Teaneck, New Jersey rapper Stacy Money has had an incredibly productive 2018. This year, after relocating to Los Angeles, Stacy dropped two full length projects (La La Land, Ratchet Romance) along with a plethora of features and singles. Last week he dropped another single, “Do Things”, that fits perfectly in Stacy’s catalog. It’s a melodic and breezy listen that finds Stacy half-rapping, half-singing about his heartbreaker habits as he chases cash and refills his double cup. These short, incessantly catchy songs with smoothly delivered hooks and one-liners that stick in your head have become representative of Stacy Money’s style. Well, at least that was his style until he dropped his surprise project, WHATUPSTACY.
Just a week after releasing “Do Things,” Stacy surprised his fans with WHATUPSTACY, a 3-track EP that is a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from the NJ artist. The colorful, hyper-melodic instrumentals are gone and in their place are these sparse, murky beats produced by fellow NJ native, Whatupran. On this project Stacy chooses to leave his singing behind opting for a more straightforward approach in his rapping. All in all it’s a huge stylistic shift that results in three gritty, underground trap anthems.
The EP starts strong with “HaircutGang” featuring this grim piano tone that pulsates dimly in the barren backdrop of the beat. Stacy matches the sinister vibe of the production with his lyrics that are noticeably darker than his usual offerings. Stacy’s persona has always been mischievous but his attitude. On “HaircutGang” and WHATUPSTACY as a whole we see him become less impish and more devilish. The hook here is particularly malevolent:
Lose your time now times up
Haircut gang lil n**** get lined up
Benz truck tinted, twelve can’t find us
Stacy Money’s mean streak continues without a hiccup on “Rob a Bank.” Whatupran’s production here retains its haunting atmosphere while Stacy nonchalantly spits lines like, “glock get sprayed, he ain’t walk away.” At times though, on this track specifically, the nonchalance in Stacy’s delivery becomes a detriment as some of his flows and annunciations sound weakly put together and would benefit from a bit more attitude and structure.
Still, given the context of this project the loose nature of Stacy’s flows is a forgivable offense as it ties these songs together and makes them collectively sound like the product of an off-the-cuff studio collaboration, which they likely were. Thankfully, the tape ends as strong as it started with “Hook it Up,” featuring co-production from Bharlierock (another Jersey artist). Here, Stacy puts together what is arguably his best flow and meanest grouping of bars on the whole project:
iPhone hot gotta trap off the pager
Walk in the spot and I walk with a laser
Fuckin’ that bad b****, she blasian
My n***** got weapons for any occasion
As a whole, WHATUPSTACY is a very solid collaboration between two of New Jersey’s finest underground artists. Whatupran’s production and his ability to create these menacing atmospheres is a highlight throughout. It’s also nice seeing Stacy Money successfully experiment with a different sound for a few tracks. It will be interesting to see how Stacy’s style continues to evolve from here. Look out for his upcoming project, 2girls1stacy, and listen to WHATUPSTACY below: