''Wunna'' (stylized in
all caps
In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in l ...
) is the second studio album by American rapper
Gunna. It was released on May 22, 2020, by
YSL Records
YSL Records (also known as Young Stoner Life Records) is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 2016 by the Atlanta-based rapper Young Thug. The company is a label imprint of 300 Entertainment. Its artists include ...
and
300 Entertainment. The album features
guest appearance
In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...
s from
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...
, Nechie,
Lil Baby
Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...
,
Roddy Ricch
Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. (born October 22, 1998), known professionally as Roddy Ricch, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame in 2018 with his single, " Die Young", which peaked at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...
, and
Travis Scott. The deluxe edition was released on July 24, 2020. It features additional guest appearances from Yak Gotti,
Future,
Nav, and
Lil Uzi Vert
Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous fashion, ima ...
.
''Wunna'' received generally favorable reviews from critics and debuted atop the US
''Billboard'' 200, earning 111,000
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 of which 4,000 were pure sales, becoming Gunna's first number-one album. It was supported by three singles: "
Skybox", "
Wunna", and "
Dollaz on My Head".
Background
In September 2019, Gunna first announced that he would be dropping new music "very, very soon". Throughout January and February 2020, the rapper kept hinting at the release of new music which was eventually followed up by the single release "
Skybox". On March 17, 2020, he explained on his
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that the album title stands for "Wealthy Unapologetic Nigga Naturally Authentic". In April 2020, the rapper revealed that the album was supposed to be out already by that date but the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
interfered with his plans. He announced the release date on April 30. On May 18, a video for the title track "
Wunna" was released.
The video was shot in Jamaica and serves as the first part of an upcoming album documentary.
Gunna previously teased the song in March 2020.
Singles
The album's first single, "Skybox", was released on March 6, 2020, as well an accompanying music video. The song peaked at number 65 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
The album's second single, "Wunna", was released on May 18, 2020, while the music video was released the next day.
The song peaked at number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
The album's third single, "
Dollaz on My Head" featuring
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...
, was sent to
rhythmic contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
radio on July 6, 2020. The song peaked at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Critical reception
''Wunna'' was met with generally favorable reviews. 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 professional 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 67, based on six reviews.
''
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 ...
''s reviewer Alphonse Pierre gave the album a positive review, stating that "Gunna has the heart and is the most engaged he's sounded since his 2018 breakthrough, ''
Drip Season 3
''Drip Season 3'' is the third mixtape from American rapper Gunna. It was released on February 2, 2018, by his record label, YSL Records. The album features guest appearances from Hoodrich Pablo Juan, Lil Durk, Nav, Metro Boomin, and Lil Yach ...
''". While calling the album monotonous at times, Pierre commended Gunna's performances, saying that "it's hard to not have fun when Gunna is telling posh tales in a rushed melody over Wheezy and Turbo beats that sound like an elevator ride up to a penthouse".
Reviewing the album for ''
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.
...
'', Mimi Kenny stated "Gunna received invaluable support on his way to fame, but with ''Wunna'', it looks like he may be able to take it from here".
Danny Schwartz of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' praised the album, stating, "While some of his writing is of the Fisher-Price variety—one verse in "Met Gala" employs a AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA rhyme scheme—and his lyrics aren't always well thought out ("Say the wrong word, and I'mma shoot him in his shit"), ''Wunna'' remains a transportive listening experience, due in large part to its production, which exists in almost perfect harmony with Gunna's soothing vocals".
Charles Lyons-Burt of ''
Slant Magazine'' said, "The album represents an evolution from trap easy-listening to big-canvas rap artistry".
In a mixed review,
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 ...
critic David Crone wrote the following: "While ''WUNNA'' deserves points for its cohesiveness and impressive highs, its padding proves its downfall: the album's closing run means it remains a pick-and-mix affair, rather than a definitive statement."
In a negative review, ''
Beats Per Minute
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery ...
''s Chase McMullen stated: "Should you desire to be kind, you can call the album mood music. In theory, it's an astrology themed LP, with ''Wunna'' representing an alter-ego, but none of that comes across. ... Even his voice lacks any distinction, a hushed, fatigued monotone that could belong to anyone, with so little presence that it hardly registers over the beats."
Year-end lists
Commercial performance
''Wunna'' debuted at number one on the US
''Billboard'' 200 chart, earning 111,000
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, (of which 4,000 were in pure album sales) in its first week.
This became Gunna's US number one debut.
The album also accumulated a total of 143.6 million on-demand streams of the set's tracks in the week ending May 28.
In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, earning an additional 49,000 units.
Track listing
Notes
* All tracks are stylized in
all caps
In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in l ...
, for example, "Skybox" is stylized as "SKYBOX".
Personnel
Credits adapted from album's liner notes and
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 ...
.
* Flo Ongonga – engineering , mixing
*
Turbo
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
– engineering
* A. Bainz – engineering , mixing
* Alejandro "Aleo" Neira – engineering , engineering assistant
* Shaan Singh – engineering
* AJ – engineering
* MarQuell Randolph – engineering
* Bryan Anzel – engineering
* Armani Mitchell – engineering assistant
* E Town 100 – engineering assistant
* Patrizio Pigliapoco – mixing
*
Alex Tumay
Alexander Tumay (born July 19, 1986) is an American audio engineer and DJ from Atlanta, Georgia. He has recorded and mixed songs for major artists across the American hip hop industry, including Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Kanye West, Dr ...
– mixing
* Mixed By Ali – mixing for Roddy Ricch
*
Mike Dean – mixing for Travis Scott
* Ashley Jackson – mixing assistant
* Harry Taylor – mixing assistant
* Aresh Banaji – mixing assistant
* Nathan Miller – uncredited mixing assistant
* Christal Jerez – uncredited mixing assistant
*
Joe LaPorta
Joseph J. LaPorta (born ) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-laporta-mn000199340/credits/date-asc/
Career
Born and raised in New York, LaPorta graduated from New York Unive ...
– mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2020 albums
Gunna (rapper) albums
YSL Records albums
Albums produced by Mike Will Made It
Albums produced by Pi'erre Bourne
Albums produced by Tay Keith
Albums produced by Wheezy