Bobby Shmurda “Bodboy” EP Review

Bodboy

Bobby Shmurda

• • Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
  • Date: 05 Aug, 2022
  • Content: explicit
  • Region: USA
  • Track(s): 9

• ℗ 2022 Bobby Shmurda

The brand-new BodBoy EP, Shmurda’s first solo effort since his release from prison in February 2021 and a sneak peek of his upcoming Ready to Live debut, tries to do more of the same. However, it comes out as little more than a repetition of his previous high, complete with a laundry list of boasts and threats that fall short of evoking the excitement of earlier in his career.

On paper, Shmurda adopts a surefire strategy: stick to your strengths. But to replicate past success, exact execution is necessary, and Bodboy’s carelessness exposes flaws that were hidden. BodBoy will be Bobby Shmurda’s first solo project since his 2014 debut EP Shmurda She Wrote, which debuted at No. 79 on the Billboard 200 chart and contained the hit singles “Hot N-gga” and “Bobby Bitch.”

EP Cover Art

Set in a chaotic city scene, one usually seen in superhero flicks, a giant gorilla is seen in serious motion, tearing through the city and wreaking nothing but havoc as clearly depicted by the panicking and accidents and properties up in flames. One funny thing, though, about this batshit crazy gorilla is the heavy-looking, iced-out jewellery dangling from its neck. Just the ridiculousness and high energy found on the project.

Tracks and Features

The song “Hoochie Daddy,” a desperate attempt at TikTok virality with sped-up background voices and mangled Jersey dance sound, is utterly offensive to listen to. With its thundering bass and shattering piano finale, “From the Slums” sounds like it was taken straight out of a 2010s mixtape being played through a soiled earpiece in Times Square. Shmurda laboriously moves along the production’s fast speed, sprinkling in breathy ad-libs that obscure rather than highlight his raps. Lines blur together, making freestyle bars sound like your friend freestyling at the afters at two in the morning.

The meandering ramblings quickly grow tiresome despite his eagerness to say whatever comes to mind (“‘Cause I was shooting in my slippers in the middle of the street,” he spits on “BodMon”). You don’t come to a Bobby Shmurda song for depth and capital L lyricism, but even if you can comprehend his bars, you’d be hard-pressed to find a cache of memorable phrases.

There are joyful instances when Shmurda’s slapstick absurdity intersects with production forays into new regional territory like how he treats the blaring production of “Glock Inside,” which sounds almost as if it were ripped from a Duke Deuce project, as his personal playground. The first thing we hear him say—“Jumped out my momma pussy straight into the trap”—is undeniably hilarious. His childish teasing comes off as endearing, and his one-liners shoot an acceptable percentage from the field.

The hook of “Whole Brick” is a beacon that sounds like it should play every time he enters a room: When he shouts “I’m about to cop a whole brick!” alongside a legion of background voices, it feels like the celebration that his return to music ought to be.

It’s the usual thug-life talk on “RSN,” where he goes on about the Semis and Glocks he has in his possession, bad bitches and more slick talk. Mid delivery done over great production. Bringing the brief show to a close with “On God,” Shmurda invites his friend, Rowdy Rebel, to chat about life in the trap using rhymes that is done over fantastic production. In many ways Rowdy saved the day, literally carrying the song.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	ARTIST	TIME
1	Whole Brick	Bobby Shmurda	2:22
2	From the Slums	Bobby Shmurda	2:12
3	Hoochie Daddy	Bobby Shmurda	2:29
4	Gorilla	Bobby Shmurda	1:54
5	No Sense	Bobby Shmurda	1:34
6	Glock Inside	Bobby Shmurda & Fat Tony	2:34
7	R S N	Bobby Shmurda	1:40
8	Bodmon	Bobby Shmurda	2:17
9	On God	Bobby Shmurda & Rowdy Rebel	1:55

EP’s Theme

Cockiness and unfiltered self-expression.

Production Credits

Producers on the record include Akachi, Aloy, AyyKash, Beat Demons, Cashout Beats, Cutz, Fast Life Beats, Gohan, Jaystolaa, Legacy Beatzz, Lil JT, Looisey, Marko Lenz, Nick Papz, Outtakey, PoWR Trav, ProdByKJ, prodtwo, Slo Meezy, Sonickaboom, Splited Stupid, SSJ9K & TM88.

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