Finally a breath of fresh air in the rap game. yU releases his sophomore album after a solid showing with his debut, Before Taxes. With The Earn, yU proves he’s an emcee few and far between, proclaiming to earn his spot while other rappers are pulling tricks out of their sleeves in an attempt to make a lasting impression.

With entertaining lyrics and even better themes, yU draws the listeners to his adventure that is The Earn. On Time Machine, the artist takes a time machine and goes back to when his father was young, working as a construction worker, meeting his mother and how he became a product of them, only to look at his daughter and realize it’s his turn to leave an impression. Blind shines a different light, with yU depicting a sightless man and how his enhanced senses make him better than a man with all his senses and his stupid decisions.

For the emcee named after people questioned him, “Why You?,” he answers with a few songs on exactly why him. First provides reason why the rapper stays humble and true to himself while on Bonafide, the hook reminds you “it’s alright to be bonafide.”  On standout track, I Believe, yU makes his confidence known and believes that “criticism is a good thing // but the sense of self-worth is trait that will sure to make king.” yU then continues with the positive messages, announcing he “invested to take care of my fam, I’m doing all that I can so in the end I’m being a better man” on Better Man.

Production-wise, The Earn screams quality. The project consists of a smooth boom-bap sound sprinkled with spots of laidback jazz highlighted by production on If U Down which implements a very powerful piano/snare combo that keeps the listener’s head bobbing and wanting more. The only qualms of the album are some oddly placed tracks and interludes that wakes the listener from a good dream that is The Earn.

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