Weekly Fix #25 ('20)

Welcome to the Weekly Fix, where I go over everything that I’ve listened to that has come out within the past week. I’ll give a little blurb about the project/single with my feelings on it thrown in there, throw some descriptors and other artists names to give you an idea what the project/single is like, and link to all applicable streaming services/online stores where you can find the music. Click here to see a list of previous Fixes

What a week… Goddamn I’m tired folks.

Between the huge amount of material we got this week (I probably listened to 20 albums this week, and about that many singles) and the shit I have going on at my real-ass job at the moment, I didn’t have an extra second to sit on. I’m still working on a couple of different Write-Ups, and I feel bad because shit just seems to keep getting in the way, but hopefully things get back to normal soon because there are a few albums I REALLY want to write about that I haven’t gotten the chance to really sit down and do some research on.

Like I said, huge numbers of new projects and singles this week; all areas of hip-hop and R&B fired on all cylinders, and I guarantee anyone can find something to love in this Fix. Pay special attention to these underground motherfuckers though; Monday Night, Napoleon Da Legend, and Recognize Ali need your patronage more than Tee Grizzley and Smokepurpp do (still listen to all of them, just consider some Bandcamp or Physical CD action for my boys here).

Next week is another week that I’m forecasting is going to be a shitshow (both in the best and worst of ways): hopefully 38 Spesh actually drops his long awaited 6 Shots: Overkill this week, Family Gang Black will speak for Toronto, and a one-two melodic punch from 88GLAM and Yungeen Ace will round out the week nicely. A new IDK compilation tape with tons of features and a deluxe edition to Lil Durk’s recent Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 mixtape and we got ourselves a feast. Like usual, come check out the Upcoming Heat page here on Tha Soup Dude’s Kitchen to keep up with everything I’m seeing on the horizon.

Thanks to all of your beautiful people who check in on me here on TSDK, you all make this dream POSSIBLE. See you next week, and hopefully I can crank out a Write-Up before July…

Here’s a link to the Week #25 Playlist (’20) for y’all

&

Here’s a link to the Week #25 (’20) Art Appreciation post

-----PROJECTS-----

Monday Night & Foisey – Holly Favored

This album came totally out of left-field for me, because for all of the great characters that have come out of the Richmond scene, Monday Night seemed like a supporting character, a guy who would pop in on the bigger guys like Anakin and Kahuna like Big Syke used to do for Pac. I was HELLA wrong (except for the Big Syke comparison; Monday Night has a voice the presence very similar to the late emcee) about this guy, and not only does he come through with an exceptional statement on why he’s an integral part of the VA movement, but he’s given a suite of beats that are some of the best that I’ve heard come out of the RVA. Monday and Foisey (who produces the entire joint besides one track) take a much more traditional approach to creating this album, not dipping into the experimental natures of some of their contemporaries, but this is for the best as Monday Night is an older and more straight-shooting soul; his voice is incredibly deep on some Issac Hayes shit for real, and technical wordplay is replaced with a sense of direct honesty and a down-to-earth rapping style that paints very clear portraits of life in the streets. I can hear he’s trying for the simplicity of the oldest emcees out there: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Biggie Smalls. Foisey brings this whole thing together with an incredible display of sampled material; there’s still some weird vibes on tracks like Law and Order Vibes, but for the most part these beats are 90’s to the core, with both soulful grooves and bumping boom-bap. There’s a softer and more reflective edge to the beats, with a great variety in tones and moods that feel like a truly complete album experience. Add an impressive line of guest verses from cats like AHNKLEJOHN and Big Kahuna OG, and you have one of the best projects to come out of this scene, period.

