Atlanta rap star and Grammy-winning artist Young Thug released his anticipated fourth studio album, “UY Scuti,” on Friday, Sept. 26, with the deluxe version “UY Scuti” (Supernova edition) released on Friday, Oct. 3. Young Thug led the album’s rollout by releasing multiple singles — like “Money on Money” featuring Future, which showcased a hard-hitting orchestra and beat switches — to preview the majority of “UY Scuti.” Young Thug then teased the album features, such as Travis Scott, Mariah the Scientist, Lil Baby, Cardi B and more.
The rapper was released from jail on Oct. 31, 2024, after being accused of participating in gang violence and drugs — the imprisonment being an event that influenced many of his songs on “UY Scuti,” including the track, “Ninja.” The song opens with a recording from the prosecutor, saying, “I believe he is that dangerous, judge.” A hard-hitting beat then kicks off the song, with Young Thug starting a verse flexing his wealth, mentioning multiple luxury brands like Gucci and Rolls-Royce, rapping “Drop-top Rolls-Royce, kickin’ up no dust” and “I’m the one left the Gucci socks in your sheets.” The aggressive intro immediately establishes an electric and energetic sound, creating a strong opener.
“Ninja,” however, reveals a problem in the album — it’s over reliant on shock factor and the lyrics are repetitive. The ending of “Ninja” is just Young Thug threatening his enemies while aggressively repeating the n-word 16 times. These lyrics, along with the original album cover featuring the rapper with lighter skin and blue eyes raised controversy, likely only to get buzz from potential listeners. Other songs like “Mami” are overtly suggestive for no reason, repeating “mami” a total of 65 times in the song with no meaningful messaging or variation in the vocals.
As meaningless as some lyrics are, it’s often better to sing nonsense than straight-up disrespectful lyrics — a memo Young Thug seemed to have missed. “YUCK,” featuring Ken Carson, continues the hard-hitting beats, but Young Thug’s descriptions of women were beyond questionable. He says, “Brown thick sh– so fine, her body like a Coca-Cola” and “Dissect the body, get her brain, then I’m leaving her.” The track labels women as always irresistibly attracted to his jewelry and describes them as tools rather than human beings — a mindset bound to make the average listener uncomfortable.
And yet, despite all this, the album has its rare moments when Young Thug changes the flow and provides calmer acoustic tracks that are often carried by — arguably the best feature in the album — Mariah the Scientist. She was on the songs “Invest into You” and “Dreams Rarely do Come True,” where Mariah opens with a verse about the struggle of maintaining a flawless image in her industry. She sings, “Thinking I’m submissive when I’m just succumbing” and “Thinking that these are the makings of a perfect woman.” Her vulnerability and touching lyrics, along with the beat switch in the middle of the song and the beautiful choir background track, easily makes this one of the best songs on the album. Even though Young Thug continues to boast of his riches, the moments he strays from this stereotypical rapper template to convey something personal, like how his friend “blew his brains” after his girlfriend cheated on him, makes “Dreams Rarely do Come True” all the more impactful.
Despite the messy songs, Young Thug has, on rare occasions, displayed emotionally charged takes up the majority of the album. The song “Catch Me I’m Falling” shows Young Thug’s experiences and emotions he was going through in jail, in lines such as “Broke down in a cell, I heard my brother was gon’ turn.” The wording creates a sympathetic message of Thug’s struggles of watching each of his close friends being convicted, wondering what his fate would be.
The final track, “Miss My Dogs,” is the most emotionally and personally charged track of the album. The song presents Young Thug at his most vulnerable, adding a layer of emotional depth to his album as he talks about his experiences in jail. Young Thug expresses his gratitude to everyone who has supported him during his challenging times, such as artists like 21 Savage and Drake. The rapper sends flowers to his family, saying, “My sisters and brothers, I love you,” and “Mama, I’m sorry, daddy, I’m sorry / For tryna to make ‘em get it when they don’t understand me.” Young Thug concludes the song with a feeling of confidence, aiming to move forward and leave this dark chapter behind him, concluding both this part of his life and also the album.
Although “UY Scuti” displayed a few instances of emotional vulnerability and several notable features, the poor lyricism significantly diminished the album’s quality and the decreased the quality of the album. Despite its runtime of 77 minutes, it fails to establish a central focus and broadly lacks general meaning. The majority of Young Thug’s songs heavily rely on shock factor to combat his poorly constructed lyrics, leaving listeners with the impression that Young Thug really is dangerous, but only to their ears. Since “UY Scuti” is the first project Young Thug has worked on in years, listeners can only wait and see — or anxiously dread — what he has left in store.
RATING: 2.5/5
