Weekly Fix #29

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.

Travis Scott saw the post-Christmas void and said “fuck that I’m dropping”; respect to that. But, besides a one off Drake track (which is surprisingly not getting as much traction despite being a Drake track), the mainstream was crickets. There also aren’t any major prospects on the horizon going into January (which isn’t unusual), as I only have five projects that I know about coming in the next two months. Let’s pray for some surprise drops. I don’t even need to say anything about the underground, y’all come through every week with some new amazing shit.

This is going to be the last Weekly Fix of 2019, and there will be some changes going forward. First off, the naming will reset: it was my intention all along to go with 52 weekly fixes a year, but since I started all of this GLORIOUS shit in the middle of the year I didn’t want to confuse anyone by starting with week 20 or some shit. So, the next Fix will be Weekly Fix #1, with a little (’20) in there to tell you it’s from 2020 (this will also be true of the Playlists) Also, as you’ll see down below, I’m going to try and incorporate pictures in there so people can get a little visual of things to listen to. I’m always trying to make things better so the music can get into your ears, so if y’all have anything you’d want to see I’m all down for suggestions.

Finally, I need to do another shoutout of some artists, because the support and recognition I’ve gotten in the past few weeks has been incredible. Jay NiCE shouting me out last month for my POMPEii! write-up was dope as fuck, but this month I’d like to shoutout Hus Kingpin and SmooVth for showing love to my write-up of The Connect Tape, Jamal Gasol and Lord Juco for not only giving us my #2 AOTY with Big Turks but also showing love towards my content, and to The Artivist and Rome Streetz for their support and kind words towards my Joyeria write-up. To all of you immensely talented people, I say thank you.

2020 is gonna be *that year* for not only me here on Tha Soup Dude’s Kitchen, but for hip-hop in general. Keep checking up with me here to keep tabs on where it’s at, where it’s going, and where’s it’s been. Keep listening to music; it’s one of the most important things we got here. Cheers.

Here’s a link to the Week #29 Playlists for y’all

-----PROJECTS-----

Your Old Droog – Jewelry

If my #4 AOTY being It Wasn’t Even Close didn’t tip you off, I love Your Old Droog. Lyrically, there are *very few* people that can touch this guy, especially in terms of unrelenting wordplay. So now he’s releasing his THIRD album this year, and he hasn’t lost a single bit of steam coming of off Transportation. It sounds like a mixture of the two vibes, with the murkiness of IWEC and the glitziness of Transportation combining to give a nice crash course in 2019 Droog. Add in the loose motif of Jewish culture (for Hanukkah), and you have another unique, well-structured (thank you Mach), and impeccably written piece of hip-hop.

Recommended if you like: Golden Age emcees, MF Doom, religious lyrics, Quelle Chris, incredible wordplay, Method Man, good rhyme schemes, Griselda, left-field boom-bap, The Alchemist, sampled instrumentals

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/Bandcamp

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Planet Asia – Medallions

Speaking of people who have had amazing 2019’s, give it up for Planet-fucking-Asia, who comes through with his fourth (fifth maybe?) project of the year. If you know the Planet you know his flows and rhyme schemes are for the real listeners; you really gotta pay attention to see where he’s going with his bars. This project is another one in the books for him, with the rhymes on point, the two features on point, and the beats SUPER on point. To see someone who’s been around for so long effortlessly release fire like this? It’s good to see.

Recommended if you like: Hus Kingpin, mystical lyrics, 38 Spesh, old funk/soul sampled beats, Tristate, deep-voiced emcees, Jamal Gasol, bold production with horns, Conway the Machine

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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JACKBOYS (Travis Scott & Friends) – JACKBOYS


Travis and Don Toliver just need to do a collab album ala Huncho Jack Jack Huncho. Those two dudes are consistently ok across the very short project, and the beats are pretty fire. They really should go back to the drawing board on who the “JACKBOYS” are though, because the other dudes on here don’t fit with the vibe. There is one exception however and that’s Luxury Tax on Gang Gang; I just wish he had more than that one verse. Overall I’m a little disappointed, but it’s all made right with the fantastic Highest In The Room remix with ROSALIA and Lil Baby.