Bandcamp

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Napoleon Da Legend – Charles De Gaulle

Napoleon’s last project, Chikara, was my first full project from the guy, a great first impression that gave me the sense of a heavily New York inspired emcee that has mostly left behind his French roots (the guy was born over Paris, only later coming to Brooklyn by way of DC). Well obviously I didn’t look back into his history deep enough, because not only is his lineage still strong and close to his heart, but this new project here solidifies that duality in his rapping in a way that very few artists have done. This project is structured into two parts: the first four tracks sees Napoleon killing these self-produced raw New York boom-bap cuts in his native French, and the back half is the other side of the coin, killing the same beats in English. Of course, I have no idea what he’s saying on the first four tracks (I can get little glimpses when I understand a scattered word, or he throws a little English in there), but you can get into the flow and heart of the spitting easily and vibe well enough. But if the English side is any indication, he was spitting hot fire on that first half, because his wordplay and cleverness is in top-form on this second half. Strong metaphors and word-association, a steady a solid flow, and a great voice that has really taken the form of a grimy street cat here in America puts Napoleon in a circle of emcees that are a must watch right now. There is no darkness here; it’s relatable raps about his come-up, struggle, and how great of a rapper he is, a lot of influence from 90’s rappers like Q-Tip and the Wu-Tang. If you like wisdom, Blu, self-produced emcees, multilingual rapping (specifically French), and smart lyrical talent, check out this great project.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/Bandcamp

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Tee Grizzley – The Smartest

By far the best full project that we’ve gotten from Tee Grizzley, with every track full of strong writing, hilariously hard punchlines, banging beats, and a great attention paid to hooks and choruses. While the majority of the album is lazer-focused on the life of a heartless and hardened street gangsta, where this album really sets itself apart from those like it are the ways he can incorporate the realer more serious subjects: the biggest source of this in Tee’s life is the passing of his aunt/manager JB, who was murdered last year during an attempt on Grizzley’s life. There is pain, anger, resentment, and a yearning for revenge that is found all over this album, and he uses all of these emotions to drive him to make the best spread of songs he possibly could, with the success he will find from doing so being one of the ways he finds to best honor her memory. Whenever he’s not speaking on his personal relationships and hardships he’s detailing ways he going to murder his opps, keep control of his thots, and locking down his spots with guns and violence, the observations and wordplay here being both hilarious and real. Tee’s flow has always reminded me of the Bay area, with dudes like ALLBLACK and SOB X RBE being much closer stylistically than his fellow Detroit up-and-comers, and The Smartest is Tee embracing this clear link more than he ever had before. The beats are a spread from the likes of DJ Mustard, Hit-Boy, Scott Storch, and PLO, all of whom bring the slaps and claps, sprinkling in a healthy dose of those alien synths that have been perfected in the Bay area. Top all of this off with a great cast of features from the likes of Lil Keed, Lil Baby, and Meek Mill, and you have the most complete Tee Grizzley experience to date. Listen to this is you like modern west-coast music, confident and violent gangsta rappers, choppy and aggressive flows, and lyrics that will have you doing the stank face constantly with how vivid and disrespectful some of these lyrics are. 

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Rome Streetz – Noise Kandy 4

While I think that his last full length, Joyeria, benefitted greatly from having a sole producer throwing the best beats possible at him, Noise Kandy 4 still runs above the average grimy New York street cat. The bars will never be in question: flow, rhyme schemes, and gritty lyrics have always and will always be the domain of Rome Streetz, and his sharpness has not dulled one bit on this project. As with the other albums in the Noise Kandy series, there doesn’t really seem to be a “point” in the project persay, as in this is rapping for technical flourish and to demonstrate how much better of a rapper Rome is than you and anyone you know. There’s nothing wrong with spitting for the sake of spitting, and if you’re good with rappers like AZ and Ghostface who can rap about just about anything, then you’ll love this project. Rome doesn’t waste time on a bunch of features, and sparingly uses contributions from Estee Nack and Bub Rock, who both make pretty good arguments for why they should appear on an album with a prime focus on *rapping*. Keep your eyes on this guy, because Rome Streetz is poising himself as one of the best underground rappers in the game today, and projects like this only serve to bolster his argument.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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City Girls – City On Lock

