| Don't Try This at Home | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 21, 2023 (2023-04-21) | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 85:27 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
| |||
| YoungBoy Never Broke Again chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Don't Try This at Home | ||||
Don't Try This at Home is the sixthstudio album by American rapperYoungBoy Never Broke Again. It was released on April 21, 2023, byNever Broke Again andMotown. The album features guest appearances fromMariah the Scientist,Nicki Minaj,Post Malone, andthe Kid Laroi. It includes production from YoungBoy's two in-house engineers,Jason "Cheese" Goldberg and Khris James, alongside Dom Beats, Kenoe, Wayv, Yetty,Fresh Ayr and Yo Benji.[1][2] The project marks YoungBoy's second with Motown and his second in 2023, following January'sI Rest My Case.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Don't Try This at Home was first teased in late 2022 through YoungBoy's AMP show where he was contemplating the titles of his then fifth studio album,I Rest My Case. Following the release of the album, on February 1, 2023, YoungBoy appeared on the cover ofBillboard's Power 100 magazine.[11] YoungBoy's appearance on the cover of the magazine was accompanied by an interview fromBillboard, in which it was noted by Meaghan Garvey that the album was on its way: "He's already preparing his next album, which he's callingDon't Try This at Home."[12] Following the interview withBillboard, on February 16, 2023, YoungBoy appeared onElliott Wilson and Brian "B.Dot" Miller's highly acclaimed hip-hop podcast,Rap Radar in which he noted that he would return to his original self onDon't Try This at Home following the controversial remarks regardingI Rest My Case: "Oh, I'ma talk crazy on there. You know what I'm sayin'? Murder man. But, I'm lettin' you know though, don't try this at home."[13][14] The existence of the project was officially announced on February 26, 2023, through theInstagram account of the Never Broke Again label. On March 21, 2023, YoungBoy announced the project via his new Twitter in which he posted the cover art, release date, and the number of tracks on the project.[15] However, the album was officially announced on March 22, 2023, by Motown Records through an Instagram post in which they revealed the album's release date while displaying a placeholder cover art.[1][2]
The song's tracklist was announced several times to release on April 20, 2023, just a day prior to the release of the album, however, due to unforeseen circumstances and several last-minute changes to the album's tracklist, it was released alongside the release of the album itself. However, the tracklist was available early on bothSpotify andAmazon Music, increasing the hype behind the project due to the appearances of several snippets such as "Big Truck", "By Myself", "Spin & Ben'n", "War", "Grave Digga", "Off the Lean", and one of YoungBoy's most requested and highly anticipated snippets that his manager Alex Junnier noted "will never drop", the album's twenty-ninth cut, "Cemetery Lifestyle".
Prior to the release of the album, YoungBoy released several singles which teased the album in each of their respected music videos as they shared a similarly typed-out theme, writing: "Album: Don't Try This at Home". This was first seen following the release of "Next" on February 27, 2023.[16][17][18] Just days later, a similar theme was shown in the music video of "Demon Party" which was released on March 2, 2023.[19][20][21]
The album's lead single "WTF" featuringNicki Minaj was announced weeks prior to its release; it was officially released on April 7, 2023, and was accompanied by its respected music video.[22][2][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] The album's second single "Rear View" withMariah the Scientist was released on April 14, 2023, just a week prior to the release of the album.[31][32][33]
On April 11, 2023, it was announced that YoungBoy would hold his first-ever album release party in his career forDon't Try This at Home on April 20, 2023, just a day before the album's official release. The party would be held at Elevate Lounge inDowntown Los Angeles. The event, costing approximately $200,000, was reportedly sponsored by50 Cent's Branson Cognac, and hosted by DJ Carisma, DJ Vision, and DJ Bad. During the release party, there was to be an option for fans to participate in a raffle in which they would have had a chance to converse with the rapper; the conversations was to take place via a live stream, as YoungBoy was on house arrest at the time.[34][35][36]
