A year after exploding on the scene & the industry scrambling to find a successor to Pop Smoke, CJ has gone ghost. His singles like “Whoopty” met plenty of criticism, being seen as a shameless industry plant. Being the nephew of a former president of Bad Boy Entertainment didn’t help his case either. So maybe being removed from the initial release can shed new light on this release.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t. “Whoopty” in particular was clearly vying to be a drill hit, taking up a sample from the already popular song “Exposing Me.” Its a by the numbers drill affair, taking a lot of key notes from contemporaries in the scene. None of them are developed though, they’re all indistinguishable from the greater scene.
When they are doing something different, its for all the wrong reasons. “I’m Lit” is not even a CJ song, its a French Montana track with a CJ verse slapped at the end. While French is as obnoxious as modern French can get, CJ is barely a footnote in the track. He provides a completely forgettable performance, as with the rest of the album.
If “Whoopty” & “BOP” didn’t have the virality attached to them, they probably would just as forgotten. “Goin’ UP” feels like it was made for TikTok dances, but it never received any. In fact most songs here have that feel, as the majority of tracks barely are drill songs. “Real One” showcases CJ singing on a bootleg French Montana beat, which is the furthest from drill you can get.
The few drill tracks here are cheap intimidations. Why listen to “Politics” when you can hear a Fivio song? Why listen to “Set” when you can just put a Pop Smoke song on? Credit is due where credit is due, its an impressive feat to be so uncreative for just around twenty minutes.
Like most members of Coke Boys, he’s untalented but will be paid for life. If he comes back or not, it doesn’t matter. The scene doesn’t need him & never will. CJ came when drill needed a fresh face, he profited, and left. Virality has brought some fantastic music to the table over the last couple of years, but sometimes bullshit needs to be called out when it pops up.