Now THIS right here is an album that I would describe as entirely uncompromising, a rarity in today’s music landscape dominated by label focus-grouping. So there’s a couple of reasons why this is so impressive: one is that this is coming from a group that is signed to Quality Control Music, a label *notorious* for fucking with artistic vision in favor of chart-chasing. Two is that this is a group of two strong women leads, both of whom can rap and bring energy (that is OVERWHELMINGLY sexual; like, you know how Weezy raps about pussy? City Girls is that times at least 10) that few emcees in general can bring, let alone fellow females. That they are women and no ham-fisted singing or R&B pop bullshit is found here is so heartening; these two have a style, a formula, and they do not let up on their strengths for the entire LP. This is a brazen, antagonistic, and, you must be warned, is so NSFW that it’s not even funny (I mean, it’s funny, but for real wear headphones with this shit if you’re in your cubicle). City Girls aren’t afraid to tell people about their sexual desires, to put it lightly. Sonically, this album has a older heart to it in terms of popular music; there are cuts on here that remind me of 2000’s bounce beats, like the oldest of Wayne and Cash Money material, as well as Florida legends like Trina and Trick Daddy. Truck knocking music, repetitive and oppressive bass, very thick and tight woven drums with the BPM turned way the fuck up; it’s club music from another time represented in a modern era. When it’s not in old Florida, it’s in new trap, with minimal and sub-bass bangers ready to fuck up your system. If you like party music, some of the most hedonistic and indulgent I’ve heard in years, strong female leads, hard-as-nails beats, and songs that are designed to be catchy without being melodic or “poppy”, then you need to give this a try.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Recognize Ali & Stu Bangas – Guerilla Dynasty

Stu Bangas is a great name in the underground scene right now of you are looking for loud, bumping, and raw hip-hop that sounds straight out of the chambers of 90’s New York. It’s pretty much direct emulation of the stylings of people like Havoc and the RZA, down to the looped chip samples and hard-hitting boom-bap drums. As for emcees that would take full advantage of the stylings Stu is presenting here, Ghana-born rapper Recognize Ali is a square peg in the square hole, who’s villainous delivery couldn’t have been more appropriate on this project. Ali has a flow that, while it sticks to a formula, is rock-solid in its consistency, and he has a way of displaying violence with words that reminds me of people like Kool G Rap and Prodigy. Stu and Ali are a great pairing, cutting straight to the chase with short ~3 minute tracks, and inviting guests that can match the cold biting nature of Recognize: SmooVth, Verbal Kent (who dropped his own album with Ali earlier this year with Dueling Experts), and Ill Bill all make appearances that leave great impressions. If old school hip-hop is your thing and mafia violence is your game, then hop to it and listen to this album.

Apple Music/Bandcamp

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Meyhem Lauren & Harry Fraud – Glass 2.0

This project is more like a collection remixes of tracks that appeared on both the previous Glass project and the Precious Metals EP, both done by the duo of Lauren and Fraud. The quality is upper considerably, with the vocal and instrumental fidelities being infinitely better than the previous versions of these sings, especially the ones that appeared on Precious Metals. The rapping from Lauren on the older tracks is still as great today as it was when these tracks were released, and the newer tracks fit seamlessly, showing that he truly hasn’t lost any of his edge and humor. He rolls with guys like Big Body Bes and Action Bronson, and the hilarious natures of those two have rubbed off on Meyhem in the past decade, but instead of sounding goofy he’s combined into a smart mix of jokester and dead-serious mafia boss, sitting in a whole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in Queens eating a plate of spaghetti with a giant diamond-encrusted gold Jesus chain on his neck. The biggest difference between the old and new here are the beats, which have a lot more elements to them in terms of instrumentation. The older instumentals were vibey and sparse, where the newer remixes that appear on Glass 2.0 are louder, utilizing noisier drums and horn samples that reflect the animation and gusto of the emcee. I would say that, overall, all of the material on here is better than the original (maybe I prefer the original Steamed Monkfish more), and if you are missing Mayhem Lauren as much as I am these days this will be a quick fix. Hilarious punchlines, mafioso rap, and great sampled beats with old-school rap and funk vibes (some electric synthy vibes too) make this a solid listen for people looking for underground rap that will make an impression.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Smokepurpp – Florida Jit

