Now that we’re done with the more arduous task of making the ‘Top 50 songs of 2018’ list, I’ll switch to the easier task of putting up a quick top 10 songs for December 2018. We’re going a little overboard this month as you’ll see. Thanks for reading this year and see you in 2019!
Yung Skreww ft. Philthy Rich, J. Stalin, TD, Yung Getta Dro – If I Wasn’t Getting Money
Saw this one on Crimedawbylaw and while it’s two years old, it’s become one of my favorites that I’ve heard in a long time. It really is the ultimate mellow slapper, like he described it. I’m especially loving the chorus from Young Getta Dro and Skreww’s verse, outshining his more famous contemporaries. “You a mohterfucking snitch like what was you telling for, if you wasn’t with the shit what you hung with the fellas for? If you don’t like it, stay away from the clique nigga, 187 on an undercover bitch nigga!” Skreww’s verse just had so much heart.
Cash Click Boog – 200 Proof
I’d heard Boog’s name here and there and probably as a feature in passing but didn’t really start checking him out until reading Raygarraty’s great all-Detroit top songs of 2018 list, and then I decided to delve more into his music and he really grew on me. ‘200 Proof’ is my favorite of his songs so far. “Blues got me feeling cool as ever, snow or rain nigga, shoot whoever, your main bitch on my dick cause I do it better. Southwest in this bitch then there’s stupid cheddar.”
Side note – I love the Thizzler best of 2018 cyphers that they came out with this year, and the fact that they had one including a bunch of the Detroit guys like Boog and guys from BandGang/ShredGang, commemorating the timeless and always-fruitful Bay Area to Detroit connection.
Kodak Black – Identity Theft
Kodak with a heartfelt ode to credit card fraud. Rappers have been rapping about the dope game for probably at least 30 years so it’s about time the identity theft game got some love.
Dip Gods are back. Just in time for Thanksgiving Dipset laced us with this reunion album. This was easily my favorite song off of it. Such a triumphant, prime-era Dipset, all-conquering Heatmakers beat. Apparently it samples a Queen song but I have no idea I just know it’s making me feel invincible right now. I love the over the top ‘Grrrrrrrr’ ad lib at 0:34 after Jim Jones says he was ‘purging for a check’ almost sounding like a rabid grizzly. Jones actually probably had the best verse out of anyone on this and has quietly had a really strong 2018. While Juelz rapping that he ‘gets loose like a tooth’ seems uninspired and isn’t the prime Juelz we all remember, it’s still good to hear from him and he makes up for it with just the sheer self-belief and intensity as he raps ‘From the stoop to the coupe, money stacked from the floor to the roof’ or ‘Cam saw a star and showed the world my light… I put in work they can’t take my stripes’. The song ends on the strangely sad note of Juelz musing that ‘I guess forever means forever til forever’s gone’ until, of course, Dame Dash breaks in with a typically firey Dame Dash half-time speech and starts yelling about that Dipset will live forever. A grandiose effort from the Dips and I would expect nothing less at this point. I wish I got to go to the album release party where, from what I can gather, it looks like everyone went around Harlem in an open-top bus, listened to the album on headphones with some sort of blue LED’s, smoked vape pens and ate chop cheeses.
Poppa da Don x Abillyon – Smoked
1a and 1b this month were Dipset and this one. Staying on this unexpected NYC Crip wave/Poppa da Don wave with Poppa and Abillyon’s ‘Smoked’. Like one of those cartoon angels on your shoulder or a Loc’d out Sunday school teacher, Abillyon implores you to ‘do the right thing or you’ll get smoked’ in that heavenly voice of his. Abillyon is quite the hook-smith and this could be one of the best of the year. I also love the gleeful ‘I’m on the other side with the Locs!,’ willfully declaring themselves as the ‘other side’ or the opps and celebrating it. Abillyon is a name some may recognize from the height of the GS9 era; from looking at his Soundcloud and quickly browsing other streaming sites, it doesn’t look like he has released a ton of music since then but he seems to be making a resurgence now. Poppa is in the middle of a strong run as well between this, ‘Crip Shit‘ and his mixtape ‘Fucc Wit Da Cuz Vol. 2‘.
