''Living Legend'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rapper Gunplay. The album was released on July 31, 2015, by

Maybach Music Group Maybach Music Group (; abbreviated MMG) is a record label imprint founded by American rapper Rick Ross. Maybach Music Group albums are distributed by Atlantic Records, a division of the Atlantic Records Group. Atlantic took over distribution fo ...

and Def Jam Recordings. The album was supported by the singles "Tell 'Em", "Wuzhanindoe", "Be Like Me" and "Blood on the Dope".

Background

In November 2012, Gunplay stated the album would be released in 2013. In June 2014, in an interview with '' XXL'', he spoke about the sound of the album, saying: "It’s going to be something for the world, not just for the hood. I’m already a hood nigga—I got hood tracks on there—but I want to take it to that next level." He explained the meaning behind the album title, saying: "I think the title fits me perfect. I elaborate on that a few times on the album to let y’all know why I am a ''Living Legend''.” Later he said: "It’s gonna mean a lot to me and this title Living Legend, ’cause I been through 100 percent more than what these rap niggas been through, what the average nigga on the street been through and I’m still here. And I think it calls for a celebration and a title like ''Living Legend'' will embody that whole situation."

Singles

On March 13, 2015, the album's lead single "Tell 'Em Daddy" was released. On June 2, 2015, the album's second single "Wuzhanindoe" featuring YG was released. On July 1, 2015, the music video was released for "Wuzhanindoe" featuring YG. On July 10, 2015, the album's third single "Be Like Me" featuring

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

was released. On The July 17, 2015, the album's fourth single "Blood on the Dope" featuring PJK was released.

Critical reception

''Living Legend'' received generally positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 68 based on 8 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said, "Being able to bellow like Busta Rhymes or Ludacris just makes everything bang harder, and with a lean 11 cuts on the album's normal release, ''Living Legend'' is a non-stop gangsta party connected to the street, offering a more approachable alternative to Ross' grandiose LPs." Jesse Fairfax of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

stated, "Gunplay’s repetitively destructive themes come as no shock given his stage name. While his long journey has finally paid off, ''Living Legend'' lacks it factor to have listeners clamoring for a follow-up anytime soon." David Drake of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

called it "a consistent release with no substantial misfires, full of densely packed verbiage and grand gestures, reminiscent of a time when technique, style, and personality seemed inseparable, interrelated qualities in a rapper's arsenal."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2015 debut albums Maybach Music Group albums Def Jam Recordings albums