Yung Bans swings for the fences on “Misunderstood.”

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TOP 5

 

5. ENEMIES

“Enemies” is pretty cold. On it, Yung Bans and featured guests Nav & Lil Durk call out enemies, virgins, undercover cops, haters and snake friends that are currently floating around in their lives. Rapping-wise (Or singing-wise), each rapper uses highly melodic approaches, contradicting the tough ass beat they are served with.

On the real, I love how this song comes across like some ‘true crime story’ type s**t, as each artist gets a chance to tell their side of the reckless ass stories we’ve been hearing from them these last couple of years.

 

 

4. GOING WILD

Yung Bans really flexes his singing skills on “Going Wild,” doing everything from delivering an infectious melody to harmonizing like the lead singer of a boy band. In all honesty, he doesn’t sound all that bad either, as I was a bit stunned that his voice was capable of reaching such high levels of quality. As for Ban’s lyrics on the track, I sorta f**k with it, as he does his best to give the world a proper introduction to he is as a person throughout (To sum it up, he is an absolute sicko as a person).

Personally, I enjoy the zaniness of the beat attached to this song. First it boasts this mad scientist-like feel, then it turns into an all out food fight at the end. I f**k with the combo!

If Bans can make music like this for the rest of his life, I would be a fan.

 

 

3. 100 SHELLS

“100 SHELLS” features two rappers that are charged with murder (Sorry for being so direct, but it is what it is). These two rappers are also singers that use tons of rap lyrics in their music, so their savage ways does tends to get overlooked a bit. Nonetheless, this particular song features a smooth trap instrumental, some inspirational words, gun-talk and passionate singing. On the real, I love the vibes attached to it, and sorta f**k with the emotional contributions you get from both YNW and Bans.

 

 

2. YEAAA

“YEAAA” is a duet between two rappers in Yung Bans and Future. On it, listeners are gifted with an emotional/bass-heavy instrumental, and most noticeably, very poor singing. However, what I enjoy about this track is that it feels like an anthem, as it features a very thankful version of Bans that is intent on making money and living life to the fullest, and a version of Future that is willing to let the world know that he’s paranoid, reckless and cognizant of what other individuals don’t have. In my opinion, the combination of both guys’ contributions makes for something that probably sounds more meaningful then it actually is.

 

 

1. I DON’T EVEN CRIP

I really f**king like “I Don’t Even Crip!” First and foremost, the song features one of the few instrumentals on this album that doesn’t sound like your typical trap s**t, and secondly, Yung Bans shows off an uncanny ability to sound unhinged, but at the same time, somewhat clear on his verses on it (You don’t understand, this n***a is never clear). Lyrically, Bans gets a chance to sorta gloat in the faces of his haters on the track, flashing money, bad women, drugs and luxurious items in their faces. I guess I’m OK with him doing that when he makes decent music like this.

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SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. GOING WILD (4/5)

2. SOS (3/5)

3. PRADA ZOMBIE (3.5/5)

4. 100 SHELLS (4/5)

5. BLAH BLAH BLAH (3.5/5)

6. SHAWTY / IN LOVE WITH ALL MY BITCHES (3/5)

7. TOUCH THE STARS (3/5)

8. GO BERZERK (3/5)

9. XXXTENTACION INTERLUDE (N/A)

10. READY SET GO (2.5/5)

11. HOW DA GAME GO (3/5)

12. HOLD UP (3/5)

13. I DON’T EVEN CRIP (4/5)

14. RED DEAD (2/5)

15. YEAAA (4/5)

16. GANG (3/5)

17. ENEMIES (4/5)

18. TOO MANY TIMES (3/5)

19. BROKEN PIECES (3.5/5)

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OVERALL RATING

(C+)

 

After averaging one of the worst ratings on this site, Yung Bans comes through with a pretty solid album in “MISUNDERSTOOD.” Don’t get me wrong, the Atlanta native didn’t turn into an astute MC overnight, he’s still very bad, but I was pleasantly surprised at everything else he was able to do on this album such as put together a body of work that is complete-sounding, get deep from time to time, select beats that cater perfectly to his style, and most surprisingly, sing decently.

As I stated a paragraph ago, Yung Bans is still a very bad rapper. His lyrical content is limited, he mumbles his ass off, and he comes across as too basic to deliver anything remotely clever. However, I thought he did a decent job of keeping our attention with subject-matters such as drug-usage, street ties, luxurious-living and scandalous women throughout “MISUNDERSTOOD” (Stop fronting, you know those subject-matters intrigue you). I know, every other rapper in the game talks about this same s**t, but not every rapper approaches each topic with the passion Bans does. I swear, throughout this album I was convinced that Bans was put on this earth to motivate young n***as to either rap or rob to get what they want.

I didn’t love the beats on this album, but I thought they did cater to Bans’ strengths. Majority of them were of the trap variety, but there were a few that sorta took on more of an emotional tone. Nonetheless, nothing really stood out to me as all that great or different then what you would hear on a Lil Keed or Young Thug album.

The guest appearances on this album were pretty good! You had a very solid performance by Future on “YEAA,” outstanding performances by Gunna and Young Thug on “Hold Up,” deep performances by Durk and NAV on “Enemies,” and a very violent performance by YNW Melly on “100 Shells.” Everybody complimented Bans well (Can you imagine if Bans tried to get on a song with J. Cole… Yea, knowing your lane is important when you think of it that way, right?)

Yung Bans isn’t my favorite rapper in the world, but I do find his story intriguing. After being put on house arrest, he hustled his way to relevancy, and this album embodies him reaching the mountaintop of whatever f**king level of ratchet medals he was trying to achieve. While I do deserve more quality music than what I heard on this joint, I did dig the energy a lot with this project.