Raplife Review - BigXthaPlug Country Album & Drake

When the LA studio camera lights settle on Ebro and Eddie, their voices crackle with anticipation, not just for the BigXthaPlug country-rap pivot, but for what it reveals about the evolution of an artist. The conversation stretches to New York, where Lowkey and Ivie join virtually, weaving perspectives on identity, form, and resonance. It’s more than a review; it's a reckoning.

This isn’t just BigXthaPlug dipping into country, it’s a full-hearted plunge. Born Xavier Landum, his 2024 album Take Care revealed a rapper wrestling with his past, forging an intimate connection with listeners through fever-raw vulnerability and streetwise reflection. He emerged not as a gunslinger, but as a father, as someone reckoning with the ghosts of yesterday and the hard edges of success.

Fast-forward to August 2025: I Hope You’re Happy arrives, dripping in Nashville chord progressions and trap hi-hats, stitched together by collaborators like Darius Rucker, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and Ella Langley. The album's architecture is country-rap, an audacious melding of twang and cadence. The lead single "All the Way," featuring Bailey Zimmerman, soared into the Billboard Top 5 and racked up millions of streams in days.

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Ebro, Eddie, Lowkey, Ivie—they don’t just critique the project. They sense the tremor beneath it: the collision of roots and reach, of an artist pushing boundaries while carrying his story. Their conversation ripples with wondering: Is this bold genre-bending a sign of growth or a surrender to the algorithm?

Critics are divided. Some label the album "a hasty, unimaginative, creatively-bereft" cut-and-paste venture, where country choruses feel pasted over rap verses without fusion. Others lament mainstream mechanics overtaking soul, warning that BigX’s storytelling might be sacrificed at the altar of crossover appeal.

Yet, the narrative of the album, the emotional architecture, deserves consideration. Themes of heartbreak, resilience, regret, and self-reclamation permeate the tracks: “Pray Hard” pulses with desperation and hope; “Box Me Up,” with Jelly Roll, throbs with mourning; "Hell at Night" scorches with Ella Langley’s venom. This is BigX confronting the mirror, questioning what he's left, what's lost, and what might heal.

Meanwhile, the real-world drama unfurled: on release day, he was arrested in Dallas for firearm and marijuana possession, his second run-in with the law in North Texas this year. It’s a harsh reminder of the world he draws from, a world that inspired his music, and that might yet pull him back.

What surfaces in the Rap Life Review is something powerful: a conversation not just about an album, but about a man who writes in the voice of his contradictions. Drake’s name hangs there too, less as a headline grab than as a shadow of cultural weight, a point of reference for influence and critique.

The review doesn’t surface subheadings or bullet points; it meanders, like a late-night conversation. It recalls that art is reflection—and risk. It reflects on BigX’s Texas roots, his humility amid turbulence, and the stakes of authenticity when the stakes feel this high.

By the end, the listener doesn’t just know that I Hope You’re Happy exists; they feel the ache behind it. BigXthaPlug didn’t simply chase genre; he chased himself. And that pursuit, this mixing of cadence and legacy, pain and performance, is what lingers long after the beat fades.