Respected in Atlanta for his fast-talking flow and fiery flexes, Yung Mal is ready to emerge as a leader in his city’s scene. Putting an emphatic end to an era of his career and starting the next chapter, Mal shares Iceburg Where You Been?, his new mixtape. A triumphant return to the scene, IWYB finds Mal in a reflective mode, answering the titular question by chronicling the victories and losses that accompanied his rise from public housing to prominence. He spends much of the album looking looking inward, reflecting on his brothers lost to the legal system or the streets and resolving to better himself for the benefit of his family and his neighborhood.
Though he leans into his introspective side, Mal hasn’t lost his voracious appetite for flexing, as he shows on bangers like “Oowee” and “Invest.” Over 13 hard-hitting tracks, with production from the likes of TM-88, Cashmoney AP, Go Grizzly, DY of 808 Mafia, and more, Mal unveils a variety of flows, alternating his signature syllable-rich tumbling delivery with languid auto-tune, clipped flows, or patter inspired by the legendary Bankroll Fresh on “Bankroll Flow.” Home to recent singles like “Heavy” and “Gah Damn,” Iceburg Where You Been? is available everywhere via Alamo Records.
Along with the tape, Mal shares “Miss My Dawgs,” a video for the mixtape’s heartfelt introductory track. Produced by TM-88, “Miss My Dawgs” provides Mal with fast-paced piano arpeggios to dance around with his tumbling triplets. Rhyming with auto-tuned intensity, Mal calls out those who counted him out, before paying tribute to the real ones who’ve transitioned: “They turned they back on me when I ain’t had nothin else to offer/First I was down now I’m up they call my phone I be like f*ck ’em/I done gave n****s my life but they still act like it ain’t enough/Glad I I made it, my life was rough/Man I miss my dawgs.” In the video, directed by Benmarc, Mal rocks a shiny starter’s jacket and emerges from a phone booth like Superman to perform the soul-baring banger.
Now firmly back in the game, Yung Mal is determined to prove he’s one of the hottest in the trap capital.
© 2023, Seth “Digital Crates” Barmash. All rights reserved.
