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Why Lil Baby and Gunna’s ‘Drip Harder’ is already the best collab of 2018
Just days removed from it’s Friday, Oct 5th release, and Gunna and Lil Baby’s Drip Harder is already to the best collaborative effort of 2018.
Following a year when collab projects seemed to be forced the norm, 2018 has seen just a handful. And while Drip Harder may still have just dropped, I don’t want to hear about the ills of microwave consumption in music, needing time to digest bodies of work or any other elitist rules that comes with hearing albums.
You see, even before listening, by sheer hype alone, Drip Harder already rivals classic collaborations like W.A.T.T.B.A., and it’s largely due to the amazing year both Gunna and Lil Baby are having.
Lil Baby’s snagged a top five hit on the Hot 100 with his Drake-assisted smash “Yes Indeed,” and later debuted at No. 3 with his album Harder Than Ever in May.
Similarly, Gunna’s own Drip Season 3 garnered critical acclaim and the affection of many ever since its February release. His single “Oh Ok” featuring Young Thug and Lil Baby has accrued over 37 million views on YouTube and he single-handily coined the most inescapable term of 2018: “drip.”
So when it was announced that Lil Baby and Gunna were coming out with a collaborative project there was an instantaneous reaction of glee.
https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/1047624675591745536
https://twitter.com/KVJ_XV/status/1048069313951932417
We really get Drip Harder tomorrow pic.twitter.com/mxhRMcpmMP
— Ol’ Saint Mick (@ColeyMick) October 4, 2018
Arriving via Quality Control and Young Stoner Life Records/Motown, Drip Harder didn’t need a big promo push or much convincing to get the majority of the rap collective on board. Their history of work speaks for itself.
You can point to Lil Baby and Gunna back-and-forth on “Life Goes On” (feat. Lil Uzi Vert) which appeared on Baby’s Harder Than Ever for an example of the magic he and Gunna can create. The single spent six weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
Baby and Gunna chemistry proved irresistible yet again on Young Thug’s “Chanel (Go Get It),” propelling Slime Language to No. 78. Then you have, of course, “Sold Out Dates” from earlier this year, which is a potential Song of the Year candidate.
Drip Too Hard. Sold Out Dates. Oh Okay. Chanel. Life Goes On. Throwing Shade. Money Forever. Up. Our Year.
— Elliott Wilson (@ElliottWilson) September 26, 2018
Regardless of how good Drip Harder ends up being, the intersection of two artists who are both in the running for rookie of the year and who have arguably the hottest songs of the year is a moment in time worth mentioning.
Between their beat selection of isolated piano rifts and guitar chords behind the ATL trap 808’s and their run-on rapping style, they offer something that the game hasn’t seen in a while.
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When you think of dynamic duos, Gunna and Lil Baby are reminiscent of mixtape Spitta and Wiz or G Herbo and Lil Bibby. It’s special.
Now that Drip Harder is actually out real takes can be made apart from the anticipation that’s proceeded it. Although, I have a feeling it’s going live up to it. With a couple months left to go in 2018, this may just be the best collab offering of the year.