Ugliest

At its core, Ugliest is a harrowing exploration of the hollow nature of success, the cycle of addiction, and the systemic trap of the opioid epidemic. The song's duality is established immediately by juxtaposing a real-life corporate lie with the harsh realities of those who suffered from those lies. The opening sample from Purdue Pharma is not just background noise; it is a direct indictment of the pharmaceutical industry that fueled the opioid crisis—a crisis that deeply ravaged the New Orleans communities the duo hails from.

In the first verse, $crim lays bare his explicit battle with substances, mentioning Suboxone (used to treat opioid addiction) and Xanax. He views himself as a 'throwaway' and a 'lost cause,' highlighting a lack of hope that remains unchanged despite the duo's massive fame. He uses the phrase 'deaf addict' to suggest that his screams for help and his internal struggles are ignored, or perhaps that he is deaf to the warnings of his own self-destruction.

Ruby's verse shifts the perspective to a more psychological, digitized anxiety. He addresses the phenomenon of 'getting rich but staying miserable'. The diamond chains he wears are meaningless compared to the deep-seated existential dread and isolation he experiences. He describes a severe disconnect from reality, noting that he is always '1000 fucking miles away' and questioning the concept of a holiday or rest. This verse highlights the modern tragedy of being physically present but mentally and emotionally absent due to trauma, fame, and coping mechanisms.

The song begins with a chillingly cold, sterile advertisement from a Purdue Pharma promotional video advocating for OxyContin, where a comforting voice reassures patients about opioid prescriptions and falsely claims that less than one percent of users become addicted. Following this unsettling introduction, Scott Arceneaux Jr., performing under his alias Lil Cut Throat, delivers a verse steeped in self-hatred, addiction, and personal decay. He refers to himself as a deaf addict whose life and troubles are too complex for others to comprehend. He feels trapped in a tragic loop of baggage with no support system, unable to break destructive daily patterns. He describes his mental state as a state where psychosis dominates and his life rotates around chaos like a whirlwind. He details his toxicity, his reliance on a cocktail of Xanax and Suboxone, and labels himself a lost cause who is buried deep in a self-made hole. He touches on his upbringing on the Northside, riding along the curbs, refusing to pray, and anticipating his own death, envisioning a future where he is buried six feet deep. He ends his verse with a defiant middle finger to the world.

Aristos Petrou, rapping as Oddy Nuff da Snow Leopard, takes over the second verse, reflecting a deep feeling of being brainwashed and working against his own soul. He acknowledges his immense wealth, symbolized by diamond chains, but notes that material success fails to ease his existential pain. He expresses feeling detached, out of character, and disconnected from his loved ones, admitting that his partners leave because of his erratic behavior. He highlights his intense isolation, feeling thousands of miles away even while physically present, using drugs to numb the passage of time. He rejects the idea of holidays or breaks, working relentlessly as the boss of G*59 (the GREY), yet feeling trapped in constant stress. His fleeting attention span, obsession with digital distractions like screenshots, and nostalgia for the simplicity of away messages paint a picture of a modern, digitized anxiety. He concludes by stating that despite the fame and money, he remains unchanged at his core, forever covered in spots, not stripes as a snow leopard, committed to the G*59 movement until his death.

Released on August 13, 2021, as the twelfth track on their sophomore studio album, Long Term Effects of Suffering, Ugliest represents the final chapter of a beloved trilogy. The journey began in 2015 with 'Ugly' on the EP High Tide in the Snake's Nest, followed by 'Uglier' (featuring Da$h) in 2016 on the mixtape Eternal Grey, and finally culminated five years later with this track.

The song was entirely produced by $crim under his production pseudonym, Budd Dwyer. Before the track was officially released, Ruby Da Cherry teased the song's instrumental during an Instagram Live session, where he freestyled over the beat. Fans immediately recognized the raw, traditional boom-bap rhythm—a stylistic shift from the duo's typical heavy 808-laden trap beats. The freestyle was so well-received that the lyrics and flow from that session were polished and integrated into Ruby's final studio verse. The recording and production took place at the G*59 studios, solidifying the track as a reflective milestone of their artistic evolution from struggling underground artists to independent icons.

The song is laden with layered symbolism and heavy metaphors that paint a bleak picture of the artists' lives:

• The Opioid Sample: Serving as a symbol of corporate deception, the Purdue Pharma intro represents the false sense of security that leads to systemic ruin. It acts as an allegory for how easily individuals are lured into addiction under the guise of medical help.
• "Splitting Atoms": $crim compares breaking his self-destructive cycles to 'splitting atoms,' implying that changing his habits is a task of near-impossible, explosive difficulty that would require tearing his very nature apart.
• "Soulja by the lake": This line serves as a metaphor for mortality and New Orleans street culture. It samples Ruby's own verse from their track Audubon and references the legendary local rapper Soulja Slim, illustrating how close they feel to death and how deeply they are tied to their hometown's violent history.
• "Spots, not stripes": Ruby uses this clever metaphor to represent his Snow Leopard persona. While a tiger has stripes, a leopard has spots, and 'a leopard cannot change its spots.' This symbolizes his inability to change his fundamental, flawed nature, regardless of the wealth and accolades he acquires.

