You can almost picture Devin The Dude blunted out on a black leather couch somewhere rocking out to The Commodores, reflecting on a life filled with women and weed when listening to Gotta Be Me. The Odd Squad rapper’s seventh studio album (and second this year) is laced with mounds of cannabis-appreciation and hilariously crass commentary on females and fornication and -- excluding “When Will I Win,” a pensive ode to the traps of hustling backwards -- nothing else.
Normally, such contextual limitations signal the onset of redundancy, but in Devin’s case it’s an asset that never depreciates because of his honest contradiction. He proudly accepts being a “dick for hire” on “Come & Go”, because, as he says, “both of our schedules are kind of busy but we manage / Ro scratch that itch and then we leave” then reassures that the relationship is more than just a convenient quickie on the sublime “I Like What U Do”: “You’re my queen to be / and you deserve the best...and everywhere we go / they’ll know you’re not a hoe." The times have changed, but this is the same Devin that was Rap-A-Lot Records' best-kept secret for nearly two decades before going independent.
“Excuse my behavior but right now I need / That other good stuff / I already have weed” he delivers over “No Need To Call’s” breezy backdrop, deriding women that call only to talk. “You’re the reason why I’m leaving my old ways / My black book is gone and I forgot where them hoes stay,” he confesses on the sultry “Gimme Some,” pleading for something more significant. Devin exalts self-assured women who know exactly what they want and are honest about who they are on the mack-mode ready “You So Real,” and holds no regrets against a relationship marred in equal infidelity on “Aint Goin Nowhere.” Then on the thumping “Fuckha” he hilariously informs her new dude about his girl’s scandalous past:
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