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EARTHGANG Struggles with Fame on "Mirrorland"

The duo gets vulnerable on their newest release.

EARTHGANG Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Day Five, Indio, CA

Photo by Christopher Victorio/Shutterstock

There has always been something ethereal about EARTHGANG.

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Buzzing off the success of their impressive debut mixtape, Shallow Graves For Toys, the Atlanta duo's 2015 follow-up, Stray's With Rabies, glued itself to the back of rap's subconscious. It was easy to draw comparisons to OutKast and The Pharcyde, and, thematically, the duo brought a unique and unsettling exploration of the culture of the outer fringes of Atlanta. "Your mind still kinda childish, but you pushin' 6 feet, so mommy's daddy put the shotty to your face at 16," Doctor Dot warbles on "A.W.O.L." as he describes his mom's boyfriend putting a loaded shotgun in his face at 16.

Alternating between stark observations ("I been around killas and good n***** who live independent, the only difference is the depth of your vision") and spoken word poetry ("I'm America's freaky little fantasy, I'm society's dirty obsession, cuz my eyes seeing what the world can't"), EARTHGANG was of a different breed in the over-saturated Atlanta rap scene. Their work caught the attention of J. Cole, who quickly signed them to his astute Dreamville label in 2017 before plastering them all over Revenge of The Dreamers III. The vocal flourishes of Johnny Venus brought diaphanous energy to everything he touched, while Doctor Dot served as the equalizer—with his vibrato and delivery being more in line with an Atlanta hip-hop purist—and perfectly contrasting Venus's unwavering experimentation. Then, their steady momentum suddenly exploded, EARTHGANG became one of 2019's most lauded duos, and their debut, Mirrorland, was one of rap's most highly anticipated fall releases.

"3 a.m. the only time that I can hear myself think," Doctor Dot raps on "This Side." "Why is every waking moment feeling more like a dream?" Mirrorland shows the duo in complete disbelief. They're famous now, at least by rap standards, but does that make them sellouts? "Sometimes I get overwhelmed," Venus admits earlier on "This Side." "I'm in, in over my head, put my life online for sale." Mirrorland, which was inspired by The Wiz, describes the journey to find creative authenticity in the age of quick fame via Tik Tok and streaming. "I got wants, I got needs, I got PTSD," Doctor Dot says almost hysterically on "Avenue." "I got suicidal thoughts beneath these masked fantasies."

"How's your mental? How do you cope with what you been through?" a lover asks Doctor Dot on "Top Down," to which he has no answer. Yet EARTHGANG is happy to share their faults with us. They view their indiscretions as strengths, not weaknesses. "Cause I'm lost don't mean you found," Venus reminds the skeptics on "LaLa Challenge." The duo is no doubt caught in a crisis of faith, with the album title itself indicative of a state of reflection. How can you maintain your humility and creative independence without losing yourself to fame? "I pray for the hunger to be permanent, no matter what that make" Doctor Dot raps on "Swivel." The appeal of EARTHGANG will forever be their authenticity. Now they just need to figure out where to take it.

Mirrorland

YBN Cordae's "The Lost Boy" Is an Instant Classic

The 2019 XXL Magazine Freshman Class honoree's debut album demonstrates why he deserves our respect.

XXL

If you've never heard of YBN Cordae before, that is bound to change in the days and years to come.

So long as he keeps making music with the same level of passion and skill that he demonstrated on his debut album, The Lost Boy, his name won't be forgotten. On every track of his record, the 21-year-old emcee approaches the mic with the confidence, command, and charisma of a veteran rapper. In fact, at times his flow is reminiscent of fellow North Carolina native (and collaborator on the album), J. Cole—an impressive feat given the fact that it took even Cole a couple of albums to truly find his voice, whereas Cordae seems to have already honed his prior to his first official release.

Of the 15 tracks on The Lost Boy, not a singe one of them is a throwaway. From the album's opener, "Wintertime"—a retrospective look at how Cordae overcame hardships like depression, addiction, and poverty—to the full-circle outro, "Lost & Found," where Cordae reflects briefly on how he was once lost but has since found himself. Cordae begins the album looking over his shoulder and ends it by living in the moment as he stands on the precipice of a very promising music career.

Other highlights along the way include the Anderson .Paak-assisted and J. Cole-produced, "RNP," which sees .Paak and Cordae exchange kid-n-play bars back and forth, conversing and pushing each other's rhymes further with each line. There's a certain alchemy between the two on this song that hasn't been heard since the heydays of Dr. Dre and Eminem, or Q-Tip and Phife Dawg on early Tribe records. It's as fun as it is enjoyable.

In fact, every one of the features on The Lost Boy is handled well. Cordae hasn't simply featured artists here for clout or merely for the sake of collaborating; every song that has a guest feels as if it truly called for the artist in question. Whether it's Pusha T going hard on the haunting "Nightmares Are Real," Ty Dolla $ign blending perfectly into the melodic, homecoming anthem, "Way Back Home," or Chance The Rapper lending some characteristic sunshine to the feel-good gospel chords of "Bad Idea," Cordae (and his collaborators) reminds listeners of the fact that a great artist works in service of the song before all else.

The Lost Boy is one of the most substantial debut albums to drop in quite some time. Front to back, this record is full of gems that are sure to stay in rotation for years to come. This is what an excellent rap album sounds like. And YBN Cordae is just getting started.

The Lost Boy

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