The most telling line on Don Q’s Don Season 2 comes not from the Bronx rapper himself, but from guest Lil Durk. “I done walked the carpet in my Don C’s/But I’m in the trenches with Don Q,” the Chicago MC sings on “Long Night.” Fashion designer Don C’s name provides a stark contrast to the Timberland boot-tough raps of Q, an MC whose grittiness has become something of a calling card. Since 2016’s original Don Season mixtape (at the least), Q has worked diligently, mostly in the form of mic-scorching verses, to define himself as distinct from the more polished-sounding A Boogie wit da Hoodie, his friend and labelmate who also appears here. Don Season 2 continues to establish Q as the MC who raps to impress, dismantling beats alongside heavy spitters like Dave East and G Herbo, while basking in the star power of 50 Cent.