Yung Bans emphatic entrance to the musical world has led up to the electrifying release of his debut album Misunderstood. Bans is beating the odds every time he leaves the house and trailblazing his own path, all while staying true to himself. On this project Bans’ melodic progression is what stands out to the ear. He’s pushing the envelope with his vocal range, a lot of which most artists won’t even dare to do. To break out of the realm of Soundcloud rap is difficult, but I don’t feel as if it hindered Bans and his success. Bans expanded through rapid internet growth and pristine visuals. Yes, there was an abundance of hype behind the Carti collaboration, but it wasn’t like Bans was blown out of the water by the competition. This kid is a superstar and the world will soon recognize what his fans already know.
From an instrumentation standpoint, “Going Wild” utilizes a lot of electric waves and wubs. Not a wild concept for his listeners to delve into, but it’s refreshing to see Bans flow over something different. Songs like “Prada Zombie” blend modern cadences and octaves into an intoxicating trip through the stars. Bans really does have complex melodies on here that will be searede into your head for the rest of summer. Of course, the song with Melly is wild because of their friendship beyond music. They share intimate tales of firearms and how they *allegedly* toted them by their sides in the old days.
On the other side of the coin, there are songs like “Shawty/ In Love With All My Bitches” and this is a pop side of Bans we haven’t been blessed with until this moment. I could see this one doing some serious damage on the streams. Then the second half of the song is gutter and unapologetic to his lovers. The duality of Bans, as a man and as an artist, bleeds unfiltered honesty upon each canvas he paints. “Touch The Stars” with Lil TJay is another smash waiting to happen. This one was produced by the infamous Kenny Beats, who dropped off an infectious set of piano chords and illustrious percussion. Bans and TJay croon to paint the sky with their care-free vivacity.
“Ready Set Go” is definitely a high-powered track, the excitement to see Greedo on any album is even to make the world listen. Greedo gifts the cosmos with his unhinged animation and Bans teases us with the X verse, but who knows if we’ll ever hear what he recorded. The world needs to see Greedo perform all of these collaborations because each night he touches the stage is legendary. Bans has a wonderful ability to choose his collabs wisely. So many artists just do songs with rappers just because they’re bored or in the studio by coincidence. You can tell Bans has a true passion for his sound because he won’t just waste features just to keep friends.
Now, “Hold Up” with Gunna and Thug might take the cake for best collab on this project, but either way, it’s pretty damn close. Anyway, over this Wheezy production, all three of these southern icons simply float. This will gain some real notoriety for Bans, but he came to play with his attitude and tone. A sporadic Thug verse won’t hurt anyone’s album, then Bans takes over to close this rugged ballad out.
Then after you’re thinking that there is nothing left for this album to prove we see Future’s name on the feature and of course, “YEAAA” is another steller heater. This has an Atlanta jig boiling in your woofers. Contagious energy is what makes a good album a great album and in this current world of non-stop releases, the songs have to hit differently. Point is, they have to leave a mark and with Future’s jagged verse we feel the pain in his voice. But just because there’s pain, the tone of the song is one of resilience and overcoming tribulations.
When you take an immensely talented artist like Yung Bans and put him atop production from Wheezy, Take A Day Trip, Kenny Beats, Wondagirl, Nick Mira, TM88, MaalyRaw, and Smoko Ono, just to name a few, there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that this project wouldn’t turn out solid.
Despite what that fucking chode Akademics thinks, Misunderstood is a project worth re-visiting. And it doesn’t matter whether Bans is secretly signed or fully independent, because he’s building his own platform for his gifts to flourish in. The fans will love him as long as the music and the attitude stay golden. By the end of the Summer Solstice and into the autumn, I have a strange feeling that this project will propel Yung Bans even further than he is today. Shout to his team for facilitating the greatness and shout to Bans for the heat, see you next week.
