4batz Releases Debut Album ‘Still Shinin’ With FLO, Leon Thomas & More

Key Takeaways:

• 4batz’s Still Shinin features standout collaborations with FLO, Maxo Kream, Leon Thomas and Zillionaire Doe.
• The 15-track debut album continues his cinematic alt-R&B style, with Roman numeral sequencing and moody production from Teddy Walton.
• Songs like “act xvii: done sippin” and “act xvi: twentyfoe7” showcase his Southern roots and emotional storytelling.

4batz is still shining, and perhaps even brighter than before. On Friday (Sept. 12) at midnight, the “act ii: date @ 8” star delivered his long-awaited debut album, Still Shinin. The 15-song effort arrived with features from Leon Thomas, FLO, Maxo Kream and Zillionaire Doe.

Picking up where his mixtape u made me a st4r left off — at least in title formatting — Still Shinin continues the Roman numeral sequencing across its tracklist. The project opens with the minute-long “act ix: too dam young,” in which 4batz admits he’s too young to worry about being someone’s “main one.” From there, LP segues into “act x: n da mornin,” one of the few singles fans got before the album dropped, and “act xi: she ain’t no angel,” featuring Leon Thomas.

Though we unfortunately don’t get a classic male-female duet on the project, 4batz teams up with everyone’s favorite British R&B girl group, FLO, on “act xvi: twentyfoe7.” He sings, “I’m on my way / To make sure you safe with me, girl / To the end of the road,” while the trio counters with the women’s perspective: “Feel like you don’t want me / Off me, then you’re on me, boy, just let me know.”

Elsewhere on the album, 4batz teams up with fellow Texans Maxo Kream and Zillionaire Doe, who help deliver some of the LP’s better records. On “act xvii: done sippin,” for example, the Dallas crooner sings about how he “woke up sippin’ lean for breakfast,” even though his kidneys are telling him, “Don’t you say this, no-no-no-no.”

Later on the track, Maxo Kream jumps in with bars about Forgiatos and sipping straight from the pitcher. It all feels very southern, to say the least. “We from Texas, so it hit different,” 4batz told Apple Music. “We showing y’all the culture right now, man.”

Production also plays a huge role in shaping Still Shinin, thanks in large part to Grammy Award-winning beatmaker Teddy Walton. From the beat switches laced throughout “act xvii: done sippin” to the lonely, atmospheric textures of “act xviii: getUwet” and “act ix: too dam young,” everything comes together like a cinematic masterpiece.

Although 4batz’s newlywed wife, Anycia, doesn’t appear on the album as a featured artist, she does join him for a brief moment on the ironically titled track “act xix: yo typical lovestory.” Stream Still Shinin below.