Dave East – No Pork
East has me lacing up my Timbs and throwing on a big Marmot jacket with this first one. The smooth ‘No Pork’ might be the magnum opus of East’s career thus far. It’s a ‘classic’ sounding NYC rap song done right without sounding dusty or too formulaic. This is that classic wintertime music, and the type of track that you want to play while you’re hunkering down at the crib or out on a rare nice sunny day in the winter. East goes into full-on nostalgia/story-telling mode as he takes us on a trip down memory lane through the ups and downs of his life growing up in Harlem.
“I told Shooter (see below) we gon get rich no matter what, they was happy when we was down now when we see them they made as fuck. We don’t got to live in the projects no more, I dropped out, but it’s funny I’m hitting college on tour. I need ’em fresh, cop em again if I copped em before. Charlotte Hornets top and bottom, colored aqua velour. Ahki used to let me in after the locks on the door. I ain’t speeding, I ain’t smoking, what the fuck you stopping me for? I hid my first .38 behind the socks in my drawer, my mama asked me why you got a gun, you not going to war? If I go get a cigarette there might be opps at the store.”
Envy Caine – Intro
Your host got caught lacking in his car trapped in the big east coast snow storm this month for over 12 hours on the same mile of highway but fuck it it takes more than a few snowflakes to kill the old Pink C. Not only am I alive and well but as you can see I’ve been on a NYC kick lately catching up on some of these young bols. Even though I’m hella late on this one from Brooklyn’s Envy Caine but I’ve been blasting it non-stop. This is the intro to his ‘2 Many Situations’ mixtape from the spring.
“Damn, My whole city AGAINST me, but fuck it cause I got all these killers with me”
I love the raw aggression/malice and the me against the world ethos that Envy delivers that bar with. Almost reminding me a bit of AR-Ab.
This song goes so hard/aggressive it’s the new song I play when I want to get angrier in a situation, like in traffic or in a long line at a store, although that’s actually probably a counterproductive strategy on my part.
I also love the delivery of “Opp niggas throwing salt, tryna bad mouth” line. Salt kills snails but not Top Opposition.
Poppa da Don, Dave East, Tulito, Trap God Mula – Crip Shit
It’s turning into winter fast out here, and you know what that means, it’s that time of year to hunker down, lace up the Timbs, throw on a big Marmot jacket and see what’s going on in the big apple. These NYC Crips have really been coming out with some heat lately. Here, we get two of the best linking up and Brooklyn and Harlem joining forces with Poppa da Don and Dave East, along with Tulito and Trap God Mula/Sha Mula who may have the best verse of all on this one.
I love the pure energy and fervor Mula brings here as he says ‘Sha Mula I’m the Trap God, probably made $100 thou in my backyard,” pounding his fist as he raps it. “Blue flag 100 Locs I’m moving wocky nigga, 2-seater, I8 they couldn’t stop me nigga!” I’m hyped off of the defiance he’s spitting with.
East makes a typically solid contribution here as well, and also just released arguably the best song of his career, in my opinion, with ‘No Pork .’ Poppa da Don put out a total banger ‘Smoked‘ with Abillyon over the summer which I think is going to start blowing up even more because Meek Mill was talking about it recently.
My only very minor gripe with this one is that I wish they grabbed my man Top Dolla and got him on this one this would have been perfect for him!
Peezy – Pressure
Peezy is so consistent, coming out with one if not more song every month that usually cracks and sometimes tops this list. We really need to take a minute to step back and appreciate the run that this guy is on, he’s forced his way into the argument for top rapper of 2018 in my opinion. You’ve got to love the triumphant ‘Got shot a couple times they was hoping I died, popped up buying Rollies out the store with my guys’ especially since everyone really was briefly worried he died last winter.
Blueface – Respect My Crypn
I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first when I first heard about him but hadn’t listened to him yet, but Blueface is starting to grow on me. The ‘mop the floor and hide the wet sign just to catch him slippin’ line’ is genius; I can’t believe no one came up with that before. And to his credit apparently he really does ‘pull up and bounce out with a briefcase when it’s time to handle business,’ according to recent news reports.
