Review: Young Thug, ‘So Much Fun’

The trap pioneer keeps things simple on his enjoyable ‘debut’ album.

Young Thug has released five commercially available solo projects over the last four years, though none have been labelled as his ‘debut album’. No matter what the label say, Jeffery and Beautiful Thugger Girls possessed all the qualities of an album. Therefore, So Much Fun can be seen as Thug’s third album. The project emerges during the rise of the Young Thug clones – Gunna, Lil Baby, Lil Keed, Sahhbabii and Lil Gotit, just to name a few. After multiple years of mismanagement, it is time for Thug to stake his claim.

So Much Fun is not the eccentric, left-field Thug we are used to. Rather, it is Thug in his simplest form, taking it back to basics.

Thug has often lacked clarity and guidance on his commercial projects. But So Much Fun is a total embodiment of its title. The album sees, quite literally, Young Thug having fun. It is not country Thug, nor experimental Thug, but trap Thug. That comes with an abundance of simplicity, particularly in the production and song structure, which doesn’t enable Thug to be at his artistic peak but doesn’t lead to any dull moments either. For 19 tracks, there are no unlistenable songs, even if they are not the most memorable tracks.

Tracks like “Hot” and “Bad Bad Bad” lean on production melodies and the fitting flows of Thug, Gunna and Lil Baby to add the flavour to what would otherwise be a boring, by-the-numbers trap song. “Big Tipper” and “Circle of Bosses” boast some of the best beats on the album but also feature memorable hooks to complete the formula successfully applied to a majority of the tracklist.

But as always, Young Thug ensures he maintains the eccentrics. “Sup Mate” with Future is the zaniest song of the album, featuring idiosyncratic performances by the pair, particularly by Future. It almost comes across as lazy and incomplete, but it is the nonsensical nature of the song that makes it a bit of a guilty pleasure. “Pussy” sounds like if R2-D2 transformed into a beat and found its way to a recording studio. “Cartier Gucci Scarf” brings back the enjoyable growl flow heard previously on “Harambe” to add character to the song.

“The London” remains the best song on the album, deserving of the success it achieved earlier in the year. Although, its polished appeal doesn’t match the rest of the album and works better as a bonus track rather than as the official ending.

One can’t help but critique the approach Young Thug took for his ‘debut’ album. Projects like Jeffery and Beautiful Thugger Girls showcase the artistic diversity of the rapper, something that So Much Fun doesn’t achieve due to its simplistic approach. Young Thug is far too familiar with the adventurism he brings to his major releases for So Much Fun to only contain a fraction of those capabilities.

So Much Fun passes the test compared to the majority of the average trap albums released in 2019. It may not showcase all of Thug’s capabilities but maintains a vibrant, carefree attitude which is enough to give So Much Fun its own unique position in Young Thug’s discography.

Rating: 7 / 10

Best tracks: “The London”, “Hot”, “Bad Bad Bad”, “Big Tipper”, “Cartier Gucci Scarf”, “Surf”