Week #48 ('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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RJ Payne (Feat. Reed Dollaz, TayRoc, Marvwon, Aye Verb, DNA, & DJ Doo Wop) – BLOODSPORT
There are barfests, and then there are bloody massacres, and this track right here falls squarely into that latter category. RJ Payne is already one of the most vicious emcees alive today, and his presence alone would warrant a listen for the hype-inducing wordplay, but these guys really had to take it up a notch… or rather five notches. Five of the best battle rappers in the United States make their appearances here, hailing from all over the US from cities like Detroit, New York, Atlanta, and Baltimore, as well as RJ’s own Philadelphia. As a former battle rapper himself who used to go by the name of Reignman, this move makes a lot of sense. Honest to god every verse is better than the last one, culminating in a fucking BARN BURNER from RJ himself; DO NOT listen to this shit around anything breakable, because you WILL be throwing hands with the air for no reason. RJ has an album coming out soon, and goddamn if the past few singles haven’t been legendary.
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Page Kennedy (Feat. The Game, Grafh, Mysonne, KXNG Crooked, 3D Natee, Locksmith, & Ransom) – The Grand Finale 2021
So, I’ll admit, I didn’t know more than a couple of those battle rappers RJ Payne brought on to his single this week, so I didn’t know what to expect. But this shit right here? This The Grand Finale 2021 shit? I knew from the lineup this was going to be a nuclear bomb, and I was not disappointed. Every single motherfucker here is an unstoppable monster, with quotable after quotable in an almost overwhelming stream. This shit is TEN MINUTES LONG, with each of the 7 rappers getting some massive real estate on the track to really get their shit popping. There are some usual suspects when looking at the heavy hitters here, but I’ve got to give the crown to Locksmith here, who came with those scorched earth tactics on this motherfucker, spitting quickly and with ungodly wordplay. I mean if you like hip-hop, like, at all, this is where you need to be. You can listen to this and Bloodsport back to back and basically get an EP of bars.
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Bookz, Asun Eastwood, Riffic Da Gul, Snackz, & Blue Epps – Eastern Conference
WHAT IS UP WITH THE POSSE CUTS THIS WEEK BRUH? We got battle rappers, legendary spitters, and now we’re getting the cream of the crop of Toronto’s underground scene. Like RJ’s track, I wasn’t familiar with anyone outside of Asun Eastwood on this lineup, but I’m glad I gave this one a chance because all of these dudes are fire. It isn’t quite as vintage sounding as I was expecting, with a more modern beat and flows being the name of the game here, but each emcee brings their own style of wordplay and accents to really diversify themselves. If you want a posse cut that is a bit more subdued and cool-headed, while also showing some of Toronto’s best, give this shit a shot.
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The Nomad (Feat. JoJo Pellegrino & RJ Payne) – Problemo
A week like this one reminds me of why I love this underground shit: you can look above and see some hard-ass beats from RJ Payne, and then you can get a track like this one that sounds like a leisurely stroll in comparison. This instrumental from The Nomad sounds like a boom-bap Banjo Kazooie loading screen with the frivolous keyboard; it’s a relatively simple loop, but it’s a fun one regardless. If you’re here after listening to BLOODSPORT above, I don’t need to explain RJ Payne to you: he kills it, period. But JoJo Pellegrino is another one of those bloodthirsty killers in hip-hop today that needs some respect put on his name. JoJo has been around the New York circle for a minute now, but he’s really started gaining a profile in this modern underground through link ups with guys like Pounds and RJ himself. I had never heard of this Nomad dude before, but I’ll be looking out for any project Problemo will be attached to.
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Benny the Butcher & Rick Hyde – Under the Scope
This track right here is the product of a producer by the name of Imperitiv, who’s dropped a couple of singles over the past few months leading up to a solo LP. Like most producer albums, it’s going to feature a wide array of talents, and he couldn’t have picked better ones for this newest single than Buffalo’s own Rick Hyde and Benny the Butcher. The crispy drums, slow and lumbering pace, and the deadly drones in the background sound like classic Black Soprano Family shit, both emcees sounding right at home on this one. This track is a short taste of straight drug kingpin bars, a perfect teaser for the upcoming project.
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Louie Ray (Feat. Dave East) – Today
Ray is one of the golden children out of Detroit right now, having the perfect flow and sense of humor for this very entertaining scene. Detroit Trap thrives off of saying deadly serious things in the midst of totally outlandish nonsense, with some literal jokes thrown in there, all at a higher BPM than traditional trap; Louie Ray takes advantage of all of this masterfully, a unique personality that warrants a listen. Out of everything I though Dave East would spit over, a Detroit Trap beat is something I didn’t see coming. Even listening to the track you can hear that he’s having some difficulty getting into a comfortable pocket, but you can also tell he’s having a lot of fun here, and the unorthodox mix leads to something really memorable. I think this is a great point to start with the subgenre, especially for you Eastern cats who want to see what’s going on out the Midwest right now.
