''Stay Dangerous'' is the third studio album by American rapper
YG. It was released on August 3, 2018, by
4Hunnid Records and
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The l ...
. The album features guest appearances from various rappers, including
2 Chainz
Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, a ...
,
ASAP Rocky
Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...
,
Ty Dolla Sign
Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...
,
Quavo
Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), known professionally as Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of hip hop group Migos. Quavo is the uncle of late fellow Migos m ...
,
Mozzy, Jay 305,
Big Sean
Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...
,
YoungBoy Never Broke Again and
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...
.
''Stay Dangerous'' was supported by two singles: "Suu Whoop" and "
Big Bank
"Big Bank" is a song recorded by American rapper YG featuring 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Nicki Minaj. Produced by DJ Mustard, it was released on May 25, 2018, as the second single from YG's third studio album, '' Stay Dangerous'' (2018).
Chart perf ...
". The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number five on the US
''Billboard'' 200.
Promotion
On August 2, 2018, YG released a trailer for the album, inspired by
Dos Equis's
The Most Interesting Man in the World
The Most Interesting Man in the World was an advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring actor Jonathan Goldsmith as a bearded, debonair older gentleman with voiceovers that were both humorous and outrageous. The advertisements first bega ...
ad campaign.
Singles
The album's
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
, "Suu Whoop", was released for streaming and digital download on February 16, 2018. Its music video was released on March 13, 2018.
The album's second single, "
Big Bank
"Big Bank" is a song recorded by American rapper YG featuring 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Nicki Minaj. Produced by DJ Mustard, it was released on May 25, 2018, as the second single from YG's third studio album, '' Stay Dangerous'' (2018).
Chart perf ...
" featuring
2 Chainz
Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (or Tity Boi), is an American rapper. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he initially gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, a ...
,
Big Sean
Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...
and
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...
, was released on May 25, 2018. Its music video was released a month later. It peaked at number 16 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified
four-times platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Promotional singles
The lead promotional single, "Handgun" featuring
ASAP Rocky
Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...
, was released on July 26, 2018, alongside its music video.
Critical reception
''Stay Dangerous'' was met with generally positive reviews. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, 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 71, based on 16 reviews.
Aggregator
AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.
Isaac Feldberg of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' praised the album saying, "YG's objectives across ''Stay Dangerous'' are more narrow and (for him) natural. Reuniting with long-time producer
DJ Mustard
Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...
for around half the album, YG is largely content to low-ride in his lane, swaggering across
Bloods
The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includ ...
-allegiant bangers (electrifying "Suu Whoop") and incisive tell-alls from the hood ("Too Brazy" "Deeper Than Rap")."
Jack Riedy of ''
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'' said, "Though it doesn't quite reach the heights of his first two, his new album, ''Stay Dangerous'', is another solid project from one of the best on the West Coast."
Clayton Purdom of ''
The A.V. Club'' gave the album a positive review stating, "It pretty much all works, in the way that all of YG's music works, anchored by superlative taste and a flow as versatile and reliable as
T.I. in his prime."
Meaghan Garvey of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' wrote: "Mustard's beats here don't exactly reinvent the wheel, but they serve as hydraulics to YG's low-riding delivery; on "Too Cocky", the producer's minimalist West Coast bounce pairs perfectly with YG's unexpected and inspired
Right Said Fred interpolation."
Jackson Howard of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' saying "For YG, an artist we've come to expect the unexpected from, someone currently standing at a career-defining intersection, ''Stay Dangerous'' is an exercise in predictability."
In a mixed review, ''
XXL''s Chris Gibbons stated: "''Stay Dangerous'' doesn't quite feel like the grand statement of ''
Still Brazy
''Still Brazy'' is the second studio album by American rapper YG (rapper), YG. It was made available for streaming on June 14, 2016, by Apple Music. Later, it was released physically for the digital download purchases on June 17, 2016, by 4Hunni ...
'' or ''
My Krazy Life''. It's a slight step back from a rapper who is capable of much greater. While the brief glimpses of his personal life aren't quite enough to elevate the project, it's worthwhile to hear him breezing over Mustard beats once again."
In another mixed review, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s Rachel Aroesti stated: "YG doesn't cover his subject matter with a huge amount of wit or creativity. Yet the rapper makes up for lyrical dullness with a sound that can be tantalising."
Zachary Hoskins of ''
Slant Magazine'' said, "The rigid codes of masculinity governing hardcore rap, though, keep YG's lyrics from showing as much range as Mustard's beats."
Commercial performance
In YG's home country of United States, ''Stay Dangerous'' debuted at number five on the US
''Billboard'' 200 earning 56,000
album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...
s, which included 11,000 pure album sales in its first week.
It serves as YG's third consecutive top-ten album on the chart.
In its second week, the album dropped to number 13 on the chart, earning an additional 23,000 units. On April 10, 2019, the album was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.
In Australia, the album opened at number 15 on the
ARIA Albums Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
, becoming YG's first top 20 album on the country.
In Canada, ''Stay Dangerous'' debuted at number nine on the
Canadian Albums Chart.
It serves as YG's second non-consecutive top-ten album in the country.
Track listing
Credits adapted from
Tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* Tidal (servic ...
.
Notes
* signifies a co-producer
* "Handgun" is known as "Band Drum" on the clean version of the album
* "Bulletproof" features background vocals by Carter Kim
* "Handgun" and "666" features additional vocals by Albert Thompson
* "Free the Homies Interlude" features voice by Leandre Herman
Sample credits
* "Too Cocky" contains an interpolation from "
I'm Too Sexy", written by
Christopher Fairbrass,
Richard Fairbrass, and
Robert Manzoli, and performed by
Right Said Fred.
Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
Musicians
*
DJ Mustard
Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...
– guitar
*
Marlon Williams – guitar
* Richard "Hymnbeats" Antione – additional keyboards
Technical
* Dee Brown – recording
* David Pizzimenti – recording
* Nolan Presley – recording
* Gregg Rominiecki – recording
* Cyrus Taghipour – recording
* Mark Dorflinger – recording
* DJ Mustard – recording
* Derek "MixedbyAli" Ali – mixing
* Michael "MikFly" Dottin – mixing , recording
* Finis "KY" White – vocal mixing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2018 albums
YG (rapper) albums
Def Jam Recordings albums
Albums produced by DJ Mustard
Albums produced by Mike Will Made It
Albums produced by TM88