After releasing a surprisingly good debut in “RESET,” MoneyBagg Yo tries to go 2/2 with “43VA Heartless.”

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TOP 5

5. HEADSTRONG

MoneyBagg Yo and Kevin Gates are cut from the same cloth. They both rap with this gutter sound, love giving people the game when it comes to the topic of hustling, and aren’t afraid to show emotion in their music. This is why they sound so connected in “Headstrong.”

On “Headstrong,” both Gates and MoneyBagg show an abundance of passion over this emotional trap beat, each talking about living up to expectations, providing for fam and doing what they have to do to succeed in their respective careers. While the content behind the song is as raw/gutter as it gets, you do get a lot of singing from the rappers on their respective contributions — this results in the closest thing to a trap opera I’ve ever heard in my life.

4. STYLE AIN’T FREE

Trap legends unite for “Style Ain’t Free.”

Offset and MoneyBagg Yo will have statues in a few Martin Luther King Blvds around the world when they decide to hang their mics up. With that being said, on their collaboration together called “Style Ain’t Free,” they were able to create this grungy track that features a bunch of chests being stuck out, women being smashed and money being spent through a myriad of rap styles (With most of them coming from Offset himself). While I see club hit written all over this joint, I think this song will go down as a gritty gem.

3. RELENTLESS AGAIN

I F**KING LOVE WHEN RAPPERS LIKE MONEYBAGG YO RAPS OVER SOME EMOTIONAL S**T!!! “In Relentless Again,” that’s exactly what we get, as the Memphis native spits some serious bars about everything from haters to making it to the top through hard work and determination over this crying beat. While a good chunk of the song features pure passion from the “RESET” rapper, majority of it features consistent flows, focused bars and an explosive delivery.

2. DIOR

Historically, I haven’t been the biggest fan of Gunna’s mumbling ass rapping, but I have loved the sly trap vibes his music tends to have. In “Dior,” it doesn’t get any slier, as Gunna and MoneyBagg Yo get the bragging over this smooth ass trap beat. Though both rappers’ styles are unique from one another (Gunna uses a melodic approach on his contributions, while MoneyBagg decided to go the grungy route on his), their sentiments about pushing nice whips and smashing women are pretty much the same.

1. DRAIS

If MoneyBagg Yo can turn a penthouse into Drais, I think I can turn my basement into MGM Grand!

MoneyBagg Yo is one of those dudes that gets his songs played in the club in times when no one is paying attention. “Drais” is the epitome of one of those songs, as it boasts this bass boomin’ instrumental that is meant to make venues shake. Over this instrumental, MoneyBagg keeps s**t 99 + 1, spitting bars about celebrating his success and indulging in a club life that none of us can procure. But who cares what he has to say, where’s the big booty chick we can dance to this song with?

In my opinion, “Drais” is MoneyBagg’s best sound.

SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. RELENTLESS AGAIN (4.5/5)

2. DRAIS (4.5/5)

3. DIOR (4.5/5)

4. PART OF DA GAME (4/5)

5. 4 DA MOMENT (3/5)

6. TOXIC (4/5)

7. STYLE AIN’T FREE (4/5)

8. ON MY SOUL (3.5/5)

9. NO FILTER (3.5/5)

10. COMMOTION (3.5/5)

11. BLAC MONEY (3.5/5)

12. WAT3VA I’M WIT (4/5)

13. HEADSTRONG (3.5/5)

14. WORD 4 WORD (4/5)

OVERALL RATING

(B-)

MoneyBagg Yo is that n***a! Out of all the rappers in the game, he’s one of the few that demands listeners’ attention with every bar he spews out. Additionally, he understands his brand/sound, which means he knows how to set himself up to succeed every chance he gets. With that being said, “43VA Heartless” is a splash of trap entertainment that never lets up in positive and negative passion.

After bumping “43VA Heartless,” I realized the speakers in my car ain’t s**t! Nearly every beat that MoneyBagg Yo Raps over on this album is filled with bass, bass and more bass. Aside from that, you get club vibes, hood vibes and trap vibes all blended into the grand scheme of the instrumentals, resulting in a body of work that encourages shrugs, mean mugs and pointless flexing. I likey!

You know what’s interesting about MoneyBagg Yo? He talks about the typical s**t other trap rappers talk about in their music, but in my opinion, he does a deeper dive into those topics when he raps. Yes, on “43VA Heartless,” he elaborates on having money, fine women and hustling, but he does it in a way that is a lot more intricate, grungier and realer.

I actually think Yo is a pretty decent rapper. Throughout, “43VA Heartless,” he shows he’s more than capable of delivering infectious hooks, decent melodies and powerful lyrical content. Will you hear some tongue-twisting or R&B heavy s**t from him? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean he can’t draw you in with his boisterous style.

While the features on this album weren’t bad, I definitely didn’t need them in my life. I loved Offset’s tongue-twisting verse on “Style Ain’t Free” the most, followed by Gunna’s melodic effort on “Dior.” I thought Yung Miami was pretty solid on “4 Da Moment,” and truly felt Kevin Gates on “Headstrong.” But in the end of the day, I thought MoneyBagg Yo’s persona was strong enough to keep listeners interest from start to finish on this album.

MoneyBagg Yo is one of those artists that continues to impress me when he drops music. I think his s**t is high in quality and both deceivingly deep and surprisingly relatable. If you ask me, the “RESET” rapper has gone 2/2 when it comes to releasing studio albums.

Quincy

Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.