DS4EVER / Gunna / January 7, 2022
- Joshua Yoo
- Jan 29, 2022
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 22, 2022
After a slew of full-length releases over the last three years, Gunna returns to the series that kickstarted his career, with a fourth installment that brings listeners up to date. Besides some musings on new love and even greater lifestyle flexes, however, nothing much has changed regarding what little he has to say, as well as how he says it.
Gunna enlists his usual crew of producers and guest features, notably his YSL label-mates and producers Wheezy and Metro Boomin all over the track list, curating the right pieces for another star-studded Atlanta-centric rap record. And many of the moments that stand out come from the energy that these collaborators bring, from guest verses that provide much needed changes in pace (“25k jacket”), to some textured and varied instrumentals (“thought i was playing”). The issue, however, is that very few of these standout moments can be attributed to Gunna himself.
On too many performances in too many tracks, he struggles to establish any memorable or distinctive flow, continuing to ride a monotonous vocal timbre that grows tiresome quickly. Aside from scattered instances of enunciation issues as well, the thematic focus lacks practically any attempts to show depth beyond a vapid, surface-level engagement. A majority of tracks can be summed up by the same criterion of one-directional lyricism and short-lived, disjointed song structuring.
This is not one of the best reflections of Atlanta rap, nor mainstream trap-rap, and with many of Gunna’s contemporaries stepping up in recent era, ‘DS4EVER’ only further pales in comparison.
Highlight(s): alotta cake, south to west, 25k jacket
Lowlight(s): livin wild, idk that bitch, life of sin, missing me, mop, poochie gown
SCORE: 3/10
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