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Jeffery (mixtape)

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Jeffery
Mixtape by
Young Thug
ReleasedAugust 26, 2016 (2016-08-26)
Genre
Length42:15
Label
Producer
Young Thug chronology
Slime Season 3
(2016) 		Jeffery
(2016) 		Beautiful Thugger Girls
(2017)
Singles from Jeffery
  1. "Pick Up the Phone"
    Released: June 3, 2016
  2. "Wyclef Jean"
    Released: January 24, 2017

Jeffery (originally titled No, My Name is Jeffery) is the fourth commercial mixtape by American rapper Young Thug. It was released for retail purchase on August 26, 2016, by 300 Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The mixtape features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Gucci Mane, Gunna, Quavo, Offset, and Wyclef Jean. It also features production from TM88, Wheezy, and Young Thug himself (credited as his first name/album namesake Jeffery).

Jeffery charted at number eight on the US Billboard 200, and received widespread acclaim from critics. Its artwork, which features Young Thug in a dress, went viral. The mixtape was named among the best releases of 2016 by several publications, including Pitchfork, Fact, Complex, and Rolling Stone.

Background

[edit]

Jeffery was announced on July 9, 2016, via Young Thug's Instagram, along with previews of new music.[2] It was initially slated for release on August 16, coinciding with Young Thug's birthday, but was pushed back.[3] The mixtape was accompanied by his decision to abandon the stage name Young Thug in favor of the new moniker No, My Name is Jeffery, or simply his birth name Jeffery.[4] The change of stage name was announced by his manager Lyor Cohen in the preparation for the mixtape's release.[4] According to Young Thug, "Jeffery is all about Jeffery. It ain't even about Young Thug. Ain't no Young Thug songs on there. The mixtape is a straight crossover."[5] On Beats 1, he clarified that the name change was only for one week, unless the mixtape sold 100,000 copies.[6]

The second track, "Floyd Mayweather", was originally supposed to be featured on a Gunna project.[7]

With the exception of "Pick Up the Phone", each track was named after one of Young Thug's idols, including Gucci Mane ("Guwop"), Wyclef Jean ("Wyclef Jean"), Rihanna ("RiRi"), Future ("Future Swag"), Harambe, the gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo in May 2016, and Kanye West ("Kanye West").[8]

Composition

[edit]

The opening track, "Wyclef Jean", is named after the Haitian rapper.[9] It features Young Thug ad-libbing and crooning sexual boasts over a half-time reggae beat[10] produced by TM88 and Supah Mario.[11] The song contains horns,[12] a Jamaican-sounding backing chant,[13] and is driven by a groovy bassline.[14] Young Thug's vocal delivery on its bridge is soulful, while his delivery on its hook is nasal.[15] Scott Glaysher of XXL magazine wrote that the beat had "a distinct Caribbean vibe", and felt that it sounded like something Wyclef Jean himself could rap over.[16]

"Floyd Mayweather", the second track, is named after the American boxer Floyd Mayweather.[9] It has a runtime of six minutes, and features rappers Gunna, Gucci Mane, and Travis Scott.[17] A trap song, it was produced by Goose, TM88, Wheezy, Billboard Hitmakers, and Young Thug himself.[7] The track's beat is melodic, featuring hi-hats, drums, and wavering synths.[18] Lyrically, the song is about showing off wealth.[9] It features Auto-Tuned vocals[19] and, like the opening track, sexual boasting.[20]

The third track, "Swizz Beatz", is a sonically pop-leaning[21] "self-love song", according to HipHopDX.[22] Produced by Wheezy,[23] it is named after the American rapper and record producer Swizz Beatz.[9] Vocally, the song features howls,[22] yips,[24] and yodel-sounding delivery from Young Thug.[13] The following track, "Future Swag", is named after and sonically inspired by American rapper Future.[9] It was produced by TM88, and features repetition, ad-libs, and alternating rhythms.[24] The song contains an accurate impression of Future, with Young Thug imitating his voice[25] and flow.[26]

Artwork

[edit]

