Make no mistake, Skippa Da Flippa invented the dab. Migos may have popularized the move and rode the wave to unimaginable heights, but they owe a lot of credit to Skippa, Hoodrich Pablo Juan, and the greater North Atlanta scene. I don’t think that drastically affected Skippa’s career arc; he’s been right at home in his mixtape cycle and just being a mainstay of the Atlanta trap scene, as he highlights on the album-closing “Low”: “I come from the projects, I’m like a D1 prospect / I don’t care to be famous, used to be nameless, but Ima die for my respect.” Skippa’s sound stands tall next to the early-mixtape Migos catalog, and he’s mostly stayed the course on that path while the trio has veered into stale and uninspired efforts the past few years -- that track from the Mountain Dew commercial goes hard though. He just gives us straightforward on-my-grind bangers, never veering into the weird of Atlanta, even if $H2’s “Hitman” does feature a delightfully slurred-out Young Thug verse.
Skippa has blasted listeners with his incessant, tightly-wound raspy voice since he dropped I'm Havin back in 2014, where he absolutely demolished Lil Durk on "Real Street N***a". He’s been consistently present even outside of his mixtape release schedule; a Skippa feature can easily overtake a track (see OG Maco’s “How I’m Feelin” from the underrated 15 mixtape). But things have been a little spotty in the past few years following his feud with and subsequent departure from label Quality Control -- lesson learned that you probably don’t want to sign a 360 deal. I was satiated enough just seeing the Just in Time EP pop up on DatPiff in early March, and Skippa followed it up just a few weeks later by finally dropping $H2, with this truly bizarre Popeye-inspired cover art that depicts him sporting biceps the size of his head and smoking a corncob pipe filled with “spinach”.
The opening “(Intro) Aight” slaps you in the face right off the bat, going straight into a chorus backed by a deep 808 where Skippa proclaims his re-emergence: “I been doing shows, features, selling bags tryna get right." He dives right into his distinctive unrelenting delivery, effortlessly weaving in and out of triplet form. The best cuts on $H2 are just pure Skippa at the top of his game; you could call it a return to form (see “Lambo Doors” or “Hèllö“). “In Ya Chest” flaunts a beat centered around a guitar sample that gives off shades of 90s R&B, with a heavy kick that Jeremih would appreciate. The autotune style of “Cold Hearted” reminds me of the ballad-oriented parts of 2018’s Up to Something that I avoided, but that’s just more of my preference. “1ne Shot” ends up as a much more well-rounded attempt at that approach, and when he intertwines flawlessly crafted verses, the result is always a win. He brings a few guest features out, but they’re properly limited -- Gunna crushes it on “I’m Paid,” reminding us that Drip Harder featured a supreme talent who isn’t Lil Wayne’s favorite rapper. I could’ve done without that Soulja Boy verse, personally.
I have a hard time believing that anyone who yearns for the simpler days of YRN 2 wouldn’t be spinning this record regularly. It’s thorough and heavy-hitting, a fully executed vision with almost no fat to trim, and showcases more of Skippa’s range while remaining close to his trapping roots that he’s mastered. And lines like “new Wraith cost me bout 400 / new crib cost me two point something” will always get me pumped up (found on "Whistle"). The closer “Low” bookends the album perfectly, and if this track doesn’t do it for you, then there’s not much hope for your mixtape rotation. Just don’t tell me you’re listening to A Written Testimony instead.
Released March 20th, 2020. Reviewed April 13th, 2020.
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