Last year was arguably the strongest year hip-hop has had so far this decade. Just about every major artist, from Lil Uzi Vert and Drake to Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott, released full-length albums to mostly critical acclaim despite their paint-by-the numbers sound. Several other artists came to prominence like the salacious Gucci Mane offspring Sexyy Red, the elementary but catchy zoomer Ice Spice and the artist behind my most played album of the year, Veeze.
On “Ganger,” Veeze, like his contemporaries before him Babyface Ray, Icewear Vezzo, the ShittyBoyz’s own Babytron and other Michigan rap stars, pushes the boundaries of wordplay, attention grabbing bars and cadence to make songs that feel like rapid-fire soundtracks to the activities described. “Not A Drill,” the opener, has a sense of urgency that’s contrasted by Veeze’s lazy, boastful bars about buying lean before he feeds himself, wearing the latest in designer fashion, his reluctance to get a haircut (“the ladies love it,” he says in “You know i”) and the danger his guns could pose if things go sideways. The punchlines never stop flowing throughout the whole project, leaving me wondering how many different racist euphemisms there are for how dark a cup of Wockhardt and soda can get or how many more time Veeze can refer to himself as the 7-Mile Justin Timberlake.
“Ganger” is at its best when the drug references are high and the beats stay as sedated as Veeze. “Safe 2,” is a smooth cut toward the end of the album, a twinkling guitar dancing between Veeze making women walk across the country and blowing 100 racks in less than 24 hours, is a lyrical display of comedic plays on words, observations of tour life shenanigans and a dedication to not only rapping well, but reaching superstar status. It’s cocky without shouting, it’s arrogant without being overly braggy.
Meanwhile, tracks like “SEXY liar” and the standout single “GOMD” are the exact opposite with poking fun at broke boys and flexing cash over beats fit for boom-bap rappers. Instead of hardcore backpack rap bars ,though , it’s more flexing, more bragging and more promises of greatness in Veeze’s near future. It’s not about traditional story telling from A to Z, but bits of pieces of Veeze’s pedigree in the hip-hop world, who he’s connected to, how he presents himself and where he plans to be in relation to the mainstream rap world are all telegraphed artfully. Pictures are painted through spilled lean, past scuffles and day-to-day observations.
“Ganger" is an anomaly for me - an album over an hour long that doesn’t seem to overstay its welcome on my daily listens. The features may be outshined by the main artist at every turn - Lil Yachty is completely outshined on “Boat Interlude” while the “GOMD” remix with a Lil Uzi Vert verse was unnecessary - but they fill-in who Veeze deems his colleagues and worthy collaborators like Icewear Vezzo and Babyface Ray. Even the bonus tracks are some of the best rap songs of the year with “Rich No Duh” feeling like Veeze at his best as far as its addictive hook set over a funky drum and piano paired with a near unlimited amount of quotables.
Veeze’s “Ganger” is not for the weak-hearted. It’s unapologetic, sometimes pessimistic and other times excessively optimistic. It’s raw rap at its finest, not in terms of by-the-numbers producers, optics and references but for how Veeze took the Michigan punchline-based flows, lean talk and exaggeration to a distinct, easy-to-listen, unforgettable first album.
Thank you for reading. See you soon. Never shut up. Keep organizing. Keep being loud and aggressive.