Post Traumatic

Post Traumatic

Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2024

Tee Grizzley

After 2023’s Tee’s Coney Island scored him his second Billboard Hot 100 career hit in the R&B-infused “IDGAF,” Tee Grizzley was once again primed for big moves. So, it makes sense that the Detroit rapper would subsequently lean into high-profile collaborations with J. Cole on “Blow for Blow" and Future on “Swear to God” in the lead-up to Post Traumatic. Spanning two dozen tracks, the sonically diverse album finds him comfortable yet resolute over homegrown Michigan beats while thriving across styles from rugged trap to even poppier hybrids.

Starting with an intro that recalls the energy of his original breakthrough “First Day Out,” Post Traumatic projects his potent blend of genuine lyricism and authentic street themes at nearly every turn. He approaches the game from a heightened vantage point on “Deposits Crazy” and flexes with a vengeance over the Wheezy-helmed “We Dem.” Forever tied to the trenches, he adds two more installments to his fan-favorite “Robbery” series. With the benefit of his status, he drops the sort of wisdom that comes only from experience on “Blueprint,” its buoyant groove a reprieve from the record’s predominantly dark sound.

Befitting the wide range of instrumentals, Grizzley similarly casts a national net for the album’s features. He goes in with West Memphis’ own YTB Fatt on the menacingly boastful “You Hear Me,” elsewhere adding to the thug-love canon with Chicago mainstay Tink on “Ride or Die.” Though many of the guest appearances mark first-time team-ups, he reunites with Mariah the Scientist on the dramatic “Situationship” and shows hometown solidarity with 42 Dugg on the would-be anthem “Detroit.” Of course, he makes space for his brother Baby Grizzley on the hustle-hardened “Pop Shit.”