DD OSAMA ‘HERE 2 STAY’ STRUGGLES TO LET ITS STAR SHINE

DD Osama has only been rapping for a little over a year, but based purely on the 16-year-old emcee’s resume, you’d never know it. The Harlem rapper has seen a spectacular ascent to regional, and more recently national, notoriety since early 2022 thanks to A-list cameos, TikTok successes, and industry support. However, there is a cloud of disaster over this tornado of attention.

Ethan Reyes, also known as Notti Osama, his brother and closest musical partner, was fatally stabbed last summer. The tragedy, sparked by an absurd and childish rivalry, immediately gave rise to the divisive, cruel, and wildly successful “Notti Bop” by Kyle Richh, TaTa, and Jenn Carter.

The dance, which mimics the stabbing motion that claimed Reyes’ life at the age of 14, exposes the worst aspects of drill by combining the nihilism of the subculture, the gloomy spectacle of social media, and popular culture’s propensity to capitalize on tragedy into a single, frightening film.

DD Osama received more attention as a result of his prominence and later that year signed a contract with Alamo Records. Even with a paucity of material that has been publicly released, he is poised to become one of the city’s top stars after collaborations with Coi Leray and Lil Mabu. Here 2 Stay, Osama’s first full-length album and debut on a major label, aims to fill out his sparse record but doesn’t provide any tracks that are compelling enough to tempt listeners away from his important hits.

The new tape doesn’t feel like a victorious turning point in his budding career or even a chance for listeners to get to know him better than the grisly headlines that dominate his body of work to yet. It’s more like a test screening than anything else.

Alamo presents DD Osama as the face of the most recent iteration of New York drill over a series of daring genre fusions, well-known partnerships, and club rap floor fillers. He doesn’t have the expertise or dexterity to pull off such an extensive attempt, having only released a few singles and YouTube videos up to this time.

Osama still feels most comfortable on the typical NY drill production that backed his earlier tracks, despite these explorations with other sounds. Osama’s vocals are still distinctly boyish on his breakout hit “40s N 9s,” which was released last summer and is featured on Here 2 Stay’s tracklist, as he growls and ad-libs his way through a chintzy, sample-filled beat. It’s rough but raw, and it makes a good introduction to his sound.

Osama has a talent for bouncing onomatopoeic rhythms and spring-loaded triplet flows off the boundaries of the pocket. Even if it’s a little unsettling to hear a high schooler direct lines like “Word to my O, I’ma up that pipeSevsideK, I’m smoking on rite” at his competitors, his sheer zeal makes the track smack harder than the sum of its parts.

The most enjoyable tracks on the disc are “What We Doin'” and “MIA,” which combine sparse production with shouting that wouldn’t sound out of place on a City Morgue record. Although Lil Notti’s name and influence on the lyrics of these songs give off a gloomy sense of cognitive dissonance, Osama’s palpable and honest wrath shines through them.

Sadly, none of Here 2 Stay’s attempts to experiment with various sounds present a convincing argument for Osama to forge a different course just yet. The club song “Money Calls,” which includes appearances from Philadelphia newcomers GE3Z and 2Rare, seems like it will clear the dance floor rather than keep the party going. Its sing-along chorus’ Autotune appears to be in the incorrect key, which contrasts with the beat’s frenetic, PluggnB-inspired topline. The enthusiasm that develops in the track’s second half is squelched by the loudness and EQ differences between each verse.

The nearly five-minute-long “Show No Love” is essentially an unreleased Rylo Rodriguez song with a single DD Osama line snuck in the middle. That is also not figurative language. An observant listener can hear exactly where Osama’s bars were surgically implanted into the song because he only appears for a little more than a fourth of the total running time. It’s more of a ruse to get a few extra streams than a genuine song.

The shoddy design of the aforementioned “Show No Love” encapsulates the several ways Here 2 Stay and its release limit Osama’s personal potential. He’s hardly had time to digest the weight of his brother’s passing, much less develop as an artist and map out his future after being thrust into the spotlight under sad circumstances.

The release tries to present the juvenile artist as an R&B crooner, club rap party starter, and drill rap kingpin in a little more than 30 minutes, but the content is hurried and seems incomplete. Because of this, none of these identities seem credible.

There is too much territory to cover in too little time, and the disjointed release makes it challenging to understand who Osama is. Here 2 Stay is a charismatic drill MC with an instantly recognizable presence on the mic below its raw façade. However, it’s difficult to recognize his untapped brilliance when the industry’s eagerness to make him a successful star is so very evident.