The first lines of, “One of Wun” by Gunna just speak to what he has been doing ever since he got out of prison.
“We just keep goin’, man, we don’t keep, we don’t stop, we just, just keep pushin’, man”
After he was part of the famous YSL (Young Stoner Life Records) R.I.C.O case, no one knew where Gunna’s career was going to go. After spending just over seven months in prison, Gunna was released in December 2022, and was instantly subject to criticism from what seemed like every angle.
Many people claimed that Gunna had snitched on his co-defendant, and mentor, Young Thug. These same people that claimed that, were going as far as to deleting Gunna’s music from their phones because he was a “rat”.
Now, I’ll pose the same question that I did in my “favorite albums of 2023” article…
Gunna made MET GALA… what the hell did you do???
With his back against the wall, fans were starting to wonder if he would even drop music again. That question was answered on June 2nd, 2023, when he dropped the song, “bread & butter” addressing all the noise around his name.
On his 30th birthday, Gunna announced that his album, “a Gift & a Curse” was coming soon. Two days later, the album dropped and was instantly loved by fans, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200.
So much so, that the song, “fukumean” peaked at number four on Billboard 100 and is now certified 3x platinum.
All of this success, just meant that fans were waiting to see what was next. And that’s where, “One of Wun” comes in.
An album that talks about the pros and cons of his fame and fortune, while also still letting the world know that they need to respect his artistry. Let’s get into it.
“THE YSN REVIEW”
- time reveals, be careful what you wish for
- on one tonight
- collage
- let it breathe ft. Roddy Ricch
- back in the a
- trio
- hakuna matata
- one of wun
- still prevail
- $$$ ft. Normani
- neck on a yacht
- whatsapp (wassam)
- prada dem ft. Offset
- conscience
- the time
- blackjack
- today i did good
- treesh
- life’s changing
- clear my rain ft. Leon Bridges
The album started off with a “typical” Gunna song in “collage“. Talking about adding to the car collection and the stainless glass on his wrist. However, there was so much to unpack from this album in both the lyrics and the theme.
I want to start off with the song, “let it breathe” featuring Roddy Ricch.
Roddy’s feature alone is so significant to the theme of the song. Especially when you look at the opening lines of the song, you’ll see why Roddy being on here is perfect.
“Mind over matter when the war came
I was blinded by that light, now I see everything”
These are two artists who have been at the top of the top of the rap game before. Roddy went #1 with, “The Box” and before he even could truly celebrate, it seemed as if his fans turned on him. Gunna has had two albums go number one on the Billboard 200, but after he was released from prison a lot of both the industry and his fans turned on him.
Both artists have face an extreme amount of adversity (mind over matter when the war came), but have been able to remove themselves from the madness and still stand tall (I was blinded by that light, now I see everything).
The line directly after that is something I want to connect to my favorite song on the album, “time reveals, be careful what you wish for“.
“Don’t mind giving advice, but I can’t sell a dream”
He’s telling the listener that there’s no way that you’re going to reach this level of fame and fortune without any trouble.
He has been through the hardest of hardships, and has managed to come out on top. However, he wasn’t able to fight through those battles unscathed, and on this song he addresses it all.
As the song goes on, he starts talking about how problems can stack up the more successful you get.
Gunna is still feeling the repercussions of what happened to him and how he almost watched the life he worked so hard for slip away. He’s telling the listener to “be careful what you wish for”, because he knows what that comes with and how he himself is struggling to deal with the “rich problems”.
Which all brings it back to his album last year, “a Gift & a Curse”. He is still navigating through life with both the gift (a talented artist) and the curse (fame & fortune).
And that is why this song means so much to not only the album, but to Gunna himself and what has happened over the past two years. He encapsulates the last year and a half for Gunna the person, not the artist.
That concludes the YSN album review for Gunna’s “One of Wun”. A truly special project for an artist that seems to keep getting better and better, despite what is thrown his way.
If you’ve made it this far I’d like to thank you personally for reading. These reviews mean a lot to me and it’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing.
This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
