Never Use A Pen Again

With a title alluding to his preference for rapping completely off-the-dome, Lil Phat's latest mixtape finds the Baton Rouge, La., native dropping straightforward rhymes about partying and getting paid, with scattered shoutouts to his Trill Entertainment fam and Dirty South heritage. The beats are exactly what you'd expect (and want) from the longtime associate of Lil Boosie: tons of claps, hyperactive hi-hats, wheezing keys, and thick-bodied bass lines. But what steals the show is Phat's unique voice: an unusual high-pitched drawl that sounds like a hybrid strain of young, Hot Boys–era Lil Wayne and Juvenile. East Coast boom-bap purists will likely be unimpressed, but if you love that grimy Louisiana style, Never Use a Pen Again is near perfect. Check out "F*ck Da World," "I'm from Da South," and the Mannie Fresh collabo/Too Short–sampling "Talk Some Mo."