YG Returns With Triumphant New Song And Visual, ‘Sign Language’
With vocoders, G-funk synths, and a bouncy drum beat, YG has conjured a West Coast anthem equally inspired by his forefathers in the game and his LA peers.
One of rap’s biggest names, YG, has returned with an epic and intoxicating new single and accompanying video, “Sign Language.”
With vocoders, G-funk synths, and a bouncy drum beat, YG has conjured a West Coast anthem equally inspired by his forefathers in the game and his LA peers. But YG has remained one of the most innovative stars in rap for a number of years in part because no one blends streetwise details and clever one-liners quite like he does. “Sign Language” doubles down on this assertion.
Earlier this year, YG and Big Sean joined up on “Go Big” from the Coming 2 America (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) out via Def Jam Recordings.
The song follows YG’s critically acclaimed 2020 album, My Life 4Hunnid. To celebrate the release of My Life, YG created an instantly iconic video for “Jealous,” the bouncy opening track, upon release. He dropped it just weeks ahead of the 2020 US elections, and YG’s visual offers a scathing parody of incumbent President Donald Trump.
The dramatic visual opens with a figure at a piano. As the beat kicks in, it’s revealed to be “Trump,” as he raps, “They jealous, they envious of me/I’m rich as f__k, I’m poppin,’ got it poppin’ off a beat” in front of Air Force One.
The album was an instant success. The Los Angeles Times observed that “In his music, YG speaks to the immediate, hour-to-hour rage and vulnerability of Black life as protests churn and police kill and terrorize with seeming impunity. It’s fitting that My Life 4Hunnid is his darkest and most wounded album for Def Jam yet, one where the memories of his murdered friend [Nipsey] Hussle and fears of rampaging police are stalked by worries that, on the eve of the 2020 election, the country might not have what it takes to fix it all.”