The cover features Young Thug wearing a frilly light blue dress,[27] with an umbrella-like hat covering his face.[26] According to The Fader, he "strikes a pose reminiscent of the dancing woman emoji."[27] Young Thug compared the dress to that of Raiden, a character from the video game series Mortal Kombat.[28] Alessandro Trincone, the designer of the dress, said that it was inspired by androgyny and Japanese kimonos.[29]

Young Thug originally held a photoshoot for the cover art in Atlanta, but was dissatisfied with the results. During a meeting in New York with Julie Anne Quay, the founder of the fashion platform VFiles, Young Thug was shown the dress, and immediately decided to use it for Jeffery's cover art. The final photoshoot took several hours due to the intricacies of the dress.[30]

In the Pitchfork review of Jeffery, Sheldon Pearce wrote that "the cover exhibits some of Thug’s strongest artistic traits: His eye for composition and stylishness, and his knack for testing limits and hurdling norms."[8] Young Thug had previously modeled women's clothing for a Calvin Klein ad campaign.[31] He later addressed Jeffery's cover art, stating "Stop believing in genders."[32]

Release and promotion

[edit]

The song "Kanye West" (originally titled "Elton" and then later "Pop Man") featuring Wyclef Jean, was released on August 19, 2016.[33] The mixtape release was then preceded by a short album trailer released on August 23, which depicted Young Thug being interrogated about his name by the authorities.[3]

The mixtape's lead single, "Pick Up the Phone" featuring American rappers Travis Scott and Quavo, was released on June 3, 2016,[34] the song peaked at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[35] "Wyclef Jean" was sent to urban contemporary radio on January 24, 2017, as the mixtape's second single,[36] it peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100.[35]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[37]
Metacritic82/100[38]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
Exclaim!8/10[39]
The Guardian[20]
HipHopDX3.9/5[40]
Now4/5[41]
Pitchfork8.5/10[8]
PopMatters8/10[12]
Rolling Stone[42]
Vice (Expert Witness)A−[43]
XXL3/5 ("L")[44]

Jeffery was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the mixtape received an average score of 82, based on 11 reviews.[38] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[37]

AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung called the mixtape "thrilling and essential, one of the best rap releases of 2016", writing that "there's enough freshness here to make it his most exciting and mainstream release to date".[19] Daniel Bromfield from Pretty Much Amazing described it as "a more satisfying major-label rap album than most mixtape-bred rappers ever make", asserting that "despite being more extreme in many ways than his prior work, Jeffery is his poppiest tape since 2014's Tha Tour with Rich Gang".[45] PopMatters critic Brian Duricy stated that "as a collection of songs, it's his most realized set to date".[12] Rolling Stone's Jody Rosen stated that "it's Thug's own sound that predominates: the heroic howls, rasps, mumbles and wheezes of a man who is as captivating a vocalist as any in pop".[42]

For MTV News, Meaghan Garvey wrote that "Jeffery, like ATLiens 20 years prior, has that unqualifiable, absolute feeling of arrival", describing it as "irrepressible, bursting with uncannily memorable one-liners and dynamic experiments in flow and cadence over beats that, attached to a more easily marketable rapper, could be obvious radio hits".[46] Pitchfork's Sheldon Pearce described it as "rangy and stunning, an exciting new curve in the fascinating Young Thug arc", stating that "Thug understands the modern pop song construction better than anyone: anything and everything can be a hook".[8] Robert Christgau wrote in Vice that Young Thug "makes black comedy out of irrepressible sound", stating that "his hoohoos and melismas and blahs and mwas and frogcroaks and put-puts are the message".[43] In a less enthusiastic review, Lanre Bakare of The Guardian described it as "a mixtape that features gems among run-of-the-mill trap fodder" while praising the single "Pick Up the Phone" as "an example of all the things Young Thug excels at coming together on one track".[20]

