UPPER MIDDLE-CLASS GANG!

Johnny Cinco and Hoodrich Pablo Juan's 2015 collaboration, Poppi Seed Connect, came at a time when it seemed like Atlanta was generating a lot of sound and fury and not much else. Not unlike the first time I heard Future, it sounded like something Marty McFly or Pluto Nash had accidentally brought back from their respective travels through time and space. It's music for replicants smacked up on lean and xannys, gone off that melting-into-a-couch high.

Pablo Juan followed it up with 1'5, an a'ight mixtape bogged down with the usual tiresome antics of the weed carrier platoon. On the cover of Cinco 2, our man Johnny appears in art deco style, a vector of pure energy and zootedness. Fitting representation for a man described by eminent minds as "lean personified."  Cinco 2 hits a lot of RAP MUSIC HYSTERIA! sweet spots, including a No Limit homage and a reference to eating shrimp and lobster, so you know Mr. Cinco has his values in the right place. Initially I thought "The 1st" was the highlight of the tape, but really it's just "Knew That" redux. Nah, ya boy is growing more emotional as old age and senility creep up on me, so I gotta give it to the YFN Lucci duet "Gotta Stop," a heartfelt song about cutting all the dumb kid shit out ya life and focusing on your goals. Between this, the equally great "Talk," and last year's Weight Of The World, Johnny and Lucci are making a strong case as the bargain-brand Rich Gang. Call 'em the U.S. Polo Assn. to Thug & Quan's Lo.