Thematically Driven, Deeply Honest and Sonically Vast, Duckwrth is Bought in as the ‘All American F*ckBoy’
Evan Dale | April 2, 2025
Tatiana Katkova
Perhaps the most challenging construct to effectively craft, the concept album will always stand as a pinnacle in music for some of the most successful projects ever breathed into existence. In recent times, think Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City and Kendrick Lamar’s dizzying web of vignettes turned unabridged coming of age tale. Take the skit-driven Wasteland and Brent Faiyaz’s lust-crazed devolution into loss and devastation. And what about BLK ODYSSY's 2023 Diamonds & Freaks which anecdotally dissects the way sex and peer pressure shape a young man’s mind. Yet, for as many well-thought concept albums have proven classics, countless many more have emerged forced and forgettable. And that’s because an artist must not only be fully bought into the story they’re telling – the concept they’re constructing – they must also be full realized as the character pushing the concept forward. Ever the evolving force of stylistic changes of pace, Duckwrth is bought in as the All American F*ckBoy.
It's no surprise that the LA-based rapper and vocalist – who is probably better described with a more sweeping, and less definitive title as artist – would so craftily handle his own conceptual storyline. Pulling from his own experiences with artistic growth, success, and the personal hurdles that ensue, Duckwrth takes a listener on a journey from the reckless thrill of juggling love interests to the weight of generational trauma, all along the way confronting his toxic patterns, fear of commitment, and the ghosts of his past that continue to haunt his relationships. But, it’s his long-established stylistic range that allows him to fluidly cover so much thematic ground.
Take the album’s fourth track, but second true offering, Ken Doll. Alongside Atlanta soulstress, Tanerélle, Duckwrth glides his way through the sultry yet poignant babymaker, showing off his immense range while plunging the listener deep into his own fixations on lust. Then take the abrupt change of pace that comes into play with the acoustically driven, upbeat Fell off the Earth featuring Tommy Newport. And then hear him find his way back into his flow with the meditative and lyrically pervasive Permanent Vacation. Whether he’s rapping or singing – whether the track is uplifting or emotionally downtrodden – it’s Duckwrth’s refinement in all facets of his artistry that tethers All American F*ckBoy together from beginning to end. It's his incredible list of featuring artists that fill out his F*ckBoy world with all the characters required to really tell the story.
Did we mention that LaKeith Stanfield plays narrator throughout the album’s many skits? If somehow that wasn’t already enough, beyond the powerful register of Tanerélle and the cheerful melody of Tommy Newport, it’s the IDK featured Pitbull that pulls into frame just how much of a hard-nosed anthem Duckwrth is capable of crafting. But true to both artists’ insatiable willingness to do the unexpected, the track’s abrupt breakdown and change of pace emerges as a sonically immersive exclamation point, and a microcosm for the sharp impulsiveness of the project at large.
Not least of all, it’s BLK ODYSSY – who, alongside Two Fresh, executive produced All American F*ckBoy in its entirety – that is to thank for not only bringing Duckwrth’s unpredictable, conceptual masterpiece to life, but for challenging the entire industry since his debut release of Blk Vintage in 2021, to push boundaries and explore sounds that until our modern post-genre moment would have been rendered out of bounds for artists traditionally boxed into one or two sonic spaces.
There was already nothing off limits for Duckwrth. But by way of All American F*ckBoy, his reach is even wider. Take into account I’m Really Changing. Alongside Sherwyn, the cut views all the struggles dissected in the album through a wider lens, breaking down the imperfect process of growth. It’s a candid reflection of Duckwrth’s journey, acknowledging that change doesn’t happen overnight. The track is likewise and encapsulation of the artist’s unrelenting auditory width. A neo-disco infused array of blistering synth strokes, an honest and addicting hook, and a self-reflective verse connect as a confluence of Duckwrth’s ability to maneuver through his many sounds without ever losing a grip on his signature. Such is true of the entire album, Duckwrth’s most daunting, daring, and downright distinctive to date.