Come On!!: How bdifferent Turns Grief, Game, and Gospel Into a Debut Statement

Anthony Edwards isn't the only member of the Edwards family shifting culture and fusing the worlds of Hip-Hop and basketball.

Back in October, the Minnesota Timberwolves superstar collaborated with Eesean Bolden's Culture Jam to curate a 12-track LP entitled Culture Jam: Legend In My Hood. Fusing basketball, culture, and music into a single project, the NBA All-Pro recruited the likes of Wale, Pusha T, Nardo Wick, and Big Sean to deliver some of their best verses of 2025. Legend In My Hood received strong reviews and even had media personality Gina Views hyped up. However, one important contributor to the project seemingly flew under the radar — Bubba "bdifferent" Edwards.

Alongside his younger brother, Anthony, bdifferent not only executive produced the project, but also appeared on five of the album's 12 tracks. From trading verses with Detroit's Skilla Baby to delivering inspiration interludes, the Atlanta native made his day one fans proud while introducing himself to a new audience. With four solo projects under his belt, collaborations with NoCap and OMB Peezy making the rounds on various playlists, and the momentum created by the success of Legend In My Hood, bdifferent capitalized on the moment and released his latest project, Come On!!

In 31 minutes of music, bdifferent wastes no time getting to the point and letting everyone know who he is, where he comes from, and where he's striving to be. Come On!! opens with a title track that plays like a mission statement, pairing bdifferent’s reflective interlude about humble beginnings with a hook that doubles as a challenge to anyone doubting his rise. Rapping over both heartfelt piano and lighter, yet still soulful, production, he blends references to his late mother and grandmother with flexes about how he's turned his pain into an unshakable hunger for success that has landed him deals, new coupes, and trust issues.

The title track makes way for the project’s breakout track, “On God,” a compact and energetic lead single where bdifferent and KWAY stack vows, boasts, and prayers into something that sounds like a locker room chant transformed into a fully fleshed out hit. It’s the record where you grief, grind the audacity of faith compressed into two and a half minutes that will make even the least confident listener walk around saying, "I'm him!"

However, when "On God" blends into "LMDS" featuring HotBoii, it's fair to question if being "him" is all that it's cracked up to be. Three songs into the project, bdifferent arrives at the point in the story he described during the intro, stops being abstract and becomes a little messy. Alongside Hotboii, bdifferent leads a two-man panel on what happens when the success starter pack of attention, access, and money becomes both a burden and an asset. Here, bdifferent is a man who’s seen enough to know where certain vices lead, but not so far removed that he’s forgotten why the wrong thing still looks good at times.

It’s that same tension, what shines as opposed to what’s real, that makes the next pivot feel so natural. "LMDS" bleeds into "No Makeup," which swaps the high life and all that comes with it for a song that uses romance as a field test for his ideas about reassurance. It’s less a loverman song than a thesis about seeing the beauty in someone, even if at times they don't see it in themselves.

"On thе phone at 12 a.m., I'm tryna tell you you enough/You thе only girl I think about, I'm satisfied for sure," he raps.

As "No Makeup" winds down, the back half of Come On!! begins to re-emphasize the skill set bdifferent showcased through the first five tracks. His voice bolsters, the beats breathe, and the songs feel less like filler and more like soon-to-be fan favorite b-sides. "All The Above" plays like an after-hours cut, where the Atlanta native pairs the ambition of "On God" with the sentiments of "No Makeup." Then, it happens. Let’s Talk About It” crashes in like somebody kicked the door open. Stunna 4 Vegas brings that beautiful, slightly chaotic energy he specializes in — the kind that makes a song feel like the bass might burst your speakers, but you keep rewinding the song.

With the 31-minute, 11-track run coming to a close, the three-song sequence of "Straight To Cali," "NBA," and "Tired Of It" is the most ambitious of the album. "Straight to Cali" eases the tempo and transforms the album's vibe into a sun-soaked Sunday afternoon drive along the PCH as he reflects not only on what he has overcome to achieve success, but also on how those around him have evolved. "NBA" matches the laid-back energy of "NBA" while he raps about the "stars in [his] Wraith" and the work he's putting in today will benefit his future kids. "Tired Of It" is equally mellow and relaxed, but takes a sharp left turn as he lets everyone know that he's "sick and tired of the bulls—t" over a rhythmic guitar that transports the production to the coast of Spain.

The dynamic three song sequence is the ideal set up for the album's final and strongest release, "Worry About Nothin'" While short, the song doesn't need much time to pull at your heartstrings as he put it all together — pain, passion, and purpose — into an anthem about overcoming struggle with perserverance and confidence It's a song that could bdifferent could perform as he tells the crowd to put their lighters up and wave their arms side to side, punctuating an album that is strong in many areas while still leaving ample opportunity to grow and and evolve as the years go on.

What ties all of this together isn’t just ambition; it’s family as both wound and superpower. In several spots, you can hear the kid who lost his mother and grandmother at 17 in the way he talks to God, the way he talks to himself, and the way he talks about what he does and who he does it for — his brothers, sisters, and future kids. Anthony became the franchise player in public, but Bubba’s been the system—first on the court himself, and now on a record that sounds like a sibling pulling you aside to say, “We’re not supposed to be here, so act like it, but also enjoy it and work to keep it at all costs.”