With the release of Plan A, Lil Tecca asserts himself as a notable rapper who is here to stay. Releasing his fifth album in the past six years, he has proved that he’s more than a one hit wonder and one of the most consistent rappers in the game.
Every year, Tecca drops singles throughout the summer to build hype for his next album. Following his 2023 release TEC with charting single “500 lbs,” Tecca released a two part single, “Number 2 / Never Last,” in May 2024 to kick off the rollout for his new album. The singles feature smooth synth beats and catchy hooks that transition seamlessly from one song to the next.
In August, he released “TASTE” after a snippet blew up on TikTok. The song has a slower tempo and incredibly chill vibe, perfect for warm summer afternoons in the sun. After teasing the song for a month and a half, he released the next single, “BAD TIME,” revealing a leopard print aesthetic of his upcoming album. The song was an instant classic, and a video with previous collaborator, Lyrical Lemonade, was released a few days later. In the same week, the album was announced to be dropping later in September, and the cover was revealed, continuing the leopard print style.
A week before the album, Tecca released the tracklist showing 18 songs and only one feature from Don Toliver, who released an album earlier in the summer.
There is something to be said about how Tecca constructs his album rollouts to build hype for his albums. With his consistent schedule, you can always count on Tecca to drop hits that you will be bumping all summer.
Tecca always drops his albums in September, right at the beginning of the school year. This allows friends to get together and bond over the music they have been listening to all summer, creating memories associated with his music.
Five years into his career, Lil Tecca is only 21, since his first single and biggest hit, “Ransom” blew up in 2019 when he was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school. This means that a lot of people in our generation can relate to his music as he navigates life after high school.
Plan A serves as an important moment in Tecca’s career as he continues to refine his sound and style. As the production on his albums develops and his voice matures, his sound is more clean and concise than ever. Produced with heavy contributions from Taz Taylor and Internet Money, Plan A consists of high quality synth trap beats cleaning up the bubbly and spacey production of Tecca’s earlier projects. Each album sounds more professional than the last, and Tecca continues to perfect and experiment with his sound.
Plan A begins with the singles “TASTE” and “BAD TIME” being easy to digest, instant hits, showing that Tecca is still capable of making catchy songs and continues to have new ideas. It then moves into some more experimental songs such as “120,” “I CAN’T LET GO,” and “VOGUE,” with heavy influence from Don Toliver featuring gritty basses, dark melodies and hard hitting drums.
The album reaches its peak with “NUMBER 2” and “NEVER LAST,” which already feel like Tecca staples after the attention they got over the summer. Tecca continues to experiment with songs like “HOMEBODY” and “SELF2SELF” with new flows and darker beats. The production proves its quality with seamless transitions into each song that capture the intended vibe and natural flow of the project.
The energy progresses into a more chill vibe as we get subtle and catchy songs such as “4U” and “FLOWERS” and we end on a high point with laid-back and more personal songs such as “MAMA,” “D1” and “ALL THE TIME.”
Blowing up as early as he did, Lil Tecca still has a lot left in him. With his consistency in the rap game, we can enjoy Tecca while he is in his prime and continues to drop classic after classic. As he keeps experimenting and refining his production and lyricism, we can expect big things from Tecca in the future and he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
