Young Thug’s newly released second(!) album, Punk, is a star-studded event in which the trap experimentalist is joined by a variety of guests from across the genre, in keeping with the current hip-hop trend. Unlike his previous album, So Much Fun, he broadens the spectrum of musicians he uses to fill time, including newbies like ASAP Rocky, Doja Cat, and Mac Miller, as well as long-term colleagues Drake, Gunna, and Future. After working with J. Cole, Juice WRLD, and Post Malone on some of their biggest singles, he reunites with them.
Thug, who kicked off the promotion for his new album with his first-ever NPR Tiny Desk Concert alongside rock drummer Travis Barker, rolled out the album in an unusual way, releasing only one single, “Tick Tock,” and performing new songs at events like Givenchy’s Paris Fashion Week show and in the backseats of Lyft drivers’ cars. And, since we’re on the subject of vehicles, his release party stunt of destroying a brand-new Rolls-Royce with baseball bats alongside Gunna and Metro Boomin attracted both praise and criticism.
However, many fans on Twitter openly admitted to staying up longer than normal for the release (midnight Pacific, three hours later than other New Music Friday releases), suggesting that these techniques had a good overall impact on the album’s reception.