Released: 2024
“STUPID” by YG, featuring Lil Yachty and Babyface Ray, is essentially a victory lap over a beat that slaps hard, with each rapper flexing their success in the hip-hop game while acknowledging their gritty roots. They’re not just bragging about wealth and accomplishments but also highlighting the contrast between their past struggles and their current lavish lifestyle.
The track opens with a vibe that you can’t help but nod your head to, setting the stage for a recount of their climb from the bottom to the top. The line “This beat hittin’ like Bruce Lee with the nunchucks” is a clever way to say the beat is powerful and impactful, much like a Bruce Lee fight scene. YG and company dive into their journey, showing off their ability to overcame obstacles, much like navigating a tough opponent.
YG makes it known he’s changed his life around, but not his essence. When he says, “I just took a model off my checklist, stupid. I just put a X on my ex-bitch, stupid.” He’s flexing his success and moving on from past relationships, marking achievements in both his personal and professional life. The repetition of “stupid” emphasizes how effortless these achievements are for him now, contrasting with his harder times.
Lil Yachty and Babyface Ray continue the theme, with lines that reflect on their past and how it shaped them. The mention of “…slidin’ in the Buick” to now living life at full speed, indulging in luxury, and making significant amounts of money, shows their growth. However, they also touch on the cost of their lifestyle and the reality of street life, indicating that their new life is not without its own challenges.
They allude to real-life consequences and decisions made in the pursuit of success. Phrases like “If crime pays, I’ma do it” and “Made it out the block like Tetris” speak to the maneuvering and strategizing it took to escape their circumstances. The Tetris metaphor is particularly poignant, symbolizing the careful planning and luck involved in escaping a life that many of their peers couldn’t.
The closing verses tie it all together, ending on a note of triumph yet grounded in reality. The artists acknowledge their success but also the sacrifices and the past they came from. Their messages are clear – they’ve succeeded despite the odds, living a life many can only dream of, but they haven’t forgotten where they came from.
In “STUPID,” YG, Lil Yachty, and Babyface Ray deliver a track that’s both a celebration and a reminder of the hustle it took to get where they are today. Through their clever wordplay and hard-hitting lines, they share their story of triumph over adversity, making it known they’ve earned every bit of their success.