Year-end lists

[edit]
Select year-end rankings of Jeffery
Publication List Rank Ref.
Complex The 50 Best Albums of 2016
13
[47]
Consequence Top 50 Albums of 2016
45
[48]
Entertainment Weekly The 50 Best Albums of 2016
36
[49]
Fact The 50 Best Albums of 2016
19
[50]
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2016
25
[51]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2016
21
[52]
PopMatters The 70 Best Albums of 2016
54
[53]
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2016
10
[54]
Spin The 50 Best Albums of 2016
17
[55]
Variance 50 Best Albums of 2016
29
[56]

Commercial performance

[edit]

Jeffery debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 and number five on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, with 37,000 album-equivalent units and sold 18,000 copies in its first week.[57][58] This is Thug's third debut in the top 40 and his second in the top 10.[57]

Track listing

[edit]
Jeffery track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Wyclef Jean"
3:56
2."Floyd Mayweather" (featuring Travis Scott, Gucci Mane and Gunna)
6:01
3."Swizz Beatz"
  • Williams
  • Glass
Wheezy3:16
4."Future Swag"
  • Williams
  • Simmons
TM882:45
5."RiRi"
  • Williams
  • Burgess
  • De La Rosa
Billboard Hitmakers4:04
6."Guwop" (featuring Quavo, Offset and Young Scooter)
  • Wheezy
  • Cassius Jay
  • TM88
5:15
7."Harambe"
  • Williams
  • Burgess
  • De La Rosa
Billboard Hitmakers3:10
8."Webbie" (featuring Lil Duke)
  • Williams
  • Arnold Martinez
  • Burgess
  • De La Rosa
Billboard Hitmakers3:55
9."Kanye West" (featuring Wyclef Jean)
  • Wheezy
  • Cassius Jay
5:41
Bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
10."Pick Up the Phone" (with Travis Scott featuring Quavo)
4:12
Total length:42:15

Notes

  • "Kanye West" was formerly known as "Pop Man"[59]

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the mixtape's liner notes and Tidal.[60][61]

Musicians

  • Young Thug[a] – vocals (all tracks), programming (2)
  • TM88 – programming (1, 2, 4, 6)
  • Supah Mario – programming (1)
  • Billboard Hitmakers – programming (2, 5, 7, 8)
  • Goose – programming (2)
  • Wheezy – programming (2, 3, 6, 9)
  • Cassius Jay – programming (6, 9)

Technical

Charts

[edit]

References

[edit]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Credited both as Young Thug and his birth name, Jeffrey Williams.

