Week #32 ('20) Singles
Welcome to my Singles post, where I go over all of the loose songs released over the past week so. These are songs that are not currently attached to projects, and may either be promotional singles for an upcoming project or songs dropped at the random whim of the artist. I’ll show you the single, where to find it out in the wild, and a little blurb about it for my thoughts/further context. Click here to see previous Singles posts.
——————————
D Power Diesle & Skepta – Sniper
Solid grime track here. Deep bass, distorted synths: the whole grime package is here. I haven’t heard Skepta this hungry all year long, and this D Power fella (this is my first time hearing him) played off the lethality of Skepta’s verse well with some goofiness. Both of these guys are like British rapping machine guns, perfect workout music for those of you into that sort of thing. This might be a single leading into a D Power Diesle tape, and if so I’m all here for it.
————————————————
Conway the Machine (Feat. Method Man) – Lemon
La Machina announced that his next album, From a King to a God, is coming out on September 11th, and dropped a lead single to get us hyped. The beat is fantastically Griselda with it’s slow-burning sirens (done by both Daringer and Beat Butcha, turning into one of the best instrumental duos out there right now), and Conway does what he does best and does not disappoint in the slightest. Method Man will leave your jaw on the floor with this one, coming through with a feature that is flawlessly brilliant lyrically, made even more impressive by the fact that the man does not curse a single time. I can’t wait for this album, and Conway’s eventual Shady debut (which, according to the Machine, is after this project, but we’ve been hearing that for a while now).
————————————————
Anderson .Paak (Feat. JID, Noname, & Jay Rock) – Lockdown (Remix)
I didn’t save the original song as it was a bit too laid back for my library, but now that we have some excellent spitters on the track I’m willing to throw down. All three rappers kill their verses, but I think the odd man out here is Jay Rock, who I was very surprised to see was featured on a track like this, but boy did he not disappoint. He was thoughtful and sincere with his words, with the very conversational and empathetic delivery. You’ll see this single is a part of a pack of tracks, but they’re all edits of this remixed track, which is the most complete version. This seems like a “This Is America” type single, so I doubt it will place on any album in the future.
————————————————
Armani Caesar (Feat. Benny the Butcher) – Simply Done
Big kudos to Armani for getting the legendary DJ Premier to produce the lead single to her upcoming Griselda debut, which should be coming within the next few weeks (Boldy James, who’s dropping next week, said that every member of Griselda will be dropping in the next two months). Armani holds her own with that much needed over the top swagger amongst the Griselda crew, and the Butcher comes through with a solid feature. But that beat from Preemo really streals the show, with expectedly fire scratching and loud walloping drums. Looking forward to see how her album will play out.
————————————————
2 Chainz (Feat. Lil Wayne) – Money Maker
A by-the-numbers early 2010’s southern banger, with a simple refrain and slower verses brought up by stylishly bright production consisting of horns and sharp percussion. I do think 2 Chainz could have come harder, but he has a lot of sauce on the track that makes up for it. I like when Wayne goes on a slower pace to give times to let those punchlines breathe, especially whenever he’s soaked in autotunes like he is here. I’ve heard that Tity Boi and Weezy are coming out with a new Collegrove album, and if this is a lead single I think we’re gonna get something solid.
————————————————
Guapdad 4000 – Deadly Assassination Summer Squad
Guap has been getting into a lot more singing lately, and I think this is one f his best straight melodic tracks to date. I love what he does with his voice on the powerful chorus, faltering charmingly under the weight of the true emotions he’s displaying here. I wish the track was longer, being less than 2 minutes, but it’s a great idea that I hope he builds upon with a feature or something in the future. Speaking of which, we need a new Guapdad album, it’s been a minute since a big album; he needs one.
————————————————
Smoke DZA (Feat. Flipp Dinero & Jadakiss) – Hibachi
The Kushed God has blessed us again with another trap banger. I love how DZA can inhabit both the old-sphere (I mean he has an album with Pete Rock for Christ’s sake) and the younger movements, making connections from every camp in hip-hop. He’s got Flipp Dinero for the slick trap melodies on the front end, and then Jadakiss mopping up the backend with a killer verse. I love the contrasting styles on this track, shit just sounds so bouncy and fun while also being cold-blooded.
————————————————
IDK & JID (Feat. Kenny Mason) – Cereal
Heavy-hitting trap banger with great energy and fantastic verses from emcees that are worth their weight in gold on the microphone. Fast and detailed spitting from the three rappers here, with the chemistry and shared charisma being off the charts. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, so people looking for some mindless hype will be right at home. Workout music for sure. It feels like the kind of track that would show up on an IDK project, so I’d be hyped that he might be dropping so soon after his last album.
————————————————
Don Q (Feat. Benny the Butcher) – Legends
I’m realizing that the last single with A Boogie and Lil Uzi was probably a single towards a Don Q album, and paired with this track here my anticipation is high. It’s been a solid minute since a Don album, and it looks like in that time he’s really taken time to get some quality features and production. This track here has a bit of an older spirit to it, maybe some mid 2000’s G-Unit type shit, and the Butcher plays into that perfectly with another killer feature. I hope this project comes sooner rather than later, and anyone who hasn’t should go check out his Don Season 2 mixtape from 2018 for some more fire.
————————————————
J.I the Prince of N.Y & NAV (Feat. Lil Durk) – Painless 2
J.I is a character that I know very little about, but his very youthful singing hits some great, if not slightly predictable, notes. I think it was a good move bringing in NAV and Durkio on here to bring some heavyweight melody work, as the two play off of J.I’s steez pretty well. I personally thought the kid was more of a Drill rapper, but this track here is a bit more of your standard pop flair. Listen if you like solid melodies and hooks.
————————————————
King Von (Feat. Lil Durk) – All These N****s
I’ve never taken the time to get into Von’s music, but what I’ve heard from him on various features, and on this track here, has me interested. Very focused Chicago murder music, and bringing on no-auto Durk to assist is a great move to give him that high-profile cosign. I do have a little bit of difficulty telling the two apart on the track, not that one is biting from the other it’s just that their voices just happen to be very similar, especially whenever Durk isn’t hitting those melodies. Listen to this if you want to get into the mood to kill someone.
————————————————