I think this project serves as a little bit of a refocus in Smokepurpp’s career. His past few albums have maybe been a little too reliant on the melodic and pop-rap elements in modern hip-hop, but that’s not to say that he isn’t good at it, it’s just that the rawness and ferocity of his early Soundcloud days were largely missing from projects like Deadstar 2. To be fair, a large part of the appeal of the early Soundcloud scene were the producers, and that’s the first thing that Purpp addresses on  Florida Jit: most of this project is produced by the foremost name in that scene, Ronny J. Almost every beat here is a banger, a result of Ronny going back to the basics of the Florida Trap Manual: hit them with the distorted bass, give them a demented key/wind/horn melody, HIT THEM WITH THE DISTORTED BASS, repeat. The repetitiveness is a keystone of the sub-genre, and with average song length being just over two minutes (literally only one track out of 17 breaks the 3 minute mark) it makes the listening experience quick and manageable, albeit a bit fleeting in terms of the ideas presented. Some may see this as lazy: like, why not just build it out into a “full” song? But the brevity of the tracks and the mantra-like repetition *is* the genre, an in terms of sticking to the genre, this album is pretty true-to-form, and for that I give Smokepurpp props. If you like artists like Lil Pump, Ski Mask the Slump God, and other young Florida artists then give this a listen. But also if you like the older southern coastal artists, the ones like Trick Daddy and Rick Ross, as well as Memphis emcees like Lord Infamous and Juicy J, then I think you’ll find something to love here.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Skyzoo – Milestones

I’m not ashamed to say that this project had me crying by the end of it. It’s a beautifully written EP that follows a young man growing up with a strong Father in their lives, a story that is both about Skyzoo growing up and a mirror of the experiences of the character Tre from the classic film Boyz n the Hood. There are many parallels between the lives of Skyzoo and Tre: both spend their early childhoods with their mothers before going to live with their fathers, both had Father’s who were around to guide them and teach them how to be integrous and morally aware men, and both eventually come to see that their Father’s were the ultimate compasses in their lives. The EP utilizes many clips from the movie to give context to where we are in the story, and the way that Skyzoo is able to seamlessly use Tre’s story to illustrate his own is magical to witness. But, more than this, Skyzoo is able to draw upon his own experiences of being a Father himself to give truly genuine thank-yous to his Father before him, knowing the struggle of molding young humans on a personal level. As the project goes on, each track gets more and more sentimental, and by the end with the track Duly Noted I was simply just overcome with the admiration that Skyzoo is directing towards his father. The penultimate track, A Song for Fathers, is sharp enough in the emotion, but that last track, which uses a direct sample of the soundtrack of Boyz n the Hood, specifically the famous scene where Furious and Tre are fishing, and the intricate and poetic way that Skyzoo explains how he knows he had a leg-up on life because of his Father’s wisdom, and how a “baton has been passed” between his Father and himself as dad is touching on so many levels. Simply brilliant project, from the frame of the story to the emotions found within. If you love your daddy, please listen to this.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/Bandcamp

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A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Artist 2.0 (Deluxe)

A lot of these newer deluxe editions are lackluster B-sides that didn’t make the initial cut (usually for good reasons), and while the tradition is mostly continued on this new A Boogie deluxe of his Artist 2.0 project, at least Hoodie’s B-sides are as quality as most super melodic trappers A-sides. In terms of melodramatic and overwrought singer/rappers, A Boogie wit da Hoodie is one of the best in his class, with a team of songwriters and beatmakers behind him that give him a significant step-up over his contemporaries. The kid has a talent for creating a catchy melody on almost every song here (both the original Artist 2.0 and this deluxe edition), and even when some of the other ideas fall flat A Boogies performance is almost universally solid. There are no features besides someone named Melody on the new tracks, which would have been a bigger problem had A Boogie not been able to hold his own, but I had a much easier time getting through it than I would have another typical trapper. I will say one of the biggest stylistic differences from the original projects is that A Boogie delivers a lot more of the Brooklyn Drill style that has been going around; kids like Lil Tjay have been claiming they’re the “king” of this style, and A Boogie is here to say that he won’t be one-upped that easily, slipping into the Drill vibes seamlessly and effectively. If you love childlike melody (lots and lots of melody), pop rap and Brooklyn drill, and solid song-writing abilities, give this delux edition a chance (and go back and listen to original for more of a feature-centric project).

