{"id":673,"date":"2023-06-24T19:25:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T19:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2023\/06\/gunna-a-gift-and-a-curse-review\/"},"modified":"2023-06-24T19:25:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T19:25:02","slug":"gunna-a-gift-and-a-curse-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2023\/06\/gunna-a-gift-and-a-curse-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Gunna, \u2018A Gift & a Curse\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The YSL outcast addresses the elephant in the room on A Gift & a Curse<\/em>, showing as long as the music delivers he\u2019ll be just fine. <\/p>\n

Street politics follow hip hop like your own shadow. It dates back decades to the days of Tupac and Biggie, often leading to imprisonment and death. A sister aspect is snitch culture, the topic of much recent debate since Atlanta rapper Gunna took a plea deal in the ongoing YSL RICO case, which maintains his innocence in the crimes in exchange for community service and admittance that YSL is a gang without further cooperation or taking the stand. Folks far removed from street life have contributed their two cents on the matter. For Gunna, it\u2019s time to get back to the music and see what he has to say.<\/p>\n

A Gift & a Curse<\/em> is no artistic shift, but ticks new boxes in the rapper\u2019s quest to reclaim status.<\/p>\n

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Gunna in the music video for \u2018Bread & Butter\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Gift & a Curse<\/em> is well and truly inspired by Gunna\u2019s involvement in the YSL RICO case. It doesn\u2019t lure you in with a false pretence just for image. His last record DS4Ever<\/a><\/em> thrived off its sheer absurdity, packed with your usual trap content and unhinged sexual anecdotes. A Gift & a Curse<\/em> keeps it mainly PG, allowing Gunna\u2019s raps to be taken seriously for the first time in his career. He raps with a frown, dropping mature observations which aren\u2019t anything revolutionary but do help to paint his mindset since gaining his freedom. When it comes to addressing the actual case, Gunna remains cryptic, for obvious reasons, but makes up for the lack of detail with the appropriate feel.<\/p>\n

At a healthy 15 tracks, A Gift & a Curse<\/em> is choosy with its curation, and doesn\u2019t stick around to have much fun. It is relatively downtempo, creating a sombre mood to hit home its most poignant moments. Make no mistake, Gunna is far from getting experimental here. Matter fact, the production is as familiar as it can get. \u201cRodeo Dr\u201d could easily fit on WUNNA<\/a><\/em>, as could \u201cGo Crazy\u201d on Drip Season 3<\/em> (which oddly samples a smoke alarm that needs its battery changed, purposely or accidentally). The three-track stretch of \u201cCa$h $hit\u201d, \u201cFukumean\u201d and \u201cRodeo Dr\u201d are the only instances of Gunna having his usual fun. This results in an album with two key factors: the production\u2019s on brand, and the content\u2019s aptly on theme.<\/p>\n

On A Gift & a Curse<\/em>, Gunna is on that private island that kicked off his last album, as there\u2019s no guest appearances over the 45 minutes. You can feel the isolation within the album, as if Gunna\u2019s stood wearing boxing gloves with no one in his corner. \u201cIDK Nomore\u201d is the most hopeless Gunna\u2019s ever sound, putting his trust issues and pain for lost friends on a megascreen (\u201cWe burned the bridge and cut the ties and we forever apart\u201d \/ \u201cThey lookin\u2019 for me, let em know I\u2019m building a wall\u201d). The sombre tone goes right up to the closer \u201cAlright\u201d, an appropriate ending as Gunna throws in some last-minute optimism. It may be dramatic, but it works.<\/p>\n

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