Wunna Review

5.23.20

Gunna “Wunna” Release Date 5.22.20

Gunna released his second studio album, ‘Wunna,’ this past Friday. Gunna seemed to be quite excited about this one, and he should be proud. The second album for many artists is the toughest. Maybe you put out your first album on your own, then you sign to a label and the second album is not the same. Perhaps you tried something different to show your versality and it just did not seem to hit. Whatever the case may be, the “sophomore slump,” has had its rounds in the music game. So, Gunna has a lot to prove here with where he is taking his own music. Some may say that he is drowning in the shadows of Lil Baby, or Young Thug. Here is Gunna’s chance to take what he has learned from Thug, the credibility he has gained from the various hits he has created with Lil Baby, and show the world who he is, and will remain to be as a solo artist in the industry.

I listened to the album a few times. The album is not bad, it’s pretty good. Overall, I would say it is Super Slimey for sure, but I do not think there are any bangers like ‘Drip To Hard’ that some may have hoped for. I do really like the features on the album, with Young Thug, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch and Travis Scott. They just seem to all hit the same, as well as his solo tracks. Similarly to how Young Thug changed the way hip-hop sounds, I think Gunna is changing the way R&B sounds. What new R&B artists do we have? None. Chris Brown and Tory Lanez have been around for a while, so I would consider them to be old school R&B. At least modern day. But with all the new kids in hip-hop, they’re taking it to a punk/rock-and-roll type of music. Gunna is keeping the hip-hop in it, but bringing a singing and soulful sound to it. His lyrics might be out there, but his sound is consistently mellow.

With that, we just have to decide if that is what we want to listen to or not. I like Gunna, but I’m not obsessed with this album. Since I feel like out of these eighteen songs, my reviews would all be the same, I am going to take a different approach to this review. Gunna has a very interesting voice, and sometimes we miss his bars. I’ll pick our my favorite bars from each song and break them down for the official For The SoUle, ‘Wunna’ review.

ARGENTINA

Wheezy is the producer of this song, which is basically a story of Gunna and Wheezy on their way to the studio.

“Me and Wheezy, we mixing’ h*es from Argentina and California

We was in a Bentley B, flowin’ up the street, playin’ one of our songs

Said if I gave her a beep, now they f**cking up VIP, tryna see if we goin’”

Nothing crazy about these lines, other than it being a true story. Gunna shares with Highsnobiety a story of how he was on the way to the studio with Wheezy, and they met some girls at a stop light. They were chatting it up for the quick moment the light was red, and they told the girls to follow. Two girls were from Argentina, two were from California, then they hangout VIP style at the studio.

I love meeting new friends at stop lights. Never met a famous rapper that asked me to come back to the studio, though. How fun are they?

GIMMICK

Gunna drops a few names in these bars, and they’re quite interesting to me, once you break them down a bit.

“Bossed up and gave a few bonds to my dawgs
F*ck the jail system, man, f*ck the four walls
I feel like 2Pac, above all the law
I pour a quick Dew up and let it dissolve
1017 Guwop, Backwoods look like logs”

People hate when artists compare themselves to 2Pac, but that really is not what Gunna is going for here. 2Pac got into a lot of trouble during this time, and Gunna is saying that similarly, he feels that he is living above the law, with where he has managed to get to today, after all he has been through. On the Breakfast Club interview, Gunna told us he got his name from always carrying a gun back in the day, so his innocence he may hold today, was not always the case.

The more interesting part of these lines is the 1017 Guwop bar. This is a shout out to Gucci Mane and his label. After Gunna dropped ‘Drip Season 3’, in 2018, Gucci Mane publicly offered him a million dollar contract to come sign with 1017 the Label. Gunna was already with Young Thug and YSL at the time, where Young Thug quickly responded to Twitter saying, he had already given Gunna that offer, and there will be no Gunna and 1017. Of course, Gunna has remained by Thug’s side. But where could they all be, if it was not for the jail system?

Gucci Mane signed Young Thug back in 2013. Unfortunately, Gucci Mane went to jail shortly after and was not there to help out Young Thug grow into the artist with the incredible potential he had. So, Young Thug had to leave the label. Gucci Mane did not flinch nor get mad at Thug, he knew it was his fault and Thug should do what he had to do to grow as an artist. This could potentially be why, when Gucci went after Gunna, no one was upset with the way things played out.

Gunna and Lil Baby both featured on Gucci’s song ‘ICE’ from ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ last summer. So, it seems the southern rap trio are all on good terms. If it were not for the jail system, maybe they would all still be 1017, and probably ruling the world.

MOTW

MOTW is an abbreviation for money on the way, of course. The first few bars of the first verse really set the tone of the song.

