Album: “Dum and Dummer 2”
Artists: Young Dolph and Key Glock
Label: Paper Route Empire
Release Date: March 26
Rating: 8/10
Young Dolph and Key Glock are two artists who are often undeservingly left out of the top rapper conversation.
Dolph has spent over a decade building a name for himself, releasing twenty mixtapes and albums in his discography since 2013. While his protégé and cousin Glock has only been on the scene since 2016, the Memphis born duo has been making waves since their 2018 hit “Major,” which topped the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Since releasing their collaborative debut “Dum and Dummer,” fans have been begging the duo to release more content. That prayer has finally been answered with “Dum and Dummer 2,” which was released on March 26.
The album art is a blatant reference to the hit animated series “Beavis and Butthead,” featuring Glock and Dolph on a couch amid piles of cash and an assortment of random items — including a parrot. Considering the cartoon duo’s penchant for getting into trouble, causing a stir and not caring what other people think of them, there is no better allegory to visually summarize the Glock and Dolph experience.
No album utilizes the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality better than “Dum and Dummer 2,” which improves on nearly everything its predecessor, “Dum and Dummer,” built. Across its 20 tracks, Dolph and Glock rap about life growing up in Memphis, as well as the pair’s penchant for repeating words — particularly “yeah” — over a variety of trap beats.
With zero features, Dolph and Glock reserve the spotlight for themselves, and waste no time proving why they are some of the industry’s most formidable rappers.
On opening track “Penguins,” Dolph and Glock get straight to business on a fast-paced beat where Glock lets his (relatively) quiet voice shine, blending in with the beat to an impressive extent. As confident as ever, he aptly spits, “I’m ‘bout to buy another truck and finna give away my coupe / I’m shootin’ s--t like Paul Pierce, b---h, I ball, yeah, I’m the truth.”
The lead single “Aspen,” which was released a few weeks before the album, features all the lavish references and flexes you would expect in a song named after a town famous for its ski resorts. But regardless of how far he has come, Dolph still finds time to reflect on life in Memphis, whether it be about his family or trouble with the law.
“Free all of my man’s that’s locked down in the can / shout-out to the opps ‘cause them my number one fans.”
Glock comically begins his verse with a timely reference to COVID-19 while announcing his return: “I just jumped off quarantine to get a back in.”
The real highlight of the album comes from returning producer BandPlay, who produces 14 tracks on the project, slightly less than the 20 songs he produced for the original “Dum and Dummer.” While his ad-libs can be heard throughout, no two beats are identical. BandPlay makes sure to infuse a variety of drums, moods and sounds into each song, while also maintaining a general tempo that gives the production a surprising level of thematic consistency.
While the album is a collaborative project, Dolph and Glock get three and five solo tracks respectively, reminding listeners that these two titans can more than easily stand on their own.
“In GLOCK we trust” contains some of Glock’s best lyricism to date. Boasting one of the album’s darkest rhythms, Glock raps effortlessly with some of the most challenging drum and bass beats in recent memory.
“I pledge allegiance to the streets, yup, in this Glock, I trust / They be like, ‘You think you the shit?’ I be like, ‘Yep, so what?’ / And way before Corona came along, we been masked up / I never ran from nothin’, I just ran my cash up, yup.”
Dolph gets his solo moments too, shining on the Sosa 808-produced “Coordinate.” Always one to respect his elders, Dolph offers up an interpolation of the Notorious B.I.G. song “Juicy,” rapping: “It was all a dream / I used to smoke kush and drink lean.” The repeated line “whenever you slide” is sure to play on repeat in the heads of thoughtful listeners. Dolph uses all his trademark techniques across the project, even rhyming non-rhyming words by manipulating their pronunciation:
“Keep a blunt lit, keep a pistol in my drawer / Damn, I miss my dawg / Pour out a Ace of Spade, and spray his name on the wall.”
The closing track, “Dummest and the Dummest,” sums up the album perfectly, as the two rap to one of the album’s darker beats with the aggression and malice they have become known for. No line encapsulates what the duo stands for better than Dolph’s line, which both flexes his hardened persona and gives props to his cousin, Glock.
“I’m just havin’ fun wit’ it / Pulled up at the club then pulled out ‘cause I couldn’t get my gun in it / All the bad b-----s in my section, yours ain’t got none in it / Glock put Lambo doors on his truck, I’m like ‘Damn you won, n---a’”
As always, the duo’s sound is an acquired taste and will likely turn away listeners who are not already fans of the artists. That being said, anyone who appreciates trap music, quality lyricism and lots of drums will find themselves right at home with “Dum and Dummer 2.”
Alex Falter is the assistant arts editor and can be reached at alex.falter@ubspectrum.com
Alex Falter is a senior arts editor at The Spectrum.