I love his tone on the ‘I’m an alpha male, ain’t no bitch in me. Grown ass man, feed my family” line, like he’s incredulous that someone is even questioning if that’s the case. The ‘Give a fuck if he like it, he gon respect this Crippin’ hook is also strangely infectious. Blueface is almost sounding like a less artsy/creative but more Crip west Coast Young Thug. And while he can be a bit over the top, he actually has the charisma and personality to pull it off.
Juice WRLD – All Girls are the Same/Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams/Juice WRLD x Future – Fine China/Juice WRLD – Used To etc.
At the risk of getting cyber-bullied by music critics with far better taste than me, I’ll admit that I went back and listened to a ton of Juice WRLD this month. Yeah, it’s some guy whining about girls but some of these songs are actually really dope. Some of these beats are absolute fire as well. I’m cheating here and putting all the Juice WRLD songs as one song. I’m going to ask my mom to drive me back to Hot Topic now. GO AHEAD AND CYBER BULLY ME, DO YOUR WORST!
Kiing Shooter ft. Dave East – 30 Percent
A third Dave East appearance here for this month’s top 10; 30 Percent is the first track from his aggressively-named protege Kiing Shooter’s mixtape ‘Fucc the Doubters’. The interplay here as East and Shooter trade bars back and forth like a Styles and Jada is great. Whereas ‘No Pork’ is the type of song you could kick back and relax at home listening to, ’30 Percent’ is more of an aggressive one you’d blast when you’re in the mood to get rowdy. Shooter has a dope and pretty unique-sounding deep/’blunt’ voice and raps over the top ignorant lines like “I’m creeping through the back window hoping they don’t keep alarms, .40 on me just in case the dog or the grandma home.”
Kodak Black – Take One
So dark and foreboding from Kodak.
Metro Boomin’ x 21 Savage – Don’t Come out the House
This became more of a meme than a song at this point but I had to include it even though we’re at over 10 songs now. This was a risky gamble by 21 Savage that paid off – if done wrong, his whole whisper thing could have backfired and sounded way too intimate and sensual (Pause!) but somehow he pulls it off and makes it sound menacing. I feel like 21 Savage has went on a certain trajectory, when he was first making a name for himself he was releasing a lot of interesting stuff, then he sort of reached peak Savage and got oversaturated as he got super popular, and now that we’ve sort of crossed past that bridge he’s releasing some nice verse here and there again.
I’m so late yet again bruhs… here’s my top 10 songs for October… I’m cheating here too because I’ve got about a dozen songs again this time
Kodak Black – Zeze
This had to be number one for October. Or basically a tie between this and the Peezy/Cash Kidd song for 1A/1B.
From original article…
Zeze finally came out and it had your host walking into Midwestern travel plazas and Quaker Steak & Lubes going ‘Bum bum bum bum bum’ and pretending to play the steel drums all weekend while I was on a road trip.
The song with the highly-flammable steel drum beat that Kodak has been teasing in snippets where he’s dancing in his sensibly understated lavender church sweater for the last month or so finally came out, and I’m thankful to say that not only did it live to see the light of day unlike other fire snippets that never lived to see the light of day like ones from Kevin Gates or Ya BoyBig Choo, it also lived up to the hype. The D.A. Doman beat could cure a lot of the world’s problems, you get a simple but incredibly catchy hook from Kodak, and solid verses from Kodak and Offset. An all around solid effort on all levels and certainly a song of the year contender for me. Also my favorite Kodak song I’ve heard since probably some time last year.
My only real gripe is Offset’s lazy ‘in the middle of the field like David Bekcham’ line because it just sounds dated at this point and David Beckham wasn’t even really a central midfielder in the first place, he couldn’t have said someone more current/central like N’Golo Kante or Tanguy Ndembele or someone and rhymed soemthing with that? But hey c’est la vie.