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Teyana Taylor – The Album

Alright let’s get the negatives out of the way: this album is way too long, at least 7 tracks too long. It also suffers from this very strange FIVE PART structure, with each letter in the word “Album” having it’s own part. It makes little sense, especially when a lot of these tracks don’t mean much beyond the surface level of the song’s title. HOWEVER, whenever there is focused writing, a strong topic, and a feature doesn’t get in her way, Teyana Taylor makes some of the most seductive R&B in the industry. There’s a thick smokiness to her voice that a lot of women just can’t hit nowadays, and the way she can switch between her lows and highs can be stunning. All this is to say that, on paper and technically, this album is fantastic, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired, mostly in the trimming of fat and unnecessary features departments. Still, there are some amazing highlights to this record, and if you are more of a fan of people like Rihanna and SZA than I am, you’ll probably find a lot more to love about The Album than I did.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SINGLES-------

J. Cole – Snow On Tha Bluff

We had a little bit of a beef/not really a beef thing going on this week. A back and forth between reclusive conscious (or I guess not so conscious?) rapper J. Cole and the incredibly outspoken conscious rapper/poet Noname emerged after Cole directed this track towards the young woman, critiquing the way she was using her platform on social spaces like Twitter to call out celebrities for not using their own platforms to advocate for black issues as much as they should, especially given that some of these artists, like J. Cole, built a career upon being thoughtful and outspoken about black issues. Ima be honest and say that I don’t really fall one way or the other on this issue; I mean, sure, it’s a bit pig-headed of Cole to come out with that kind of tone (ironic.) towards a black woman airing her grievances with the industry, and he’s built a career posturing himself as “woke”, but at the end of the day this track is a solid in terms of word choice, storytelling, and flow (especially that flow my god, it reminds me of Andre on Frank’s Solo Reprise). The ending bit with the singing and whatnot was maybe a bit corny, but Cole had something to say and he said it.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Noname – Song 33

In terms of a “response” to J. Cole’s Snow On Tha Bluff, it does it’s job well of laying out what she thought of the oddly sideways track. She’s not clapping back in the same way that someone in a rap beef would do, but rather she’s simply stating that she views was J. Cole did as unconstructive and distracting to the real issues that is going on right now. There’s a slickness and poignancy to the bars here, in one breathe talking about the trans women being murdered and Amazon creating a new world order, and in the other clowning J. Cole for responding to Noname in his studio basement while the world is ending. There are a lot of ideas packed into a track that’s merely a minute long, and add that to the sparce production from non-other than Madlib himself, who comes through with a drum-kit and smooth bassline that sounds like a live band setting, you have a highly enjoyable track. Like I said above about Snow On The Bluff, I don’t know who’s right or who’s wrong in this case; HOWEVER, I will say that I liked J. Cole’s song more musically and technically, but in terms of tone and message Noname takes the cake. If you like highly political music, short and sweet poetry, and anti-patriarchy vibes, give it a listen.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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KYLE – Bouncin

For being such a goofy motherfucker, I can’t help but feeling that KYLE has some of the best melodies in the game right now. His voice is this perfect mix of childlike, innocent, soulful, playful, but also a little sad and introspective, and his flow whenever he gets into some real rapping is nothing to scoff at. This new single has the best of both worlds, serving as a two part track that sees the first half indulging in his singing with a killer melody, while the second is a more bumping trap instrumental from Hit-Boy that has KYLE spitting quick and nimble. It’s a moody, vibe of a track that shows off a lot of KYLE’s biggest strengths as an artist, while also diving a bit deeper into a artist who I’m sure most of you would think off top as unrelentingly positive. My advice is to go back and listen to his last album, Light of Mine, an album that I slept on for well over a year only to find it would have been one of my favorites of 2018. Then, listen to his past few singles to see where this new project of his is going (he said he’s delayed it a couple times because of the whole pandemic thing going around right now), because if this new single is any indication I think we have a shot at getting something deeper and more personal, but also not sacrificing the musicality and vibrancy of KYLE’s character.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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NoCap (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert) – Count A Million

