I have to admit, I was a little hesitant when I saw that Luka Troncic was nearly twice the size of Bin Reaper, BabyTron’s breakthrough solo mixtape. The Michigan rapper is part of the ShittyBoyz trio together with his childhood friends Stanwill and TR Dee but his consistency has also helped carve out a solo career. As the Michigan rap scene flourishes with upcoming stars like Teejayx6, Sada Baby, Drego & Beno, Rio Da Yung OG, and more, BabyTron quickly made a name for himself with his prolific output. On 2019’s Bin Reaper, BabyTron combined 80s dance-pop beats with a barrage of bars about scamming, flexing, and pop-culture references. The groovy production with his nonstop punchlines separated him from Detroit’s rising stars but with Luka Troncic having 24 songs, there’s no way he’s consistent right?
For the most part, Luka Troncic holds up surprisingly well over the course of its one-hour runtime. BabyTron doesn’t overstay his welcome by limiting each song to the 2-3 minute range. Taking what he does best on Bin Reaper, BabyTron once again enlists producers like Helluva and Hokatiwi to help put a distinct flair on his endless punchlines. The production hearkens back to 80s disco and Hi-RNG synths that have become his brand over the past few years and the smoothness flows perfectly with his charismatic delivery. Of course, it’s not just beat selection that BabyTron excels at but also his natural gift for clever wordplay that sounds straight out of Instagram captions. It’s here where BabyTron shines as every single line feels like some self-contained stream of consciousness and he just keeps it running during the entire hour-long duration of Luka Troncic. It never feels like BabyTron runs out of ideas and not a single bar is wasted with lines like “If you ain’t looking for the checkmate, you ain’t thinking right/Every move you take be an L, you must be the knight.” Flexing his wealth, openly bragging about scamming, and the assured confidence isn’t anything new for BabyTron but despite the familiarity, he also never seems to lose that magic touch.
There are moments of weakness of course and despite how consistent BabyTron can be, the latter half of the album still feels a little boring because the sound never really changes. The production style across the album means that every song sounds like an 80s revival and while it makes BabyTron unique, it also doesn’t do much to distinguish itself on a long project like Luka Troncic. Bin Reaper felt a lot tighter and while the highs on Luka Troncic are some of the best songs in his discography, there’s a number of forgettable songs that’ll quickly leave rotation. That said, it’s still impressive that BabyTron manages to be this consistent in the first place and it’s not like many other rappers can do a 24-song album without boring their listeners to tears. There are a lot of great moments on Luka Troncic like the unforgettable opener “Cheat Code 2”, the infectious bars on “IG Captions”, and the Jaheim sample on “Just In Case” that help showcase BabyTron’s undeniable skill at rapping. I mean, how many rappers do you know rap over The Office theme and manage to sound good? BabyTron is the future.
Must Listens: Cheat Code 2, Jugg Messiah 3, IG Captions
