Atlanta’s position at the forefront of mainstream hip-hop and inventive new trap alike might be indebted to the city’s cyclical influences. Early trap being lyrical enough to hang with Dungeon Family country raps; the mixtape era taking the same sound online and into the clubs; Soundcloud rappers’ cross collaboration with those only a bit before them; and now, it’s dark plugg‘s turn as the city’s biggest underground scene to borrow from Atlanta’s stars of 2015 on. Glokk40Spaz has emerged from the pack with his new mixtape Baby Whoa 2 thanks to his investment in polish and a variety of fresh influences.
Glokk40Spaz’s discography has been on a clear upward trajectory for several years now, likely thanks to his release from prison and ability to invest more time, collaboration and care into his work. Glokk Files featured hits from over the years, while Took the Biggest Risk was seemingly cobbled together with his leftover recorded work while doing time; both dope albums, and dark plugg doesn’t necessarily demand much more than some songs to grab for the playlist, but 2024’s Da Real Oso was a watershed album for him. Clearly able to experiment more comfortably with years of ideas in his head and a fresh batch of beats, Glokk40Spaz had arrived in proper with that release.
Now, with Baby Whoa 2, he seems to have perfected the formula. Not to dunk on Took the Biggest Risk any further since it was a quality tape, especially by his early standards, but the difference between his beat selection now and then is impossible to ignore. Baby Whoa 2 has so many more details in each beat and isn’t afraid to have some fun. There are danceable beats on here, often leaning into rage or electronic (“I <3 Techno“), that make for a funny contrast to his mean murder, murder, murder raps – “Atlantastan” perhaps being the tape’s standout example of the usual style, with ad-libs echoing constantly in the background, melting into the beat, and an unrelenting flow throughout its whole runtime.
The versatility doesn’t begin and end with the production, though. Glokk40Spaz started getting melodic on Da Real Oso, and while it was a fun novelty at the time, it’s becoming central to his appeal and creates so much differentiation within his albums. Songs are actually upbeat and distinguishable from each other, compared to contemporaries like 2sDxrt3all, Lil Tony (Official) or Slimesito. It nicely breaks up the constant aggression of a full length project, and can lend some autotuned emotion- regret – to the otherwise diabolical fun, such as on “Fix My Habits” and its sample of A$AP Rocky’s “LVL“.
One of his standout performances comes on “Turbo“, where Glokk takes on a higher-pitched staccato that’s so clearly influenced by Playboi Carti – all over a “Percocet & Stripper Joint” sample. Glokk might not be near Future or 21’s name recognition, for example, but the Atlanta lineage is alive and well. He’s not the first artist to take a stab at the Carti flow, but he’s a much better rapper than most others who have.
I’d usually gripe over projects with no features, especially one that represents a scene so well and could draw some major local artists over production they otherwise wouldn’t give a chance, but Glokk is vocal in his ability to carry his own weight. Outside of the under-discussed Osamason collab tape, he largely sticks to himself and a few close collaborators like BabySolid and Go.Unna.
Maybe Atlanta needs him more than he needs it. To keep this momentum going on a national, more mainstream scale could prove it, breaking down barriers for dark plugg as the city’s next great hip-hop export.