After spending the majority of 2022 on house arrest, NBA YoungBoy is finally free after beating his California weapons case last month — quickly returning to the mic on his highly-anticipated double album The Last Slimeto.
If there’s anything to be said about YoungBoy, he’s a workaholic to his core, as the Baton Rouge-based rapper pumps out more music than any of his mainstream counterparts. Due to his strong bond with recording engineer Jason “Cheese” Goldberg, YB is able to turn around new music much faster than most of his peers due to the “trust” they have with one another.
In a recent interview with Complex, Cheese further divulged on the mutual confidence he and the Slimeto star share — as well as how he and YB bounce ideas off one another to cultivate a seamless creative process. Cheese also touts that he and YB are able punch in anywhere at anytime — with many of the tracks off The Last Slimento being recorded in YoungBoy’s Tesla, his garage and even outside on his home patio that overlooks Utah’s beautfiul scenic mountain ranges.
While The Last Slimento may have been recorded in more untraditional settings, it certainly sounds as if it was put together in a professional studio. Not only is the production as good as any, but the featured artists are as well — totaling in at 30 tracks and boasts a heavy-hitting supporting cast in Kehlani, Rod Wave and Quavo. The album was set to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but was beaten out by Bad Bunny by a slim margin of 400 copies, per Hits Daily Double.
Although The Last Slimento sees many similarities to YoungBoy’s other projects — such as a massive tracklist, minimal features and YoungBoy’s signature aggressive sound — there are a few scathing differences within the LP. On tracks like “I Know,” “My Go To,” “Proof,” “Loner Life” and “Home Ain’t Home,” YoungBoy switches up his distinctive high-energy sound to a more melodic and relaxed flow, which make for some pretty meaningful tracks backed by narrative lyricism and a slick Southern flair.
The album also has a relieving and welcome-home feel to it for both YoungBoy and his fans, as they are both grateful for the win in his federal gun case, returning to Instagram and being off house arrest all in one month’s time.
Coinciding the LP, YoungBoy added a merch drop to celebrate the release of The Last Slimento and his newfound freedom. His latest effort follows the Never Broke Again label compilation tape in Green Flag Activity (June 22), as The Last Slimeto is his first solo project since Colors this past January.
Although the year is far from over, fans have already received years’ worth of music from NBA YoungBoy in less than eight months. If anything is for certain, YB’s reign atop hip-hop’s upper echelon of street rappers is far from over. YB better.
Listen to ‘The Last Slimeto’ below!
