The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.
In spite of his almost unfathomable success on streaming platforms, NBA Youngboy in many ways remains an industry outsider — both figuratively and literally. Love him or hate him, it’s undeniable that Youngboy has paved his own lane, maintaining a prolific work rate from the isolation of the Salt Lake City home where he’s currently under house arrest. While he’s recorded his share of collaborations with pop stars like Nicki Minaj, Youngboy seems increasingly drawn to working with genre-bending outsiders like himself, appearing on songs with everyone from Tyler, the Creator to Lil Nas X to iLoveMakonnen. He exhibits the kind of adventurous streak that you’d expect from an artist who once claimed, when asked who his favorite musicians were, that he only listens to Matisyahu and 50 Cent.
On this new remix of Bktherula’s “Crazy Girl,” Youngboy teams up with the emerging Atlanta rapper for a woozy pluggnb duet. Though her voice is soft and almost ethereal, there’s anger bubbling just beneath the surface of Bktherula’s flow. She desperately tries to warn her ex’s new lover about his manipulative ways, only to be dismissed as “the crazy bitch.” Youngboy slides through to play the other half of a toxic relationship, crooning out of spitefulness.
