I’m hella late on this but you’ll have to forgive me because life has been brazy lately. Better late than never!
Like I said in my last post, this feels like a fucking movie! I’m loving the foreboding beat and the evil laugh in the beginning. As my brother pointed out, Savage’s half-assed ‘running’ dance move also just adds to the overall dark vibe here somehow; if I was doing it it would not look remotely intimidating but he somehow makes it sinister.
“I’M SLAUGHTER GANG P*SSY, YOU KNOW I BOUGHT MY KNIFE” I love Savage’s sporadic but consistent messaging over the years going back to his earlier tapes that you know he has his knife on him/that he brought his knife because he’s Slaughter Gang; all rappers talk about keeping their strap with them but something about always having your knife on you just sounds even grimier. I’m feeling Metro Boomin’s knife dance move when he says it too.
“2016 we was running around beating niggas up in the club”
“I LEAVE ALL MY CARS RUNNIN, RUNNIN, RUNNIN, ALL MY OPPS BE RUNNIN, RUNNIN, RUNNIN”
“I’M IN THE DEN WITH THE THIEVES”
“All that pillow talk I’ma have to send the boogie man come and get you”
I hate the sample that they play at the end of this/beginning of the next track on the album but I’m glad that Morgan Freeman drops plenty of jewels throughout to make up for it. Like I said in my last post, my brother nailed it when he said they got Morgan Freeman going from narrating March of the Penguins and Nat Geo’s “God” to talking about rats and snitches on a trap album; these guys are winning. I don’t listen to a ton of mainstream rap these days as you obviously know if you read this site but I have to give 21 Savage credit, this whole album feels like a movie. This is the first album I’ve listened to in a while that felt like an ‘event’ to me and we could certainly use that in 2020.
This was a dope concept for a video too, to bring the Grammy back to the hood.
As my brother said, Morgan Freeman was narrating March of the Penguins and National Geographic’s ‘God’ and now 21 Savage and Metro have him narrating a trap album; if that’s not going big I don’t know what is.
I had kind of stopped checking for 21 Savage tbh but he came back and knocked down the buildings – this whole Savage Mode 2 slaps. This feels like a fucking movie.
I wonder if Morgan Freeman wrote this stuff himself, or if they gave him a general idea of what they wanted him to say, or perhaps best of all (what I hope) is that they all sat around at a table together with a bunch of drinks and chopped it up together to come up with what they wanted.
Ummmmm… HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS UNTIL NOW??????
Legend in the game.
CW is feeling himself here, see the epic head shake move at 2:20, and you know what, why would he not be? The man is a beast.
(Thank God my wife had the DL Hughley show on in the car last night late at night on the way back from a family party (since you know, I can’t always have Rio da Yung OG or YN Jay on in that situation) so I found out that Charlie Wilson blessed us with this new single this summer.)
All of these fits are on POINT too, some of the young bols in the game could take note
The beginning of the hook about Wilson’s relationship with the ‘one he’s got’ could just as easily apply to Wilson himself; after all this time, it just gets better
Lil Yachty x Rio da Yung OG x Veeze x RMC Mike x Louie Ray x Grindhard E – Run Down
Man it seems Yachty really took Hotbox Social’s advice about buying a $75k fixer upper in Flint and staying in town for a while to heart. Seriously, how long has Lil Boat been here for?? CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE BUY THIS MAN AN AUTOWORLD SWEATSHIRT
I’m pleased to see Rio has finally joined him on one of these since he was conspicuous in his absence before this. As an added bonus I love seeing Grindhard E aka Lil E on here since not too long ago it would have been hard to imagine him appearing on a track with Lil Yachty but the whole scene is deservedly leveling up. As Mike says, “Spice talking got the Ghetto Boys moving up the ladder” Perhaps my only regret is no YN Jay this time, but hey I guess he can’t be in all of them.
Yacthy is sounding better than ever and is clearly being influenced by his new Flint cohorts, talking home security “I live on the lake leave the crib and forgot to lock it, it’s okay I got cameras there, and my brother’s sleeping upstairs he’s got hammers there.”
The only guy I wasn’t too familiar with here before this was actually Veeze, and he actually has some fire; “I’ve got bitches selling p*ssy that look like Tyra Banks, I’m rocking Carhartt shooting basketballs like I’m Drake”
“I’ve been sipping dirty water with my Flint niggas, hey Cuz I just made a lot of blues with my Crip niggas, hey Blood I could never be bool with no snitch niggas”
Martorialist won’t like this part but “I’ve been dripping since the Trues with the thick stitching”!
