There are a number of disparate energies that can be found in just the first half of Fredo Bang’s UNLV. In “Pay for It,” the Baton Rouge-hailing MC has transformed Soulja Slim’s 2002 horniness anthem into an “I’m too rich to get my hands dirty” shot-caller’s flex. The song immediately following, “Dog Azz,” is properly horny, though. Bang pays tribute to Soulja Slim again just after that with “Ya Heard Me ‘Complex,’” a song that borrows the continuously repeated refrain of Slim’s original to warn any potential enemies that he “ain’t the type you want some smoke with.” Then there’s “My Body,” a song that contains an interpolation of mid-aughts R&B stars Pretty Ricky’s “Your Body” and a guest appearance from bounce music vocalist BOG Vonnie, all of which culminates in barbecue-playlist-perfect hip-hop.
With somehow still more tricks up his sleeve, Bang does his best doo-wop impersonation on “Say Please,” rails against a system that led to the incarceration of Young Thug and YNW Melly on “Free Thug,” chastises the posturing of other so-called gangsters on “Bee Crazy,” and laments the fact that hardly anyone can understand his plight on “Last One Left.” A one-dimensional rapper Fredo Bang will never be. But if you’re here for the country-rap tunes he built his name on, the stories of fast money and street vengeance set to production from Hardbody B-Eazy, DJ Chose, and Mouse On tha Track, to name a few—well, there’s plenty of that, too.