At 6’5”, 2 Chainz towers over the rap game. Despite only rising to fame in his mid-thirties, the Atlanta MC secured a dream run of guest work with others in the early 2010s, including Kanye, Nicki Minaj, and A$AP Rocky. After building tandem momentum with his mixtapes, Chainz achieved multiplatinum sales for quite varied trap cuts such as 2015’s menacing “Watch Out” and 2017’s coolly mellow earworm “It’s a Vibe.” By 2019, he had proven himself enough to command some head-turning guests of his own, including Ariana Grande (“Rule the World”) and Kendrick Lamar (“Momma I Hit a Lick”). Going to toe to toe with Lil Wayne on the 2023 mixtape Welcome 2 Collegrove, he oozes such well-earned confidence that he comes off as nonchalant on bangers like “Presha.” Gradually reshaping trap as a kind of modern soul music that’s lived-in, laidback, and heartfelt, 2 Chainz has cemented his elder statesman status. Yet, when he taps into his more fierce side, the results are just as distinctive. “I’m different,” he rapped on an early standout of the same name, and that remains very much true.