(A more cynical guess would be that Rich rang Wayne’s doorbell and presented him with a hefty duffel bag.) But whatever the motives behind the tape, it’s bizarre that it’s not a ton of fun, given such low stakes. That pretty much holds true on Trust Fund Babies, which seems to exist for the sole reason that Rich grew up on Wayne, and Wayne thought Rich had good vibes. The evidence for this is a run of features over the past year or so, though despite streaks of brilliance-his nerding out for The Firm on AZ’s Doe or Die II, or the hunger in his raps on Tyler the Creator’s “Hot Wind Blows”-it’s too inconsistent for me to call it a resurgence.

Oh, you haven’t heard? Lil Wayne is apparently back and rejuvenated. His latest venture is Trust Fund Babies, a collaborative mixtape with Lil Wayne and of course, given Rich’s combination of dumb luck and business savvy, it arrives amid a so-called Wayne renaissance. I suppose Rich deserves credit for his ability to spot talent, but he’s been able to survive in rap through sheer persistence and networking. Again and again, Rich would be in proximity to rappers who were much more interesting than he was at the ideal moment: Kodak Black and Playboi Carti right before they became household names Famous Dex and Jay Critch around the time of the overlooked group mixtape Rich Forever 3 YoungBoy Never Broke Again when Rich somehow convinced YB to do a joint mixtape. Through all this, Rich tagged along, becoming their unofficial fourth member through two collaborative mixtapes, which weren’t that good-but the timing was perfect. By the following year, the Atlanta trio would be the first signees of Quality Control, have a hit single (“Versace”)-which grew so big that Drake hopped on the remix-and they’d drop one of the most definitive Southern rap mixtapes of the 2010s ( Y.R.N.). Back in 2012, he was introduced to Migos in a club, and they hit it off. Rich the Kid is always in the right place at the right time.

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