Week #1 ('21) 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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Reason (Feat. Joey Bada$$, WESTSIDE BOOGIE, Denzel Curry, & Jack Harlow) – Extinct (Extended)
This is both exactly what I needed and what I believe DOOM would have wanted to come out on the day the world found out about his untimely transition. For you older-folks out there, you may know this as Joey’s Pennyroyal instrumental from way-back-when on his 1999 mixtape, but for you even-older folks you will know this as a beat MF DOOM crafted for his Special Herbs tape, a classic forlorn boom-bap cut with amazing basswork and stellar keys. So there has been multiple layers over the years: DOOM’s cut, Joey’s revitalization, Reason’s rehash on his latest New Beginnings project, and now this monster of a Reason remix featuring some top-tier lyricists. Reason’s version was great, and although this remix doesn’t include Rashad or J.I.D. (I’ll be editing a version with them in there soon enough don’t you worry) it is still one of the best things Reason has been attached to… ever. All kill it on this motherfucker. It is so good to see Joey kill this beat yet again. BOOGIE is a much better lyricist than I think a lot of people give him credit for, killing his performance on here with a fiery flow and amazing wordplay. Jack Harlow is ready to spar with these powerhouse rappers on this cut, being a bit more kiddish but still holding his own. But Denzel Curry? Bro? He killed this shit, front to back, took the beat and ran with the shit. One blasting verse after the other: you don’t want to miss this one.
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Unorthodox (Feat. Solute) – AZ’20
So my guy Unorthodocks sent this shit to me, and I can’t be more grateful for the gesture, because I would not want to have missed this amazing display of emceeing. With a beat that also scratches that itch for more Viktor Vaughn style beats, complete with funny keyboard loops and a solid framework of drums, Unorthodox and Solute weave and bound over the beat with their over-charged flows. There are some gems laced in there, but most of the time you’re treated to ear-candy in verb form, nonsensical bars that have this Quasimoto energy to them, real worldly kind of bars.. Unorthodocks is a rapper from Phoenix, one of the few that I’ve heard of from Arizona, so I can’t wait to see where his clear talent takes him (he has a placement on the new Observe Since ’98 album that came out this week too, a great look).
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Guilty Simpson & Self Serve – Live Forever
Self Serve is either very new to the game or I’ve been sleeping hard, but after the tracks he dropped with Jay Worthy last year I should have known to keep a look out for this guy. The way he was able to coax emotion out of an emcee with his flowery production was something to behold, and something that is a perfect fit for the stylings of Guilty Simpson. Guilty has done many tracks like this in the past, a slower, reflective track dwelling on big topics like… well like life itself and the losses/wins that come with it, but I think Self Serve is a great choice of beatmaker on this one for his very tasteful instrumentals, a great way to extend Guilty’s career into a third decade. It feels important to everyone involved, a track that has the essence of the artists at its core. Maybe they’re gearing up for a project, maybe Self Serve is looking to put out his own compilation tape; I dunno. But I do know that I want to hear more from him, from both of them in fact, going forward in 2021.
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50 Cent (Feat. NLE Choppa & Rileyy Lanez) – Part Of The Game
There’s a new season of Power coming out here very soon, and to mark its release 50 Cent blesses the official soundtrack with a true-to-god 50 Cent single, complete with a hook and solid 50 verse. It’s rare that he puts down his phone and stops trolling the internet at large for long enough to record an actual verse, let alone a whole tracks worth of material, but I must say I am impressed by this single here. He’s even throwing back to some of those older 50 Cent vibes with that 2000’s era beat and classic 50 on the hook, writing his verses in a way that, frankly, I didn’t think 50 was still able to pull off, but I’m glad to be surprised. I do have to say, my favorite part about this is passing the mic to the younger generation for a bit, bringing on young NLE Choppa to demolish his guest spot, fitting the vibe soooo well. I probably won’t be checking out the whole soundtrack, but I’m glad that this single exists.
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Rasheed Chappell & Recognize Real (Feat. The Musalini) – Glass In The Air
New York producer Reckonize Real teams up with New Jersey native (and Trust Gang member) Rasheed Chappell for a second single leading up to what I can only now assume is a full length project from the two of them. We’re looking at loud and dramatic samples (brought in by a smooth introductory piece that I hope to god is another instrumental on the project, cause that sample is too smooth), a bit of chaos amongst all of the sharp strings and horns, but all brought down to ground level with the comfort and paced-nature of Rasheed’s rapping. The Musalini has proven to be a reliable feature artist here lately, especially in his hook game which really gives the track this big-dog energy to it, champagne and yachts and all that jazz (similar to how Willie the Kid might approach a song like this on his own). Lots of layers to this one, and lots of opportunity for this to be both Reckognize’s and Rasheed’s best project if they play their cards right.
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