Steve 'Flash' JuonLast October after a protracted legal battle Young Thug accepted a plea in his ongoing RICO case. The terms include some pretty heavy penalties if he violates probation (20 years behind bars for a single violation in the next 15 years) but sent him home a free man. After so much drama in his life I’m personally thankful that Jeffery Lamar Williams II can close this chapter and get a fresh start. To celebrate that outcome I’m taking a look at one of his pre-incarceration albums titled “I’m Up.”
“I’m Up” is simultaneously a very short and surprisingly long album. It’s only nine songs in total but has a run time of 38 minutes, meaning it’s easily double the length of many modern releases with half as many tracks. That results in another case where I feel calling something a “mixtape” is a misnomer. I’m old school enough to remember when a mixtape was either a curated selection of songs from a popular deejay or a collection of freestyles to other people’s instrumentals you released between albums. This is neither of those things. There’s no reason to call what Thug did on this a “mixtape” at all. He even went out of his way to film music videos to support songs like “For My People” and “King Troup.”
This album is also loaded up with guest stars and top flight producers. From the very start Quavo appears on “F Cancer (Boosie)” and Mike Will Made It provides the beat. Trouble, Ralo and Lil Durk are all on “My Boys,” Offset and Solo Lucci are on “Special,” and “Bread Winners” features Young Butta just to name a few. I’m not at all familiar with Dora (“Lil Dora from that fuckin Zone 3”) and Dolly but they contribute to the closing song “Family” and thanks to London On Da Track this is a fine way to wrap up his presentation.
I’ve given you nothing but good news so far. If it’s a trope of my reviews that I flip the script a few paragraphs in, you’ll be pleased that I’m about to meet your expectations. I can celebrate Young Thug beating the case personally, but I’m still ambivalent when I listen to his studio modulated sing-rapping. I don’t expect him to be a positive force for good with his bars (his P.O. might) but there’s a relentless negativity to songs like “Hercules” you can’t miss if you’re paying attention to his words.
“Drop the top, shoot birds at the officers (fuck ’em)
Fuck them boys, they costing us, they stalking us
They know they old lady not running, they fall for us
We so tired of taking losses, ain’t no more chalking us, I promise
YSL on ape and they donkeys
These niggaz pointless, they want me wanted”
It’s even more ironic in context — the song is produced by Metro Boomin and the two were BEEFING on social media at the time. This isn’t unprecedented for Mr. Williams. In fact I did something I rarely do on this website and asked him to consider his actions when it came to his use and abuse of social media. That was almost a decade ago and let’s face it social media has gotten a whole lot worse since then. As for “I’m Up” though I’m forced to tell you it’s nothing special. If you were already a Young Thug fan you’d still be after listening, and if you weren’t nothing here would hook you. Despite all of the big names involved there’s not a single song that demands multiple replays. There are singles, but they are far from the kind that made him a rap star, which may justify this being a “mixtape” after all.