Lil Purpp has had a big 24 hours, pairing a new label deal with his anticipated DEADSTAR album release. The first thing you hear when you press play on DEADSTAR is a "huh?" from Smokepurpp, before the rapper goes in on a Ronny J beat that's slithering, menacing and punctuated with fuzzy bass. It's a pretty strong way to start the release, coupled with features from Chief Keef and Yo Gotti. Those hard-hitting drums take you into the next song as well, creating a smooth transition, which continues through out the 16-track offering. There's no lack of tracks then, on the official DEADSTAR release, but still, Purpp decided to let loose what appear to be two throwaway DEADSTAR cuts. Whereas "Blue Fingers" actually contains a La Flame feature, a gritty, drum-heavy beat and a catchy-ass hook, that would sound right at home on the album; "Phantom" feels a bit less finished, a not entirely realized song concept. With production from mainstay and Atlantic signee, Ronny J, who is putting in hella work these days with all the up and coming cats (that are jumping off Soundcloud and onto streaming services), Smokepurpp goes at it solo on the wayward track.
Lil Purpp gets repetitive on "Phantom," delivering heavy ad-libs over the oscillating beat that stutters, and halts completely at some points, to allow Purpp some acapella raps.
Ronny J has plenty of production credits on DEADSTAR on top of the two leftover cuts. However he doesn't handle every song, Ice Bream is also a frequent producer (among his tracks, he's credited with "Streets Love Me" featuring Juicy J), while TM88 nabs one beat on "Hold It," and lesser-known producer Nova closes out the album with three songs back-to-back. Stream the new release here and let us know what you think. It might be about that time to come 'round to Purpp.
Watch his On the Come Up episode and yesterday's How to Roll below.
Quotable Lyrics
Young Purpp first like a wrestler
Get the work straight from Mexico
Got a foreign bitch do a lot of coke
And she count money by the Peso
