“Top” Album Review

By RICHARD McGREGORY and ELLIOT AVE-LALLEMANT

In honor of Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, artist name NBA YoungBoy, having served his time for a gun charge and returning to Utah, we decided to go back and listen to one of his most popular albums, “Top.” 

An important element to note about Youngboy’s music is his motivation as an artist. First off, Youngboy, in 2020, the year this album was released, had five kids. With five mouths to feed and child support to pay, Youngboy’s music is clearly motivated to make music for money, and you can feel it based on the beats he selects. 

Youngboy is not here to subvert expectations or do anything drastically different than he did on previous albums; YB is here to deliver the same, consistent product he became famous for. This isn’t an artsy album for the white kids in the suburbs; this album is for the people who relate to Youngboy’s life (and, admittedly, the chill suburban white kids who want to be black). 

But is “Top” an enjoyable album to listen to? Overall, we’d say so. Youngboy does a good job bringing lots of aggressive energy on tracks like Dead Trollz or The Last Backyard, and is a surprisingly solid singer with standout vocals on tracks like Reaper’s Child, All In, and House Arrest Tingz. And, of course, you can’t forget the hit song Right Foot Creep, which was featured as the main song that people hit the griddy dance to.

However, one major issue with the album is how similar many of the songs sound to each other. When listening to the song “Boom!,” I initially thought that I was listening to the song “Fuck Ya!” because they both had the same producer tag, a hit sound at the very beginning, and were both Louisiana trap beats. 

While the similarities between songs could be argued to give the album a cohesive sound, when listening to the album it seems like YoungBoy just had rapped over several Louisiana trap beats from the same producers (HitmanAuto producing the tracks “Fuck Ya!,” “Boom,” and “Murder Business” and TayTayMadeIt producing the tracks “The Last Backyard…” and “Right Foot Creep” for example). 

The sameness of many tracks does not hinder the enjoyment of each song individually. Still, the sameness does make the songs as collective creative work feel less significant and less intentional. At times, some songs just feel like continuations of each other, like listening to a remix or a “Crazy Story Part 2” type of deal. 

You can also see subtle foreshadowing to future albums, with the vocals sounding a lot more disorganized, a common theme on YB’s latest album “More Leaks,” where footage of unedited vocals went viral for how bad they sounded. Listening to “What You Want Do” a few times is enough to fry even the toughest listeners’ brains. 

Richard’s Score: 5.5-6/10

Richard’s Top Five: 1. Reaper’s Child, 2. Drug Addiction, 3. House Arrest Tingz, 4. I’m Up, 5. All In

Elliot’s score: 6/10

Elliot’s Top Five: 1. Drug Addiction, 2. Right Foot Creep, 3. Kacey Talk, 4. Off Season, 5. Dead Trollz.

Elliot’s rankings

1. Drug Addiction
   1. Love the beat; 808s really sell it. This was actually the first NBA Youngboy song I added to my playlist (After Make No Sense I think)
2. Cross Roads
   1. Also a good beat, but I’m really trying to ignore YB’s vocals. The vocals kinda sound like a foreshadowing moment to What You Want Do. 
3. The Last Backyard…
   1. Woooo, southern beats!!!! Funky fr. This one feels kinda forgettable
4. RIGHT FOOT CREEP
   1. YOOOOOO IT’S THIS SONG!! Also very hard to tell the difference between this and the Last Backyard. Feels like a continuation of The Last Backyard, too. Can’t picture anything else except your favorite video game character hitting the griddy. 
5. Dirty Stick
   1. I’m starting to notice a theme with these beats here. I like the addition of the piano and the synth. 
6. Kacey Talk
   1. A bit of a tone change, but the guitar is a good addition to the song. Hi-hats are killing it. 
7. My Window
   1. First feature! And it works, too. Hell yeah
8. I’m Up
   1. Ehh, kinda forgettable

Richard’s Rankings:

1. Drug Addiction

• Nice guitar, punchy 808 (kinda fuzzy sounding not super deep, hits nice), hi-hats are a nice accent (not overbearing or a boring two-step; they work well with the snare).

2. Cross Roads

• Guitar sounds less real than Drug Addiction (might be midi) (it’s not bad though; it has a nice looping pattern), hi hats are very quiet, 808s are fine, (all the way home pre-chorus is pretty solid)(YB lowkey a solid singer at times) 

3. The Last Backyard

• Beat sounds extremely Louisiana (ghetto spy beat shit), verse 2 is pretty solid, (having an 808 and a bass sound is crazy but it works), that brass sounds cheap asl (i feel like it’s probably midi but it could be recorded god only knows), 

4. Right Foot Crepp

• Louisiana ass beat again (ghetto spy beat shit), the chorus is more memorable on this song than The Last Backyard, (beat sounds more sleek and less cheap than track 3 too), the producer spammed the shit outta that 808 (it works tho), yb’s voice works really well on this one (you can tell this song is a hit)

5. Dirty Stick

• The piano sounds kinda goofy/funky (like zaytoveen on a budget), YB does a decent job, (song is fine overall, but I won’t be returning to it.

