Steve 'Flash' JuonWithin two minutes of listening to “Act Broke Get Rich,” all I could think of was Gucci Mane. After doing preliminary research for this review I learned ABGR Lil Cory hails from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That does give them some similarities beyond the cadence of their delivery and the topics they rap about. Mane’s home town is Bessemer, Alabama with a estimated population of 26,000 per the last sentence. Hattiesburg is a little bigger at 48,000 but it’s not unfair to say both men grew up in rural parts of the South. Gucci moved to Atlanta at nine but never lost that drawl and I’m sure that no matter how much Cory moves around it’s his for life too.
Describing himself as “Mister Pull-Your-Ho” on “So Ridiculous” may seem like some listeners as an attempt to live up to his song’s title and hook. There’s another thing Cory and Gucci have in common though — natural charm. It doesn’t mean every word they spit is a pearl of wisdom or the greatest lyrical wordplay ever recorded, but having enough charisma to grab your attention and keep it is still a valuable asset. It shouldn’t be taken as a substitute for intelligent bars, but to be clear here, Cory is spitting BARS and not singing — that counts for something as well. I’m more inclined to like a rapper who hasn’t forgotten what the word “rap” means. Friends like Fatt Macc on “Old School” do too.
“Real trap nigga, ran it up and drop the old school
Nigga talkin ’bout what they done did, this that old news
My agent ‘nem just set the bar, my young nigga done ran through it
All-all these hundreds I keep pullin out just to run my hand through it” – ABGR Lil Cory
Macc also collaborates with Cory on the song “Juggin’,” and he’s far from the only guest on “Act Broke Get Rich.” Now I’ve already admitted I didn’t know Cory going in, so it’s not a shock if I tell you I didn’t know his homies Jay9ine, Trap Dickey, Wizz Havinn, or FBG Josh. There was one name I knew right off the top though — Bossman Dlow — and their video for “Trapalete” came out at the end of October. You’ve probably already guessed that’s a portmanteau for being a “Trap Athlete.” There’s just no escaping the Gucci Mane comparison when you hear how much Cory traps or brags about it. After all some consider Gucci the progenitor of the genre.
“Act Broke Get Rich” doesn’t break new ground for that genre either. It’s not what I would call a bad album, just not one that does anything you haven’t already heard listening to Mane, Dlow, or a thousand other Southern trap stars. The production is listenable if not always memorable. The rhymes are serviceable if not always quotable. This is exactly the album you would put on in your ride to test your speakers but not take your focus off the road. Since we’re making up portmanteaus here’s mine — it’s “trapground” music — that’s some trap you can play in the background casually. Not bad, not excellent, just good enough. I ain’t mad at ABGR Lil Cory. He’s solid. Perhaps in the future he’ll be even more than he is right now. At 24 years old he’s still young in the game.