I’ve always seen NoCap as more in the lane of cats like Quando Rondo and YoungBoy NBA, but I think he’s doing his best to sound like Lil Uzi on this cut, being a lot more animated with his delivery and stressing over those high notes and “yeah-yeahs” more than I’ve heard him before. It’s definitely not good singing, but it is admirable for it’s heart and passion; I think the biggest issue is that NoCap goes in with little vocal manipulation with the autotunes and whatnot, which makes it sound rougher (but truer), while Uzi almost always has that sheen of processing behind him. I think the two complement each other well, being the better out of the two Lil Uzi features that placed in the singles category this week. I’m liking how there’s some real emotion behind the track, especially on Lil Uzi’s part. The beat is a great one to backdrop this sad shit, with crisp trap percussion taking point in front of elegant and plinking piano keys. Like I said, Quando and YoungBoy are natural starting points for this, throw in some Chi-town kids like Polo G and Calboy and you know about what you’re getting into. Listen if you like melodic trapping, solid singles, and young pop-rap energy.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Shy Glizzy (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert) – Right Or Wrong

There’s a way that Shy Glizzy is able to make any shade of pop-rap sound unique to him that people are still not giving him credit for. Even though this is a trap/melodic hip-hop cut that would be found on any albums from the like of YoungBoy NBA, Lil Baby, or even Lil Uzi Vert himself, there’s something about Glizzy’s super nasally and high-pitched voice that make the track’s origin unmistakable. His flow is rudimentary but sufficient, his lyrics are really nothing special but they get the job done, and the beat is a banger but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. The reason why this song is more than that to me is because Glizzy is a great character, and his charisma and bravado set him apart from people in his lane (despite being much older than most people in his lane). Getting Uzi on this single was a no-brainer, as the styles found between them are complimentary to say the least; I will say that the flow that Glizzy uses is one that Uzi is definitely familiar with, and it shapes Uzi’s verse in a way that makes it a little less stellar than the one he gave to NoCap this week. He’s had a couple of singles leading up to this new album of his, but I think this one is the one that is getting me the most hype for a new Shy Glizzy project. If you like amateur (bordering on “so-bad-it’s-good) melodies, great energy, unique voices in pop-rap, banger trap beats, and guys like Kodak Black, YoungBoy NBA, and even Gucci Mane, give this a shot.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Fivio Foreign (Feat. Young M.A.) – Move Like a Boss

Even though the subject matter still runs about par for the course in regards to modern hip-hop, the beats and vibes of these new Brooklyn Drill tracks create these dead-serious vibes that I’m all here for. I love the cute melodies and the Pi’erre Bourne beats just as much as the next man, but the grand strings, deep and penetrating electric synth bass notes, and, on the particularly good ones like this new single from the leader of this wave Fivio Foreign, you get this warped organized chaos vibe. To make a long story short, this beat is a Drill banger, one of the best out right now, and has all of the hallmarks of this new subgenre front and center for all to see. Whatever your opinion on Fivio is in regards to him as a lyricist (I’m personally partial to the criticism that he sound like he’s rapping in bullet points), you can’t deny that the man sounds unique and engaging. It reminds me in a lot of ways of E-40 and other pioneers of the Bay area in California; not that 40 and Fivio sound alike, but that they both bring a unique take on rapping and approaching a beat that will have most people saying, for better or for worse “wow I’ve never heard it done like *that* before”. Young M.A. does her thing on the track, and I think out of a lot of artists that have tried to adapt to this style of music she’s one of the better ones, but I would have liked her contribution to have been more substantial. If you’ve ever heard a Pop Smoke track you liked, or like Rich The Kid or Jay Critch, and are open to some interesting beat structures inspired by those from the pop-rap scene on London right now, open your heart to this shit too.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Tyga – VACATION