Rio is always cold af “The funeral home will probably run out of dirt if you murk me, if the pastor sold dope I’ll walk into church with a turkey” (2 church references in the same Rio verse!)
RMC Mike never disappoints “Walking through the set with seppys on by Palm Angels, lil bitch been chasing me for years she got strong ankles”
I’m kind of feeling the Washington Nationals hat/Heron shirt combination
P.S. even more fire from Enrgy Beats
P.P.S. Yachty is really taking his artist-in-residency seriously as there is now even Yachty/Krispy Life Kidd collab
I’m feeling this quick hitter off YN Jay’s Coochie Land. Is Nicki Minaj really typing back to YN Jay’s DM? We have no way of knowing for sure, but one thing is for sure – if she’s not, it’s her mistake because Jay is the hottest artist in the game right now.
Rio da Yung OG x JusJay R x Velly Beretta x RMC Mike – Kitchen (2020) ALLBLACK ft. Daboii, Cash Kidd – Pizza Rolls (2020) Lil Yachty x YN Jay – Blind Em (2020) YN Jay x Louie Ray – Reflection (2020) YN Jay – Coochie Land (2020)
Rio da Yung OG x JusJay R x Velly Beretta x RMC Mike – Kitchen
I think it’s about time I finally cop some of this Autoworld gear.
This might be a new top song of the year contender for me, off the strength of Rio’s hook and off of the third guy’s verse. Before this video I wasn’t even sure if the third guy was JusJayR or Velly Beretta but I’m feeling this verse and at this point I’m feeling it so much it might be my new frontfunner for verse of the year. It’s hard to really stand out when you’re on a song with Rio because usually his verses gobble up all the oxygen in the room but this guy (found out after that he’s Velly) pulls it off.
“Super solid, ain’t never been on no frail shit. My niggas know if I get caught I ain’t gon tell shit. Dolce Gabanna on my body bitch I smell rich, unemployment got me looking like I sell bricks
Or looking like I’m on my freelance. Boy you dumb as fuck if you ain’t get none of those free bands. I ain’t get my stimulus they sent it to my BM. As long as I keep paying forthe court I’m a free man. Lay a nigga down just so he can see how we land. Going superhuman on this bitch I’m on my He Man”
I love the hand motion at ‘unemployment got me looking like I sell bricks’ and the flex at ‘Going superhuman on this bitch’. Kudos to Velly for breaking the typical mold of rapping about trapping or scamming to talk about unemployment checks, stimulus checks, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, freelancing. I’m picturing Velly posted up at a Starbucks somewhere outside Flint with his laptop open Zooming with an editor making changes to an article he’s working on or going on Upwork and assigning tasks to a bunch of graphic designers in the Philippines. For some reason the going Superhuman on this bitch I’m on my He Man part gets me super hyped up.
And it’s not just the verse itself but also just the casual swagger and the smooth flow that it’s delivered with.
ALLBLACK ft. Daboii, Cash Kidd – Pizza Rolls
Cash Kidd and ALLBLACK joining forces (Ray Garraty pointed out to me that this isn’t the first time) and they’re both sort of the supremely talented wildcards/jokers in the deck of their respective Bay area/Detroit scenes. When I first read the title I thought it said ‘DaBaby’ instead of ‘DaBoii’ which would have made for an even wilder combination. ALLBLACK and Cash Kidd just stomp all over this crunchy production. It would probably be too much to ask but would be interesting to get a joint mixtape from these two.
Could any other rapper besides ALLBLACK pull off the line “Always been a piece of shit, used to piss in the tub?” (Used to drink a 4 Loko and then ride through the Dubs) Especially as the opening line for a song? Lol.
“I’m finna cut my hair and change my name to DMX… paranoid as fuck I’m in the window like I’m Malcom X… in the Gucci store got white hos breaking their necks” ALLBLACK definitley has some DMX in his game and I would not be opposed to seeing him embrace that angle further.
This hook goes super hard; it may be the first time I’ve heard Scottsdale mentioned in a rap song, and the eating addicts back to back part is fire. I was wondering where the ‘pizza rolls’ in the title would come from and here we are.