6. Kacey Talk

• Hi-hats are more typical, 808s are used sparsely but i’m not sure it works great, (the melody change/augmentation works well, I like that subdued vibe better than the normal chorus)(it’s probably a halftime or gross beat effect on the guitar) (the guitar in general is ok not my favorite tho), Kacey Talk is better than Dirty Stick but isnt one of my favorites

7. My Window (feat. Lil Wayne)

• The guitar at the beginning is nice and emotional, the 808 feels typical (I like the 808 when it is hitting lower frequencies, and i like it alot less when its playing high notes (it feels too weak playing high notes)), hi hats are a nice accent (lowkey wish the hi hats were a little louder), Lil Wayne slides on the beat similar to youngboy (he does an alright job). My Window is better than Kacey Talk and Dirty Stick

8. I’m Up

• At the beginning, it doesn’t even sound like YoungBoy (it’s really good), 808 plus kick combo smacks, good guitar sound, hi hat hits nicely in the background, I like the weird vocal accent that plays during the chorus. I’m Up is one of my favorites so far.

9. Off Season

• YoungBoy’s singing works really well on this track; I like how subdued the percussion is (the lower percussion makes the melody and YoungBoy the focus), Off Season is another favorite for me.

10. All In

• Guitar is really nice on this one, 808 hits well with the hi hat and snare rolls, the hi hats and snare both sound nice (the snare is especially sharp), solid track overall.

11. Dead Trollz

• End of a solid three-track run, hitting us with the What He Want Do flow :(, YoungBoy comes in with a lot of energy on this song, I’m neutral on the ‘woah’ vocal sound that loops in the background. Dead Trollz is one of my least favorites so far.

12.. Fuck Ya!

• More cheap-sounding brass, another Louisiana ghetto spy beat, the piano loop is ok (808 plus bass sound is also on this track), and the wah guitar sound is here too. 

13. Big Bankroll

• Another Louisiana beat, I like the one body, two body, etc melody, the sounds feel less cheap on this song (probably because there isn’t any brass) Better than Dead Trollz and Fuck Ya, but still not a favorite.

14. Boom

• I ain’t gon lie, the start of this song sounds almost identical to Fuck Ya! (It’s probably because they are both produced by HitmanAudio, but still. The Louisiana beats are starting to sound very samey).
• The melody Yb sings at the beginning of the song is solid, and the percussion feels very subdued and tucked in the background (besides the 808), but it feels less intentional than a song like Off Season. 

15. Reapers Child

• My favorite beat so far; I love the flute. The varied usage of kicks and 808s works well. YB sings pretty well, too. I like how smooth the open hat sounds.
• The stop in the middle of the song scared me the first time I listened to it
• (So far I feel like besides Right Foot Creep, the Louisiana sounding beats are holding back a lot of the songs on the album. I personally have enjoyed the non-Louisiana sounding beats on the album better so far).
• This song is a favorite for me.

16. Murder Business

• I wish Hitman would get off the beat
• 808 hits pretty hard on this song (the 808 might be layered with a kick at times; it’s hard to tell)

17. Sticks With Me

• I like YB’s melody on this one. 

18. House Arrest Tingz

• Emotional guitar, yb comes in with a solid melody, snare and hi hats sound nice. House Arrest Tingz is a favorite for sure

19. To My Lowest

• Sweet-sounding intro, feels like YB is straining his voice on some of the high notes of the chorus (maybe this song should’ve been a couple keys lower). Chorus is almost there (I don’t like the  “all this pain I’ve been showing” part sounds less fluid and more clunky than the rest of the chorus). 
• To My Lowest isn’t perfect, but I like it. It’s a favorite

20. Peace Hardly

• Melody sounds different from everything else on the album. 808 is really different, too (very crunchy sounding)(feels like it was thrown into a few compressors or something),

21. Calling

• very smooth sounding (I think the bass sound helps with that), Snoop raps like an old head on this one,
• This one’s a favorite, too.

Overall, HitmanAuto gotta stop with the cheap ass brass

Favs

Drug Addiction

Right Foot Creep

I’m Up

Off Season

All In

Reapers Child

House Arrest Tingz

To My Lowest

Callin

Top 5

1. Reapers Child
2. Drug Addiction
3. House Arrest Tingz
4. I’m Up
5. All In

The rest of the favorites:

Right Foot Creep (no.7), Off Season (no 6), To My lowest, Callin.

Featured Image: YoungBoy’s album “Top” cover; Spotify