When was the last time an artist prided himself on being “slimy?” Although not the most glamorous word, rapper Young Thug has adopted it as his moniker, releasing yet another mixtape which embraces a level of foulness.
“Slimy,” however, does turn out to be the best way to describe the recording — at least in terms of artistic implications. “Slime Season 3” pushes the boundaries between rap and straight nonsense with its muddled production and lyricism. Somehow, this paves the way for a beautiful degree of clarity in the collective work.
Throughout his rap career, Young Thug has carved a careful niche with a muddled, broken, deceptively beautiful sound. “Slime Season 3” is no different. The individual songs each sound like murky disarrays. The instrumentals frequently combine carefully-crafted electronic production and bass heavy drums to assault listeners’ ears. To compliment this, Thug slurs, shouts, contorts and even auto-tunes his way through verses. Listeners will sometimes find themselves asking, “What is he even saying?”
At the same time, it is abundantly clear that disarray is the exact intention. That is to say, Young Thug intended to make his work a manifestation of the beautiful mess of his life. He creates chaos but makes it work, largely in part because the actual lyrical content makes sense in the context of the murky instrumentals.
Throughout the recording, he raps about topics such as street life, drugs, alcohol, money and women, an existence which fellow rapper Future described as the “low life.” For example, the song “Slime S—” discusses many of his vices: drugs, drinking, gang life and money. Acting as a thesis for the mixtape, the song characterizes these vices as the “slime” in his life.
Thug, unlike many of his contemporaries, operates as a self-aware machine. He knows the vices in his life are not the most glamorous things to represent musically, and therefore he adjusts his musical content to match the dark nature of his low life.
That is exactly the genius behind “Slime Season 3” — muddy and disarrayed sounds complement vivid descriptions of a muddy and disarrayed life. Only from this combination does a thematic clarity emerge. By unconditionally embracing the darker, slimy aspects of his life, Thug not only differentiates himself, but also elicits a sort of charm.
By his own admission, Young Thug does not convey the most morally righteous message. His skill lies in his ability to powerfully express subject matter, however reprehensible, through an adept combination of dark production, lyricism and delivery. “Slime Season 3” is by no means a classic, but it certainly stands out from its peers in the consistency of its tone and themes.
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