Highly anticipated to confirm her status as a new icon of raw entertainment, Sexyy Red returned on April 15th with her fourth studio album, Yo Favorite Trappa Favorite Rappa. Presented with great fanfare by the legendary DJ Holiday to celebrate her 28th birthday, the project promised an immersion into the wild energy of 2010s Southern mixtapes. Unfortunately, after several listens, the verdict is clear: behind the veneer of luxury production, the void is abyssal.
If there is one thing the album cannot be faulted for, it is the sound quality. The army of producers summoned for the occasion does a titanic job. Metro Boomin, Tay Keith, ATL Jacob, and Mike WiLL Made-It deliver dark, heavy, and hard-hitting scores. The bass shakes the walls and the trap melodies are impeccably crafted. To be honest, this is the only real interest of the record: it plays like a compilation of high-tier instrumentals.
However, as soon as Sexyy Red starts rapping, the illusion collapses. Where her previous projects shone with a refreshing insolence, this new opus sinks into an exhausting repetitiveness. The flows are predictable, the choruses feel like they were written in seconds, and the writing is disarmingly poor. There is a nagging feeling of hearing unfinished song drafts where the artist relies on her reputation without ever seeking to innovate.
Aside from the beats, there is unfortunately nothing worth keeping. The album stretches across 18 tracks that all end up sounding the same, making the listening experience monotonous despite appearances from Key Glock or Chief Keef. Sexyy Red seems to have lost the spark that made her unique in favor of a generic formula running on empty. It is a lazy project that, despite its shiny packaging, cruelly lacks substance and creativity.
Rating: 4.0 / 10