“N***s pillowtalk, I really set talk, we'll shoot the whole place
We ain't takin' loss, double M, drove boss
In the six-star loft cookin' fish parquet
Ice, no skates
Get it out the pot
Speed on the cops
Feelin' like I'm Jigga on a yacht”

There are two interesting things I found here, that overall tell the life story of Gunna himself. The first bar basically suggests that if someone is talking negatively against Gunna’s camp, things will get violent. He used to be violent, hence shoot the whole place, and used to get dirty money, hence the double M no loss.

The next few bars talk about living lavish. A six-star loft, cooking fish parquet. What is fish parquet? It sounds fancy, but when I look it up online, it is a puzzle on Amazon. Anyways, ice no skates, obviously he is talking about his jewelry. Get it out the pot, could be whatever fish he is cooking. Then feeling like Jay-Z on his yacht. Really Gunna started from the bottom and is loving this new fancy life he made for himself. Hopefully he isn’t eating puzzles, though.

FEIGNING

Feigning is the one song on the album produced by Tay Keith. I instantly knew this would be one of my favorites ones. A Tay Keith track is always just energetic and fun. The line I picked out of this song is just that - something light and fun, which I think represents the hit quite well.

“Feel the Miley Cyrus, yeah
We gettin' geeked up at the private party, yeah, yeah
Leak, it ain't no secret, know I drip the hardest “

The obvious is the Miley Cyrus name drop. I see it as a playful line that they’re at the party, feeling like Miley Cyrus, because of her ‘Party in the USA’ anthem, that is known by everyone nationally, no matter what your genre of choice in music really is. While he says the team is getting geeked up at the private party, Miley Cyrus could also be seen as a “white girl” pawn, which is another term rappers seem to use quite often for cocaine. Since Gunna has been open about self medicating in his music, I think this is a two-in-one for you here.

Leak it, it ain’t no secret, know I drip the hardest. I love this line the most. Artists music and personal business always seem to leak in the news one way or another. Sometimes you have to defend your situation, sometimes it messes up your plans for dropping new hits. Whatever the case may be, if there is one thing for sure we all already know, Gunna’s drip is the hardest. Let the world know, it is nothing new.

DOLLAZ ON MY HEAD (FT Young Thug)

Usually the chorus is the catchy part of a song, and the verses are where each artist use to go off. On this track in particular, I think Gunna flipped it, and just went crazy on the chorus.

I've been gettin' it since a toddler, I keep dollars on my head
Bein' a real one is my motto, handle my problems, I ain't scared
I put Prada on my collar 'cause she proud of what I said
I'm a leader, I got 'em followin' my footsteps like the feds
I shoot like I'm Montana, chopper bullets make 'em shed
Black on black new Phantom, in the backseat sippin' red'

One rhyme scheme throughout the chorus and it just kept getting better. No matter how many times it has been done before, I love a Prada, proud-of bar, which Gunna uses here. It is also fun when you can use the police in a negative, yet goofy way. Gunna is a leader, people follow him, like the feds. Since the feds just seem to get on everyone’s case in an industry that carries a bad in wrap in the name of the law. Obviously you then have a Tony Montana shooter reference, closing it out with some color references. Probably the best, most consistent, word play we get from Gunna on the album.

ADDYS (FT Nechie)

The song called addys, technically, is about adderall. A drug meant to keep you focused. It could make you feel determined, locked in, accomplish your mission by any means. It also may just make you feel good. Well, this bar takes addy to a different meaning - which may all tie back to the adderall.

“I put the stick right to his face, now he turnin' away, actin' like he ain't say that
I jumped off the porch and I really went north, the first out my hood with a Maybach
They wanna come pop that shit while I'm on tour, uh, just wait 'til I get back
She know that she cappin', she gave me your addy, lil' boy, I know where you stay at”

Addy is also an abbreviation for address, used by some. While Gunna previously uses addy to say he’s been taking adderall, he uses it here saying he is going to pull up on some guy that tried to vandalize his property while he was on tour. Perhaps the adderall got him focused to where he asked around for this guys address, and now he is ready for war. Don’t mess with Gunna, I guess is the overall message here.

SKYBOX

Skybox is Gunna’s hit single from the album, but do you know what he is saying? I hate the whole second verse, so here is a bit of it, let’s break it down.

“I had to trap, now I got plenty
I'm in the castle f*ckin' a genie
I popped a capsule, she wanna wrestle
I done got tackled, drunk on the Henny
Turned to a saddle, I had to handle
I'm 'bout to smack 'em both on the fanny
I put four twelves in the V12, my Benz truck startin' to rattle
She say she smell I'm doin' well, when I wanna f*ck, it don't matter
Bitch, I'm a shark, I'm not a whale, lean in my cup and my bladder
I got it on lock like I'm in jail, soon as they buck, they gettin' splattered
I'm 'bout to drop and no, I cannot flop, climbin' straight to the top like a ladder”

First of all, aren’t all genies men? If Gunna wants his three wishes so bad, is there nothing else he could do for the Genie to grant them? Then, who is this woman? She sounds like Hulk Hogan’s female doppelgänger. But you still want to go, even though she just told you she smells? What on Earth is going on here?!

