When they joined forces in 2009 for collaborative mixtape How Fly, rappers
Wiz Khalifa and
Curren$y were both still in the early stages of their respective careers. Pittsburgh-based
Khalifa had been making records for a while but was still a year or so away from a breakthrough to international superstardom that would begin with the release of his monster single "Black & Yellow." Hailing from New Orleans,
Curren$y had been grinding for the better part of the 2000s himself, jumping from one label to another and working with bigger-name rappers as he continued to perfect his style. How Fly captured the two friends in a low-stakes moment of shared excitement and camaraderie, heavy on throwback beats and rhymes about riches, weed, and expensive cars. Much happened for both artists over the next ten years, but
2009, the unofficial sequel to How Fly arriving almost exactly a decade later, seems to pick up right where they left off. Still fixated on the joys of the most potent weed, the most exotic cars, and the biggest bankrolls,
Khalifa's well-rounded flows somehow compliment
Curren$y's more rough-hewn and mercurial styles. Though clearly a callback to different times, the project isn't a complete nostalgia trip. Darker tracks like "Getting Loose" (featuring an appearance by
Problem, one of the mixtape's few guests) update the production with trappy hi-hats and an eerie melodic hook. The
Ty Dolla $ign-featuring "Benz Boys" is similar, built around a trippy R&B chorus and an oozing beat. There's still plenty of stoned daydreaming and old-school samples that would have been right at home ten years earlier, from the booming drums and anthemic synth bass of opening track "Garage Talk" to the laid-back electric piano samples of "Stoned Gentleman."
Khalifa and
Curren$y sound more comfortable with how life has moved on than they do awkwardly grasping for lost glory days, but
2009 exists in a space searching for balance between both extremes. ~ Fred Thomas