‘Artist 2.0’ is the third studio album by New York Hip Hop artist, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. It was released on February 14th, 2020 on the fourth anniversary of its predecessor, ‘Artist’. The album consists of 20 tracks with features from artists such as Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, and Summer Walker.
‘Artist 2.0′ begins with the track “Thug Love”, a track produced by Atlanta native London On Da Track, Matthew Spatola, and S. Dot. Throughout the first verse, A Boogie melodically tells a story about a girl playing with his heart and him seeing it coming in the beginning of the relationship and still ignoring the signs. “But you don’t even kiss me when we making love and that’s how I knew that you was a dog,” A Boogie raps in the first verse. Further on in the verse, he sings, “I might be the reason, yeah, I changed you. Girl, I never meant to play you.” While in the beginning of the verse he accuses his lover of not being loyal from the start of their relationship, but with these lyrics he admits that he may be the cause of her disloyalty because of his unfaithfulness.
While in the first verse of “Thug Love”, Boogie details a love story gone wrong, but seemingly jumps from topic to topic for the rest of the song. He starts off rapping about having enemies with the lyrics, “N—-s finna send shots tryna get even.” With these lyrics, Boogie admits to leaving a bad taste in people’s mouth and as a result a lot of people are trying to come after him. After those lines, he switches, and goes into a state of reminiscence and speaks on his life before fame by saying “Yeah,okay, I used to bust juggs with my right hand. Yeah, okay, I used to bag it up with my left hand.” Boogie ends the verse singing about people being untrustworthy and him only being around people he has known for a long time. “’Cause I swear I already know that n—-s grimy…..And all the n—-s that’s with me, they was there since lil’ n—-s,” he raps.
“Me and My Guitar” is the third track on ‘Artist 2.0’. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie uses the Sting sampled track to illustrate stories of heartache and loneliness. “I loved her too hard, she left me here with this guitar. You can try stealing my heart, it’s already gone,” he raps in the opening lines of the song’s chorus detailing a story of him giving his all to a woman, only for her to leave him in the long run. Switching from the heartbreak topic of the chorus, A Boogie dives into the touchy subject of losses in his life in the first verse. Throughout the record, he reveals to listeners that past relationships have left him heartless. He also gives reasoning for not being able to commit fully to a new relationship because of his own personal issues.
From “Me and My Guitar”, listeners are now lead into the melodies of “Might Not Give Up”. Both A Boogie and featured artist Young Thug go back and forth bragging about their wealthy lifestyles. “Elliante got me iced out…. Hundred for a show is light now, light-light.” A Boogie melodically raps in the first verse, speaking on his expensive jewelry. In the second verse, Young Thug raps, “Rock star lifestyle, rock star wife for the ride-ride….Yellow stones in the bracelet like a sinus. Gave the dawgs all a ‘Ghini when I signed ’em.” With these lyrics, Young Thug compares his way of living life to that of a rock star. He also boasts about being able to afford expensive and lavish things not only for himself, but for his friends also.
Track number seven on ‘Artist 2.0′ is “‘Hit Em Up”. Throughout this song, A Boogie and Trap Manny warn their opposition not to test them or their crew. “We might not be big, but you can’t fight no bullets, so don’t try to bully us,” A Boogie raps in the chorus of the song. With these lyrics, he points out that though his team might be small, they pack a mean punch and testing them may not be such a good idea. During his verse, fellow New York rapper Trap Manny co-signs A Boogie with the lyrics, “And I dare a n—a try to bully us. Got a Choppa with big bullets if he thinkin’ he big and tough.” Both Manny and Boogie let their enemies know that they do not fight fair and will bring out the heavy arternery if they need to.
‘King of My City’ is the seventeenth song on ‘Artist 2.0′. Throughout the 2 minute track, A Boogie takes the time to talk about the roughness of his city and the toughness of him and his crew. “You don’t wanna play with my city, N—-s die every day in my city. Whole lotta young wild n—-s,” he raps in the chorus, warning outsiders not to try Highbridge because of the type of people that live in that area.
Speaking about his crew, Boogie raps, “All my guys came with the sh—And they might get to bustin’,…… If I like your necklace, yeah, those guys might take off your necklace.” A Boogie’s crew is never scared of anything thrown their way and will do whatever the rapper tells them to do no matter what the act is. Further on in the track, the New York emcee rhymes about feeling like the King of Highbridge and having untouchable status. In the most blunt way, the 23-year-old raps, “be feeling like the King of My City.”
I give ‘Artist 2.0’ 6 stars out of 10 stars because while it’s an album full of potential, it just needed more umph. The album felt unfinished and unsatisfying.