BABY GOAT

YNW BSlime spent his middle school vacation playing Fortnite until his older brother, Florida rapper YNW Melly, told him that if he didn’t leave the house and come hang out at the studio, he was taking back his credit card so he couldn’t buy V-Bucks, the in-game Fortnite currency. BSlime gave in and reluctantly accompanied Melly to New Era studios in South Florida. There he was pushed by his brother to go in the booth and spit a freestyle and to BSlime’s surprise, everyone loved it.

In February, YNW Melly was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Police in the city of Miramar, Florida claimed that Melly shot and killed two members of his YNW crew. (Melly plead not guilty and prosecutors are currently seeking the death penalty.) After his arrest Melly’s music grew; his single, the eerily prescient “Murder on my Mind,” originally released in 2017, peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since gone multi-platinum. Then, in July, as his YouTube account crossed two million subscribers, “Slime Dreams,” the debut music video of his 12-year-old younger brother YNW BSlime, was uploaded to his channel.

Even before his arrest, YNW Melly’s sing-songy rap was breaking through on SoundCloud, YouTube, and in Floridaâ€"Kanye West appeared on his January 2019 single “Mixed Personalities.” His piano-heavy ballads sounded like he was performing warm-hearted odes to his first love, but typically they were twisted and heavily detailed stories about murder, death, home invasions, pain, and jail. As a singer, YNW BSlime’s vocals were similar; you could tell he grew up on Young Thug like his brother. But instead of Melly’s rough edge, BSlime’s raps are brighter, like he sings hopped up on Honey Buns and dollar cans of Arizona iced tea.

On BABY GOAT, the debut of YNW BSlime, the preteen sounds a lot like what would have happened if a My World-era Justin Bieber got to experience the pessimistic lovesickness of Juice WRLD. As far as rappers too young to drive go, BSlime is pretty gifted; he has syrupy vocals and he doesn’t rely on shock (See: Matt Ox and Bouba Savage). His love ballads can be mature, but not uncomfortably mature. “Is this love that I’m feeling? I think I’m losin’ my mind/I need you right now, I’ll give you all my time,” he sings on the charming intro “Like That.” Though it’s less about his lyrics, which are what you would expect from a 12-year-old, and more about the whistle high range that can hang with hip-hop’s sing-rap elite.

But BSlime isn’t breaking any new ground. “Just Want You” falls too far down the sappy Kidz Bop lane. On “Wipe Your Eyes,” he deviates from his usual sunny vocals for a grating, Lil Keed-like high-pitched screech over a pedestrian acoustic guitar. “Nobody Else” has a bouncy R&B rhythm and fingersnaps that will have middle school dances on smash, though I have trouble getting past BSlime flirting like someone who has clearly never flirted before. He’s at his best on BABY GOAT when he’s writing mildly angsty coming-of-age pop singles like “Slime Emotions” or when he’s by the side of his brother on “Dying For You.”

Next to Melly, it’s clear that BSlime needs more experience. Their lyrics aren’t that much different, but Melly’s very troubling emotions elevate his writing. BSlime, on the other hand, is harmless. He’ll keep you engaged for two and a half minutes with that glossy singing voice, but after 13 songs you realize he could have held back on some of the melodramatic romance. That should change as he gets older. In the meantime YNW BSlime is still the little brother of YNW Melly that happens to singâ€"at least now he can run up those video game charges freely.

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