Jeff Igbokwe
Previous collaborators MGK and Trippie Redd teamed up again to release their first collaboration project last Friday, an album titled “genre : sadboy.” While they attempt to explore the realm of emotion and depression, their apathetic take on the emo rap genre leaves listeners with a pretty bland and uninspired experience.
One of the biggest questions that arose when the album was announced was “why?” The popularity of emo rap had begun to die down towards the later years of the 2010s with the death of some of its major figures such as Juice Wrld and Xxxtentacion. Then why in 2024 did MGK and Trippie Redd feel the need to release such a lazy copy and paste of the sound that has little to no mainstream popularity anymore?
The release of “genre : sadboy” can be seen as a poor attempt to market depression as a brand or aesthetic rather than a real issue many people have battles with. Trippie Redd has found previous success as an emo rapper, becoming friends with the previously mentioned Xxxtentacion and Juice Wrld. MGK has been accused of mimicking the sounds trap, pop-punk and now emo rap in his music, with “genre : sadboy” being the latest addition to his discography of unoriginal music.
In terms of the music itself, I feel that ‘generic’ is honestly the best word to describe the record. The themes covered in the songs were very bland, the lyricism was surface level at best, the beat selection was boring and the music itself is just a rehash of what has already been done better by other artists from around five years ago. I could be here all day picking out corny lyrics, however an example is from the track “hiding in the hills,” where MGK claims he hates living in his mansion at Hollywood Hills as it feels so lonely stating, “I’m hiding in the hills, but this not where I belong, I don’t have no friends in this motherf***** room. When does all this end?” Who cares? If he feels that way, he can move somewhere closer to his friends and family members, since he has the money to do so.
This whole album is just a collection of lifeless and generic music. While certain tracks, such as “half dead,” actually have a decent hook, and JID’s verse as a feature on “who do i call” was one of the more memorable moments from the record, “genre : sadboy” ultimately has zero replay value. If you wish to hear an emo rap record, simply put on a Juice Wrld or even Trippie Redd song from 2017-2019, and save yourself from 27 minutes of corny lyrics and bland production from this new project.