Review Series: XXL Magazine's Freshman Class of 2019 - Gunna

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This article is part of a review series covering XXL Magazine's Freshman Class of 2019. For reviewing purposes any content covered is exclusive to the artist's most recent or highest acclaimed work, with the latter taking precedence.

The first time I saw Gunna he was resplendent in an orange, designer suit, figuratively leading his surrounding classmates in XXL Magazine's Freshman Class of 2019 announcement. His sense of style immediately apparent, I was drawn in and decided he would be the first artist of the announcement I would cover. In fact, I spent my time collecting the various projects I needed for this reviews series listening to Drip or Drown 2, and to be honest I was hooked by the third track, "One Call".

Gunna is a Georgian native who cites Cam'ron and Outkast as two major influences and he embodies that fairly well. If you mashed Big Boi and Andre 3000 into one person, for example, you would probably end up with Gunna. That's not to say he's simply taken component parts of his favorite artists and formed an identity around them, of course. His style sets him apart but his melodic, steady flow cements that individuality. He's not an amalgamation, he's an evolution.

With backing from Young Thug and access to Turbo and Wheezy for production you'd think Gunna would ride those coattails to victory and, truthfully, he probably could, but that's not enough for him. He's working on his own fashion line (whose name has yet to be released) while continuing his musical work now through his inclusion in XXL's Freshman Class.

It's a well-earned mantle; Drip or Drown 2 is loaded with potential hits. It's not perfect, as few first outings often are, but with tracks like "Richard Millie Plain" and beats like those on "Yao Ming", it's difficult to make an argument that this work is one you can ignore. You can expect to keep hearing his name for a long time.

Gunna is just the first in a stout list of heavy hitters in this review series, but he's a very apropos primary. He well embodies the aesthetic and mindset of his classmates: confident, unique, and ready to fuck up the game.

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