''Richest Opp'' is the twentieth solo mixtape by American rapper
YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden (born October 20, 1999), known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy, is an American rapper. From Louisiana, United States, Gaulden released eight independent mixtapes and garnered a regional foll ...
, released on May 12, 2023, by
Never Broke Again
Never Broke Again, also known as Never Broke Again, LLC, often abbreviated as NBA, is a record label based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, founded by American rappers YoungBoy Never Broke Again and OG 3Three Never Broke Again in 2015. It was launched ...
and
Motown
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
. The mixtape follows Gaulden's sixth full-length studio album, ''
Don't Try This at Home'', released just two weeks prior in April. The mixtape serves as a competitor to
Lil Durk
Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
's eighth studio album, ''
Almost Healed'', which was supposed to be released on the same date, but was pushed back.
It features a sole guest appearance from his Never Broke Again signee, NBA Ben 10, alongside production from D-Roc,
JetsonMade, Kenoe, Khris James, and
Jason "Cheese" Goldberg who
mixed,
mastered, and
recorded the entire record.
''Richest Opp'' received mediocre reviews from music critics who praised the record's vulnerability, however, criticized the production. It debuted at number four on the US
''Billboard'' 200, in which it earned 51,000
album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s, of which 500 were pure album sales.
The mixtape also marked YoungBoy's 15th top-10 album in the US.
Release and promotion
On May 4, 2023, media personality
DJ Akademiks
Livingston George Allen, known professionally as DJ Akademiks (or simply Akademiks, or by his stage name Lil AK), is a Jamaican-American podcaster, YouTuber and live streamer who specializes in music industry music journalism, journalism. Afte ...
stated that Gaulden and
Lil Durk
Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
had reconciled their public beef following several diss tracks and subliminal disses towards one another. Days later, on May 8, Gaulden dissed both Akademiks and Durk through his private
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
:
On the same day, he announced a new mixtape titled ''Richest Opp'' and its release date of May 12, 2023, the same original release date as Lil Durk's album ''
Almost Healed''.
YoungBoy later appeared on an Instagram Live video on May 10 while previewing "
Bitch Let's Do It" and "I Got That Shit". On May 10, 2023, through the
Never Broke Again
Never Broke Again, also known as Never Broke Again, LLC, often abbreviated as NBA, is a record label based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, founded by American rappers YoungBoy Never Broke Again and OG 3Three Never Broke Again in 2015. It was launched ...
label page on Instagram, the official tracklist was released. Furthermore, YoungBoy's in-house producer and engineer
Jason "Cheese" Goldberg had taken to
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
to post which songs on the tracklist had been previewed and which were leaked. On May 11, 2023, just a day prior to the mixtape's release, YoungBoy released "
Bitch Let's Do It" exclusively to his YouTube channel alongside its official music video; it later appeared on digital streaming platforms alongside the rest of the mixtape.
Upon the release of the mixtape, Gaulden appeared in an interview with
XXL Magazine
''XXL'' is an American hip hop magazine, published by Townsquare Media, founded in 1997.
History
In August 1997, Harris Publications released the first issue of ''XXL''. It featured rappers Jay-Z and Master P on a double cover. In December 200 ...
in which he expressed his reasoning for the release of the mixtape while speaking on his feud with Durkand falling out with Akademiks, sales numbers, and the mixtape itself.
Gaulden stated that the fuel for the mixtape was the disrespect he felt from the two:
Critical reception
''Richest Opp'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. Preezy Brown of ''
Vibe'' wrote, "As brash and blustering as he can be, YoungBoy's vulnerability cuts through on tracks like 'Hurt My Heart' and 'Dirty Thug,' both of which channels his aggression in the midst of emoting. ''Richest Opp'' houses additional firepower such as 'Free Meechy,' 'What You Gonna Do,' 'Slider,' and 'I Want His Soul,' giving listeners an array of anthems to select from." Caleb Hardy of ''
HotNewHipHop
''HotNewHipHop'' (HNHH) is an online publication that covers daily news about hip hop and pop culture, including streetwear, sports, and Sneaker collecting, sneakers. In addition to its editorial content, HotNewHipHop also produces the video seri ...
'' wrote "There are a slew of genuinely great choruses from YoungBoy throughout the record" and "''Richest Opp'' begins to falter when it strays away from the core emotion of the record. The more understated, toned-down tracks such as 'Just Flow' and 'I Got That S**t' leave room for the wallpaper production to become increasingly obvious. As a whole, ''Richest Opp'' leaves the listener wishing that NBA YoungBoy was in a room of producers looking to take more sonic risks. The more YoungBoy's ominous voice takes over the record, the better. For the record's redundant flaws, fans will likely leave with a handful of personal favorites to keep them satisfied until the next project inevitably rolls around." In addition, he commented that the mixtape was "likely the best we've heard from NBA YoungBoy in 2023". Jayson Buford of ''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...
'' regarded it as YoungBoy's "best work out of the three" and wrote, "''Richest Opp'' contains some spectacular moments; to listen is to blur the line between shock value and ordinarily stupefied pain."
Commercial performance
''Richest Opp'' debuted at number four on the US
''Billboard'' 200 chart, earning 51,000
album-equivalent units
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
ncluding 1,000 pure sales The album also accumulated a total of 74.37 million on-demand streams of the album's songs.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from
Tidal.
*
Jason "Cheese" Goldberg –
mastering (1–17),
mixing (1–17),
recording (1–6, 8–17)
*
YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden (born October 20, 1999), known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy, is an American rapper. From Louisiana, United States, Gaulden released eight independent mixtapes and garnered a regional foll ...
– recording (1–6, 9, 10, 12)
* Samuel "Khris James XO" Thanni – recording (7)
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
2023 mixtape albums
YoungBoy Never Broke Again mixtape albums
Motown mixtape albums
Never Broke Again albums
Albums produced by JetsonMade