Gunna: 'DS4EVER' Album First Listen

After a year of teasing, leaks, and snippets on social media, Gunna's DS4EVER AKA Drip Season 4 is finally here. The nineteen-track album features some of the most prominent artists in hip-hop right now, with Young Thug, Future, Lil Baby, and 21 Savage, to name a few. In total, over thirteen artists are on this project, making it a special release.

The album opens up with a raw and passionate track in "private island." It opens with a simple acoustic guitar melody and soft-backing vocal chops. Then, lyrically, he delivers heartfelt lyrics with discussions of his personal growth that has got him to this point where he is at. He does this with lyrics like, "I know this life just ain't for everybody" and a repeating line in "I knew we would see better days."

Additionally, he further explores the themes of people he can no longer trust and how that has changed him. In the chorus, he raps, "You know b*****s talk, but you were the boss, so we keep our business private." He backs up these lyrics by acknowledging how he has helped others with "I got some slimes out a beehive, I know they dying 'bout it." Overall, this song is a coming-of-age track for Gunna and is a perfect opener for the final chapter of the Drip Season series. 

He follows up this song with "pushin p," which was heavily teased by Gunna. The track was first leaked on social media on December 29, 2021, and instantly gained hype. The song features fellow Atlanta artists Future and Young Thug, the founder and architect of the Young Stoner Life Records enterprise, home to Gunna. 

The production on this track delivers what you would expect from an Atlanta anthem. That being fast-hitting hi-hats, crisp snares, and a euphoric melody. The song kicks off with Gunna and Future delivering a call-and-response flow, giving confident flows about staying true to themself while also making moves, hence the title. A week leading up to the release, Gunna hinted at the meaning behind "P." 

This got fans talking about what "P" stands for in the song and across the album. We now know that when Gunna says "Pushin P," he is referring to "playa" or "player." Essentially, "pushin p" is about delivering strategy, elegance, and swagger to your day-to-day while being authentic to yourself. He backs this up with his lyrics, "Your pockets deep, got racks on me. Why they watchin' me? I'm pushin' P."

On the next track, "poochie gown," there is a lot of anticipation and beef surrounding this track. However, it seems that, while there may be a lot more behind the scenes of this track, the main point that comes to attention is his apparent diss at Freddie Gibbs—produced by Wheezy, this song bass-heavy track with Gunna delivering fast flows. In the song, Gunna drops the bar "Hang above the rim. I can't fuck with Freddie Gibbs." He even backed this up on Twitter with a diss that would eventually evolve into a series of tweets from Gibbs. 

On "mop," featuring Young Thug, they deliver clever and fun rhymes that add to the album's replay value. Thug delivers funny bars in the song with "Monica Lewinsky, pass me a friend. I did a spin, ski, out of a 'Benz, ski." Gunna backs this up with his verse when he drops, "Fly, the G5, probably the highest. Went to the caboose with the pilot. That lil' b**** you cuffing, her lil' ***** got high mileage."

On "thought i was playing," 21 Savage joins Gunna to deliver some heavy-hitting bars to make this one of the standout tracks of the album. Produced by Mike WiLL Made-It & Shawn Ferrari, the production on the song brings in elements of old west coast rap songs with its synths but adds a new flare to the sound with the trademark Atlanta trap percussion and Gunna's unique flow. Of course, 21 Savage bodies this piece and continues his dominant feature run recognized more recently. Be sure to tune into the song below! 

Kodak Black hops on to deliver some amusing bars for the artist's first collaboration together. The artists play off each other's flows and deliveries in the song to create a prominent piece. In it, they rap, "That look like a brand new booty How you did that? (Kodak) You got fake stones in a real watch How you did that? (Gunna)". Then Metro hops on "alotta cake" to deliver a familiar Gunna sound from past Drip Season projects. 

In "livin wild," Gunna goes into character as to why he lives the life he does. He conveys, "Wanna know why the reason on why I have my reasons? Reason why they ain't tell mе, there was pneumonia sеason. These police won't ever save us, that's why I run with heathens." While the production elements may commonly be heard in past Gunna tracks, what makes this song stand apart from the rest are the unique rhyme schemes that he's exploring. 

The next track, "you & me", features Chloe Bailey, an artist who has been rumored to be dating Gunna just around two months ago. The song samples Jon B.'s "They Don't Know," an R&B ballad released back in 1998. Nonetheless, the song shows the versatility of both artists and should not be overlooked. Gunna continues to birth a new sound on "south to west," featuring dominant ad-libs and forthright lyrics about his superiority. Finally, one of the most the Drip Harder duo joins forces again in "25k jacket." This song's hot production and dynamic cadences make this song will be top of most playlists for months to come.

This is followed up by Future and Gunna's collaboration "too easy," which was originally released as a single back in September. Entering several Billboard charts, this song is an iconic high-energy collaboration on the album. Roddy Ricch came on to hop on the official remix, which was released at the beginning of December. This remix appears later in the album as it closes out this project. 

G Herbo then steps up to the plate to get on "idk that bitch” with Gunna. Produced by Gunna's in-house team of producers in Taurus and Turbo, this beat is unique and something that we haven't seen Gunna take on before. Previously making tracks like "9 TIMES OUTTA 10" and "SKYBOX," just to name two out of the plethora, it is common to see Taurus push the boundaries of what Gunna can perform over - and boy does he do it. G Herbo also adds some complimenting bars with his distinct flow that makes this song special in its own right. 

Furthermore, songs like "flooded" and "life of a sin" featuring Nechie continue to expand upon his ever-growing sound with fluid cadences, ad-libs, and rhyme schemes. The same goes for "die alone" with Yung Bleu and Chris Brown and "missing me." Brown and Bleu's ability to deliver emotional ballads over trap-inspired beats helps Gunna create a mesmerizing effect on sentimental tracks. 

Before the remix of "too easy," he closes out the album with the last original in "so far ahead > empire." The lyrics on this song are the perfect closer, as he recognizes his talent and hard work thus far into his career. He does this over an emotionally-driven guitar that takes up enough of the spectrum to capture your attention but also allows Gunna to shine through. 

In conclusion, this is a special album for Gunna. It contains coming-of-age elements while Gunna still recognizes and accepts his dominance in hip-hop. The features don't overtake the project but compliment what Gunna brings to the table as an artist. No two songs sound the same on this project, making this a perfect conclusion to the Drip Season series while opening new doors for Gunna's future. 

Be sure to tune in to the entire album if you haven't already. This album is a must-listen. In my opinion, this is Gunna's best work since his collaboration album with Lil Baby in Drip Harder.