Feeding the Streets: Fat Trel Balances Growth and Grit on a 9-Track Drop

Released: March 6th, 2026

Flashback to about 15 years ago: Fat Trel and Alley Boy were rising stars coming out of the “blog era.” Their ability to craft catchy songs while keeping it authentically street caught the eye of Master P, who was looking to revive his No Limit brand with the pair headlining the resurgence. However, that vision never came to fruition, as both artists have dealt with their share of management, label, and legal issues, preventing the meteoric mainstream rise that many envisioned for them. Now in 2026, against the backdrop of more legal issues, we get a new project from Fat Trel, City of God: The Prequel. It’s a fitting drop to feed the streets in case the artist faces the misfortune of another hiatus.

Off the bat, this is an album where you can just let the instrumentals ride on a nice sunny day with the seat laid back; the beats are just that banging. Even the tracks I didn’t particularly care for feature top-notch trap production, which I appreciate. While only a 9-track album, the project has a run-time of 30 minutes, and unlike more contemporary albums from his colleagues, Trel keeps it old school, with many of the songs featuring the standard three verses complete with hooks. Three of the tracks actually run over four minutes—which is like seeing a unicorn these days—but it allows the artist to fully flesh out the songs, leaning perfectly into the above-par beat selection.

While the veteran Trel masterfully laces the tracks with standard trap tales lyrically, I do think there is a little bit too much use of autotune for my taste. Hmph is a prime example, taking away from the unique nature of the artist’s vocals and making him sound like everyone else, despite a dope beat. Despite that, tracks like 2-Up and With Us are strong enough to uplift the project and are sure to be run back. They are certified subwoofer busters. Granted, despite an almost three-minute run time for the aforementioned With Us, the track contains only one verse, with the instrumental comprising half the song. This makes it feel unfinished (possibly due to Trel dealing with his earlier legal issues). Nevertheless, the instrumental is strong enough that I can forgive it, and honestly, throwing a feature on it might make it a candidate for a hit.

In closing, this project is what I would call quality street music. While there are snippets of introspection, this is definitely a drop for the streets, and Trel manages to navigate his lane comfortably while still showing some growth as an artist. Hopefully, this is not the last drop we get from Fat Trel in the not-too-distant future, even though City of God does its job as a solid project to feed the streets in the interim.

Standout Tracks: Never Seen Nuffin, Hot V2, With Us, 2-Up

Album Rating: 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑 (7/10)