“Tumblr Modelz”

If Thirteendegrees and current-day Young Thug were competing on who could best recreate an I Came From Nothing 3-era Thug song, Thirteendegrees probably wins. To be honest, it’s kind of creepy—like the Chicago nostalgist has access to the voice-matching tool the scientist in Face/Off could barely explain. I was almost quick to write off his mixtape Clique City Vol. 2 as cosplay—c’mon, Thug tapes with the same futuristic bop sound already exist—but, unlike say, Nine Vicious’ Barter 6 pastiche, Thirteendegrees is really having fun with it. Especially on “Tumblr Modelz,” which has a burst of high-pitched Auto-Tune zaniness that might leave your ears ringing. And he has a sense of humor, a part of Thug the lousy impressions forget: “She got perfume all on my coat/Now I need a new coat.” Of course, what really made that early Thug moment so special was that he wasn’t following a playbook: His rapid, almost unconscious experimentation on the roots of Atlanta trap and no-fucks-given glam forced you to completely rethink what you wanted out of rap music. It was a persona, a way of life, a thought process, and no matter how well-versed you are, it can’t be recreated.