With this series I tend to focus on artists of the past or people who've been around a while. But as the 2010s wind down, I've been wanting to feature more of the artists who I've consistently enjoyed for most or all of this decade. And 2 Chainz, though he's never quite hit the absolute top of his field in the eyes of most, has really been consistently entertaining to me, even in an era where Atlanta has been full of pretty brilliant and unique artists. I remember first being impressed by a Tity Boi verse way back in 2005. So I wasn't shocked when he eventually rose to solo stardom, although he was one of rap's great late bloomers, exploding in 2012 at the ripe age of 34. But his second wind has lasted quite a while, I think he's hit his peak as an MC in just the last few years.

2 Chainz deep album cuts (Spotify playlist):

1. U Da Realest
2. Money In The Way
3. Got One
4. Riverdale Rd
5. I Luv Dem Strippers f/ Nicki Minaj
6. Lamborghini Truck (Atlanta Shit)
7. Minding My Business
8. Dope Peddler
9. Momma I Hit A Lick f/ Kendrick Lamar
10. Beautiful Pain f/ Lloyd and Ma$e
11. Rolls Royce Weather Every Day f/ Lil Wayne
12. Trap Check
13. Boo f/ Yo Gotti
14. If I Didn't Rap
15. You In Luv Wit Her f/ YFN Lucci
16. Day Party
17. Netflix f/ Fergie
18. Statute Of Limitations
19. Goin Thru It
20. Sleep When U Die
21. Land Of The Freaks
22. Stop Me Now f/ Dolla Boy

Track 19 from Trap-A-Velli 2 (The Residue) (2010)
Track 13 from Codeine Cowboy (A 2 Chainz Collective) (2011)
Track 3 from T.R.U. REALigion (2011)
Tracks 5, 8 and 22 from Based On a T.R.U. Story (2012)
Tracks 1, 10 and 17 from B.O.A.T.S. II #MeTime (2013)
Track 14 from Trap-A-Velli Tre (2015)
Track 7 from Felt Like Cappin EP (2016)
Track 11 from ColleGrove (2016)
Track 15 from Daniel Son; Necklace Don (2016)
Track 16 from Hibachi For Lunch EP (2016)
Tracks 4, 12 and 20 from Pretty Girls Like Trap Music (2017)
Tracks 6 and 21 from The Play Don't Care Who Makes It EP (2018)
Tracks 2, 9 and 18 from Rap Or Go To The League (2019)

2 Chainz has a lot of hits, so there are some things on here that got a bit of club or radio play but weren't big official singles. "I Luv Dem Strippers" was the biggest non-single from his most successful album, "Boo" was his first charting solo track shortly before "Spend It" blew up, and "Got One" was the next biggest track from the mixtape that birthed "Riot." I tried to balance out the clubby crowd-pleasing stuff with the more introspective side of 2 Chainz here -- I don't like to go all the way "actually he's a conscious rapper" but I really wish more people knew songs like "Lamborghini Truck" and "Statute Of Limitations" and "Stop Me Now" that show him to be a more well rounded lyricist than he often gets credit for.

One thing I like about 2 Chainz in the last few years is that he's tried putting out releases of every conceivable size, putting out 2 songs (Hot Wings Are A Girl's Best Friend) or 4 songs (Felt Like Cappin and The Play Don't Care Who Makes It) or 7 songs (Hibachi For Lunch and FreeBase) or 10 songs (Daniel Son; Necklace Don) or longer full-length albums. Part of that was that after B.O.A.T.S. II underperformed, he kind of had to go back to the drawing board and build his buzz back up instead of doing more albums right away, which is a shame because I thought that album was really special, one of his best. Doing ColleGrove with Lil Wayne was a great move, too, I kinda hope they do another one of those records. Actually, as a skeptic of a lot of rap star team-up albums, I'd love to hear some more duo projects with 2 Chainz, he could be a great foil for Drake or Nicki or Future or Ty Dolla $ign.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 9:33 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.