Written By: Mike Double G
Grade = 67% or 3 ️Stars
Track List - 44 minutes
Mind of Melvin (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert) 3:51 ️
Yung Nigga Shit (Feat. YNW Gunna & Hotboii) 4:16
Thugged Out (Feat. Kodak Black) 4:07 ️
Take Kare (Feat. Lil Baby & Lil Durk) 4:26 ️
Pieces (Feat. Queen Naija) 4:23 ️
Loving My Life 3:53
Caprisun Fun (Feat. Young Thug) 2:44
Best Friends 4L (Feat. Lil Tjay) 2:44
Far Apart (Feat. Kevin Gates & Lil Tjay) 1:56
Greensight 1:53
Freddy Krueger (Remix) [Feat. Future & Tee Grizzley) 4:33
Na Na Na Boo Boo 3:19
The title of this album refers to YNW Melly’s incarceration. Meaning it’s only a matter of time before he is released from prison. On February 12th, 2019 Melly was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder in connection with the October 18th shooting in Fort Lauderdale involving two of Melly’s friends, Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. The arrest came less than a month after the release of Melly’s project We All Shine. This was Melly’s best and most popular project as it included a feature from Kanye West. Once that project was released Melly gained mainstreamed attention and it seemed like he was on his way to superstardom. Although incarcerated Melly has continued to release music. Just A Matter of Slime is the second project he has released since being in prison.
YNW Melly produced this new album over the phone from prison. Melly made many calls to secure features from artists like Young Thug, Future, and Lil Uzi Vert. Other features on this album include YNW Gunna, Hotboii, Kodak Black, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Queen Naija, Lil Tjay, Kevin Gates, and Tee Grizzley. Melly had to get more help than usual due to his incarceration. On We All Shine Melly only had two features. Besides Kanye’s West, Fredo Bang was featured on the track “Ingredients”. His next project and first release from jail was Melly vs. Melvin. This project also had very few features. Melly vs. Melvin had a few standout tracks but overall it was very disappointing. Many of the songs on that project probably would have been deleted if Melly was home under normal circumstances. Even though it wasn’t his best body of work it was important for Melly’s team to keep coming with new music to keep him relevant until he is able to come home.
On Just A Matter of Slime Melly broughy the star power and it has received much better response from his fans. On this project Melly was able to work with some artists he’s never been able to work with before. The best song on this album was Mind of Melvin which features Lil Uzi Vert. Melly has made many songs that talk about what he is thinking about. His first big song was Murder on My Mind. This is a very controversial song since many people believe that this song is a confession to the murder of his two friends. Other songs that have a similar kind of vibe would be Suicidal and Mixed Personalities which is the record he did with Kanye West. Many of Melly’s biggest songs are also some his darkest ones.
Many people in Melly’s position would be very careful about what they say in there music especially after prosecutors already believe he has confessed to the murder on the song Murder on My Mind. What makes Mind of Melvin so great is that on the first track of this project Melly shows his fans no matter what the circumstances are he is not going to hold back when it comes to his music. In this song Melly says:
The devil got a hold of me. The demons are inside of me. I'd kill if you don't ride for me. They told me, do ungodly things. I killed your seed, I'm sorry I killed your son, I'm sorry. Melvin, oh Mind of Melvin, oh Welcome to the mind of a maniac.
It’s safe to say that people close to Melly were worried about how these kind of lyrics might be used against him in his case. A guilty man might have not said these things while being in jail which leads me to believe that Melly is innocent.
A fan favorite on this album would be Thugged Out. This song features Kodak Black who like Melly has been in and out of jail. Many Floridians have been wanting these two to work together for a long time but it never happened because at least one of them was always locked up. Besides Thugged Out, I like Take Kare which features Lil Baby and Lil Durk. Melly’s manger 100K track also managed King Von. The two artists collaborated together often and Lil Durk has also made music with Melly. On Durk’s last LP The Voice him and Melly made the song Free Jamell. Jamell is Melly’s government name. The two both have a melodic flow which makes for a great pairing on a track.
The biggest issue with this album is only 3 of the 12 tracks had Melly solo. Unfortunately, because of his situation this was out of his control. With that being said, Melly did a good job picking out the features. Besides being some of the hottest artists in the game many of the features are a good fit with Melly’s style. Melly made sure to keep his home state fans happy by collaborate with Florida artists like Hotboii and Kodak Black. He also worked with people he’s already had success with like Tee Grizzley, Lil Uzi Vert, and Lil Durk. Most importantly Melly stayed true to himself and didn’t let his situation interfere with his music. Sometimes this album felt like a playlist but it was definitely better than his last project. Hopefully Melly will be released soon so we can get a better full body of work from Melly himself. Overall, I would give the album a 67% rating or three stars.
Best Song = Mind of Melvin (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert)
Download: Just A Matter Of Slime