Guapdad 4000 has quickly established himself as an intriguing and unique presence in hip-hop. Following an invite to the Dreamville recording sessions for “Revenge Of The Dreamers III,” the Oakland native was able to secure a spot as a feature on three songs on the album: “Costa Rica,” “Wells Fargo” and “Don’t Hit Me Right Now.” The deluxe version of Dreamville’s third compilation also saw him get two more features on “Passcode” and “No Chorus.” The vibrant personality and energetic delivery were able to make his style and his name stick with listeners, and he has been growing in prominence since.

Guapdad’s spirited persona and versatile deliveries have helped him become a great feature artist, and helped him create some really exciting songs early on in his career. 2019’s “Izayah,” featuring Denzel Curry and Maxo Kream, ended up being a fantastic song and one of the better trap songs over the last couple of years. In 2020, Guapdad gave one of the most fun features of the year on the remix of Thundercat’s “Dragonball Durag.”

Despite Guapdad’s great performances in spurts throughout his early career, his projects have not really been the strongest or most cohesive. The consistency in his artistry has been lacking thus far, but it is obvious that he is somebody with great talent, which is what gives a lot of exciting potential to “1176.” The new release is executively produced by !llmind, who has a long and credentialed history in production with a discography that features a wide variety of artists he has collaborated with in the past.

Here are my track-by-track reactions and overall initial impressions of “1176.”

Guapdad 4000 & !llmind: “1176” (March 19, 2021)

1.“How Many”

A nice, relaxed instrumental is met with smooth flows to start off the album. Versatility and effortless delivery is on display here and makes for a fine start to the album. A solid track, something nice to listen to, but nothing outstanding going on.

2. “She Wanna” ft. P-Lo

Immediately, this song just screams Bay Area. With the feature from San Francisco native P-Lo and the slow trap drum-kick that sounds like it came straight out of one of P-Lo’s songs, the second song has a lively bounce to it. The hook might not be the best, but Guapdad’s first verse is pretty hilarious. After the first verse, the song transitions into a weird section that is somewhere in between a verse and nothing. A pretty funny song that is a fun listen overall.

3. “10finity”

“10finity” fits the album and sounds like an interlude, but gives a nice, soulful, introspective and heartfelt delivery from Guapdad.

4. “Big Shot“

A vibrant beat and a ridiculously catchy chorus makes this a really enjoyable song overall. The vocals and deliveries are entertaining, and the fourth track just does a great job of being lighthearted and catchy. 

5. “Catching Bodies”

This is exactly the type of melodic trap banger that I was expecting to come across. Not a bad song, but not an amazing one by any means. The structure and sound is fairly generic, but Guapdad has some interesting deliveries and gives an overall solid performance.

6. “Chandler”

With the production taking a darker turn, Guapdad matches the new beat effortlessly and glides for a dark melodic trap track. The production on this one is very quality, and the song is a nice addition.

7. “Muhammad”

“Muhammad” continues the darker trend in the tracklist. The production isn’t quite as well-done as on the last track, and overall the energy is a little bit less captivating. Not a bad song though.

8. “Touch Dough”

The eighth track picks up the pace, and sees a really accelerated flow from Guapdad. The rapping ability on display is impressive, but the only engaging aspect of the track is really the rapping. The production isn’t the best, and the chorus is pretty bad honestly.

9. “Downgrade”

“Downgrade” slows down the pace again, and unfortunately ends up being really boring. I appreciate the idea of a placement of a slow and more emotional song right here, but the execution falls flat.

10. “Uncle Ricky”

I have had “Uncle Ricky” on repeat since the album dropped, and I can say by now that it’s definitely one of the better rap songs to come out so far this year. The structure of the song is incredibly refreshing. A fantastic narrative is told with the transitions between Guapdad’s youthful perspectives and the vocal fluctuations to represent his Uncle’s quotes. The production is great, and the writing couldn’t be much better. Guapdad is extremely talented at portraying a variety of emotions through his delivery, and this reflective and open song really sees him at his best.

11. “Gargoyles” ft. Tish Hyman

The production on this one keeps the dark vibe going, and incorporates a nice sample while establishing a gloomy mood. Guapdad continues with a really personal and introspective look, which he is doing very well between this track and the previous one.

12. “PlayStation” Ft. Buddy

Buddy opens this one with a simple and nice chorus. Guapdad’s post-chorus comes in really smoothly, and then builds into a solid verse.

13. “Chicken Adobo”

“Chicken Adobo” is a soulful love song that fits well at this point of the album. Guapdad’s delivery is effortless and really fits the quality beat nicely. This is definitely one of the most enjoyable songs on the album, and just a really feel-good love song.

14. “Stoop Kid”

The outro comes through with great, soulful production, and a thoughtful performance from Guapdad. A personal look into his upbringing really closes out the themes of this album really well and helps to tie things together and close them out properly.

Overall, I am pleased to see the progression and evolution of Guapdad’s artistry. I was really disappointed with his last album, “Dior Deposits,” but his second studio album already feels like a significant improvement. I really appreciated the darker, more introspective and reflective paths that were taken with songs like “Uncle Ricky” and “Gargoyles” and thought that they really added a lot to the album. The more fun and light-hearted tracks like “Big Shot” and “Chicken Adobo” also provide a really solid versatility to the album and feel refreshing in their placements. There are a couple of misses across the album, but there is enough quality to make the overall result positive. I feel like Guapdad is coming into his own more as an artist as time goes along, and “1176” is a constructive step with him coming closer to his high potential.

Favorite Songs: “Uncle Ricky,” “Chicken Adobo,” “Stoop Kid,” Big Shot,” “Chandler”

Album Score: 67/100

Check out this Spotify playlist and like it to follow along with some of some of my favorite songs of 2021 as the year progresses!