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Young Nudy is next up out of ATL and he’s got the streets on fire

Atlanta has churned out a never-ending revolving door of hip-hop artists, each with their own style, swag, and delivery. Young Nudy is the latest artist to pop out of East Atlanta with two mixtapes in 2017 gaining him more and more hype.

Slimeball 2 from February of this year and Nudy Land from last week open a window into the world of Young Nudy. And this world is about as dark and murky as possible. Assisted by young hitmaker Pi’erre Bourne of “Magnolia” fame, Young Nudy paints a picture of drug dealing (and taking), violence, and poverty.

Nudy has the streets and the internet on fire so far in 2017. He’s got a co-sign from 21 Savage (Nudy’s cousin) and a feature from Juicy J, but Nudy has done this mostly off the strength of his own personality.

His unique, husky voice is unmistakable and his choppy, sporadic flow is completely distinct. In the age of flow-stealing and copying, Nudy has made his own lane.

In the same vein as his cousin 21 Savage, Young Nudy’s picture of East Atlanta is a dystopian landscape of all the greatest ills of the most neglected areas of our country.

Nudy Land opens with “Judge Scott Convicted,” a song with one straight verse of Nudy vibing over a Pi’erre Bourne organ-laced beat. The opening bars of the mixtape tell you about Nudy’s upbringing,

“I done robbed a lot of n***as ’cause I had to n***a
I ain’t have no food on the table n***a
I ain’t have no motherfucking cable n***a
Mama didn’t have no job, we would stay with n***as
Had to go and get that gun so we were able n***a
Yeah, and I would run in them streets
Lowkey with the heat
I ain’t have no fucking daddy
Yeah that gun was my pappy”

As always with hip-hop that depicts these themes, critics will come out saying Nudy is glorifying violence and drug use, but it’s obviously much deeper than that. Nudy is out here telling his truth, staying off the streets, and making a living off his story.

Nudy isn’t for everyone, and surely those who are constantly in search of the mystical “real hip-hop” label Nudy as “mumble rap” or whatever that means. But he got to this point through hard work and grinding. Going beyond his means to get in the studio and make this shit work.

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Pi’erre Bourne told XXL back in April about working with Nudy and immediately recognizing his unique delivery,

“I met Nudy on the Eastside [when I was] engineering at this studio. And I didn’t even play him any beats the first day. I just liked his voice. I was like, Yo, he sounds just like Gucci Mane. I was like, We could be Zaytoven… and Gucci Mane!

There was an immediate connection between Bourne and Nudy. Pi’erre described their chemistry,

“Like while I’m recording him, I’m thinking this. I’m like we’re on the Eastside… I’m like, Oh shit. We can do it. And then he came out the booth and he was like, ‘Man, where the fuck you been at?’ And I was like ‘… What you mean?’ He was like, ‘Man, I need you to record me all the time!’ And I was like, ‘Alright, cool! ‘Cause I want to record.’ It was just weird, we just clicked, and we just been cooking up ever since. That was like two years ago.”

A couple years ago, Bourne had an engineering gig with Epic and the company would let him have his own studio time at 2 a.m. and at the end of the day Pi’erre would sneak Nudy into the studio to cook up heat,

“My job with Epic, they gave me studio time after 2 a.m. So I stayed at the studio. From noon to 2 a.m. I was engineering sessions, Monday to Saturday. And Sunday, I had the whole day to myself in the studio. And then after 2 a.m. during the week I’ll have a session… 12 Music Group Studios in Atlanta. Epic would get time out of there every month. So whenever I would get done with my sessions, I had to work. I would call Nudy and just tell him pull up. So he’ll pull up like 3 in the morning, ’til like 7.”

That’s a wild grind. It’s clearly paid off for both Pi’erre Bourne and Young Nudy. Bourne is supplying the beats for some of the hottest up and comers in the game and Nudy is the next dude out of the ATL to have the streets on fire.

Do yourself a favor and go peep Nudy Land right now.