Steve 'Flash' Juon2022 was a wild year for Sergio Giavanni Kitchens, better known to the rap world as Gunna. He released his third studio album “DS4EVER” on January 7th and hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts immediately. Five months later he was arrested on RICO charges in connection to Young Thug and his imprint YSL Records. That’s the rap game roller coaster personified — the peak of success and the incredibly rapid plummet to the bottom. Gunna rebounded though and accepted a plea deal that December which saw him become a free-ISH man. You’re never completely free when you have probation hanging over your head and one violation can send you right back behind bars, but so far he’s successfully avoided falling into that trap.
On the outside looking in “pushin P” might seem like the kind of arrogance that leads to a downfall. With prosecutors already taking a keen interest in Young Thug and the alleged criminal enterprise of his record label, neither artist was shy about flashing their wealth and success in the accompanying music video. Large stacks of cash are shown off to the camera while walking through a department store, copping anything they like and buying expensive gifts for their female friends. If the Fulton County DA wasn’t already a hater, this flagrant flashing and showing off probably pushed her over the edge. If flaunting was a crime though almost every commercially successful rapper would be guilty. For that matter every MMA fighter with a tailor suit and a shiny Rolex would be too. Every Hollywood actor with a Ferrari or a Lamborghini would be too. Making people jealous isn’t against the law.
Gunna didn’t achieve his success overnight in any case. Linking up with Young Thug may have accelerated his rise to the top, but he was paying his dues and releasing mixtapes as Yung Serg fresh out of high school. Coming up in the Atlanta scene of the 2010’s it was natural for Gunna to pick up the singing rap style filled with pitch corrected vocals and heavy bass drops. Even as somebody who used to type up lyrics for a living, I’d have a hard time following “25k jacket” featuring Lil Baby if they hadn’t released a video transcribing it themselves. The Wheezy and Nik Dean track overcomes any other objections I might have. The song is a mood, not a profound statement by either man.
This is a problem with “DS4EVER” in general — or if you’re one of the people who propelled him to the top of Billboard, it’s not a problem at all. My name’s not Fani so I’m not a hater. Unless or until it’s proven otherwise, Gunna and Young Thug are not guilty and y’all got to feel me. I think they are entitled to all the success they’ve had, whether or not the style of the music is for me. The laundry list of producers turns out effective tracks. Example — Turbo, Taurus and Alex Lustig on “idk that bitch” featuring G Herbo. As an instrumental I’d fuck with this all day. I like Herbo too so we’re good there. The casual misogyny? Well sadly that’s par for the course so that’s not an issue either. It’s the monotonous delivery, flat singing and barely clear vocals that make Gunna a hard listen for me. For ME. Millions of his fans obviously disagree.
There are enough songs here that transcend my lack of interest in Gunna’s delivery to keep me motivated. I’m not a big fan of Chris Brown for what he did to Rihanna, but there’s no denying a natural singer as opposed to a rapping one when you hear him on “die alone” featuring Yung Bleu. Drake also has his share of haters these days, but give him a Metro Boomin beat and a guest verse and he’ll turn in a performance like “P power.” The “too easy (Remix)” featuring Future and Roddy Ricch is 100% earworm material. I spent a vacation this year driving around listening to a local radio station (107.3 The Beat) where every song sounded like this. I wasn’t mad about it at all.
In short “DS4EVER” is a textbook case of style over substance. With all due respect it really doesn’t matter what Gunna is saying at any point here. The topics are all familiar tropes anyway — getting money, dodging haters, having sex, fighting the opps. No new ground is broken here nor needed to be. Gunna didn’t hit No. 1 by being innovative or thought-provoking, he hit it by giving the audience exactly what they wanted the way they wanted it.