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Listening to $ilkMoney, I'm reminded of how much we need rappers who are disgusted. Like the objects of his ire, whether it's other artists or the world at large, are barely worth a monosyllabic response, let alone his brutish yet fiercely intelligent bars. It underlies everything from the Virginia rapper, who admittedly hasn't been active recently — his 2022 album I Don’t Give a Fuck About This Rap Shit, Imma Just Drop Until I Don’t Feel Like It Anymore would be aptly titled, a critical hit that was followed by years of a solo drought rather an a push for more momentum.
On his comeback record “NEVER TRUST A BITCH THA- *EXPLODES*,” $ilkMoney directs that disgust inward, trying to talk himself out of falling in love in real time. He's not the shut-in with a switch and an ounce of shrooms on this track; here, he's stuck in romantic limbo. "I be so conflicted, one minute I miss the bitch / Next, I don't even wanna hit," he raps with the speed of Twista in first gear. His struggle between aloof pimp and obliging lover boy is bookended by what might be one of the best hooks I've heard this year, where $ilkMoney reminds listeners old and new why he shouldn't be tested. It's precisely the kind of comeback record an artist like $ilkMoney needs: attention-grabbing without compromise.
