“We’re not new anymore,” Young Adz tells Apple Music. “We’ve dropped countless great bodies of work, and picked up platinum and gold singles—all independently. And I understand that when you first start popping, everything’s fresh, and it’s easy to get lost in the sauce for a minute. But this lifestyle: Cars, jewels, and trips is also not new to us, so it’s time that we get back to the music.” On their sixth full-length, the prolific South London collective (comprising Young Adz and Dirtbike LB) settle in with their status as kings of expansive, melodic UK rap. Originally formed in 2017 as a vehicle to draw the talented Adz back into the underground rap fold, DBE has built a hazy wonderland of Auto-Tune-layered confessionals, coupled with chilling lyricism and sordid imagery acquainted with the fast life. “We didn’t get our confidence from rap,” Young Adz says. “These personas come directly from the life we were living before we got into this.”
Alongside recently freed affiliate Lil Pino, features for M Huncho, Tion Wayne, Central Cee, and Migos member Offset ensure the 23-track tape is a starry affair. “This is the same vibe and feel [of the first installment],” Young Adz says. “But we’re giving it to you times ten.” There’s some diverse subject matter here, though. The pair open up on getting clean from their vices and reiterate their faith in Islam (“Black Sheep”), and newlywed Adz revels in his loved-up status (“Don’t Go”).
But at its core Home Alone 2 reaffirms the group’s dominant, radio-owning sound and unrelenting drive, with wintry rap on their rising status (“No Competition”) and incomings (“UK Duty Paid”) while confronting their suffering and repression (“Money Can’t Buy,” “Patek Pain”). “The focus is on growth,” LB says of his expanding role within the group dynamic. “If we stay in the line that we’re in, then there will be none, so, wherever we are, we’re only trying to elevate.”