Steve 'Flash' JuonThe title is not a joke. Blueface has often been found behind bars since the early 2020’s and last August he caught another four year bid for a parole violation. Now by the time you read this he’s either still there or maybe successfully applied for a reduced sentence by arguing extenuating circumstances, good behavior while locked up, rehabilitation in prison or all of the above. Even if we no longer have to “Free Blueface” there’s a 50/50 chance he’s going to make a mistake that sends him back. I’m not trying to be overly pessimistic but there’s a pattern to his life that’s played out repeatedly. Only a fool or an insane person does the same things “Ova” and over while expecting a different result.
Some might question if he’s even worth the effort. Frankly I find that a very uncharitable attitude but I certainly understand if you lack faith in him overcoming his many issues. What I find harder to understand is people who automatically put him on the “worst rappers ever” list. They must not be listening to the same rappers I’m listening to. You may not like Johnathan Jamall Porter for whatever reason but he’s not THE WORST rapper. His delivery is a little unorthodox. The pitch of his delivery rarely changes, he slurs his words a bit, at times it feels like he should have taken a deep breath before rapping his bars. You know what though? He’s rapping. You can understand the words. These may be low bars but it’s 2025 and so many so-called “rappers” are 50 levels below this standard.
The problems with “Free Blueface” aren’t because Blueface can’t rap — it’s because on this album he has nothing to say and no beats to say it over. “Why I Got To” is just a boring song. It’s a bass thump and him barking like a dog while talking about all the “bitches” on his phone and then proclaiming “I said what I said.” You did sir. You did indeed. A good rapper can at least rap, but a better rapper can make you care about what he has to say. Even on better produced songs like “Aight” he’s just going through the motions of talking about cripping, robbing, and thugging. “You ain’t never seen a nigga die you ain’t seen shit.” You’re the 1,001st rapper to say it Blue and a lot of them did a bid too.
I can’t help but think this album was thrown together fast as fuck to get it out to the public before he started serving his next sentence. He does one song with DDG (“Winning”) and one with TruCarr and Kevin Gates (the aforementioned “Ova”) but otherwise it’s just Blue cranking out the most basic Blueface songs so he can earn royalties while locked up. California has a law that says you can’t profit from your crimes while incarcerated, but it doesn’t say you can’t have income flowing into a bank account from music, movies or television shows you made that are completely unrelated to said crimes while serving your time. I hope the next time he gets out he stays out for good.