One skip: Scoliosis

Thug does some of his worst writing in this album on “Scoliosis,” and it feels unoriginal and recycled from past albums.

He follows up the ill-timed COVID-19 joke with the line “I was f*ckin’ your daughter.” Then, Lil Double O hops in for his feature, starting his verse with the same line before talking about his multitude of firearms and women — the same bars that every rapper repeats in songs today.

Still, the flute in the background for most of the song is catchy, along with adlibs of Thug saying “Woo” and “Hoo.” But with the references to the Slime group, this feels like a throwaway that didn’t make it onto “Slime Language 2.” This song is a good transition into Bubbly, but it really shouldn’t have been on this album in the first place.

Hardest Bars: Die Slow (with Strick)

On Thug’s opening track, he catches listeners off guard with his soft singing that shines over the song’s quiet production. This introduction is like a ballad more than a rap song. Thug lets the floodgates open about what’s on his mind, talking about his relationships with his mother and family.

But Thug also comments on the political landscape in the country, highlighting how Americans end up being divided on some of the most controversial topics that affect society. He says in the third line how he sees through this facade, not adhering to the norms expected from people around the country.

He ends the thought with a metaphor of diamonds and pearls, stating how some people shine through these obstacles but most get irritated and defensive like a mollusk producing a pearl.

Final thoughts:

The entire album is a nice change of pace from the content that Thug has produced for his avid listeners over the last few years. But at times this project strays from its early themes that showcase Thug’s emotions throughout the pandemic and even before that with the album’s early references to police brutality.

Although Thug is the king of party jams, he needs to take more risks and continue expanding on the few meaningful tracks on this album. The arbitrary transition to trap songs is completely unnecessary on projects like this, which are meant to strike an emotional string with its listeners.

But this is a transformation from what we already know of Thug, his second rendition of trying to make music that transcends the surface level of mainstream rap music. This album is almost perfect if three or four tracks were taken out, and hopefully Thug jumps back into this emotional maturity soon.

Published on October 27, 2021 at 11:38 pm