Migos, a three-piece Hip-Pop group who sound like a Future-slash-Twista knock-off, became popular after their novelty track “Versace” went viral a few years back. This was followed by a remix featuring the overrated Drake and a handful of mixtapes, but today their first studio album “Yung Rich Nation” is released.

“Yung Rich Nation” starts with the track “Memoirs” and after you hear the basic rhyming within the chorus (“Africa”, “bachelors”, “massacre”, and “sad at cha”) you realise what kind of album this is going to be. This scant, dumbed-down music continues with “Dab Daddy” and this track features amazingly ironic lines like “I ain’t pass school”. At this point you come to terms with the fact that this LP isn’t going to feature anything new or anything special. A couple of tracks in and you can imagine Migos in the studio churning out these similar-sounding songs without breaking a sweat, and because of this feel, the album doesn’t break any new ground.

The listeners’ suspicions are confirmed once they get past the first two songs and bear witness to back-to-back repetitive tedium, in fact some of the tracks are so identical you cannot differentiate between them. “Migos Origins”, “Spray The Champagne”, “Street Nigga Sacrifice”, “One Time”, “Pipe It Up”, and “What A Feeling” are all pretty much the same track slightly tweaked and repeated over and over. Then on top of that, the same-same, mediocre, Hip-Pop-Trap flow can be heard on almost every song, and if that wasn’t annoying enough, there’s the inclusion of autotune choruses; this really is a prime example of lame Hip-Pop.

Tracks like “Migos Origin” feature the most out-of-date production possible, like something circa. 2000, and this trend for out-of-date beats and rhymes continues to the very end of the LP. Then there are songs such as “Gangsta Rap” which steal the intro from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” in order to appeal to to a wider Hip-Hop audience. But unlike that particular Golden Era song, Migos’ offering is a lame rip-off complete with a fake G-Funk whine. There’s also “Just For Tonight” (featuring the Bubblegum-bitch Chris Brown) as the album’s obligatory, corny, radio-friendly song, and just in case Migos need a second mainstream release as a back-up, there’s also “Cocaina” featuring Young Thug.

Without beating around the bush, tracks like “Playa Playa” and “Trap Funk” are straight-up shitfests and the final track “Recognition” is the worst track of the lot to finish on. I mean if you’re gonna make this kind of repetitive, non-distinct music, then why not make an entire album of “Memoirs” rather than adding lame autotune, even lamer R’N’B, and the lamest of Pop choruses? By the time you get to the end of the album, the ever increasing shittery makes you like the first two songs in retrospect. When an album gets worse the further you get, the only redeeming feature is that it makes you want go back to the beginning to escape the ever increasing wackness.

If you’re a fan of mediocrity, then this album will probably appeal to you. I’ve heard people say “I don’t wanna hear clever lyrics, complicated rhyme schemes, or political rap when I’m in the club” and it’s that kind of reasoning that keeps this kind of bland bullshit selling. I mean if the clubs are playing this shit every night, then why do you need to buy it? And if the only time you listen to music is when you’re drunk, then acts like Migos and Fetty Wap are the end result.

Plus, is it just me who thinks this simplistic Trap flow is getting tired and worn out? This style of rapping is older than Young Jeezy, and after you’ve heard one of these tracks, you’ve heard them all. A kid in Primary School could follow this lyrical formula…

“Say-something, say-something, say-something (pause)

Say-something, say-something, say-something (repeat)”

…With this “Rapping By Numbers” technique, no wonder the public thinks Hip-Hop is dead. I mean, how many times can you hear that rapid high-hat, low-pitch snare combo, and contrived lyrics about diamonds, money, champagne and “bitches” without wanting to smash the fucking speakers in?

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