Tee Grizzley - The Smartest

Tee Grizzley is back with a new album entitled The Smartest and I believe it served him well. After more of a mainstream release in Activated and Still My Moment in 2018, he now seems to be in more of a place that he's comfortable with.

In the song entitled I Apologize, he does just that by letting his fans know that he was aware of letting them down with the more mainstream releases, from chasing the bag instead of staying true to who he was.

Throughout this album we see various sides of Tee Grizzley. One of course being lines about his upbringing and street life as well as his take on women. Also, we get the 2019 success of Satish speaking on the shooting death of his manager Jobina Brown. But we also get other sides of Tee Grizzley, with Mr. Officer being his take on Police Brutality (featuring Detroit Youth Choir and Queen Naija), the track entitled Everything which is him giving game to younger kids as well as talking about his experience in the industry. Then we have his humor in songs like Picture Of My City where he jokes about choosing a Wendy’s Chicken Sandwich over Popeyes and in The Funeral where he begins to make slurping noises in place of his lines.

The lines that stood out to me the most was in I Apologize in which he compares and contrast himself to Kylie Jenner stating:

“Kylie made a billion, I'm failin' in life, I gotta be

She younger than me, so I'm 'posed to have more money logically

Then I start thinkin' like that shit don't apply to me

Kylie Jenner came from millions, I come from poverty (Come from poverty)”

This shows that unfortunately for a lot of minorities, although there are black billionaires, this might not be as realistic.

The features on this album are limited to 5 being Big Sean, Meek Mill, Lil Baby, Lil Keed and Queen Naija. I think that Tee Grizzley is evolving and headed in the right direction. I still believe that we haven’t seen the best from him yet.

Rate: 8.2

Notables: The Smartest, I Apologize, Trenches, Lions & Eagles, Mr. Officer