Citations

  1. ^ Bromfield, Daniel (June 6, 2018). "Ski Mask the Slump God: Beware the Book of Eli". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Smith, Trevor (July 9, 2016). "Young Thug's "Jeffery" Mixtape Is on the Way". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Goddard, Kevin (August 22, 2016). "Young Thug Announces Release Date For "Jeffery"". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Shipley, Al. "Young Thug's New Moniker Is Just Another Entry in the Long History of Changing Rap Names". Complex. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  5. ^ P, Mr. "Young Thug drops new mixtape, No, My Name Is JEFFERY". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  6. ^ King, Eric. "Young Thug Will Keep His Name Change for a Week Unless He Sells 100,000 Mixtapes". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  7. ^ a b C, Noah (September 30, 2019). "Young Thug's "Floyd Mayweather" Was Originally Intended For Gunna's Project". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Pearce, Sheldon (September 1, 2016). "Young Thug: JEFFERY". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (September 22, 2016). "Deciphering the Idol Worship of Young Thug's 'Jeffery' Tracklist". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  10. ^ Bakare, Lanre (August 31, 2016). "Young Thug: Jeffery review – inconsistent but worth persevering". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  11. ^ Leight, Elias (January 17, 2017). "Watch Young Thug's Comedy of Errors Video for 'Wyclef Jean'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Duricy, Brian (September 1, 2016). "Young Thug: No, My Name Is JEFFERY". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Lyons, Patrick (September 1, 2016). "Young Thug's "No, My Name Is Jeffery" (Review)". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  14. ^ Findlay, Mitch (August 26, 2019). "Young Thug Introduced His Modern Classic With "Wyclef Jean"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  15. ^ Duricy, Brian (September 1, 2016). "Young Thug: No, My Name Is JEFFERY". PopMatters. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Glaysher, Scott (August 31, 2016). "Young Thug Stays in His Lane With 'Jeffery'". XXL. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  17. ^ Robinson, Joshua (August 26, 2021). "Young Thug's "Floyd Mayweather" Was A Six-Minute Trap Epic". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  18. ^ Lilah, Rose (August 26, 2016). "Floyd Mayweather". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  19. ^ a b c Yeung, Neil Z. "JEFFERY – Young Thug". AllMusic. Archived from the original on September 4, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c Bakare, Lanre (August 31, 2016). "Young Thug: Jeffery review – inconsistent but worth persevering". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  21. ^ Walker, Angus (August 26, 2016). "A Song-By-Song Guide To Young Thug's "No, My Name Is Jeffery"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Chintaluri, Narsimha (August 31, 2016). "Young Thug - Jeffery Review". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  23. ^ Hernandez, Victoria (August 25, 2016). "Young Thug's Mixtape Is Called "No, My Name Is Jeffery" After All & It's Here Now". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Pearce, Sheldon (September 1, 2016). "Young Thug: JEFFERY". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  25. ^ Bohlsen, Christopher. "Album Review: Young Thug – JEFFERY – Renowned For Sound". Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Lamarre, Carl (August 26, 2016). "Young Thug Talks Name Change, Releases 'No, My Name is Jeffery' Mixtape". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  27. ^ a b Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (August 25, 2016). "Young Thug Shares No, My Name Is Jeffery Cover Artwork". The Fader. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  28. ^ Strauss, Matthew (September 1, 2016). "Watch Young Thug Say Yes to the Dress From His JEFFERY Cover". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  29. ^ Street, Mikelle (August 26, 2016). "Young Thug's 'Jeffery' Cover Complicates Black Masculinity and Challenges Identity Labels". Complex. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  30. ^ Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (August 26, 2016). "How Young Thug's JEFFERY Album Cover Came Together". The Fader. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  31. ^ Wolf, Cameron (August 26, 2016). "This Is the Story Behind Young Thug's 'Jeffery' Dress". Complex. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  32. ^ Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (November 2, 2016). "Young Thug Says His Next Album Will Be "Ten Times Harder Than Jeffery"". The Fader. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  33. ^ Lilah, Rose (August 19, 2016). "Young Thug – Elton Feat. Wyclef Jean (Prod. By Wheezy & Cassius Jay)". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  34. ^ Goddard, Kevin (June 3, 2016). "Travis Scott – Pick Up The Phone Feat. Young Thug & Quavo (Prod. By Vinylz)". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  35. ^ a b "Young Thug Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  36. ^ "Urban/UAC Future Releases". All Access. All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  37. ^ a b "Jeffery by Young Thug reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  38. ^ a b "Reviews for JEFFERY [Mixtape] by Young Thug". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 5, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  39. ^ Dart, Chris (September 6, 2016). "Young Thug: Jeffery". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  40. ^ Chintaluri, Narsimha (August 31, 2016). "Young Thug – Jeffery Review". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  41. ^ Ritchie, Kevin (September 21, 2016). "Young Thug plays the name game on Jeffery". Now. Archived from the original on November 1, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  42. ^ a b Rosen, Jody (September 12, 2016). "Review: Young Thug's 'Jeffery' May Be Rapper's Strongest in Years". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  43. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (September 9, 2016). "'Prima Donna' and Young Thug's Name Is Actually Jeffery: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  44. ^ Glaysher, Scott (August 31, 2016). "Young Thug Stays in His Lane With 'Jeffery'". XXL. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
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  55. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Spin. December 12, 2016. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  56. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2016". Variance. December 7, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  57. ^ a b Mendizabal, Amaya (September 9, 2016). "Young Thug's 'Jeffery' Is His Third Top 5 on Top Rap Albums in 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
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  60. ^ Jeffery (Vinyl liner notes). Young Thug. 300 and Atlantic. 2016. 66302-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  61. ^ "Credits / JEFFERY / Young Thug". Tidal. August 26, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
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