Recommended if you like: Young Thug, clean trap production, Lil Uzi Vert, lots of guests, Migos, compilations albums with lots of artists, Lil Baby, aUtOtUne, Trippie Redd, melodic rapping, Drill, Chief Keef

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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al.divino & Estee Nack – The Door

Another good offering from these frequent collaborators; beats, bars, flows, weird adlibs, it’s all here. I was a bit thrown off by the number of different vocal tones that divino can tap into, where sometimes he’s a more manic yeller while others he’s his usual ogre-like self; almost made me think there was a third rapper on here. These two works so well together because they are both focused on getting those rhymes out in whatever way they have to; they’re like the derailed trains of rhyming (in a good way). I still don’t know who the feature is on the last track though…

Recommended if you like: droney and fuzzy hip-hop, Mach-Hommy, boom-bap from deep under the earth, Rome Streetz, frenzied rap flows, Planet Asia, deep-voiced emcees, Sean Price, gutter lyrics, rhyme schemes that go on for whole songs, Tha God Fahim, jazz rap

Bandcamp

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38 Spesh – Army of Trust


I wish I could get into this more. It has a lot going for it, and everyone that shows up to lay down verses are putting in the effort to make it great. But there’s just something about the recording quality and fidelity of the vocals that just feels… off. And it’s not like the old mixtape sort of “rough”, it just feels flat a lot of the time. It’s a great album on its own, but it sounds like a studio-side issue that preventing me from loving this. Still, you shouldn’t let something like that discourage you from listening, there are some fantastic emcees on here that need more shine like Rain910, Rasheed Chappell, and The Musalini.

Recommended if you like: compilations albums, Benny the Butcher, low-fi boom-bap beats, Mobb Deep, lots of underground emcees, Jadakiss, sparse and spacey samples, mixtape-like feel

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Nicholas Craven – Craven N 2


Craven hits us with some of his best tracks he’s got in his vault. Every track has a top-tier emcee on there, with a nice little surprise thrown in at the end with French-Canadian rapper D-Track rapping in French. It’s also a well-rounded spread of instrumentals from Craven, who demonstrates skills making both his more traditional boom-bap cuts and the more esoteric/vibey beats. As far as producer tapes go, this one here is a rare one where the emcees involved give it their all, and it shows in the final result.

Recommended if you like: Tha God Fahim, high-class sampled beats, Daringer, compilations albums, The Alchemist, lots of quality guests, Diamond D, spread of different sounds and instruments, French rappers

YouTube/Bandcamp

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

Drake – War

I’ve seen mixed feelings on this track online, with people saying Drake is appropriating London culture and slang and whatnot; fuck all that shit, this track is pretty good. Is the dude from London? No. But the beat is crisp, Drake honestly does a pretty good Headie One impression, and his lyrics aren’t as cringy as people are leading others to believe. For a one-off single, this is great; at least it’s better than ANOTHER dancehall track.

Recommended if you like: UK Drill, Headie One, London accents, Stormzy, crisp trap drums, Tory Lanez, danceable but clod-blooded beats, D-Block Europe, Giggs,

YouTube

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J Hus – No Denying


For some REAL London heat you need only to look to J Hus, a gruffer and gutter-er counterpart to Drake’s War. I’ve always like J Hus’ delivery being throatier, as well as him not being afraid to use autotune whenever it benefits the track, and he uses all his tools to create a really catchy Drill cut. I’ve been really coming around on this sound in 2019, so you’ll probably see more tracks like this from me in the future.

Recommended if you like: gruff rapping, Dave, Grime, Stormzy, UK Hip-Hop, punchy and snappy beats, Skepta, Boy Better Know, Travis Scott, light autotune

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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