Chicago trap and mumble rap pioneer Chief Keef collaborates with Atlanta producer Zaytoven for the second time on their newest release GloToven. Chief Keef has become known over the span of his career for his aggressive and intelligible rap style, quirky lyrics, and unique personality, all of which come together through his unwavering pride to his Chi-town roots. However, much of Chief Keef’s charm and individuality is not present on his latest album. GloToven shows Chief Keef succumbing to the popular trap style he helped to popularize in the early 2010s. Yet unlike those who have taken the style in new directions, Chief Keef does nothing to set himself apart from all the other trap projects out today. His inflection is watered down, the production is bland, and the lyricism falls flat. Suffice to say, GloToven is my least favorite Chief Keef project to date.

I am immediately turned off by the language used in the opening track, “3rd Person.” A little over halfway through the song, Chief Keef drops a variation of the f slur used towards LGBT community to create a rhyme that is wholly ignorant and uncreative from start to finish. “Shawty bounce' that ass, I think she want me to smack it/ That H3, niggas ain't fuckin' 'round with these f**gies.” Chief Keef also sounds eerily like Gucci Mane on this song. It took me a few listens to convince myself that the chorus was not a feature from Chief Keef’s idol, but Chief Keef himself.

After “3rd Person,” the rest of GloToven blends together into one indistinguishable mess. Out of the 12 songs on the project, the only that stood out to me was “Sneeze.” “Sneeze” sounds the most like Chief Keef to me. His accent is more present in this than in the others, which I thoroughly enjoy. It’s a fun track with heavy bass and lots of autotuned adlibs. There are so many things happening within the track production wise that in a project that is largely homogenous, “Sneeze” served to be the main track that had any salient musical qualities and could hold its own outside of the GloToven conglomerate.

Chief Keef enlists Lil Pump as the sole feature on GloToven. The two collaborate on the track “Old Heads and Regretful Hoes” and it is nothing to write home about. Chief Keef’s mellow and melodic flow is abruptly interrupted by Lil Pump’s awkward, youthful vocal inflection. The two voices simply do not mesh well together. Lil Pump changes his flow several times throughout his feature, and each one is more annoying than the last. By the time he’s finished, I am left with a slight headache.

GloToven is far from Chief Keef’s best work. As a Chief Keef fan, I am left unsatisfied with what he has offered not only to me, but to rap fans at large. GloToven lacks the fun and the infectious energy of his most famous tracks such as “I Don’t Like,” “Hate Being Sober,” and, of course “Love Sosa.” What we receive from Chief Keef instead is a project that envelops itself within the trap landscape, so much so that the innovator cannot be told apart from his copiers. All of this comes together in an album that is only somewhat enjoyable and largely forgettable.