Mr. YUG is a 46-year-old MC from Detroit, Michigan who will join his brother The ROC as members of Level Jumpers and The Howse respectively. He eventually debuted with “Weightin'” in the spring of 2009, followed by second album “Warning Shot” and “18 Shots & Kill Flows”. My favorite of his, #48205Defcode, was released in 2016 on Anybody Killa’s label Native World Inc., and before next summer, exactly ten years after Thriller, he’ll be returning to music for his seventh studio LP.
“Introduce Yo Self” opens with an 85-second trap intro explaining that he’ll be speaking on these tracks again because no one’s paying him, while “Keep Checking My Pockets (To Be Continuous???)” gives off a more energetic vibe despite the uncredited features on the first half. The title track has more of a boombap vibe instrumentally, taking a hardcore approach to the lyrics before “DOMoxic” is dedicated to anyone who’s ever been in a toxic family relationship over some guitars.
We end the first half of YUG’s comeback with the “Eastside Shooter” freestyle, thematically talking about his gangsta rap over another booming bap beat, while “Yesteryearz” kicks off the second leg with a highlight that tells us Ragz’s origin story dating back to 1989. “Yicked” continues to talk about people snitching on his name, leading to “Can’t Feel My Face” embracing a jazzier sound for all. People who like to take drugs.
“Life of the Party” begins to wrap up the final act of “UnAmerica”, taking it back to the booming bap music with a weird twist talking about him going to the club on a Tuesday night, and a collaboration with Carly “Lamore” “Miss at U” which brings us a mostly spoken word snippet that basically retells Mr. Shit’Off’ ends the full length with an interesting two-parter.
Majik Ninja Entertainment’s The Raps On Contact’s fourth album No Direction comes nearly a decade after Digital Voodoo’s return (excluding 2019’s extended Monsters Ain’t Real and Native World alum Bake Lo perfected himself with Spirals) and just one month after ROC’s younger brother M.oney R.olls Y.young’s return is likely to be a personal one, considering how much of it is heavily inspired by his autistic 4-year-old son, who is behind #48205Defcode and is said to be working on another album of his own, called Park of Lyrics, at the end of the year. There was criticism that I was featured on the second track and that no producer was credited as well as the AI artwork.
Rating: 7/10
