Known to the world as 42 Dugg, Dion Hayes was born on the Eastside of Detroit. He attended multiple high schools as a teenager and was known around town as an avid partygoer. At the age of 15 Dugg got arrested and was sentenced to 4 years in prison but ended up doing 6. Around his fifth year, he was put into solitary confinement for 3 months as punishment for getting into a brawl with another inmate. Since there wasn’t much to do in solitary “I had got to writing music, but it was a bunch of bullshit,” Dugg said on The Stewe Show in 2018.

Once released, Dugg started to take rap more seriously. He did so by attending a studio session with fellow Detroit rapper, 42 Twin and wrote what would be his first breakout single “Mama I’m Sorry”.

“Mama I’m Sorry” is an apology to his mother, who was disappointed when he got his jail sentence extended for 2 more years for fighting. Dugg went on to release many more popular singles, such as “The Streets” featuring Babyface Ray and “Stfu” featuring Peezy, EWM Kdoe, Bagboy Mel, Cash Kidd, and EWM Buck.

“11241 Wayburn” and “11241 Wayburn Pt. 2” gained Dugg enough traction to sign a joint deal with Yo Gotti’s CMG record label, as well as Lil Baby’s 4PF record company in 2019 in preparation for his Young And Turnt mixtape release.

In 2020, the rapper was featured on “Grace” the fourth track on Lil Baby’s My Turn. Arguably the best track on the album, Dugg outshines his label’s head honcho. 42 Dugg manages to deliver emotionally charged bars while still maintaining a menacing cadence and flow that surprised a lot of listeners.

Within a week of the release of Lil Baby’s My Turn, Dugg continued to ride the momentum the feature created and began rolling out his new mixtape Young & Turnt, Vol. 2 with the video for “Palm Angeles in the Sky.”

Young & Turnt, Vol. 2 was released through 4PF and CMG on March 26th, 2020. The mixtape is nearly 30 minutes long and consists of 14 tracks featuring both of his label heads (Yo Gotti & Lil Baby) as well as frequent collaborator and fellow Detroit rapper Babyface Ray.

On Young & Turnt 2 Dugg sounds like he’s ready to thrust into stardom. The project has an unorthodox, mellow, lyrical sound that has become a standard in Detroit.

What makes Dugg’s sound on this project distinguishable from his other projects is simply his vocal ability. Dugg sounds like a much more confident and polished rapper. He shows his capability to apply unique vocal inflections that you don't see as often throughout his other projects.

Many times, Trap artists like Dugg don’t get the respect they should as musicians. Their often misogynistic, violent, crude lyrics get deemed as “inappropriate” by critics and are written off. These rappers are even referred to as a detriment to young listeners by some parents. “Young & Turnt 2” is yet again proof that while Dugg lived in conflict for many of his young years, he and many other young Black men like him possess a unique ability as wordsmiths.

Dugg mourns the loss and imprisonment of many of his childhood friends on tracks like “It Get Deeper” and reflects on how other of his former friends resent his success on “Hard Times.” All the while, still managing to keep listeners hype on songs like “Turnt Bitch” and “Mr. Woody.”

This type of duality is often overlooked in the world of Trap and should be celebrated.

Favorite Tracks

Hard Times

Turnt Bitch

One Of One (Feat. Babyface Ray)

Rating: 8.5

Listen to Young & Turnt, Vol. 2 here:

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