YG released the album Stay Dangerous in August 2018.[3] Eight months later, he revealed his next album at Coachella, which he had intended to release that day, but the death of fellow rapper and friend Nipsey Hussle led to the album's release being delayed to May 3, and later being further delayed to May 24. In the meantime, he released both of the album's singles.[4]
Singles
YG initially previewed the lead single "Stop Snitchin" at Coachella on April 14, 2019. The performance was supported by pictures of rappers Skinnyfromthe9 and 6ix9ine on a monitor, who both agreed to plea deals in August 2018 and February 2019, respectively, earning themselves the label "snitches" from the hip hop community.[5][6] The song was released as the lead single from the album on April 24, 2019. It peaked at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[7] A music video was released on April 24.[8] A remix featuring DaBaby, along with another music video directed by Cole Bennett, was released on June 9.[9]
4Real 4Real received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 8 reviews.[12] Karas Lamb stated that "4Real 4Real carries some of the most introspective writing from YG to date."[13] Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork praised the album saying "4Real 4Real doesn't quite reestablish YG as the album artist of My Krazy Life and Still Brazy, but what it lacks in a satisfying through line it makes up for in highlights."[15] Steve Juon of RapReviews said, "It's another solid album from an artist who like his late friend can crossover into a lot of areas (and arenas) given the chance."[16]
In a mixed review, Danny Schwartz of Rolling Stone said, "Released just nine months after Stay Dangerous, 4Real 4Real flies well below the lofty standard YG set with his first two albums and smells of his eagerness to get out of his label contract."[17]
Commercial performance
In YG's home country of United States, 4Real 4Real debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 with 37,000 album-equivalent units, which included 4,000 pure album sales.[18] It serves as YG's fourth consecutive top-ten album in the United States.[18] In Canada, 4Real 4Real debuted at number eight on the Canadian Albums Chart, serving as YG's third non-consecutive top-ten album in the country.[19]
