MAI TY has partnered with BIGBABYGUCCI to drop the brand new single, Options, first released in July 2021. The track features MAI TY’s signature style blended with rap influences from BIGBABYGUCCI, creating a track that has a high vibe feeling.
The intro to the track is somewhat unique. It doesn’t begin like a conventional jam. Instead, it gradually emerges from the background, as though the listener can hear it being played in a club as they walk towards it. Tones begin as muted and distant and then become clearer and more defined after a few seconds, replicating what it might be like to enter a music venue.
Options is certainly an earworm. MAI TY backs BIGBABYGUCCI with gentle piano and uplifting chord progressions. While the lyrics are punchy, the sound itself makes you want to get up and dance – no doubt the artists’ original intention.
The wordplay is notable and features some clever rhyming riffs and timing. Themes range from women to brotherhood, gangs, drugs and more. It is clear that MAI TY and BIGBABYGUCCI wanted to communicate with an audience with the same problems as them. Their lyrics communicate the challenges they’ve experienced.
Given the contrast between the sound of the track it is MAI TY and BIGBABYGUCCI’s intention to disrupt the listener. The disconnect gives the track a distinct gangster feel, but with some sound upgrades that make it more appealing to a modern audience.
The front cover from MAI TY’s first EP, Teelapse, does something similar. In the foreground, there are four beautiful butterflies fluttering around in a nature scene, complete with grass, hills and even images of celestial bodies. By contrast, the album cover’s main subject is a man wearing a balaclava, holding a rifle. Next to him on one side is what appears to be a danger warning design, and on the other, an image of the Terminator after having all his skin burned off.
MAI TY’s collaboration with BIGBABYGUCCI is a stroke of genius. The rapper, known for his outlandish lyrics, is popping up everywhere and making a name for himself. But it is not notoriety that is getting music aficionados talking: it’s the fact that he has rhythm and talent on a par with Lil Peep and JuiceWrld.
In a recent interview, BIGBABYGUCCI says that he just makes “whatever the beats give me.” He is keen on all types of music and doesn’t allow the label “rapper” to determine who he works with. There is a strong emotional connection, he says, between himself and each track he releases. He writes “songs about girls and countless other shit” that he’s been through.
MAI TY clearly recognizes BIGBABYGUCCI’s potential and wants to get in on the act early. The rapper recently gained more than 90,000 likes after a Tweet which said “Who the f*ck is BIGBABYGUCCI?”
The new single, Options, is available for download. MAI TY has also teased a vinyl version on his Instagram account.