Peezy ft. Cash Kidd, Big Rizz – Duckin’ Wreck
Peezy is out here living his best life right now. Seriously this guy is like a fine wine just getting better and better with time (Pause! Pause!). Peezy has emerged from being a consistent, reliable performer in the Detroit scene to now making a strong case for being at the very top of it (although I’m also partial to be FMB DZ but they’re almost a 1a and 1b to me at this point). I saw the homie Ray Garraty post Duckin’ Wreck the other day and couldn’t wait to check it out. I usually post my favorite line or two from every song but in this case the entire verse just went so hard that I couldn’t even pick out one line and wanted to post the whole thing…
“We ain’t ducking wreck we want all the smoke; in a Hellcat fresher than a bar of soap. Sippin’ syrup out the pint like I caught a cold, catch a nigga down bad he thought he saw a ghost. Heard he said he was a shooter and he keep a stick, still livin’ with his mama, drivin’ a piece of shit. Get your head knocked off you ever make the list, you ain’t fuckin’ with my son, boy get off my dick. Bentley trucks and G-Wagons riding down Ocean, rose gold dog tag off the diamond choker. Never played in no Finals but I’m buying trophies, I’m talking chains full of diamonds with the matching Rollies. Balling on these little niggas I was made to flex, you can’t do it like me you better save your checks. Knockin’ niggas off the board like I’m playing chesss, Team East, Ghetto Boys, nigga fuck the rest.”
On a side note, as someone who drives a piece of garbage for a car, I usually don’t feel great when rappers call people out for driving cheap cars, but in this case I can definitley feel where Peezy is coming from when he says “Heard he said he was a shooter and he keep a stick, still livin at his mama’s house driving a piece of shit” as the guy across the street from me still lives with his mom and parks his garbage car in front of my house every day even though there’s a whole plethora of spots outside of his parent’s house. Although in fairness I don’t think he calls himself a shooter like whoever Peezy is talking about.
Young Thug ft. T-Shyne – Real in My Veins
My favorite song off of Jeffrey’s ‘On the Run’ EP. This whole project was great I definitley listened to this a lot more times than Slime Language. Upon first listen the Elton John-assisted ‘High’ was an easy favorite but after a few more listens Real in My Veins emerged as the crown jewel of the tape. I don’t know much about T-Shyne but I really liked his verse here and upon further research it looks like he features Max B on his album so he’s good in my book. I have to listen to that next. I love Thug’s chorus ‘I’ve got real running through my veins’ and the message, and I love the part where T-Shyne says ‘I called my dad and told him that we made it.”
Rod Wave – Way Up
Man I’ve really been sleeping on this guy. Nice song and video from Rod Wave out of Tampa, as if Florida needed more good artists. This was on his Hunger Games 2 album that came out a couple of months ago but the video just came out a few weeks ago. I remember this guy was talking about Rod Wave a year ago.
I slept on Hunger Games 2 for way too long. It’s too early to say but the tape is a borderline classic in my opinion, you can listen to the first 6 tracks over and over again with no skips and it stays flammable the whole time.
Young Thug ft. Elton John – High
So this happened. When I first saw this my initial thought was that this looks like one of those collaborations that sounds like it should be really good but will inevitably end up being bad/disappointing, but it actually did end up being good. It sounds like it would be a wierd combination, but then again, I can picture Sir Elton having a decent amount in common with Thugga.
Kevin Gates – Discussion
The opener off of Gates’ excellent ‘Luca Brasi 3’ project which had a couple of songs featured here last month and keeps producing more and more gems the more times I listen to it. I love the intro of Gates talking about wanting to get back from jail to see his kids and the hook goes super hard.
Kevin Gates – Great Man
LOOK IN THE MIRROR, AND I SEE A GREAT MAN!
I started writing this top 10 before the video for this song came out but it looks like now it has a video which is blowing up. The song is great on its own accord; Gates is really baring his soul here and showing what elevates him above the run of the mill artist but the video adds a nice additional layer of depth to what he’s saying. This is the type of song I would listen to every morning at the gym, if I wasn’t too lazy to go to the gym.
