Streetwear icon Nigo has been telegraphing a step back into music for quite some time. After wading through the trip-hop world on his own and stepping into hip-house as the frontman of the Teriyaki Boys, he stepped back into the arena towards the start of the decade. Enlisting the likes of Pharrell (already a major affiliate in the fashion world), Pop Smoke and Lil Uzi Vert, Nigo dropped his re-entry, I Know Nigo, back in 2022, catching some Billboard traction and critical acclaim in the process. As a potential follow-up looms, Young Thug is the next to step into the Human Made head’s world, appearing for the latest Nigo single, “Dope Boy.”
A Few Missteps Hold Nigo & Young Thug Back
It remains unclear when or where this Thug verse came about (read: preceding or amid his current legal saga), but considering this released as a finished work, it may not matter all that much. The bite-sized “Dope Boy” spans just over 90 seconds, a double Young Thug hook and a verse in between making up the runtime. On paper, the ingredients at play should make for a catchy end product. The Atlanta pioneer is off-kilter as ever and frequent compatriot Wheezy provides the production underneath.
However, the bounciness of Thug’s performance here is sort of verse that takes a song over the top, not necessarily one that can carry a track entirely by itself.
Without an additional artist to set the foundation, the song as a whole feels a bit all over the place, wrapping up before it can truly find its center. To be sure, that’s not to say Thug can’t carry a composition on his own merits, but the song simply doesn’t afford him enough time to do so. Again, perhaps this was recorded remotely and thus a victim of no true studio experience. Regardless, Nigo positions this track as a likely lead single. Even with the “Digits” rapper’s walking legend status, there’s not enough here to live up to that billing.
Promise For The Next Nigo Era Regardless
Though the Nigo & Young Thug collab may fall short a bit, the formula the Human Made head majors in for his recent hip-hop focused work is one prone to this sort of misstep. Put simpler, these sort of rolodex-reliant approaches (DJ Khaled, Lyrical Lemonade) have high highs and low lows, so our hopes are still high for what Nigo has planned next.
Catch “Dope Boy” and the recent Nigo catalog wherever you stream your music.
Elsewhere in our coverage, The Alchemist – The Genuine Articulate sees Uncle Al truly get better with age.
