Track Listing
Just for Show – Lil Mosquito Disease, Yung Schmoobin, A.J.
On the Regular – Beetlebat
Ben Killed Jerry – Kid Floral
Aye (Interlude) – J Coyn Drive
King of the Clowns – Submarine Man
Pepe (feat. 5ive6ix) – Travis Scotch, 5ive6ix
Itookyourgirltofancyrestaurant – LVN Filo
Dub (I Took One) – Lil Karat Stixx
Epic Daby – BaDaby
Aimin My Gun at Yo Son – Big Baller B
Facts No Fiction – Yung Schmoobin
New Beans (feat. Lil Squeaky & Johnn Johnn) – Lil Squeaky, Yung Garfield, Johnn Johnn
Party Like It’s 1846 – Lil Toy Yoda
Chillin’ & Vibing – J Coyn Drive
I Am a Rockstar! – Kid Phang
Nipples 2 – Lil Mosquito Disease, Big Baller B, Lil Squeaky, …
Traps Reloaded (feat. LVN Filo) – Lil Joof, LVN Filo
Achoo! – Kid Phang
Moonshine – Lil Squeaky, Lil Joof, Lil Toy Yoda
You Know – Ashi
No Words – Lil Toy Yoda, LVN Filo
A lot can be said about the modern state of hip-hop. From the endless array of auto-tuned tracks to the raging debates surrounding artists rising up to the forefront of the music scene, whether hip-hop is as strong as it used to be is likely to be a question that continues to follow hip-hop for years to come. Flex Gang Vol. 2 is one of those compilations that’s likely to be a love/hate affair and will almost certainly divide the community.
Flex Gang Vol 2. is the second compilation from the Flex Gang and a definite improvement over the first volume. With a mixture of satirical and more sombre and serious pieces, the 21 tracks dip and dive through various sub-genres of hip hop but settle on a style that somehow flirts the line between the two. While this fails to hit the same satirical levels as something like Weird Al, there’s a very obvious desire here to poke fun at different trends in hip-hop and for the most part this translates pretty well across to the album.
Some of the production work could do with a bit of tightening up, and there are certainly a few dud tracks in this compilation too. On the whole though, the album is pretty enjoyable and a big improvement over the first volume. Vol 2 closes out with a pretty decent couple of tracks too with “You Know” slowing down the tempo and delivering some singing while “No Words” is exactly that – an instrumental that feels like a reflection on what we’ve seen across the compilation.
The different beats have some really nice backing tracks accompanying them and “Just For Show” is a great example of this, setting the scene for the compilation to follow. Given the amount of variety on offer here, your favourites will likely differ but “Pepe” is probably one of the stronger satirical songs on the album while Yung Schmoobin’s “Fact No Fiction” is a bouncy, fast-paced song that shows off the talent some of the artists in this eclectic group have.
Flex Gang Vol. 2 is not perfect though and the album is certainly not without its flaws. The distortion and reverb on “King of the Clowns” is so strong it drowns out a lot of the vocal work. While this may be intentional, given the satirical tone a lot of these tracks take, the strongest work on the album comes from those lyrics and not hearing them here is a bit disappointing. Some of the other tracks do fall by the wayside too but the positives do outweigh the negatives.
Hip-hop is likely to continue feeling like one of those divisive genres for years to come. Flexing its way onto the scene with a slightly different flavour, Flex Gang Vol. 2 is a fun album that certainly has some duds but also some pretty good tracks too. The production work is decent overall and there’s certainly some stand-out melodies that compliment the vocals well. While this is unlikely to be the sort of album that’ll you come back to time and again, there’s definitely enough here to make for an enjoyable listen.
If you’re in the mood for something a little different to conventional hip-hop releases, Flex Gang Vol. 2 might just be what the doctor ordered.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10