CLEATS ON, JOGGERS ON, GLOCKY ON, SCOTTSDALE UP TO PORTLAND I GOT IT SOLD, FOUR TOURS IN ONE YEAR, I’M NEVER HOME, EATING ADDICTS BACK TO BACK LIKE THEY PIZZA ROLLS
Cash Kidd just swoops in at the end like a bat out of hell. I love the ‘Cameras on the front and back who you creeping on?” and “The opps soft I don’t know how their bitches feel safe with them” lines
Lil Yachty x YN Jay – Blind Em
Looks like Lil Yachty really took Hotbox Social’s advice to heart about “taking advantage of Flint’s cheap housing market to stay in town for a while” because here he is AGAIN with artist of the year candidate YN Jay. Seriously he must be feeling right at home in “Vehicle City” since they did Flintana there over a month ago, I love to imagine he’s been there the entire time in a cheap rental house. Somebody get this man an Autoworld hoodie!
I was never super into Yachty (although I did love Minnesota when it came out tbh) but he seems at home with these Flint guys like Hotbox says and he’s been going hard on these Flint/Detroit beats so I’m warming to him. And I’ve got nothing but respect for the fact that he was doing ads for Sprite/Nautica etc. and he’s equally comfortable posting up in Flint so I feel like he’s really there for the love of the game.
Does anybody in the game have a better flow than YN Jay right now? And has anyone glowed up more in 2020? I feel like it’s YN Jay’s world and we’re all getting accustomed to living in it. My one gripe – they need to get Rio into one of these Yachty/Flint collabs!
“Oh they said the opps in the party? I’ma still come”
Still the best flow in the game in 2020. I be talking to myself like is that really you? And may I just add, YN Jay and Louie Ray are looking pretty fly in all this Lakers gear, especially now that the Lakers added that black trim to it.
YN Jay – Coochie Land
More magic from YN Jay and Enrgy. I’m going to have to write more about this YN Jay Coochie Land album later on. One thing I have to say is he is taking this Coochie Man persona very, very seriously. It took me a couple of listens and it seems like it shouldn’t work but this wierd Enrgy evil carnival sounding beat with YN Jay yawning about being in Coochie Land on it really grew on me.
The “Ape family did it first opened up the gate, I closed my eyes said a prayer niggas stole my plate, nigga died drowned in the water tryna hold my weight” line was fire.
Rio da Yung OG x JusJayR x Velly Beretta x RMC Mike – Kitchen
I think it’s about time I finally cop some of this Autoworld gear.
This might be a new top song of the year contender for me, off the strength of Rio’s hook and off of the third guy’s verse. Before this video I wasn’t even sure if the third guy was JusJayR or Velly Beretta but I’m feeling this verse and at this point I’m feeling it so much it might be my new frontfunner for verse of the year. It’s hard to really stand out when you’re on a song with Rio because usually his verses gobble up all the oxygen in the room but this guy (found out after that he’s Velly) pulls it off.
“Super solid, ain’t never been on no frail shit. My niggas know if I get caught I ain’t gon tell shit. Dolce Gabanna on my body bitch I smell rich, unemployment got me looking like I sell bricks
Or looking like I’m on my freelance. Boy you dumb as fuck if you ain’t get none of those free bands. I ain’t get my stimulus they sent it to my BM. As long as I keep paying forthe court I’m a free man. Lay a nigga down just so he can see how we land. Going superhuman on this bitch I’m on my He Man”
I love the hand motion at ‘unemployment got me looking like I sell bricks’ and the flex at ‘Going superhuman on this bitch’. Kudos to Velly for breaking the typical mold of rapping about trapping or scamming to talk about unemployment checks, stimulus checks, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, freelancing. I’m picturing Velly posted up at a Starbucks somewhere outside Flint with his laptop open Zooming with an editor making changes to an article he’s working on or going on Upwork and assigning tasks to a bunch of graphic designers in the Philippines. For some reason the going Superhuman on this bitch I’m on my He Man part gets me super hyped up.
And it’s not just the verse itself but also just the casual swagger and the smooth flow that it’s delivered with.
Looks like Lil Yachty really took Hotbox Social’s advice to heart about “taking advantage of Flint’s cheap housing market to stay in town for a while” because here he is AGAIN with artist of the year candidate YN Jay. Seriously he must be feeling right at home in “Vehicle City” since they did Flintana there over a month ago, I love to imagine he’s been there the entire time in a cheap rental house. Somebody get this man an Autoworld hoodie!
I was never super into Yachty (although I did love Minnesota when it came out tbh) but he seems at home with these Flint guys like Hotbox says and he’s been going hard on these Flint/Detroit beats so I’m warming to him. And I’ve got nothing but respect for the fact that he was doing ads for Sprite/Nautica etc. and he’s equally comfortable posting up in Flint so I feel like he’s really there for the love of the game.
