Slava P briefly dated the Maybach Music Girl.
For a team that fairly recent started gaining traction, Maybach Music Group has already accrued a fairly popular, if polarizing, roster. There’s the tilapia-loving bawse, Rick Ross; the misguided Midwest transplant, Stalley; the one-man-twerk-machine, Omarion; Meek ‘No Indoor Voice’ Mill; and their newest signee, Rockie Fresh, who doesn’t deserve his own adverb-based joke yet.
If you were to plot each of these artists on a fictional “Likability Chart” scored out of 100, they would all get an average rating. Rozay (75) & Meek (70) may rank higher and Omarion (54) may rank slightly lower, but at the end of the day, nobody is going to go to war for, or against, MMG. The exceptions to this mediocre winsomeness rating are the two members left off the initial roster rundow: Gunplay (90) and Wale (17).
In the past few months, Gunplay has catapulted from his former Triple C’s “fame” and into a bonafide solo deal with Def Jam thanks to some strong mixtapes and commanding features on songs like Kendrick Lamar’s “Cartoons & Cereal” and the MMG posse cut, “Power Circle”. His success is due in part to many things, but it all boils down to this: Gunplay is the polar opposite of his labelmate Wale, and is thus greeted with acceptance by the masses…unlike Wale.
Sonically, these two MC’s are chasms apart. Gunplay’s coke-fueled, LA The Darkman-inspired, jumping-jack raps are unpolished and abrasive, while Wale’s concepts and themes are well-formed, even if he delivers them as if he’s throwing a hissyfit during a slam poetry reading. Gunplay rhymes about drugs, the streets and, well, gun play. Wale raps about being unhappy whilst surrounded by bottles and ambitious girls.
Wale cares far too much about how he’s perceived by the public while Gunplay seems to genuinely not give a fuck. Take Twitter as an example: Wale will launch a war of words against anyone who offers constructive criticism, while Gunplay will un-apologetically tweet about women eating, and going to, “yogart” classes. One never leaves his house without having the newest pair of kicks and a toothbrush in his back pocket; the other seems like he isn’t above running errands while wearing Kleenex boxes on his feet. Wale compares his albums to Reasonable Doubt and gets upset with lackluster sales; Gunplay would be ecstatic if five people bought his album.
Will Gunplay go on to be a successful solo star? I hope so. I think he deserves it, if not solely for the fact that he’s been a part of Rick Ross’ team before the idea of MMG even materialized, rapping along side Torch and Young Breed as part of the (now possibly defunct) Triple C’s. And while the Carol City Cartel was being formed in 2005, Olubowale was building buzz on hometown radio stations with his go-go sampled songs. In those six years before signing to MMG, Wale has managed to do a lot; he recorded a song with Lady Gaga at the height of her popularity, he dropped a handful of strong mixtapes, and he released a competitive album that only managed to sell 28k its first week. In those same six years, Gunplay managed to do a lot as well. A lot of cocaine.
Download:
ZIP: Gunplay — Bogota Rich: The Prequel (Left-Click)
ZIP: Gunplay – Inglorious Bastard (Left-Click)
MP3: Kendrick Lamar ft. Gunplay-”Cartoons & Cereal”
