EarthGang “Ghetto Gods” Album Review

GHETTO GODS

EARTHGANG

• Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
• Release Date: 2022-02-25
• Explicitness: explicit
• Country: USA
• Track Count: 17
• ℗ 2022 Dreamville/Interscope

Following their 2019 debut album ‘Mirrorland’, ‘Ghetto Gods’ finds the Altantans seeking to leave a similar legacy for their city while staying true to its trap-originating roots.

Ghetto Gods thoroughly explores trauma, stress, peer pressure, racism, sexism, and… yeah, you get the point. The album handles all this heavy subject matter in the way only EARTHGANG can. They never sound fake and jump from one topic to the next with a skill that rappers seldomly achieve on their second albums.

Ghetto Gods album is filled with protest music for the club. Yes, that sounds highly contradictory, and on paper, it shouldn’t work. But EARTHGANG, like another certain rap duo out of Atlanta, knows how to fuse the sounds of their city with socially relevant messages without sacrificing one for the other.

Even more so than its predecessor, ‘Ghetto Gods’ feels like a homage to Atlanta. Take the album’s musicality. With contributors such as Future, ‘Ghetto Gods’ may plant seeds for other Atlantans inspired by the duo. Celebrating the ostentatious bounce of 808s in trap with one of the genre’s most prolific stars, ‘Billi’ sees the Earthgang duo prove that they can play in the same field as the mainstream stars of their hometown.

Album Cover Artwork

Two little boys in a white singlet and white shirt hold on to the copper wires strung into a somewhat protective fence. They look like two kids who are wandering outside late at night against their parents/guardians’ wishes, playing or taking a random, unplanned stroll, which brings them to that point in their lives where they experience an epiphany that would later change the courses of their lives as they knew it.

Something only visible to the boys shows up to them out of the vast blue. It immediately has them under its influence, almost taking over them, as they stare, speechless, starry-eyed, soaking in every detail of what is transpiring and taking subconscious notes. Meanwhile, unknown to the boys, there are eyes behind them.

Watchful eyes that look like they are there for them more than against. It would almost seem the boys were instinctively directed to that spot, like messengers that needed to know more about their purposes. Admittedly, the duo looks like brothers more than friends, but that could be an analysis for another day.

Tracks & Features

Opening with a cosign from rapper 2Chainz, who calls the duo “diamonds in the rough” on “The Glow,” Ghetto Gods begins with a flurry of turn-up cuts. “Still a Westside n*gg*,” says Olu on “Billi”.

“Waterboyz” is a braggadocious cypher between EARTHGANG and Dreamville’s JID and J. Cole. “Amen” draws on a loop from Musiq Soulchild’s “Just Friends (Sunny)”. It’s also not hard to notice that Cee-Lo takes over “Power” with lessons about life as a pop superstar before his scandal-plagued fall from grace. That track also had support from entertainment mogul Nick Cannon.

Tracks

NO	Title	Artist	Time
1	THE GLOW	EARTHGANG	0:45
2	GHETTO GODS	EARTHGANG	2:46
3	BILLI (feat. Future)	EARTHGANG	2:43
4	WATERBOYZ	EARTHGANG, JID & J. Cole	5:03
5	HEY BOO	EARTHGANG	0:31
6	AMEN	EARTHGANG & Musiq Soulchild	3:16
7	ALL EYES ON ME	EARTHGANG	4:00
8	LIE TO ME	EARTHGANG	4:07
9	JEANS INTERLUDE	EARTHGANG	0:33
10	BLACK PEARLS (feat. Baby Tate)	EARTHGANG	3:18
11	NEEZY’S WALK (feat. Lynae Vanee)	EARTHGANG	0:37
12	AMERICAN HORROR STORY	EARTHGANG	5:09
13	POWER	EARTHGANG, CeeLo Green & Nick Cannon	4:33
14	ZAZA	EARTHGANG	0:42
15	SMOKE SUM	EARTHGANG	4:54
16	STRONG FRIENDS	EARTHGANG	4:39
17	RUN TOO	EARTHGANG & Ari Lennox	5:18

Yung Baby Tate speed-raps into the spotlight of “Black Pearls,” a somewhat conflicted appreciation of women who define how they want to look, whether it’s with a “new (surgically enhanced) body” or not.

“Strong Friends” generously extends a “safe space” to Earthgang’s kinfolk, and “All Eyes on Me” questions the limits of empathy.

On the closing number “Run Too,” they announce themselves as blessed men of the world, notwithstanding its many problems, and Ari Lennox harmonizes on the chorus.

Musiq himself shows up, too, as if he’s engaging with a ghost from his past. Lynae Vanee also made an appearance on the 11th track.

Album Credits

The producers that put this body of work together include 1500 or Nothin’, Ace Harris, The Breed, Carvello, Daoud, Dish (RUS), EARTHGANG, Giandre Diaz, Grandma, Groove, jetsonmade, Johnny Venus, Latrell James, Nami, Natra Average, Nicki Jupiter, Phoelix, STLN Drums, Super Miles, Tane Runo, TBHits, Tim Maxey, T.Y. Jake & Xavi.

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