A lot of hip hop lovers, especially those into Atlanta trap music, should know by now that Lil Keed is the heir to Young Thug’s throne. Literally plucked right off the block last year by Young Thug himself, Lil Keed made waves in 2018 with his hits “Water” and “Nameless.” it is very obvious to hear his big of an influence Young Thug has on the music Keed wants to make. Keed often using the high pitched strange melodies Thugger likes to use, sometimes pushing these boundaries even farther than Thugger does. Long Live Mexico is the latest full length project from the YSL prodigy. This mixtape has a star-studded tracklist, with features from Young Thug himself, Lil Uzi Vert, Roddy Rich, and many more. At 20 songs, this tape does feel a bit cluttered, but there are quite a few bangers to make up for this. Lil Keed is doing a great job of taking his melodic trap sound to the limit and he never sounds boring because of it.

If you are wondering why this project is called Long Live Mexico it is because Lil Keed just had a friend die who’s nickname was Mexico. As we learned from Keed’s incredible track “Nameless” last year, the young icon does not like to remember names, and he just gives everyone nicknames. This tape is not necessarily a tribute to Mexico or anything, but it is nice that the project was dedicated to his dead friend. This album is not a weird political statement or something so don’t worry about that, music lovers!

As I said before, this tape does feel a little long winded. At 20 songs, it would be pretty difficult to have every song sound different and unique, especially with a trap album. This song is full of bangers and showcases the talent and potential of Lil Keed, who’s only 20 years old. The album gets off to a smooth start with the song “Ride the Wave.” Right from the start of this project, Lil Keed shows the range he can hit with his voice. It has a pretty typical and smooth trap instrumental but Keed keeps it interesting with his vocal fluctuation. The next track, “Oh My God,” was one of the singles of this project, and is definitely one of the best songs on it. It features an instrumental from frequent Keed collaborator and rising superstar DJ Jetsonmade and features a minimal and trippy very melodic sound. Keed’s flow is very fast on this one, showing once again how many different flows he can rap with. Keed also mentions the Milwaukee Bucks in this track, so I may be a little partial to it because of that. The next cut is “Anybody,” featuring Lil Duke and Gunna, and again showcases the range of potential that Lil Keed has. This cut features a more calm instrumental with a pretty guitar riff, and it is definitely a change from the type of songs Keed typically puts out. Lil Keed reveals the struggles he has to go through on a daily basis, like the incredibly depressingly line “got too many hoes caressing they body.” I do not know how I would deal with that, good thing it is not an issue for me!

Another one of my favorite songs on this project is “Child,” which features Moneybaggyo, another very interesting up and coming trap artist. This one is a banger, and I can definitely see it becoming a club hit this summer. Keed once again showcases his wide vocal range on this song; I love when he pushes the boundary and almost sounds like he is shrieking. Once again, Keed showcases one of the many problems a man could have in his position, stating “imma catch arthritis with all these rings, child.” Imagine wearing so many heavy rings that you are worried you may get arthritis. What a life this guy lives. Another highlight of the album is “Pull Up,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert and YNW Melly. It is easy to imagine (if you know the way these artists sound individually) why a song by these three artists together would be a smash. They really transition seamlessly with each other, and this song is peak auto-crooner trap music.

There are many other songs on this album I enjoy, like “Make You Proud,” “Dragon,” featuring Roddy Rich, “Proud of Me,” featuring our Lord and Savior Young Thug, etc. It is kind of difficult to talk about every song individually for an album that only has trap music. Because the album is so long, the best songs kind of get lost in the monotony a bit. I think if this project had cut out the worst 5-7 songs, it may have been one of my favorites of the year so far. Regardless, I will definitely be bumping a bunch of tracks from Long Live Mexico all summer. If you want to check it out, listen to the Spotify link below!