In 2021, Lana Del Rey said her dream collaboration would be Migos. Fast forward two and a half years to "Tough," a duet with Quavo that notches a new high for Lana's rap collaborations. ⁠ ⁠ The country-trap ballad sits closer to Lana’s jazz and hip-hop-propelled solo work than "Summer Bummer," hewing closer to the multigenre synthesis of 2023's Did You Know... or even the trip-hop pulse of Born to Die and Honeymoon. But "Tough" forgoes the confessional mode of Tunnel, instead thrumming with a steely resolve that feels lived-in rather than put on. Del Rey sets the scene, and then — the drums kick in for Quavo’s tight melodic verse. He mirrors the solitude that permeates Lana Del Rey's discography, stretching elastically to punctuate his bars: “Still shinin’ and that’s hard / If you ever lost someone that you love.”⁠ ⁠ Rap and country have always been reflexive, metatextual genres — this is show business, after all. Shrinking the widescreen romance of Lust For Life down to the size of an...