Week #36 ('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.
——————————
Frisco (Feat. Skepta, Jammer, JME, & Shorty) – Red Card
We’ve been getting spoiled by grime legends these past few weeks, a trend that is crowned by this killer single brought to us by the entire BoyBetterKnow Label. My lord the beat is a banger on this one, slightly more nocturnal and menacing than normal Grime tracks, but that’s more due to the trends of the genre itself. There are five verses on this thing, all of them fire, but I’ve got to give the crown to the Adenuga brothers. Skepta has a crazy rhyme scheme on this motherfucker, and JME… well if you don’t know JME’s style by now his verse will surprise you. Weird, energetic, and random; one of the most unique voices in hip-hop let alone Grime. Very excited for this new Frisco project coming in October.
————————————————
Tha God Fahim & Your Old Droog – Tha Wolf On Wall St
If we are to believe Fahim’s Twitter account, him and YOD have an album coming out this week called Wall St. I am so excited at the prospect, and this track right here takes that hype to new levels. Y’all remember the track that Droog on his Jewelry album? The one with Fahim? They are hitting all of the same nostalgic and bright buttons on this single, with the beat sound like some 80’s family sitcom heart-to-heart time, and both emcees coming though with amazing imagery. No hook, but the track definitely doesn’t need one in the face of the great verses. I could listen to Fahim’s production on here forever; it’s a killer loop that makes me happy every time I hear it. YouTube only at the moment, so give it a shot below.
————————————————
JPEGMAFIA – LAST DANCE!
Another YouTube exclusive, this time from angry internet man JPEGMAFIA, who gives us a healthy dose of rapping in the wake of his more melodic experimentation of late. He’s still autotuned to MAX, but his flow is as cold blooded as a commando on this one; if any of y’all thought Peggy was just an alt-rap meme…. Well he still is in a way but the dude can RAP, so put some respect on his name. Loving the icy and digitally challenging beat he’s rapping over too. All in all, one of the better JPEG tracks out of the multitude of singles he’s released recently. Hopefully he has a full-blown album in the works to come out soon. I won’t complain though; his last album All My Heroes Are Cornballs will hold me over for a while yet.
————————————————
G-Eazy (Feat. Mulatto) – Down
Mulatto is REALLY taking advantage of the XXL spot she was granted recently, cause it seems like I’ve been seeing her everywhere these past few weeks. This one here is with G-Eazy, who to his credit collaborates with almost anyone in the industry (he seems like a good guy in that regard), and the chemistry levels are off the charts between the two. G-Eazy is at his best whenever he’s aggressively misogynistic… maybe that sounds bad but it’s a character these Bay area rappers love to hype up. Mulatto is pretty much the same but from the opposite gender, coming with a similar energy. A single full of character, a great catchy chorus, and a banger beat; three for three if you ask me.
————————————————
Yung Gravy – yup!
Every new Gravy single is like a episode of a stupidly hilarious show: you always get funny choruses, bars that will make you chuckle, and surprisingly solid flows for someone who bills himself as a sort of joke rapper. You get all of that on this new single, straddling the line between meme rap and legitimately good modern trap music. The charisma and gusto of Gravy the rapper makes him better than anyone in his lane right now (this dude has more talent in his little finger than Lil Dicky’s entire music career.), so tap in if you want music that you can effortlessly enjoy. Another thing about Gravy is his beat selection; I don’t know the connections this dude has, but he always manages to get the best beats out there, with this one for yup! being a playful cut backed by this killer woodwind sample.
————————————————
Rich The Kid, Quavo, & Takeoff – Too Blessed
As a total package, this is pretty much a Migos single with Rich The Kid featuring, but I have no complaints about that. It’s an oddly quiet track, and not like in a mellow way but more as in a low-mixed track that doesn’t have much of a punch to it. The track has two things going for it: the verses are quick and entertaining, and the beat, while not slapping as hard as I’d like, is still made up of some amazing instrumental elements (there’s like an oboe or some shit in there, instant listen for me). Yeah if you like that middle-career Migos sound with the autotune and triplet flows then you’ll dig this.
————————————————
Mozzy – Death is Callin
Mozzy’s got an album coming out in the next few weeks, Occupational Hazard, dropping this lead single to get us ready for it. The man has never shied away from talking about more political or socially charged music, with the track here talking about both his personal experiences in the streets brushing with death and the general experiences of the African American community at large, assaulted on all sides from groups of racists and police departments (although those two are basically the same thing). I think the hook on the track is solid; Mozzy usually does his own and puts a lot of effort into them, so they usually come out great anyways. If you’re into more conscious and reflective west-coast music, then this will be for you.
————————————————
A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Trap Manny, & Don Q – Vroom Vroom
The melody of this track is fantastic, and I think we have Trap Manny to thank for that. The catchiness of the hook extends into Don Q’s verse, who plays with that same melody in his writing to create this cohesive listening experience. I think A Boogie must have been rapping on a different song or something because his performance seems detached from the rest of the cast; it’s still pretty good, but I wish there was more of a collaborative nature to his appearance. The beat is also a guitar-backed trap sizzler, par for the course for someone like A Boogie but still entertaining and satisfying to listen to. All three emcees are billed as main artists, and with the track that came out a few months ago with both Don Q and A Boogie on it I’m not sure what kind of project this is leading up to, but I’m all here for it.
————————————————
