Curren$y: "This is the Life"

It might be his dumb flow, but Curren$y’s magnificence seems effortless at this point. He pumped out two breezy classics last year like it was nothing and has already released two more enjoyable mixtapes in 2011. It seems that each day, dude rolls out of bed, lights up a spliff, and creates four to twelve minutes of the best weed rap you’ve ever heard. I would call “This is the Life,” a cut from his upcoming studio album Weekend at Burnie’s, Curren$y’s acknowledgement of success, but Spitta’s been acting like a winner since he was carrying Wayne’s kush in a backpack.

“Life” is sleepy and imbued with Curren$y’s fluent confidence, with sentiments like “Even when I was broke nigga, bitches paid attention” dripping over weightless piano keys. It’s serene and enjoyable, but the most amazing thing about it is that it’s not boring. Spitta’s music is a lot better than it was, say, three years ago because he decided to curb his bravado. Gone from his projects are tracks that angrily proclaim his supremacy. He’s showing, not telling—rapping almost exclusively about sneakers, women, and how great he feels these days. The producers he works with—Monsta Beatz and Ski Beatz—have followed suit, shooting for beatific rather than thundering. Rap that feels good like a bubble bath is more difficult to craft than a trunk-rattler; perusing a few blogs will reveal as much. Some dude named Bape Jonez can make a club track upon which he bellows “I got a bit’ like Lindsay Lohan,” and if the production has the proper thump (it does), the song has done its job. Curren$y is striving to be this generation’s blunted Q-Tip, which: the Neo-Native Tongues movement proved just how uninteresting positive rap can be.

So, go throw “This is the Life” on in a friend’s living room while you talk shit and lazily field texts. It’s the perfect soundtrack for such an activity. In fact, one imagines Curren$y is doing the very same thing right now, albeit in a nicer living room with a white leather couch. He probably raps about that couch on Weekend at Burnie’s, and I bet it sounds terrific.