DS4Ever

DS4Ever
Light grey bust of Gunna wearing dark and wide sunglasses as well as a chain that reads his stage name. In some sections, the sculpture is cracking to reveal the ice-like crystals sitting underneath
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Recorded2021[1]
Genre
Length58:07
Label
Producer
Gunna chronology
Slime Language 2
(2021)
DS4Ever
(2022)
A Gift & a Curse
(2023)
Singles from DS4Ever
  1. "Too Easy"
    Released: September 24, 2021

DS4Ever (stylized in all caps and alternatively titled Drip Season 4Ever) is the third studio album by American rapper Gunna. It was released on January 7, 2022, by YSL Records and 300 Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Future, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Drake, Kodak Black, Chlöe, Lil Baby, G Herbo, Nechie, Chris Brown, Yung Bleu, and Roddy Ricch. It serves as the fourth and final installment of Gunna's Drip Season series, following his third mixtape, Drip Season 3 (2018).

Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics, DS4Ever performed well commercially, debuting atop the US Billboard 200 with 150,000 album-equivalent units of which 4,000 were pure sales, making for Gunna's second number-one album.

Release and promotion

[edit]

On January 1, 2022, Gunna revealed the album's release date.[3] The cover art, which was created by American architect Daniel Arsham, was revealed on January 4.[4] It was followed by the tracklist, which was shared the following day.[5]

The album's lead single, "Too Easy", a collaboration with fellow American rapper Future, was released on September 24, 2021.[6] The remix, which includes an additional feature from fellow American rapper Roddy Ricch, was released on December 3, 2021.[7] The music video for the remix was released on January 7, 2022.[8] "Too Easy" peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[9]

A music video for the song "Livin Wild" was released on January 10, 2022,[10] while the music video for "Pushin P" with Future featuring Young Thug, was released on January 12.[11] The songs peaked at number 61 and seven on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.[9]

On January 13, 2022, "P Power" (originally titled "Pussy Power"), a collaboration with fellow rapper Drake, was added to the album.[12] The song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic51/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Exclaim!7/10[15]
HipHopDX3.6/5[16]
HotNewHipHop70%[17]
Pitchfork5.0/10[18]
Rolling Stone[19]

DS4Ever was met with mixed reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 51, based on five reviews.[13]

Michael Di Gennaro from Exclaim! enjoyed the album, saying, "DS4Ever is certainly a good mainstream rap record, and fans of Gunna and the community of high-profile Atlanta artists he's aligned with will find plenty to enjoy across the album's 19 tracks".[15] Armon Sadler of HipHopDX said, "DS4Ever is proof he presumably won't allow stardom to make him complacent, balancing improvements in song topics and technical skill, even if the drip talk has gone stale".[16] In a lukewarm review, Rolling Stone's Mosi Reeves wrote, "Gunna has a flashy and intoxicating vocal style, and that alone [makes] DS4 a worthy escapade. But he can't transcend the clichés that define his era".[19]

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, David Crone stated, "After tunnelling into a very specific avenue for Wunna, DS4 loses focus, instead spreading the rapper thin across a much wider smattering of styles. The resulting project feels noncommittal: DS4 is caught between the woozy, floating sounds of Wunna and an older, heavier-hitting sound, yet nails neither".[14] Pitchfork critic Alphonse Pierre said, "The Atlanta rapper's latest album is monotonous, short on the quirks and out-of-body experiences of his better projects".[18]

Commercial performance

[edit]

DS4Ever debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 150,000 album-equivalent units comprising 193.5 million on-demand streams and 4,000 pure sales, making it Gunna's second number-one album. The album notably blocked the Weeknd's album Dawn FM from the top spot by approximately 2,300 units.[20]

Track listing

[edit]
DS4Ever track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Private Island"
2:12
2."Pushin P" (with Future featuring Young Thug)
  • Wheezy
  • Wong
2:16
3."Poochie Gown"2:21
4."Mop" (featuring Young Thug)
  • Kitchens
  • J. Williams
  • Glass
  • Dylan Cleary-Krell
  • Wheezy
  • Dez Wright
3:05
5."Thought I Was Playing" (with 21 Savage)
2:47
6."P Power" (featuring Drake)Metro Boomin3:13
7."How You Did That" (featuring Kodak Black)
  • Kitchens
  • Basil von Stietencron
  • Stefano McNutt
2:40
8."Alotta Cake"
  • Kitchens
  • Wayne
  • Metro Boomin
  • Chris Townsend
3:13
9."Livin Wild"
  • Turbo
  • McNab
2:22
10."You & Me" (with Chlöe)
Taurus2:24
11."South to West"
  • Kitchens
  • Durham
  • Leutrim Beqiri
  • Turbo
  • Byrd
2:02
12."25K Jacket" (featuring Lil Baby)
  • Kitchens
  • Glass
  • Dejan Nikolic
  • Wheezy
  • Nik Dean
2:00
13."Too Easy" (with Future)
  • Wheezy
  • Momberger
2:18
14."IDK That Bitch" (featuring G Herbo)
  • Turbo
  • Taurus
  • Alex Lustig
3:30
15."Flooded"
  • Kitchens
  • Demba Faye
Young Twix2:32
16."Life of Sin" (featuring Nechie)
  • Kitchens
  • Ceron Lee
  • Glass
  • Cleary-Krell
  • Wheezy
  • Dez Wright
2:52
17."Die Alone" (with Chris Brown featuring Yung Bleu)
  • Ambezza
  • LNK
  • DJ Cash
4:21
18."Missing Me"
2:58
19."So Far Ahead > Empire"
5:37
20."Too Easy (Remix)" (featuring Future and Roddy Ricch)
  • Wheezy
  • Momberger
3:17
Total length:58:07

Notes

  • "Pushin P" is stylized as "pushin P".
  • "P Power" is stylized as "P power".
  • All other tracks are stylized in all lowercase. For example, "Private Island" is stylized as "private island".

