A Gift & a Curse (stylized as a Gift & a Curse) is the fourth studio album by American rapper Gunna. It was released through YSL Records and 300 Entertainment on June 16, 2023. Production on the album was handled by Turbo, Omar Grand, Cam Griffin, Kenny Stuntin, Sim, Nils, Pooh Beatz, Lnk, Mario Petersen, Flo, X-Plosive, Royal808, Dunk Rock, Angelo, Yung Talent, Willis Keaton, Slowburnzz, 88 Krazy, Larrance Dopson, Swiff D, Evrgrn, Zookids, Aviator Keyyz, Rick Anthony, Sammy Haig, Cubeatz, Fresh Ayr, and Jojokelete. The album was released as a surprise and is Gunna's first project to not feature any guest appearances. It was supported by two singles, "Bread & Butter" and "FukUMean", and serves as the follow-up to his previous album, DS4Ever (2022).[1]
A Gift & a Curse received generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on six reviews.[2]
Robin Murray of Clash wrote that the album was "succinct, finessed, and packs a punch".[4] Writing for Mic Cheque, Hamza Riaz opined that it "shows that Gunna is YSL's most valuable asset, constantly honing his sound and this time adding a new layer to his predictable output".[5] In a mixed review, Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork felt like the album was "too vague to have much depth and too absorbed in real-life drama to have the feel-good vibes he wants to preserve".[6] Writing for Slant Magazine, Paul Attard felt that "Gunna gives us more of himself than he ever has before, and even if much of the lyrical substance of the album is undermined in a few weeks' time, that in and of itself is worth celebrating".[7]
In the United States, A Gift & a Curse debuted at number three on Billboard 200 chart, earning 85,000 album-equivalent units (including 1,000 in pure album sales) in its first week. This became Gunna's fifth top ten album in total, with four out of the five credited to him, on the chart. The album also accumulated a total of 112.65 million on-demand streams of the album's songs.[8]