It then sounds like Gunna got a bootleg V12 engine and now his Benz is going to explode. Finally, I think the last three bars are corny as hell. I really do not know what was going on with this verse. I think Gunna was just trying to put together some bars that went well together. Maybe he thought no one would notice, but when you break it down - questionable.

WUNNA

The album titled sing, I really think Gunna used to just, talk his talk. He explained in multiple interviews Wunna is Gunna’s evil alter-ego. So he just had some fun here, bragging about his life.

“I been sippin' Akorn, rich nigga, I'm A1
AP blacker than Akon, baby butter pecan
Billionaire, I want a refund
Breakin' her back 'til I see the sun”

Akorn is a grill, but Gunna is not sipping on a grill. Akorn is also a term used for codeine. A1 is a sauce that you use on your steak when you’re grilling, but people also use it to say they’re doing their best, A-OK. You’re A1. That is pretty clever that he was able to put these together.

AP is an Audemars Piguet watch, Gunna picks out an all black one. People like to make connections to black on black with Akon, likely due to him being one of the most powerful artists in hip-hop of African decent. Baby butter pecan is also another term used to define color. Many times, rappers use it to describe the skin tone of a female they like, which is who he may be referring to in the final bar.

BLINDFOLD (FT Lil Baby)

I pulled a Lil Baby line from this track, because it really just shows why they work so well together.

“Sold out dates, back to back like I'm tourin'
I just left the house, came in BAPE floors
I ain't miss the Jordans for this pair of Diors”

Sold out dates is a song Lil Baby and Gunna did together about a year ago. The duo is incredible together, and probably the most drippiest duo you can think of. Who do you know that has BAPE floors? BAPE is a premium streetwear brand from Japan. Lil Baby is always about his designer life, so when Jordan dropped a collab with Dior, he did not need those. He goes straight to the designer themselves. Love a hard fashion bar.

ROCKSTAR BIKERS & CHAINS

It was interesting to me that Travis Scott was on another song on the album, but he also did a song about bikes, ‘Motorcycle Patches’ on Huncho Jack. I really do not get the tie-in, other than the fact that motorcycle gangs kind of, own the streets, and that is what these guys are claiming.

“I'm a rockstar and a god of the fashion
Can't see you, these lights steady flashin'
Raised the bar for my n*s, now we livin’ legends
Just look at how we livin’ lavish”

Claiming a rockstar is something new that artists in hip-hop are doing seemingly more often today. This kind of just solidifies that Gunna does not really consider himself a rapper. His music is not typical rap music, but he nonetheless is represented well throughout the hip-hop industry. He took a new twist on hip-hop, and he made it mainstream for consumers of all different angles to enjoy. Now, the doors are really open for whatever newness these young up-and-comers can bring to the table.

MET GALA

It is not that I just picked the first bar in the song, it is that the rest is quite, scandalous. Plus, the Met Gala is the focal point of the song.

“It's easy to slip, don't want you to fall
Might drip on this bitch like Met Gala, ballin'“

In classic Gunna fashion, we’re talking about his designer clothes. So, since the drip is so hard, and the floors are slippery when wet, you might just fall because the fit is that crazy. You get it, right?

The Met Gala is the annual fundraising event to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. There is a theme every year, and everyone dresses up in their most extraordinary outfits. Designer, unconventional, literally anything goes. So basically, this opening line is just solidifying Gunna’s space in the fashion game. Too bad Met Gala was cancelled this year, would love to see what he puts together.

NASTY GIRL / ON CAMERA

I enjoyed this “mouth” scheme from Gunna on Nasty Girl On Camera. That is what I’m calling it, sounds fitting.

“Yeah, I just left the dentist on fleek
Hundred for some pointers in my teeth
When I drop that sh*t, they gonna put it on repeat
Better play somebody else, 'cause we gonna defeat”

Gunna leaving the dentist on fleek, definitely means he just got his teeth done. Hundred for some pointers in his teeth, probably means he had grills or jewelry put in. Of course, Gunna needs to be rocking diamonds everywhere. Then, the next two bars talking about how much his sound is better, plays in perfectly to Gunna just getting his teeth/mouth fixed. From a far they may not seem the same, but up close, it a s perfect verse scheme. The mouth scheme.

COOLER THAN A BITCH (FT Roddy Ricch)

A Roddy Ricch feature always seems to go a long way. This next bar comes from Roddy, and needs no other explanation than - Tekashi 6ix9ine snitch diss alert.

