Steve 'Flash' JuonAs I am wont to do I’m going to introduce you to the artist in question before we get into the depths of this review. Today’s artist is Yung Bleu, who was born Jeremy Biddle in Mobile, Alabama back in 1994. It wasn’t until his late teens that he started to make noise in the music world, seeing enough regional success that Boosie Badazz signed him to his imprint for Columbia Records. That might sound like a lottery ticket straight to stardom, but Bleu’s star was rising more slowly than that. Mr. Biddle might disagree but I think that was to his benefit. Getting everything you want at once is the quickest way to burn out and be remembered as nothing but a flash in the pan.
After a half decade plus under the thumb of Bad Azz Music née Columbia, the two parted amicably and Bleu signed with Empire Distribution and enlisted Meek Mill for management services. This shifted gears for his career and the remix of “You’re Mines Still” landed a cameo from Drake which propelled the song into the Billboard top 20. Unfortunately the newfound success also brought new drama into his life, which lead to a disturbing incident where Bleu was arrested for body slamming his mother. As a pro wrestling fan that’s the kind of thing I only want to see take place in the ring between trained athletes. They both should have gone to “Therapy” first.
I admit that was an easy pipe bomb given the title of his album, but he’s also inviting at least one joke at his expense by calling the opening track “Don’t Judge Me.” I’m not going to here Bleu… in a legal sense. That’s your business. As a critic though it’s my job to judge the music and share my thoughts on it. It’s yours as the reader to tell me if it makes any sense. Here’s the first thing I noticed about “Therapy Pt. 1” from 51 minutes of his songs — Bleu’s motto could easily be “all day I dream about sex.” It doesn’t matter whether it’s sober or “Drunk Sex.” It’s on his mind a lot.
“You’re too horny to be by yourself”
In the vein of “not judging” I’ll say consenting partners can do what they want on whatever substances they want. If there’s not mutual consent and one party is drunk, nothing should happen, case closed. According to Bleu it’s a matter of her lowing her guard, because “I stay on your mind whenever you po’ up” and from there it’s quickly on to “round three in the morning.” Have fun y’all, you do you. The irony of the music video that accompanies it is that all of her girlfriends are trying to convince her Bleu is bad news and she shouldn’t hook up with him again. It makes for an entertaining soap opera but a very mixed message, and it’s his own promotional tool for his album, so the only point of this confusion is to get people talking about it. Congratulations to his media team because I just did.
An even more pressing issue might be what constitutes a “rapper” in 2026. Obviously there’s the law of association here — you work with artists like Drake and Gunna and you’re going to be considered a rap artist yourself. For me Yung Bleu is at the T-Pain end of the pendulum, where I can just barely see him as a rapper by association and through the trope of using AutoTune, but honestly he’s crooning and not spitting bars. That pendulum leaves me the conundrum of judging by a different standard. There’s not enough variety to his topics or the way he pitch corrects his verses to hold me as a rap fan. On the other hand if you want some kinky rap-adjacent R&B that could slot right into your local FM station where hip-hop allegedly lives, Yung Bleu is your guy.
“Can We Hook Up” meets that standard perfectly with the addition of Kim McCoy, Voiice & Carvena. It comes across like a rapper trying to crossover to the quiet storm mix. “Feelings” would be the perfect follow up single were it not for some jarring profanity in the hook. He could always release an edited version though. He could even do another remix with Drake. Well… maybe not. Drake is not as well regarded today as he was a half decade ago. Yung Bleu walks right up to the line of being a trap rapper with trap style but instead of banging opps or slanging drugs he’s sharing his feelings and making love.
“Therapy Pt. 1” fulfills some important criteria for me. It’s a purposeful full length album, not a mixtape of recycled beats or a throwaway project to keep his name in the public eye. There’s a nice groove to the production that invites a mellow mood even when he’s cussing. You could sip whiskey or a glass of wine while listening to Yung Bleu. This ain’t rap music you can “Ante Up” to. If what you want is high adrenaline energy he’s not your man, and if what you want is lurid violent street tales he’s not the one for you either. Does the world need more R&B rappers? Do we need more people who wish they were Ginuwine or Usher but don’t have their credentials? No. But this is a tolerable if unspectacular effort. It’s not lighting the world on fire but I definitely don’t hate it. Most people won’t.