Steve 'Flash' JuonThese days Trinidad James is better known for writing other people’s songs than his own. His credits include chart topping hits like “Uptown Funk” and “Barbie Dreams,” so whether you like him or not you can’t deny him his props. Like a lot of successful people I’m sure Nicholaus Joseph Williams doesn’t really give a damn about his haters anyway. If you’re achieving your goals in music and/or in life, what difference does it make what people say? I have zero doubt that attitude informs “Daddy Issues.” James may ostensibly be a rapper but a lot of the time here he’s not the least bit interested in rapping.
Take “Bumb Ditches” for example. The song is 90% instrumental and 10% performance, with him ever so occasionally offering a few AutoTuned words like “that’s just what I’m trying to get across to you.” What he’s getting across to me is that he doesn’t care. Why should he? He was offered a two million dollar deal by Def Jam to make his debut album, and he cared so little about that the label released him before he ever finished. I actually admire that. No, seriously. I’m impressed that Williams is not motivated by money, even though his most famous viral hit is “All Gold Everything.” He clearly doesn’t give a fuck about doing anything other than what he wants on his own time, not on anybody else’s.
It’s also amazing that he can still manage to pull off being a rank misogynist even without having a lot to say. “Netflix Ho” is taking the idea of “Netflix and chill” to the absolute limit and breaking it. “Bitch if you never learned, you gon’ learn today.” I’m going to chalk this up to Trinidad James being a persona that he wears for the purposes of entertainment. I don’t picture Todd Shaw walking around calling every single woman he meets a bitch, and I don’t picture James doing it either. How you feel about him using the persona in the guise of making music is entirely up to you.
If the title of “4:20am” didn’t give it away it’s clear the only other thing the character of Trinidad James cares about is getting high. That’s far less objectionable than the one where he constantly demeans women, although I’m sure there’s still a few people who believe “Reefer Madness” is real. I don’t give those people the time of day. Did anybody give “Daddy Issues” the time of day though? Clocking in at just under 27 minutes spread out over 10 songs, this release came and went in 2018 without a single person asking us to review it, nor a single staffer volunteering to cover it. Over a half decade later I’m here to say… it’s alright. I didn’t hate any track to death, but I don’t have any to recommend. His vocals range from meaningless to offensive, but the music itself is pretty chill. I guess if you have a half hour to kill you could do far worse than this.