Rarely one to shy away from tough topics and pain parables, Moneybagg Yo cracks open his chest cavity once again for Hard to Love. Coming more than two years after his fourth album A Gangsta’s Pain, this full-length effort furthers the CMG star’s engrossing mix of booming trap beats and unflinchingly real themes. After quashing rumours and shutting down haters on the inventive opener “They Say”, the South Memphis native proceeds to apply pressure to those who foolishly underestimate the calibre of his lyricism. Drug consumption and concerns eerily commingle throughout the project, from the sips and slurps that open “No Show” to the faded recollections behind “Ocean Spray” and the queasy complications of “More Sick”. He taps in with toxic twin Future on the speaker-rattling “Keep It Low” and trades vicious bars with the unstoppable GloRilla on “On Wat U On”. Meanwhile, he makes space for his Bread Gang signee YTB FATT on two of the project’s hardest cuts, including the Lil Durk-assisted “Rock Out”.