Sample credits

Personnel

[edit]
  • Joe LaPortamastering
  • Ethan Stevens – mixing (1–3, 5–11, 13–18)
  • Bainz – mixing (2, 4), recording (4), engineering assistance (16)
  • Patrizio Pigliapoco – mixing (12), engineering (16)
  • MixedbyAli – mixing (19)
  • Aresh Banaji – mix engineering (4)
  • Flo Ongonga – engineering
  • Eric Manco – engineering (2, 12, 19)
  • Taylor Moser – engineering (6)
  • Joba Aladeselu – engineering (9)
  • Mattazik Muzik – engineering (11)
  • AJStayWorking – engineering (15)
  • Nathaniel Alford – engineering (16)
  • Chris Dennis – engineering (19)
  • Braden Davies – mixing assistance (1, 3, 5–11, 13–18)
  • Zack Acousta – mixing assistance (1, 3, 5–11, 13–18)
  • Ashley Jackson – mixing assistance (12)
  • Rosa Westfall – engineering assistance (1)
  • Ernesto Carbo – engineering assistance (2)
  • Rebekka Zeyfiyan – engineering assistance (2)
  • Abel Wagner – engineering assistance (3, 5)
  • Jim Bailey – engineering assistance (4, 18)
  • Nick Poire – engineering assistance (4)
  • Cameron Peterson – engineering assistance (5)
  • Tanner Schmeidl – engineering assistance (6)
  • Clive Coateston – engineering assistance (7)
  • Jarred Barnville – engineering assistance (8)
  • Raymund Sanchez Jr – engineering assistance (8)
  • Paul Cho – engineering assistance (9)
  • Seongho Kwak – engineering assistance (9)
  • Teddrick Palmer – engineering assistance (10)
  • Angie Randisi – engineering assistance (11)
  • Emily Diaz – engineering assistance (12)
  • Rodrigo Barahona – engineering assistance (12, 19)
  • Ejaaz Collins – engineering assistance (13)
  • Samuel Reyes – engineering assistance (13)
  • Anand Joshi – engineering assistance (14)
  • Anthony Williams – engineering assistance (15)
  • ChanelGoinStupid – engineering assistance (17)
  • Shaan Singh – engineering assistance (18)

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for DS4Ever
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] Silver 60,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rose, Jordan (December 30, 2021). "Gunna Shares Snippet of Future & Young Thug Collab From 'Drip Season 4'". Complex. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Breihan, Tom (January 11, 2022). "Gunna's New Album DS4Ever Is A Weirdo Trap Blockbuster". Stereogum. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  3. ^ Blake, Cole (January 1, 2022). "Gunna Announces Release Date For "Drip Season 4"". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  4. ^ Bustard, Andy (January 5, 2022). "Gunna Channels '808s & Heartbreak'-Era Kanye West For 'DS4' Album Cover". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  5. ^ Aniftos, Rania (January 5, 2022). "Gunna Unveils 'Drip Season 4' Cover, Track List & Star-Studded Features". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  6. ^ Price, Joe (September 24, 2021). "Gunna Enlists Future for New Single "Too Easy"". Complex. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Cohen, Trace William (December 3, 2021). "Roddy Ricch Joins Gunna and Future for "Too Easy" Remix". Complex. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  8. ^ Hynes, Hayley (January 7, 2022). "Gunna, Future & Roddy Ricch Link Up For The "too easy Remix" Music Video: Watch". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "Gunna Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  10. ^ Williams, Aaron (January 10, 2022). "Gunna Recounts A Harrowing Trip to the ICU In His 'Livin Wild' Video". Uproxx. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Saponara, Michael (January 12, 2022). "Gunna & Young Thug Release 'Pushin P' Video After Getting Kicked Off Private Flight". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  12. ^ Espinoza, Joshua (January 13, 2022). "Listen to Gunna's Drake-Assisted Track "P Power"". Complex. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "DS4EVER by Gunna Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Crone, David. "DS4EVER – Gunna". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Di Gennaro, Michael (January 12, 2022). "Gunna Is Best When He Stays in His Lane on 'DS4EVER'". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Sadler, Armon (January 27, 2022). "Gunna 'DS4EVER' Adds Vulnerability To His Consistent Drip Season Series". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  17. ^ Zidel, Alex (January 13, 2022). "Gunna "DS4EVER" Review". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Pierre, Alphonse (January 13, 2022). "Gunna: DS4Ever Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Reeves, Mosi (January 7, 2022). "Gunna's 'DS4EVER' is Flashy, Intoxicating, and a Little Cliched". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  20. ^ Caulfield, Keith (January 18, 2022). "Gunna Scores Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'DS4Ever'". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  21. ^ Okon, Wongo (January 13, 2022). "Gunna And Drake's Long-Awaited 'P Power' Collaboration Adds A New Highlight To 'DS4EVER'". Uproxx. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  22. ^ Henry, Kay-Ann (January 10, 2022). "Gunna Drops Video For "Livin Wild" With Cameos From Lil Meech And Keith Sweat". SOHH. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  23. ^ Marie, Erika (January 7, 2022). "Gunna & Chlöe Slow Things Down On "You & Me"". HowNewHipHop. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
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  33. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Gunna – DS4Ever" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
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  48. ^ "British album certifications – Gunna – DS4Ever". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 7, 2023.