YG has returned with a new banger.
The Compton, California, rapper released his new single “Sign Language” on Oct. 29. The West Coast, bass-heavy anthem features two-and-a-half minutes of rapping about a lavish lifestyle in addition to his signature pride in his gang background. Beyond his lyrics, YG’s flow fits perfectly with the bounce of the instrumental.
Cherry red, I’m flamed up, cherry red Chucks
On gang, Blood, we don’t do no head up’s
I’m the one they call when they get jammed up
Yelling free the gang, we don’t do handcuffs
For over half a decade, YG has been a prominent rapper in hip-hop. While he’s released two collabs in 2021 with “Kommunity Service” and “4hunnid Presents: Gang Affliated,” what YG needs to do to continue to tap into is taking more risks in his music. When thinking of the most prominent rappers today — Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, what stands out about their content is the versatility. The artists can make songs about love, money, women, life and society over jazz, trap and classic hip-hop instrumentals.
YG has the ability and talent to move up an echelon in rap if he continues to show off his lyricism more like he did on “Hard Bottoms & White Socks” in 2019. He can collaborate with Atlanta’s dominant artist like Lil Baby and continue to expand to different regions outside of the West Coast demographic he’s already conquered. In 2018, J. Cole went on a feature rampage, and rapped about the collaborations on his best verse of the year with 21 Savage’s “A Lot” that December. While YG is great and olid star in his own lane, lack of expansion and versatility are preventing him from becoming the biggest rapper in the world.