Mozzy – Run to the Mansion
Dope song by Mozzy and my favorite off of Gangland Landlord. People who read this blog might be surprised because for whatever reason I just haven’t really written about him/mentioned him much but gun to my head Mozzy is one of my favorite current rappers and if I had started this blog say 2-3 years ago instead of in the last year and a half there would have been about 50 Mozzy articles in a row on it. For whatever reason I haven’t been bumping him as much lately but Gangland Landlord was good and I have to get back into his recent stuff and check it out again.
“We got the drums for the hammers/they need the drugs in Atlanta/they got my youngin’ in the slammer/he carry guns on the campus/they be on the run for a murder/they just gon’ run to the masion”
The album outro, ‘Tear Me Down’ was really good too.
Rod Wave – Tomorrow /Rod Wave – Praying Grandmothers
Two more Rod Wave bangers I’m hella late on. This guy definitley has a gift. Incredible voice, great charisma/a lot of soul, and dope songs. He should definitley be a bigger star and maybe he will be soon.
Quando Rondo – Kiccin Shit
Always down for some new Quando Rondo. Always melodic AF. I didn’t realize he was a Crip until this song.
More heat from Peezy/Cash Kidd & co. Great group cut. I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while after seeing it on Sislafami a while ago and I’ve been bumping it a whole bunch again this month so I figured this is as good a place as any to mention it.
I’m not sure who’s who in this video besides for Peezy and Cash Kidd obviously but I like the first guy he’s got charisma and some good bars, “I got 100 on this bitch I don’t miss often. Back to back Cats I don’t miss walking” and I love when the third guy says “If they ain’t got no money have them take it out the church offering”
“Got it out the mud I ain’t never did a scam nigga, RIP to all the fallen soldiers, free the fam nigga, shut the fuck up if you ain’t got 100 bands nigga.”
On an interesting side note, at least to me, I’ve noticed a couple of times now, like here in Peezy’s line ‘Got it out the mud I ain’t never did a scam nigga’ line, it seems like there’s a clear hierarchy amongst people engaged in criminal activity, with dealers/robbers etc. clearly being above people doing scams in the pecking order and looking down on them.
It’s October but before I can start handing out all kinds of spooky treats for the new month I have to post my belated top 10 songs for September. I didn’t realize I didn’t post as much as I thought in September so a bunch of these would have normally had their own entry. After a kind of lackluster August it was a great September
Sauce Walka – Ghetto Gospel
This is Sauce Walka at his downright, well, sauciest. Spitting some real knowledge/life experience over a shimmery beat apparently from Kingdom Hearts (and French Montana). I can’t blame him for having his mind on boudan; and all this talk of boudan has got me feeling like I’m Kevin Belton. This edges out a couple of Lil AJ songs and a couple of Rich the Factors for song of September for me and it’s too early to say but definitley could be in the mix for a song of the year contender.
Lil AJ ft. Clyde Carson – Stay with Me
Come on this needs more than 200 views. A typically solid, yeoman effort from Lil AJ off of his new ‘Lash Money 4’ mixtape. You always know what you’re going to get with Lil AJ, nothing crazy but just solid, workman-like bay area rap. The hook from Clyde Carson is great too and I love the synthy beat. There are a couple of other slaps on this tape, my other favorites aside from this one were ‘Livin’ with cameos from Lil Blood and Joe Blow and the Nef the Pharaoh-assisted ‘Pain.’ Overall a solid mixtape from Lil AJ. Side note – is it just me or have these mid-level Bay rappers like AJ/Joe Blow been talking about trips to the UK in every other song lately?
Lil AJ ft. Joe Blow, Lil Blood – Livin’
Speaking of Joe Blow and overseas travel… another highlight from Lash Money 4. This is more like it with 50,000+ views. I love Joe Blow’s not so humble boast stating that his landscaping bill costs more than his enemies’ entire mortgage. I’m not sure if that’s a product of Blow really balling out on landscaping or his enemies just sensibly not taking on more house than they can afford. Lil Blood was an entertaining addition here as always.