Does anybody in the game have a better flow than YN Jay right now? And has anyone glowed up more in 2020? I feel like it’s YN Jay’s world and we’re all getting accustomed to living in it. My one gripe – they need to get Rio into one of these Yachty/Flint collabs!
“Oh they said the opps in the party? I’ma still come”
Was not expecting an ALLBLACK/Cash Kidd collaboration but on second thought perhaps I should not have been that surprised to see them joining forces, they’re both sort of the supremely talented wildcards/jokers in the deck of their respective Bay area/Detroit scenes. When I first read the title I thought it said ‘DaBaby’ instead of ‘DaBoii’ which would have made for an even wilder combination. ALLBLACK and Cash Kidd just stomp all over this crunchy production. It would probably be too much to ask but would be interesting to get a joint mixtape from these two.
Could any other rapper besides ALLBLACK pull off the line “Always been a piece of shit, used to piss in the tub?” (Used to drink a 4 Loko and then ride through the Dubs) Especially as the opening line for a song? Lol.
“I’m finna cut my hair and change my name to DMX… paranoid as fuck I’m in the window like I’m Malcom X… in the Gucci store got white hos breaking their necks” ALLBLACK definitley has some DMX in his game and I would not be opposed to seeing him embrace that angle further.
This hook goes super hard; it may be the first time I’ve heard Scottsdale mentioned in a rap song, and the eating addicts back to back part is fire. I was wondering where the ‘pizza rolls’ in the title would come from and here we are.
CLEATS ON, JOGGERS ON, GLOCKY ON, SCOTTSDALE UP TO PORTLAND I GOT IT SOLD, FOUR TOURS IN ONE YEAR, I’M NEVER HOME, EATING ADDICTS BACK TO BACK LIKE THEY PIZZA ROLLS
Cash Kidd just swoops in at the end like a bat out of hell. I love the ‘Cameras on the front and back who you creeping on?” and “The opps soft I don’t know how their bitches feel safe with them” lines
Can’t believe I’m already writing the wrapup for August 2020 this year is going by fast but then again it’s been a pretty bad year so I guess that’s not a bad thing. It probably goes without saying but also just wanted to chime in here to say justice for James Blake and his family!
Here this month we’ve got the surging YN Jay topping the charts with two appearances on the first two songs (is anybody taking over more right now then this guy??), a resurgent Babytron making two appearances with two different crews, and an unexpected appearance by Lil Yachty, who my colleague Hotbox Social astutely pointed out “should take advantage of Flint’s cheap housing market and stay in town for a while because he sounds at home with these dudes on Flintana”.
I also spent some time traveling down a memory lane that I didn’t even know existed, with Martorialist’s post about old-wave British bbq music. I didn’t even know that this time existed but I’m feeling nostalgic for it and since we can’t go anywhere/do anything this summer anyway I’m walking around with a Guinness, rocking a Sheffield Wednesday third jersey, bumping these jams and pretending that I’m at a real British cookout.
One additional side note on the KrispyLife Kidd video – you guys remember those old Philly battle rap/freestyle DVDs where it would like show the rapper who was about to spit spit a line and then it would like freeze on him or do some sort of cheesy visual effect and show him spit it again and then his name would come on the screen with some sound effect? (For example, here) I feel like if someone was making one of those about KrispyLife Kidd the part where he raps ‘Hire a hitman from Jerusalem he’ll whack you for a plate of hummus” would be the perfect moment for him to do that with lol
YN Jay x BabyTron x YSR Gramz – Candy Land (2020)
RMC Mike, Lil Yachty, YN Jay, Louie Ray – Flintana (2020)
CML ft. YID – I Be Mashin
KrispyLife Kidd ft. RMC Mike, Babytron – Spicelation (2020)
Damjonboi – Hayukin (2020)
Soul II Soul – Back to Life (1989)
Aretha Daye – No More (???)
YN Jay x BabyTron x YSR Gramz – Candy Land
This beat by Marc Boomin, the man behind some of my favorite beats of the last 2 years, has me going absolutely crazy in the house by myself right now. This man needs to start getting more acclaim.
YN Jay’s flow is crazy. Fresh off his surprise hit with ‘Coochie’ and an unexpected collaboration with Lil Yachty who seems to be taking up a residency in the Mitten a la a late career rocker in Vegas, here he is with another slap. I love YN Jay’s voice. “You sittin’ at home in the crib with your kids you the family man, I just pulled up with some doonies in a family van, bitch want me to send her my location we in candy land” I’m kind of feeling the Dallas Cowboys hat. I love the sheer level of disrespect of “Old lady walking cross the street too slow I’m finna hit your granny, I’m the real Coochie Man I’ll hit your granny.” YN Jay was not lying when he coined that moniker for himself.