There is a solid heart and core to this track, with the hooks and melody being exceptionally written to be catchy and attention grabbing, maybe dipping into gimmick territory at times but I can overlook that. The flow follows a pattern that is super satisfying to me, but I’m glad the song is as short as it is because it can get repetitive quick. Tyga obviously isn’t out here to impress with his lyrics, and if you’ve heard one Tyga song you pretty much know what to expect here. One of my favorite aspects of the track is the beat, which is a goofy reed/wind melody in front of a by-the-numbers trap beat, but it creates an interesting pocket that Tyga exploits to his unique benefit. Definitely one of the better Tyga singles in recent memory; if you like the Migos (specifically Offset), Gucci Mane, and cute trap beats you would see from Future and Lil Yachty, then you would probably agree with me.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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H.E.R. – I Can’t Breathe

One of the more emotional and moving songs to come out of the new spur of revolutionary and political music, H.E.R. uses her angelic and beautiful voice to tell us all the story of institutional racism here in America. It touches on George Floyd, but it makes much larger statements on the psychological damage these systems are doing to black communities around the country. The people who are being murdered, the siblings and mothers of these people, their friends and family who now live with the knowledge that one of their own were violently taken from them by the same people who are meant to protect them; all of these entities come together into a message that these things will not be tolerated any longer, and that a unified bloc of allies have come together to dismantle this system so that it may no longer attack, subjugate, and kill those under their charge. Obviously on a musical level H.E.R. is on point with the melodies and her word choice, and this track serves as one of her most thought-out and powerful songs to date. Especially compelling is the last half of the track, which isn’t as much of a song as it is blistering social commentary told through spoken word, like some sort of young militant beat poet. Listen to this, regardless of what you like; it’s a message everyone should hear.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Blueface – First Mission

First Mission is a track that is unmistakably Blueface, from the off-beat rapping to the low-fi west-coast piano-backed banger of a beat that he’s rapping over. There’s just a sort of latent catchiness that Blueface can exhibit in his songs, where even if it’s the most asinine and repetitive garbage, it’s asinine and repetitive garbage that you just can’t seem to be able to get out of your head. It helps that his tracks, like this one, are short and easily digestible, being two minutes or so at best. I can see this song being written to catch on amongst the GTA Online/Red Dead Online communities on TikTok, with the concept of “acting like you’re going on your first mission” being prime material to troll people with over the internet, and with that in mind I think the track will either be clowned for trying too hard or embraced for it’s topicality. Either way, as a fan of Blueface, I got what I wanted out of the track, and if you like Blueface (or are a fan of other people in this style like last week’s Drakeo the Ruler, Shoreline Mafia, or even some newer Lil Yachty) give this shit a listen.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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YoungBoy NBA (Feat. Lil Baby) – One Shot

As much I as like YoungBoy on paper, I never find myself going back to any of his projects besides Until Death Call My Name. The key reason for this is that Until Death Call My Name, like One Shot, has a feature. Obviously the 2018 album had more features, but seeing NBA collaborating with people more nowadays than he was in his past is something that I’ve been wanting to see for a while now. While it’s his own damn fault that he keeps burning these bridges with famous artists, branching out and ingratiating himself with existing fanbases is important, and what better wave to hop on that Lil Baby’s. The two pretty much live in the same wheelhouse, quickly and melodically describing their emotions and experiences growing up in poverty, the trials of being famous, and the doubled-edged fun/danger of being a strung out drug addict. There’s a lot of chemistry to be found here, all brought together by a simple yet effective trap beat. If you like any of these newer singing kids: Yungeen Ace, NoCap, Lil Uzi Vert, Quando Rondo, and the list goes on, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t like this.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Gucci Mane (Feat. Pooh Shiesty) – Still Remember

I give it props for being a steady and paced assault of words, more reminiscent of an older and murderous Gucci Mane that his more recent material. For better or for worse the beat follows suit, with a flair-less trap beat being merely a canvas for the two trappers to paint their words over. Guwop is pretty much just doing his thing here, not much else to say, and anyone who’s been following the Atlanta scene for any amount of time should like it like I do. Older guys like Waka, Ralo, Young Scooter, and newer kids like Gunna and Lil Baby could be seen on this track easily. I’ve never heard of this Pooh Shiesty guy, and don’t know whether he’s newer or more historical, but he fits into the Gucci blueprint well enough to get a passing grade. Just listen to it and support Gucci Mane, he deserves the respek.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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