Pooh Shiesty – FDO

First day out, second Jukebox appearance…

[Video]
[6.83]Al Varela: In the time since Pooh Shiesty’s arrest and his release, the trap music climate has really dulled as the sound got commodified and its biggest stars switched onto permanent autopilot. The same names that were popular when he first blew up aren’t even close to what they used to be, and there’s not a lot of rappers rushing in to fill in the blanks other than old favorites like Kendrick and Tyler. Which is why I find it all the more impressive that Pooh Shiesty’s “first day out” song brought back so much energy and hunger. The eerie piano beat over the skittery hi-hats and menacing bass rumble under Pooh Shiesty’s bars, relentlessly delivered without taking a single breath. There’s no hook, there’s no instrumental interlude, it’s straight bars for five minutes reminding you who Pooh Shiesty is and why he’s still got it. Makes me legit excited to see if he can keep this up.
[8]

Ian Mathers: Okay, in principle average song lengths have dropped so much that getting a five-minute track is a nice change, but since it’s one verse with no real hook or guests the effect is somewhat like one of those huge paragraphs that make you wish the author would vary things a little bit. At a certain point it stops being impressive and is instead kind of numbing.
[5]

Iain Mew: It makes sense that Pooh Shiesty has a lot stored up to talk about, and the way “FDO” keeps up a constant high intensity without ever peaking into the red is a feat, rapping as middle distance running. By the time it gets to “long story short, short story shorter” and there’s still another unceasing verse to go, it turns a bit too hard into a matter of endurance.
[5]

Nortey Dowuona: Pooh Shiesty and my brother are the same age. There are massive differences between the two of them – but there is one cogent tie: their doggedness. Shiesty, unlike my brother, was born into a violent, abusive world and learned to survive and thrive within it. Shiesty, like my brother, knows how to build a framework and structure almost effortlessly with his imagination. These two divergent abilities make a six-minute-long piece of rapping-ass rapping (which, funnily enough, references the man of the moment) both charming, novel, fierce and exciting. Reminds me of when I’d see my brother play futbol — the smooth turns, the patient passing, the tight, disciplined tackling, someone in full control of their instrument and ready to use it in any manner necessary. Even as the beat lengthens, the flow never loses steam, the punchlines stay funny and thoughtful — I asked her where she want my kids, she told me grab the brush and paint, so I aimed right at her forehead and tried to spell out my name; i treat gangstas like civilians, I treat smart cats like ducks, long story short, short story shorter, brother, I cannot be touched — and even as it ends you are still waiting with bated breath to see what new twist he has on hand. If this is the first day out, I look forward to the first year out. Welcome home.
[8]

Alfred Soto: Other than its “Forget About Dre”-indebted string sample, “FDO” boasts no hooks, just Pooh’s conviction that what he has to say about his first day out matters. On headphones it’s a treat: dig the tongue rolls and mumbled backing. Best line: “I treat gangsters like civilians, I treat smart niggas like ducks.”
[8]

Julian Axelrod: The best First Day Out tracks are the ones that abandon song structure in favor of a breathless stream of consciousness verse that feels like a rapper leaving every last thought from that period of their life behind. Pooh reestablishes his cutthroat streetwise CEO persona, but the image that sticks with me is his third line about balancing stacks of money on his head. Did Pooh Sheisty go to finishing school?
[7]