“How you claimin' you a street n**a havin' loose lips?”

I’M ON SOME

This next quote and short and sweet, but goes a long way.

“They be lookin' at me like a cash cow
Tryna milk me, ain't given 'em no dairy”

The obvious is, people looking at Gunna like he is a cash cow. He is a famous artist with a lot of hits, and he showingly spends a lot of money on luxury items. This will give the world the idea that he has a lot of money. Many times rappers plead their case that when they come from poverty, their friends who may have left them or turned their shoulder at some point, come back for the money and fame. So, these people are trying to milk the cow, aka taking Gunna’s money. However, he has no dairy, or no money to share with these people.

Gunna also featured in a song called ‘Cash Cow’ with NGHTMARE. It could be alluding to this song, as well. Basically, Gunna has his money and he needs to take care of it, is what he is saying. It is interesting when an artist makes references to old work in a new song. Did you catch that one?

TOP FLOOR (FT Travis Scott)

Putting another artist on a Gunna track really pushes him to come with his best work. Hands down, Gunna took the verse battle on ‘Top Floor.’

“I came out the mud like the cleats
Float like Muhammad Ali
Wave, I was born in a sea
Life of the party
Miami, we had to start it
I feed her, we eatin' calamari
Drip on these suckers, sorry, I'm not sorry
Order the PJ, I'm flyin' to Maui
One of one, only get VLONE from Bari”

I love a good sports reference in rap music. Two of my three favorite things, that we all talk about here on For The SoUle. Obviously you track mud on your cleats no matter what sport you play, if you’re getting down and dirty giving it your all. Coming out the mud also means coming from nothing, a less fortunate upbringing, so I love this analogy. Float like Muhammad Ali obviously pays homage to the greatest boxer of all time. He was known for using the quote “float like a butterfly sting like a bee.” So, another great reference here.

Being wavy is a compliment in hip-hop. You’ve got to be the waviest if you were born in the sea. I like that Gunna continues to play on this thought, from partying in Miami, to eating calamari, to flying back to Maui. All good references to the ocean. Finally, What would a Gunna verse be without talking exclusive designer? VLONE is a luxury brand founded by A$AP Bari.

DON’T PLAY AROUND

It may not be super clear, but Gunna is a romantic. He mentioned on his Breakfast Club interview that he is looking to settle down, and wants to have his own children soon. I thought this next line was cute, and plays on astrology and emotions really well.

“The jet got speed, astrology
Feel a different feelin' when you flow
I love your energy and the air you breathe
I will never let you go”

The jet got speed, astrology. This, I thought was a good. Having a private jet is a flex in itself. Jets fly in the air, and astrology is basically a science practiced by Gods from different moons, studying terrestrial events. They’re both, out of this world. It is a good bar, okay?

Getting to know someone’s sign, is feeling and learning their energy and becoming compatible. Gunna shares that he enjoys learning these things about his lady friend, and it is just beautiful.

DO BETTER

The title kind of says it all in this song. Gunna has been real about growing up in poverty, and how he has been the one to help out his mother and his family make it to better days.

“All black, they can't see me in the Ghost
Make it back, all I ever needed was hope
If you take a fall, can you fall on your folks?
You takin' care us all, then it's all that she wrote
I got to be the son, I got to be the one
Nah, I can't be the one they callin' a joke
Can't nobody help you when your card get revoked”

The most important line here is “if you take a fall, can you fall on your folks?” Basically, when you’re down and out, you need your family. If you do not have your family, who do you have? The rest of this is Gunna explaining how he continues to grind to be the best son that he can be. Not providing for the family is not an option, so the hustling continues. What a great family man.

FAR (FT Young Thug)

For this last song, I just think Young Thug took it too ‘FAR’. Here Gunna is, spilling out his feelings about how he is not getting any younger and he does not have any kids yet, and Young Thug just does a whole verse about having kids. Let’s look at this.

“Ain't no time to lounge around, my son gotta be born rich” - Gunna

How cute, Gunna is already saving up money for his future kids.

“F*ck 'round and hit your girl in front your son” - Young Thug

First off all, this is rude. But also, kind of funny because Lil TJay claims this happened to him with Chinese Kitty. Sounds absurd, but who would make that up?

”My brother gave a life back, he God's son
Godson, my baby mama hate the fact I'm on
I'm on, now the spots, they come with chaperones
How come before a million I didn't have no one?
Two 40s when I travel and they twins”- Young Thug

From a fallen angel, to a real son, to watching after children of others, to exploiting woman for having babies with rich men on purpose, to caring deeply for two weapons. Young Thug just did a whole verse about the kids that Gunna does not have. Sorry Gunna, I’m sure you’ll find Mrs. Right soon.