Early Life Crisis: Album Review

Since the release of his 2024 debut album Bad Ass F*cking Kid, Richmond, Virginia’s poster boy, Nettspend, has remained a focal point of conversation throughout his tedious musical hiatus through controversy, unexpected link-ups, a modeling debut, and more. In between these endeavors, Nettspend embarked on multiple tours, giving fans ample time to sit with his previous album while he simultaneously worked on and built hype for his newly released Early Life Crisis. The album was deemed a “make or break” moment by fans and critics prior to its release due to its importance in carrying on Nettspend’s legacy as a rising prodigy, and to that point, I believe he was successful.

That being said, while this new album has successfully caught people’s attention, I wouldn’t necessarily claim that it represents a groundbreaking evolution of Nettspend’s prior sound. As a matter of fact, I would even go as far as to say that the album feels more like an extension of his last project, with a slightly stronger focus on the currently trending “new rage” sound found in albums like Rest In Bass by Che and Psykotic by Osamason. Although, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Producers like Rokonthetrack, Gyro, Azure, and CXO serve as the backbone of this sound and can be seen throughout the production of all three albums. While the style is entertaining and fun to listen to—with its distorted, blown-out bass and psychedelic melodies—it is also becoming very of-the-moment, which gives me the impression that the peak of its cultural importance may be nearing its end.

Despite these critiques, I still find it impressive that Nettspend has managed to keep his vocal style sounding fresh without too much alteration, aside from the “deep voice” delivery that was originally debuted in his YouTube single ‘Hopscotch’. On this project, you can hear it in songs like ‘Halftime’ and ‘Cross Em Out’, both of which hold strong replay value and use the inflection tastefully without becoming overbearing. Additionally, while the production draws from the same sonic lane as the albums I previously mentioned, the producers did a commendable job building that sound around Nettspend’s style. Songs like ‘Trap House 2016’, ‘Masked Up’ featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again, ‘Meet Me in Richmond’, and ‘Shades On’ stand out as they effectively channel Nettspend’s individual allure and highlight what he has already proven he does well.

Overall, the album comes across as a fun and exciting project that just misses the mark in terms of originality. I also wish Nettspend had focused more on actively evolving his sound, especially considering the lengthy gap between this release and his last. Still, for most listeners, the album likely does exactly what it needs to do—providing fans with a new collection of songs to enjoy and feed off of.

Score: 6.5/10