A Review of Lil Baby & Gunna's "Drip Harder"

Wha wha wha! Atlanta rappers Lil Baby and Gunna link up to give us their collab album titled "Drip Harder." Lil Baby coming off the success of his debut album "Harder Than Ever" and Gunna coming off of the success of his recent mixtape "Drip Season 3" both look to capitalize on their momentum with "Drip Harder." From Lil Baby's rhymes and Gunna's melodies translate well on the two songs I've heard. The first being "Life Goes On" by Lil Baby featuring Gunna and Lil Uzi Vert and the second, "Drip Too Hard" by Lil Baby and Gunna have both done well amongst the listening hip-hop community. "Drip Too Hard" also appears to be the lone single leading up to the release of this project. Since we're talking, singles, let's look at the track list! "Drip Harder" is a package of thirteen songs with a total of four features. These four features are spread out over the course of three songs. Lil Durk, NAV, Young Thug and Drake are the features on this "Drip Harder" project. All features are artists that can provide some type of melodic presence on a song, it'll be interesting to see how these features are used. With all this being said, without further ado, let's get to the review! 👂🏾

Review 👂🏾

Scale

Per song
+.5 for beat selection
+.5 for flow
+.5 for content/impact
+.5 for hit value

Points will be taken off for:
Fatigue in listening
Lack of diversity in beats

Raw Score: The amount of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.

Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.

Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.

Off White VLONE (ft. Lil Durk and NAV)
A calm beat with soft bass heavy beat that sets the smooth vibe and a soft high hat which adds the fast tempo. Impressive that four artists are on this three-minute song and nobody sounds rushed or off beat.
+1.5

Business Is Business
A harder bass on this beat which drowns Gunna's voice out a bit. Sounds like Gunna and the beat are competing for attention in the first verse. While it's hard to completely understand what he's saying Gunna sounds perfectly on beat. The second verse Baby does better on this bass heavy beat in terms of being more audible. Overall, I don't like this beat for either of them.
+.5

Belly
First of all the guitar rifts on this beat are amazing and scream Travis Scott to me. Also, this is the third straight song with the tag "run that back Turbo" meaning Turbo an Atlanta producer has played a role on the first three songs of this project. The cadence Gunna uses on this beat works great with the guitar rifts I mentioned earlier. Lil Baby's verse was a good verse. Overall a solid song from Gunna and Baby.
+1

Deep End (Lil Baby)
At first listen this beat reminds me a bit of the Lady Gaga song "Applause" with that techno, choppy sound in the beat. This is a solo Lil Baby song. Baby sounds like there's a bit of autotune on his voice but, the autotune is pleasing to the ear. One line that stands out to me comes during Baby's second verse where he sings,
"Treat all my niggas like bosses, nobody better, everyone equal (Yeah)
Real talk this the sequel, hold it down for my people"
A nice nod to the mindset he likes to associate himself with. I love the beat selection, content and flow on this song.
+1.5

World Is Yours (Gunna)
To follow up the solo Lil Baby song, this song is the solo Gunna song. The bass on this song is heavy but its tempo is super slow. The sound of a flute is very faint in the background of this beat and can be overshadowed by the hard, high tempo of the high hats. A line that stands out to me on this song is,
"They think I'm racist, my white gon' be Off"
Which is a nod to the brand Off White. The beat selection and flow stand out to me the most in the construction of this song.
+1

Underdog
The flute, piano and wind chime sounds in the background give a refreshing vibe before the hard bass and high hats drop. The flute and wind chimes don't disappear with the presence of the bass and high hats. Both rappers lay down solid verses however, what stands out to me is Gunna's hook.
"I want it all, the underdog, I go hard (Go hard)
The word is law, take care of my dogs, from my heart (My heart)
One for all, you gotta walk, we gon' march (March)
Ready for war, wit' my dogs, we gon' spark (Spark)"
The flow, content and beat selection all are on display on this song.
+1.5

I Am
The standout on this beat is the piano which seems to disappear during the middle of the first verse then comes back during the hook. The intensity of the bass changes very subtly for the duration of this song. Once again, neither Baby or Gunna are off beat on this song.
+1

Seals Pills
The mainly bass beat sounds refreshing as it gives the song a simple feel. The emphasis Baby puts on the "are" sound stands out to me on this song.
"Jumped in and I went far, my new girl super large
Paid cash for all my cars, protected but I'm raw
Addicted to the awe, me and Gunna double R
Rich rollin', I'm a star, don't take shots from the bar
But I'm ballin' like Lavar"
The rhyme scheme to start off Baby's second verse is a bit catchy. Once again, neither rapper is off beat which adds value to this project.
+1

My Jeans (ft. Young Thug)
One thing I don't like about this song is the construction of it. Young Thug's hook is the length of Baby and Gunna's verses combined and we get a Young Thug hook three times. This makes this song sound like a Young Thug song featuring Lil Baby and Gunna. However, the beat selection and flow are once again on display.
+1

Style Stealer (Gunna)
The flute and bass heavy melody with the high hats come together to create a beautiful beat. Gunna appears to be calling out rappers who bite flows and cadences on his hook where he sings,
"They tryna steal your style, dawg (Style, dawg, style, dawg)
They tryna steal your style, dawg (Steal your style, dawg)
Steady bitin' the sounds (Steady bitin' sounds)
They tryna steal the sound, dawg (Tryna steal the sound)"
This is something many rapper have had their gripes over in the past, often times leading to a beef between rappers. This beautiful masterpiece called a beat with Gunna's vocals on his second solo song on this project sound great over the beat.
+1

Close Friends (Lil Baby)
The second solo Lil Baby on this project is a slow jam as far as slow jams can go on this album. Baby sings about his tribulations with a girl and the evolution of their relationship from being close friends to being in a relationship to Baby being busted for cheating.
"I even did the unthinkable, and I'm sorry for what I did to you
Take me back, if I was you and I did what I did
I probably would, I probably wouldn't"
The piano sounds on this beat give this beat a bit of a sad feel but, the high hats and bass make sure this beat still bangs.
+1.5

Drip Too Hard
The lonely single on this project which was released about a week or two before the release of this project. The way Lil Baby comes in on the first verse of this song establishes the feeling of "this gonna be a hit" on this song. Gunna gives us a solid second verse. The bass and high hats at about the same speed which makes this song one of the calmer songs on this project.
+1.5

Never Recover (ft. Drake)
"Tay Keith fuck these niggas up!" This song is a bit of a turn from the melodies we have heard on the previous twelve songs. Regardless, this song is still a good one. All three artists and the beat can be heard competing for attention as I think the bass, triangle, high hat intense beat can drown out some of lyrics these artists are spitting.
+1

Lil Baby and Gunna's "Drip Harder"

Raw Score: 12/13
Quality Score: 15/13
Playback Value: 3.5/5

Overall, a great joint project from Lil Baby and Gunna. Aside from the last song "Never Recover" the whole project is super smooth and has immense playback value. It's super impressive that over the course of thirteen songs, no rapper is off beat. The beat selection for this album is impressive as well. The flows and impeccable beat selection along with the consistent vibe create one of the best joint projects 2018. The three stand out songs for me off this project are, "Off White VLONE" by Gunna and Lil Baby featuring NAV and Lil Durk, "Deep End" by Lil Baby and "Underdog" by Gunna and Lil Baby. Overall, "Drip Harder" doesn't just slap, it punches but the calm vibe makes this album more of a tussle. Go stream Lil Baby and Gunna's "Drip Harder" today on your favorite streaming platform. Also, don't forget to follow OLDMLK.com on Instagram @OLDMLK and let us know what you think of the album!