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“Bitch I’m on yo’ ass, you better watch the shit you post”
In 2020 I wrote the following about Doe Boy: “Doe Boy is no doubt making dough and boy will he ever so long as he keeps making connects the way he has in his short time on the scene. I respect any rapper who can bring different influences and different people from different parts of the U.S. together.” Given those complimentary words he’s probably not checking me as one of the people who should “watch what they post,” but in the same song (“Nonsense”) he also says “I ain’t trying to tweet […] we ain’t trying to link.” Fair enough. First of all I don’t care much for the direction Twitter has gone in since it was sold. Second of all I don’t need to be friends with the people I review. In fact when I do know a rapper personally it’s harder to write a review thinking I have a bias either way — either being too favorable, or being too critical to try NOT to be favorable.
Now let’s shift the direction a bit and point out that neither of these quotes from “BEEZY” are about social media or rap media. Taken out of context they’re a useful way to shape a narrative, but when plugged back into it they were Doe Boy’s way of laying down his rules to the game. Christopher Wallace once said “Keep your family and business completely separated.” That’s Doe Boy in a nutshell. He’s telling people that he intends to keep his business off social media, but that doesn’t mean he’s not keeping an eye on his haters there either. When you’re successful you get plenty of haters, and Doe Boy has had plenty of success since he first linked up with Future. Appropriately he’s back here on “Try & See” which also features G Herbo & Roddy Ricch.
And if I’m being real about it Doe Boy’s ability to pull talent is his most outstanding attribute. He’s either well liked by his peers or paying better for cameos than other rappers (or their labels), because the talent shows up over and over again on “BEEZY.” DaBaby spits some rapid fire bars over the heavy bass TooDope laced on “Clout Chase.” Doe pays tribute to his Cleveland roots by bringing in Bizzy Bone & Krayzie Bone on “Grim Reaper,” then shows love to his current home Atlanta with “Kardashians” featuring Lil Yachty — and Florida gets love on the track too thanks to rising young rapper Luh Tyler.
It’s harder to find a song without a guest than with. 10 out of 16 tracks on this album feature someone besides Doe Boy. He does start the proceedings with a solo effort though called “Rhude Boy,” and if you’re a long time rap listener you’ll immediately recognize it as a tribute to Shyne. I appreciate BWheezy & Hendrix Smoke for crafting a track that pays homage without being a one-to-one copy of the original, and can say the exact same for the way Doe wrote his verses. That’s Doe Boy’s other strength — I can hear the thought he put into his rhymes (not to mention he doesn’t AutoTune the shit out of it). There’s a light on and someone is home when he’s spitting.
I’m not going to go out on a limb and say Doe Boy is a revolution in the rap industry. The truth is he’s above average at a time in rap where the median has significantly fallen. Twenty years ago “BEEZY” could have easily come and gone without anyone talking about it. Ten years ago it would have popped off a little bit. These days compared to what everybody else is doing his shit is good. Not brilliant. Not G.O.A.T. Just good. I’ll fuck with Doe Boy whether he fucks with people who post shit on the internet or not. It’s probably for the best for famous people to stay off social media in general and let their publicists do the talking for them.