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42 Dugg (Feat. Reaper) – Can’t Complain
I’ve missed a lot of the 42 Dugg hype over the past couple years, not because I don’t like the guy but, whenever it comes down to it, because he just can’t hold my attention in longer spans. There’s something there, and I think the best of what that is can be summed up with this single right here: a solid hook, a short but hungry verse, bringing in a feature with a killer verse of their own, and, most importantly, a HUGE banger of a beat. You can barely hear some pianos, maybe some synths, buried deep in the mix, but the beat is dominated by these huge sub hits, probably twice as loud as they should be but god damn if it doesn’t slap. If you fuck with that true-blue Atlanta trap shit (although Dugg operates out of Detroit himself), then this is some quality material to pull up in the car.
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Shortfyuz (Feat. Dirty Sanchez & XP the Marxman) – Forgotten
According to Shortfyuz, the big inspiration behind this track was to get together some of the best artists of Mexican descent to come up with something fire that that community would be proud of. Now, don’t go into this expecting something stereotypical, but rather a nice piece of smooth and almost R&B-sounding hip-hop, with rubbery bass and 80’s synths, where everyone involved happens to be Mexican dudes. I think these guys all accomplished their goal, because this shit is sleek as hell and the bars are tough to boot. Both Dirty Sanchez (of Pro Era fame way back in the day) and XP the Marxman (who has been having a field day in the underground scene as of late) showed up with their own respective styles, and the result is a track varied on both fronts: beats and bars. I’m not sure if this is supposed to lead to a project, but I would love to hear some shit from Shortfyuz on a solo project with a group of rappers like these on support.
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Blueface & Blxst – Chose Me
I can’t tear myself away from Blueface; there’s just something entrancing about his flow and cadence (or, let’s be realistic, the complete lack of it), an element of “I truly do not give a fuck and I’m finessing all of y’all” in the way he approaches his music. I mean the dude literally gets paid to talk on beats, and somehow it’s hard; I can’t explain it. However, he makes this track a bit more than the normal Blueface affair by bringing in Blxst, a singer from L.A. who has blown up incredibly fast over the past year or so. Blxst’s voice is crazy good, and the hook he lays down here is so damn good it’s honestly hilarious that it’s stacked up against the complete no-energy that Blueface brings. This track is funny to me: two great artists who did not mix AT ALL, so we get funny verses and a star-belted hook and us listeners have to make sense of it. Have some fun, listen to this shit, and try to enjoy yourselves.
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Ghostface Killah (Feat. Raekwon) – Bob James Freestyle / I Got Soul Freestyle
A two pack from Tony Starks will always be welcome in my house, and throwing Raekwon in there is the whipped white on top of this Staten Island cake. I will get this out of the way: these tracks feel… unfinished. It doesn’t seem like the vocals are mixed very effectively, but the tracks also seem like they are very off-the-cuff, like Rae and Ghost linked up (maybe around their Drink Champs appearance together) and threw something together to show that they still got it. The samples he uses for both these tracks are ones you’ve definitely heard if you’ve listened to some hip-hop before, so this sounds like a legend taking victory laps over legendary beats, plain and simple. I would love an album from either one of these dudes, but little tracks like these keep me fed as I keep going back to Fishscale and Ironman (seriously, it’s hard to tear myself away sometimes).
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Kota The Friend – GRATEFUL
For those of you who have been paying attention, Kota just went through a rough period to say the least. This track here is a sort of all-encompassing recognition of his good fortunes over the past year: his active fanbase, his friends and family that he still has, and, most importantly his daughter. This plays much like a Kota track would before the controversies, with the happy and sunny beat being approached in a positive manner, but I think the biggest difference is that a lot of what he’s saying doesn’t come off as… empty. It feels like there are real situations and wisdoms being spoken on here, which makes the good feelings all the more potent. Listen to this shit if you like dudes like KYLE, and you wanna feel good today.
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Richie416 (Feat. Asun Eastwood) – Cocaine
Another track that I checked out on the strength of the homie Asun Eastwood, I’m glad I took the time out to listen to this shit, because it’s hard as nails. You got a beat that slaps like a motherfucker, made super ill by these flute loop and modulated bass notes, and emcees that flow over it marvelously, especially this dude Richie416. Richie has this disgustingly grimy voice, which switches up to this sing-song shit on the hook that is surprisingly good. Asun locks in for a solid 16 on the back end of the track, really delivering some cold material for this dude. I’d never heard of this Richie guy before, but I’ll let y’all know of anything else I see from him, cause he’s one talented dude.
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