Week #43 ('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.
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Jack Harlow – Tyler Herro
This kid is fast becoming one of my favorites in mainstream hip-hop. He has everything: the humor, the wit, the entertaining deadpan of a delivery, and, with this track as the most solid bit of evidence, his beat selection is absolutely impeccable. Those woodwinds bro… the melody on this shit is ridiculous, entrancing you instantly with the mystical melodrama, and not letting go for the entire track. Jack has so many great one-liners on here, some might come across as a bit corny but it’s never try-hard, with everything he says having this aura of effortlessness. I need a project from this dude: I need it to have crazy beats like this one, I need solid features from a lot of people, and I need it soon, because this track shows so much potential for Harlow to really breakout into a household name.
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Flipp Dinero (Feat. A Boogie wit da Hoodie) – No No No
Maybe it was just the week for instrumental wind melodies, because this track joins Harlow’s as two of the best beats I’ve heard this week. Where Tyler Herro is more reserved and mysterious, No No No goes all out with the performance hitting high peaks of sound mixed with low valleys of smoke. It really is a stunning instrumental, one that Flipp Dinero uses to the fullest with his infectious melody and simple-yet-effective hook. He is rapping well, singing well enough (he isn’t the best singer to be honest, but his heart and weight are really behind it, so I’m willing to overlook the small imperfections in service of the passion), and structuring the songs like a pro. A Boogie has a long appearance here, a perfect character to bring in on a track like this, killing it with the melody and rapping as well. I thought Dinero’s last album was heavily underrated, so let’s hope his profile continues to grow with whatever upcoming project he has for us.
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Sada Baby & Lil Yachty – Not Regular
I think that Yachty hits the perfect balance between goofy and hard with this track, proving that it’s not his rapping or persona whenever he’s going darker, but the tone of the track that really meshes well with his style. The track is rambunctious and energetic, not taking itself too seriously but still pushing this aggressive gangsta slap that this new Detroit wave is eating up right now. Sada Baby is, arguably the face of this wave, which takes a lot of influence from the Bay Area/Sacramento in the flows and instrumentals, packing in the wordplay Detroit is known for into lower-stakes club bangers. Sada is gross, menacing, but somehow loveable guy, spitting bars that are both funny in content and slimy in delivery. The surprising chemistry between Yachty, Sada, and the beat is one of those unexpected things that makes me love hip-hop more and more. This is a track that’s only available on YouTube at the moment, but I hope for y’alls sake it come out to those streaming platforms, cause this is too good of a song to pass up.
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Jay NiCE, Ru$h, & Tha God Fahim (Feat. Quelle Chris) – Kalamata Olives (C’est la Vie)
This new triple-threat of an album from Jay, Ru$h, and Fahim is shaping up to be one for the ages. The Delaware guys already have a supreme chemistry with each other, and the beat (not sure who did it, but it sounds like some JLVSN shit) is already what the two are accustomed to spitting over. Y’all already know Fahim can rap over anything, and his appearance is in line with the quality classic hip-hop this scene brings. The real surprise here is on the feature, Quelle Chris, who I never figured to be one for a beat like this one, but hearing it in action really solidifies to me that the man can do anything. These guys better stop releasing singles to this thing before I get too hype (and before they drop the entire thing beforehand, there’s only 7 tracks on there).
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COMBSY (Feat. 1st Verse & Mike Dee) – Live from the Quarantine
Alright, I am extremely excited to share this shit with y’all, cause it’s the first time I’ve ever put the spotlight on local artists like this. COMBSY is a band based out of none-other than Tha Soup Dude’s own hometown, Tulsa, OK, one that I’ve been following for a minute. My man Chris Combs is a killer instrumentalist; the dude can play fucking anything, and his last album, the self-titled Combsy, is one that I return to often whenever I want to feel some genuine pride for where I live. But where his last album was exclusively jazz/soul/slightly hip-hop instrumental music, this new single right here lands dead-center into my sphere of influence, bringing into the fold two local rappers to make this an explosive performance. I’m not familiar with the rappers here, but both of them demolish the low-key and unassuming instrumental, which is a smoky looped guitar lick. PLEASE, if y’all listen to anything this week, give this a shot: any hip-hop aficionado will love the energy and passion behind this track.
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Jeezy (Feat. Yo Gotti) – Back
A strangely prolific year from the ancient trap legend Young Jeezy, who has already released two projects in about the last year. I figured someone of his stature would sit back and let the young blood take over the game again, as is tradition, but this single here seems like another album cycle revving up again, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given that this single is actually pretty fire. I love the beat, it’s crisp and dramatic, and the wordplay and one-liners from both Jeezy and Gotti take me back to some of the best days in Trap. It’s distinctly modern, so don’t go into this expecting some TM101, but for someone who’s been in the game for so long, it’s one of the better adaptations from the older generation out there.
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Jay Worthy – Who I Do It For
There’s just something about Jay Worthy’s voice that lends itself to sullen, reflective street hip-hop, conveying a potent nostalgia growth as a person that few others can match. Maybe it’s not that Jay is really dazzling you with words or technical delivery, but rather coming with a more conversational and easy-to-follow flow with lyrics that are more of a story of the goings-on in the streets. The beat really just adds to the ambiance of his performance, letting you know that we aren’t about to turn-up, but rather that we need to sit down and get ready to listen to a street sermon. Listen to this is you like your West-Coast music with some heart in it.
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Tay Money (Feat. Mulatto) – Brat
I’ve never given Tay Money a listen before; while I don’t think her style is for everyone (I can see it being grating and annoying to some), I think if you value music that has no other purpose than to be entertaining you will be thoroughly satisfied. Gaudy, flashy, disrespectful; I love it. It’s just flexing music set to the tone of trap music. The lyrics are just funny, crazy and outrageous statements that can only make you left, especially on Tay’s side of things. Mulatto is has more of a hard-edge, where some of these bars will have you genuinely impressed, where even someone like Tay Money can’t take away the powerful and sexual delivery. Fun music, give it a shot if you like pop-trap like Cardi B or whatnot.
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Saweetie (Feat. Jhene Aiko) – Back to the Streets
I have similar things to say about this track that I did about Tay Money’s track above, but I think Jhene brings this track up into a different league. Saweetie is solid, she has serviceable melodies and rapping that I think is entertaining as a persona, but I think Jhene really has that star power of a silky voice and surprisingly apt rapping ability. I could easily see something like this playing on the radio, which I hope ends up being that case since both of these women have been having a killer 2020.
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