The overall emotional atmosphere of Ugliest is one of profound, cold numbness mixed with defensive defiance. The song does not express the explosive, raw anger of some of their early aggressive trap songs; instead, it carries the quiet, exhausted sadness of long-term survival. The opening medical sample sets a clinical, detached tone that bleeds into $crim's verse, where he describes his severe addiction and mental decay with a chilling lack of emotion, as if his own demise is merely an inevitable mathematical equation.

When Ruby's verse begins, the emotional landscape shifts slightly toward a bittersweet, dissociated nostalgia. He describes a life lived on autopilot—boarding planes, blowing smoke, and staring at screens—feeling '1000 fucking miles away.' There is a deep-seated loneliness in his lines, a sadness that wealth has only isolated him further. However, the track ends on a note of pride and defiance, with both artists asserting their loyalty to their independent label, G*59, showing that their shared trauma and artistic brotherhood are the only real anchors they have left.

As part of the album Long Term Effects of Suffering, which debuted at number 7 on the US Billboard 200, Ugliest holds a special place in $uicideboy$'s discography. It serves as the thematic and artistic conclusion to the 'Ugly' trilogy, a project that fans had tracked since 2015. The song is highly celebrated by critics and fans alike for its return to a classic boom-bap sound, showing $crim's versatility as a producer and proving that the duo can deliver top-tier lyrical performances without relying on aggressive scream-rap tropes.

Beyond its chart success, the song has had a significant impact within the underground hip-hop community, serving as a raw, authentic commentary on the devastating impact of the opioid crisis. By sampling the actual deceptive marketing of Purdue Pharma, the duo elevated the track from a personal narrative to a broader cultural critique, resonating deeply with a generation of listeners who have witnessed the destruction of their families and communities by prescription drug abuse.

The song is built on a moderate, steady tempo (around 85-90 BPM), characteristic of classic boom-bap hip-hop. This slower, driving pace allows both artists to deliver their verses with clear, punchy articulation, deviating from their faster, double-time flows. The rhythm is highly hypnotic, with a heavy emphasis on the snare hit that locks the listener into the somber mood of the track.

The rhyme scheme is predominantly structured in AABB couplets but is heavily decorated with slant rhymes and multisyllabic internal rhymes. For example, $crim connects 'splitting atoms' with 'pattern' and 'happening,' blending the vowels to create a smooth, continuous stream of consciousness. Ruby's verse relies on a more fluid, conversational rhythm, where his sentences stretch across the bar lines before locking back into perfect end rhymes (e.g., 'character / embarrassed her / miles away / holiday / my mistake'). This rhythmic flexibility creates a sense of fleeting thoughts and mental drifting, mirroring the drug-fueled dissociation described in the lyrics.

Musically and lyrically, Ugliest utilizes several distinct techniques to heighten its emotional and artistic impact:

• 90s Boom-Bap Revivalism: Unlike the heavy, distorted 808 trap loops common in phonk and modern trap, the beat is built around a crisp, classic East Coast boom-bap drum pattern and a melancholy piano loop. This choice pays homage to the golden era of hip-hop while providing a clean, head-nodding backdrop that lets the lyrics take center stage.
• Internal Rhyming and Wordplay: The lyricism relies heavily on dense internal rhymes. $crim showcases this in lines like 'Deaf addict / My mathematics / you can't add up / So tragic / My baggage', where the cadences slide seamlessly into one another.
• Juxtaposition: The contrast between Ruby's financial flexes ('wearing diamond chains') and his mental decay ('soul was rubbing against the grain') serves as a powerful literary device, highlighting the irony of material success failing to cure psychological trauma.
• Self-Sampling: The track employs a low-pass, echoed vocal sample of Ruby's verse from their older song Audubon, establishing a self-referential dialogue that connects their past struggles with their present-day reflections.

What is the significance of the audio sample at the beginning of the song?

In the video, a voice downplays the addictive nature of prescription opioids by falsely claiming that less than 1% of patients become addicted, setting a chilling and ironic tone for a song centered around severe drug addiction.

What other songs are in the 'Ugly' trilogy?

'Ugliest' is the third installment in a series of songs by $uicideboy$. It began with 'Ugly' on their 2015 project 'High Tide in the Snake's Nest', followed by 'Uglier' (featuring Da$h) on their 2016 mixtape 'Eternal Grey', and finally concluded with 'Ugliest' on 'Long Term Effects of Suffering' in 2021.

What is the significance of the phrase 'soulja by the lake' in the song?

The phrase 'soulja by the lake' is sampled from Ruby's own verse in their 2017 song 'Audubon'. It references local New Orleans culture, particularly Lake Pontchartrain, and pays homage to legendary local rapper Soulja Slim, while reflecting their ongoing obsession with mortality and their roots.

What does Ruby mean by 'covered in spots, not stripes'?

This line plays on the proverb 'a leopard can't change its spots'. Ruby, whose alter ego is '7th Ward Lord' or 'Snow Leopard', uses this to symbolize that despite his massive commercial success, millions of streams, and wealth, he remains the same broken, 'ugly' individual he was before the fame.

Who produced the beat for 'Ugliest'?

The beat was produced by Budd Dwyer, which is the production moniker of $uicideboy$ member $crim (Scott Arceneaux Jr.). The production stands out for its transition from typical trap elements to a classic 90s-style boom-bap drum sequence mixed with cloud-rap aesthetics.