Fully Loaded

Shy Glizzy had established himself an underground rap hero long before he was featured on GoldLink’s 2017 smash “CREW,” but the D.C. native’s scene-stealing verse catapulted his profile to another level. Glizzy’s Young Jefe 2 and Quiet Storm mixtapes were released in the midst of the song’s reign, and Fully Loaded finds the MC seizing the moment. “We wanted to apply all the pressure we could to make people familiar with Shy Glizzy and what Shy Glizzy do,” the rapper tells Apple Music. “And that I could make platinum records too.”

There aren’t many songs like “CREW” on Fully Loaded, but at nearly the length of a double album, it's dark and hypnotic, with Glizzy at his most polished; he's consistently clever over production from Zaytoven, Turbo the Great, and Geraldo Liive, among others. His signature croak sets the stage for A-list guests the likes of Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, and Rick Ross, as well as up-and-coming local talent YBS Skola, 3 Glizzy, and Q Da Fool. And while he’s understandably focused on furthering any acclaim he might have earned from a hit single, Shy Glizzy has a primary goal—to put his hometown in the best light. “I am the voice of D.C., I’m the king of D.C., I love D.C.,” he says. “I do it for me, first and foremost, and my family, but the city is everything to me. That’s why I’m here—to represent D.C. to the best of my ability.”