Beginning with the pearl of wisdom “There’s a lot of hating going on”, Rich The Kid’s debut album The World Is Yours almost sounds like it’s pre-empting criticism and a few tracks into this release you realise why. Rich The Kid isn’t the most distinctive rapper out there, his lethargic vocals and below-average flow is hardly going to set the genre alight and this album is unfortunately a representation of his sub-par and imitative style. The World Is Yours isn’t a terrible album but it sounds like an LP created by a follower rather than a innovator – Trap by numbers – to the point where almost every element you’d expect is present…

There’s that “Da da da, da da da, da. Da da da, da da da, da” Trap flow in almost every track, there’s that worn-out, rapid-hat Trap rhythm in “New Freezer” and “No Question”, there’s auto-tune in “Drippin” and “Early Morning Trappin”, there’s also lyrical Trap cliches in “Small Things” with Rich mentioning Balmain, Gucci, big rings, and Percocet, even the line “I went from nothing to something” in “End Of Discussion” sounds familiar.

The album begins with the title track which at least contains distinctive production with faint vocals and a mellow synth sound but straight away Rich The Kid brings forth his generic Trap flow. In “New Freezer” Kendrick Lamar, who I’ll acknowledge wasn’t originally intended to be on the track, now that he is, you can’t help but notice that his flow outshines Rich by miles. Members of Migos even out-do Rich in “Lost It” and old-school Lil Wayne proves he has a better delivery in “End Of Discussion”.

After a few listens, it becomes obvious that the only thing holding this album together is the production. For instance the simple but effective sound of “New Freezer” with its repetitive three-note melody distracts the listener from Rich The Kid’s basic style. And in “Plug Walk” Rich’s almost slurring and sluggish flow ruins the song once again. The best production is present in the bass-heavy “Listen Up” and in the beautiful echoing vocal sample courtesy of DJ Mustard in “Dead Friends”. And speaking of the best, in “Too Gone” (the best song on the album in my opinion) Khalid provides a very catchy chorus but the track is once again ruined by ‘The Kids’s generic flow.

On a side note, I always find it contradictory and hypocritical that everybody immediately says how east coast “Boom Bap” beats sound dusty and old, with contemporary Hip-Hop fans stating that a Golden Era aesthetic should be left in the 1990s but the same people forget that Trap also has its origins in that decade. Bragging about your money, your belongings, your bitches, that shit has been going on since the 1980s (if not the 1970s) but strangely, nobody calls that’s “old-school”. When Rich The Kid bites Juvenile’s rhyme-style in “Listen Up” 20 years later, it makes you wonder why “southern” old-school Hip-Hop isn’t viewed as “old” but I digress.

With an album title that references the movie Scarface (how new and original) someone should have told Rich The Kid that he’s dressed like a reject from Saturday Night Fever on the cover instead of Al Pacino’s character. And boy is that album artwork contrived; chains, money, I guess it warns any potential listeners of the content – bragging about money, diamonds, and bitches – fuck me, is all that shit not hackneyed by now? How many times can you hear bird chirps and a standardised Trap flow without getting bored? Until Hip-Hop fans become discerning about which music is banal and which isn’t, the genre won’t progress. When it comes to Trap, you’ve got to bring something unique to the sub-genre; unique production (WDNG Crshrs) unique delivery (Cousin Stizz) or pure talent (Denzel Curry). All the others (including Rich The Kid, Lil Pump, Lil Yachty etc.) who sound almost identical, what really is the point in them? “Riding around with a dumb bitch, hating on me ’cause I’m dumb rich” …how unique… not!

It says something when the best tracks from an LP are those with outside artists (“New Freezer”, “Too Gone” etc.). Sure, there’s decent production here and there, there’s even some half-decent guest appearances here and there but take away the production and the features and what do you have? Not much. With Rich The Kid offering no variety in terms of lyrical content and delivery, even after a couple of tracks you realise that The World Is Yours isn’t going to be significant or memorable amongst all the other dull Trap music out right now. Like I’ve already said, The World The Yours isn’t completely trash, it’s not as bad as Lil Yachty’s Lil Boat 2 for instance, but largely due to Rich himself, this isn’t the kind of album that will have a long shelf-life. You can sprain your neck muscles dancing to “New Freezer” but in a year or even in a couple of months time, you won’t care too much about this release.

End Of Discussion.