Earlier this month, YG began the rollout for his upcoming sixth studio album, I Got Issues, with a smooth performance of the album’s lead single “Toxic” for A COLORS Show. After announcing the project’s official release date, he’s getting going in earnest with another laid-back single, “Alone.” The common throughline appears to be a thread of introspection that has always been in his musical output but has become more pronounced now that he’s in his 30s with more control over his music and career. While it remains to be seen whether more aggressive singles like “Run” and “Scared Money” will appear on the project, YG has displayed a growing sense of balance in his music.
Rather than dropping an elaborate video for “Alone,” YG doubles down on the song’s reflective nature with an in-studio performance video highlighting its moodiness. Seated on a stool in front of his microphone with a red Solo cup and backed by candles and masked security guards (the skiing kind, not the COVID kind), YG takes stock of how his gangster habits — formed by the trauma of growing up in Compton — interfere with his current lifestyle. He’s got money, status, and safety now; he’s got to leave the streets alone. Whether he’ll be able to is another story entirely but we’ll say this: He has a way of staying out of trouble and making amends when he does mess up. That’s more than you can say for a lot of entertainers.
Watch YG’s in-studio video for “Alone” above.
I Got Issues will be out 9/30 via Def Jam. The album is available to pre-save and pre-order here.