Expected to video-call in and despite organizing and going through with the party, reports note that YoungBoy was facing technical difficulties, leading to him not attending his own party.[37][38] However, a source allegedly toldTMZ that YoungBoy had fallen asleep, which apparently lead to him missing his own release party.[38]
The official artwork forDon't Try This at Home shares a resemblance to the cover art of Toronto rapperDrake's fourth studio album,Views (2016), which places Drake atop theCN Tower in his hometown ofToronto,Ontario.[39] Similarly, YoungBoy is seen at the bottom of a steamboat in front of theHorace Wilkinson Bridge in his birthplace ofBaton Rouge,Louisiana.[40] Both covers also share the same conceptual similarity to that of the alternate album artwork ofEminem'sRecovery (2010), showing him sitting in a transparent living room in the shape of a rectangular cube, with theRenaissance Center in the background in the rapper's hometown ofDetroit,Michigan.[41][citation needed]
In March 2023, YoungBoy alluded to his return to Baton Rouge after being on house arrest inSalt Lake City,Utah, since 2021.[42][43][44] Referring to his return to his hometown, the album's name can be seen as a metaphor to not "try it" and for one to not push their luck with YoungBoy while he is in Baton Rouge due to his power and influence in the gang violence-ridden city where YoungBoy is facing federal firearm charges.[45]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Clash | 5/10[46] |
Don't Try This at Home received mixed reviews from music critics. Robin Murray fromClash stated that "nobody, needs to listen to a 33 track album. Not in this era, and not – in truth – in any other era", however, he also stated that the album features his "crisp flow", which he "continually delivers". Concluding his review, Murray noted thatDon't Try This at Home is "a scattergun approach that feels unable to reign itself" and that it is "both servant to and a victim of YoungBoy Never Broke Again's largesse".[46]
Prelude Press's Dom Vigil stated thatDon't Try This at Home "finds [YoungBoy] firing on all cylinders, masterfully wielding his off-kilter signature flow, dipping in and out of incisive verses and infectious melodies."[5] Writing forShifter, Kevin Bourne stated that the album can be broken down into "piano bangers, angsty melodic tracks, generic bangers, and laid back songs", while he continued to write that the majority of the album is compiled of "menacing chords". His review concluded as he wrote that, "NBA Youngboy's latest is decent, but creativity, lacks depth and growth."[47]
Don't Try This at Home debuted at number five on the USBillboard 200 chart, earning 60,000album-equivalent units in its first week, including 1,000 pure album sales. This became Youngboy's 14th top-ten charting album on the chart.[48] It also debuted at number one on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, it is Youngboy's eighth number one album on the chart.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Big Truck" |
|
| 2:44 |
| 2. | "Mr Gaulden" |
|
| 3:11 |
| 3. | "Take Down" |
|
| 2:26 |
| 4. | "By Myself" |
|
| 3:11 |
| 5. | "Out Nothing" |
|
| 2:28 |
| 6. | "Bangin My Line" |
|
| 1:59 |
| 7. | "Rear View" (withMariah the Scientist) |
|
| 2:30 |
| 8. | "Hustle" |
|
| 2:20 |
| 9. | "Morning" |
|
| 1:59 |
| 10. | "Homicide Pt. 2" |
|
| 1:49 |
| 11. | "Cold Killers" |
|
| 2:36 |
| 12. | "WTF" (withNicki Minaj) |
|
| 2:40 |
| 13. | "Choppa Docter" |
|
| 2:46 |
| 14. | "Trust Issues" |
|
| 2:55 |
| 15. | "Run the Hood" |
|
| 2:24 |
| 16. | "No Rubber" |
|
| 2:41 |
| 17. | "Loaded Now" |
|
| 1:57 |
| 18. | "Got One" |
|
| 2:37 |
| 19. | "Spin&Ben'n" |
|
| 2:33 |
| 20. | "1.5" |
|
| 2:43 |
| 21. | "War" |
|
| 2:47 |
| 22. | "Grave Digga" |
|
| 2:46 |
| 23. | "Off the Lean" | Gaulden |
| 3:24 |
| 24. | "What You Say" (featuringPost Malone andthe Kid Laroi) |
|
| 4:03 |
| 25. | "No Lease" | Gaulden |
| 1:45 |
| 26. | "Slimeto" | Gaulden |
| 2:31 |
| 27. | "Another Dead" |
|
| 2:18 |
| 28. | "Pistol Totting" |
|
| 2:27 |
| 29. | "Cemetery Lifestyle" |
|
| 2:14 |
| 30. | "Don't Leave" |
|
| 2:35 |
| 31. | "Head Shot" |
|
| 2:28 |
| 32. | "I Is That" |
|
| 3:12 |
| 33. | "Like Madden" |
|
| 2:28 |
| Total length: | 85:27 | |||
Credits and personnel adapted fromTidal.[49]
Musicians
Technical
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
