Steve 'Flash' Juon“Where did Leonard parts 1 to 5 go?” – Black Thought, The Roots
This is one of my favorite obscure pop culture references, from one of my favorite rappers, from one of my all time favorite rap groups. I’m happy to explain the joke since I realize anything that happened in the 1980’s feels like ancient history at this point. Bill Cosby wanted to parody the idea of Hollywood movie sequels with Leonard Part 6 — a spy comedy with no previous installments. This is a flimsy enough premise as is, which wasn’t helped by a script that wasn’t funny, and Cosby being a big enough star at the time that nobody could tell him how bad the film was. Everyone involved barreled forward to create a box office bomb that cost $24 million and made less than $5 million in theaters. Reviewing 42 Dugg’s “Part 3” made me say “Where did parts 1 to 2 go?”
The fault is at least partly my own because there are at least two 42 Dugg projects that can claim to be part two I haven’t reviewed. Neither one is called “Part 2” but they each have “2” in the name and thus can be considered a sequel to a previous installment. Unless someone tells me otherwise “Part 1” can be anything or nothing at all. It can be a predecessor to either of the above albums, or it can only exist in 42 Dugg’s head, who knows? In fact “Part 3” could just be his own in-joke like Cosby’s referencing nothing in particular. It’s not likely, but it’s an interesting coincidence.
Ironically after I had already finished writing the review his record label sent out a press release, and I’ll quote from it here: “The project’s title doubles as a riddle for fans, inviting listeners to decide what the 3 truly represents. Is it the third installment of Dugg’s 11241 Wayburn series, or Young & Turnt Part 3? The answer is intentionally left open, revealing itself across the project’s sequencing, storytelling, and energy as Dugg moves between hardened perspective and raw ambition.” So the answer is that the title can literally be whatever you want it to be? I’m moving on.
Hearing GloRilla rap on from “On the Side” was a pleasant distraction from these thoughts. “Part 3” certainly reflects the come up 42 Dugg has made since starting his career in 2017. Guest appearances include G Herbo for “Still On Dat,” Doughboy Clay for “It Get Deeper Pt. 3” and EST Gee on “No Fakin.” With the backing of Collective Music Group and Interscope Records, 42 can afford to pull in the names and produce videos for tracks, even though these days YouTube is MTV and MTV stopped being about “music videos” in any way. One wonders what would happen to the boutique industry of promoting rap singles with mini-movies if YouTube suddenly ceased to exist. Would people really watch them on TikTok or Instagram? I doubt I would.
While a million views to date for “It Get Deeper Pt. 3” probably covers the shooting budget, it pales in comparison to the 200 million that 42 did with Future on “Maybach” half a decade ago. That song certainly had the big bass bottom and big superstar guest to go viral, but catching lightning in a bottle more than once is pretty damn hard. The song with the most potential to do on “Part 3” has to be “It Is What It Is” featuring Lil Baby and Rylo Rodriguez, using the same “Why You Treat Me So Bad” sample that The Luniz rode to fame with “I Got 5 On It.” I talked about coincidences already but this one definitely isn’t — they even reference the Luniz song in the vocals.
Summing up my thoughts on “Part 3” is harder than I expected it to be. With only 10 songs clocking in at 28 minutes, the entire album breezes by in a heartbeat. After several more plays before finishing this review, I found some things I appreciate about 42 Dugg. He sings his bars like most modern emcees, but it’s not as heavily modulated or distorted as many of his contemporaries. His verses seem a little more reflective and contemplative than a lot of his peers as well. He spends more time reminiscing about friends who are gone than talking about taking out the opps. The usual get money/spend money/”hoes ain’t shit” tropes are there, but objectively it’s no better or worse than the rest of the field.
To sum it up this album is too brief to annoy me and too well polished to offend me. There’s nothing new here and I’ll bet the either real or fictional “Part 1” and “Part 2” sound exactly like it. Virality seems to be the thing that matters most for 42 Dugg and I hope he catches it.