Is YSR Gramz wearing an Animal Chin t-shirt?? “A nigga playin’ YN Jay nigga I’m gon kill him, FN 57 308’ll knock down a building”
I love the shade for Matt Stafford in his own city lmao
BabyTron is rolling super deep, working with RMC Mike and KrispyLife Kidd a couple of weeks ago and linking up with YN Jay and YSR Gramz here. “Shooters hitting baskets at the funeral we gonna hit his casket”
RMC Mike, Lil Yachty, YN Jay, Louie Ray – Flintana
I kind of love the fact that Lil Yachty seems to be hanging around in Michigan now, first doing the song with Sada Baby before now migrating to Flint to chop it up with Mike, Louie Ray, and YN Jay. This has to be one of my favorite unexpected developments of 2020. I kind of wish they got Rio on this because he would have killed this but on the other hand I’m glad these guys are stepping out of his shadow a bit too. YN Jay and Louie Ray are really getting some serious momentum behind them now after scoring a hit with ‘Coochie’ and now rocking out with Yachty. Say what you want with Yachty but hey the guy was in his own Nautica commercials in the not too distant past so to me it’s a win for Mike, Louie and Jay and anything to get them more exposure is a good thing in my book. Yachty’s verse on this is actually goes hard as fuck too. “Bro n them just shot another opp, cooked another crab. Young nigga mouth full of gold riding on slabs.” I’m kind of loving the Apple hat?
That tie-dyed Pittsburgh hat RMC Mike is rocking is fire. “First time I seen a dope sale I was in Pop Warner.”
“Went to church, prayed for my sins, then served the reverend.
CML ft. Yid – I Be Mashin
Missed this one from a couple months back from Mr. Reliable; CML. Here he links up with Oakland’s YID of ‘Keep it On Me’ fame for a track that just runs you over like an 18 wheeler.
CML really is the hook god of these simple but catchy hooks; I love the straightforward bluntness of ‘I’m a felon, nigga’
Is that CML’s boy at 1:33 rocking a newsboy cap??
“On my dead homies, I ain’t never caught a body, ask your dead homies” OUCH
Even the cops in CML’s hood are throwing up gang signs? (2:02). Maybe it’s some sort of peace offering to CML to be able to pass through.
YID seems to be adhering to CDC guidlines and sensibly wearing a face mask. On the other hand, CML unsurprisingly seems to be unconcerned about it.
KrispyLife Kidd ft. RMC Mike, BabyTron – Spicelation
This dude KrispyLife Kidd is hilarious. “I don’t think niggas know how I’m boming, hire a hitman from Jersualem he’ll whack you for a plate of hummus.” Is it an angry Palestinian or some sort of crazy Israeli mossad agent or something?
“When my son seen an opp they had to rope off the pep rally”
I’m trying to see what kind of hat Kidd is wearing but I can’t see the logo because of the angle.
RMC Mike is feeling himself and deservedly so. “40 million streams in a year yeah that’s kind of priceless, finna do a show overseas I’ve gotta fly to Iceland.”
Babytron must feel invincible rolling around the city with RMC Mike and KrispyLife Kidd.
“Catch an opp in traffic punch his window til it shatters”
Damjonboi – Hayukin
Can’t decide if the beat or the verses on ‘Hayukin’ are harder, and they’re both Damjonboi since he’s the producer too. Just so sinister.
Damjonboi is posted up in the red zone heavy. I love the look on the female cop’s face at 1:27, she’s just like ‘Alright I’m out of here.’ Jonboi’s boy in the orange looks like a total loose cannon lol.
“Slidin’ in an Audi with the top off nigga. Real zone ties get you knocked off nigga. Take that chain and that watch off nigga.”
“I’ve been stacking so much paper it’s getting scary. I love my city, dropped a tape and called it Barry.”
HAYUUUKIN HAYUUUKIN
Soul II Soul – Back II Life
Boom. Heard this before including in DB the General and Mistah FAB’s fantastic ‘Dope Era‘ but I have a new appreciation for it listening to it with a fresh set of years thanks to Martorialist’s British street soul post and it’s still fire 30 years later. Also, being a typical provincial American I had no idea these guys were British lol.
Aretha Daye – No More
See note above regarding my solo virtual British cookout. This beat is fire. I could honestly listen to more of this all day. No idea who the rapper is but I’m guessing he’s Asian, perhaps my main man Martorialist can enlighten us…