Philthy Rich & Cookie Money ft. Prezi, T-Rell – U Ain’t
Great song closing out the new Philthy Rich/Cookie Money collaboration. You’ve got a nice hook from Prezi and Philthy Rich talking about hosting charity basketball games but nobody cheering for him, what else do you need? But my favorite part here is Cookie Money’s verse especially this line, “8 years old, Daddy fighting fed cases. Left on the block, Cookie chasing dead faces. They ain’t really in the streets bruh these niggas faking, (??) with a Glock I put my trust in Satan.”
Rich the Factor – Do it Gooba
The unmistakably slappy intro to CEO of the Blacktop and tied for my favorite song on it with Pay me in Blow and Flashy depending on what kind of mood I’m in. Rich might be in New York, hitting the go gos, but he’s seen it all before so he’s taking it easy, taking it all in but staying fresh for his business meeting the next morning.
“I’m on south beach right by the coast. Pushing a speed boat looking at dolphins, having money nigga fuck what it costing.” That’s quintessential El Factor right there. I love ‘having money’ as a verb.
Rich the Factor – Flashy
Another slap from Rich the Factor. I saw Sislafami talking about this one a while ago and for some reason I listened to CEO of the Blacktop 2 before I ever checked out CEO of the Blacktop which came out a few months before, but I ended up bumping it in its entirety probably about a dozen times this month. The whole tape is so good. This is textbook Rich the Factor right here, chilling at a gas station in his black tee. “I’ve been getting money with my proteges, I’m up in Foot Action with my proteges.” It looks like this video is in Houston and not Kansas City but Rich gets love down there too. Really the only thing i DON’T like about this video is that broken-in-half cup from the gas station he’s walking around with for his ashes, I get OCD about my gas station glassware and something about it keeps bothering me!
Rich the Factor – Pay me in Blow
This is the triumphant/celebrating with his crew type song off of CEO of the Blacktop. I love the idea of The Factor walking into a bar and a bunch of different fine women literally falling over each other for the honor of buying him a drink. Also, don’t think that Rich is just a Kansas City or Midwest rapper, he’s rocking his mink coat all the way out in Anchorage, Alaska on tour. “We independent but compete with the majors; fuck a diss song we get to the meat and potatas. 100 years later still playing the playa. ”
Money Man – My Socks
Cool song off the new Money Man EP; I have to start listening to more Money Man.
Sherwood Marty ft. Trapboy Freddy – Ticket
“Trap fashion my attire, $200,000 in the tire”
Good collab from two up and coming youngsters from Louisiana and Dallas. Trapboy Freddy repping Mexico super hard here. Pause but does anyone know what kind of jeans those are that Sherwood Marty is rocking with the stripe on the side?
The Jacka & Ampichino, Joe Blow, Cellski – Pain Disappear
Probably my favorite song off of that posthumous Jacka/Ampichino project that came out in August. Beat and hook were so on point. Also – a SECOND Joe Blow cameo on this month’s top 10 list! RIP to the Jacka!
Kevin Gates – Shakin Back
Alright this is cheating because it’s an 11th song and it actually would be towards the top of the list except I only heard it at the very end of the month and I’m posting this in October. This is the finished version of that en fuego snippet Gates posted on Instagram that I was writing about in May. Sadly a bunch of those look like they’re gone from Instagram now and a couple of them don’t seem to be on Luca Brasi 3 so they may be lost in the sands of time. But thankfully with this one, Gates didn’t pull his best Big Choo impression and tease it for a year and a half to torment the Martorialist.
This was honestly a pretty weak month for music/new music for me, and that lack of enthusiasm mixed with the August heat is why this August top 10 is about two weeks late. I had been somewhat excited about Young Thug’s group album or whatever you’d call it but honestly no tracks on it really stood out to me at all, it wasn’t bad but just nothing memorable. I didn’t know a new Nef album was coming out and when I saw that I thought it would save the month for me, but I felt like aside from one or two songs the rest of it was fairly forgettable and certainly not amongst his best work or the heights we know he can hit. The E-40 album was a solid late-career effort for a legend in the game so you’ve got to respect it but didn’t really have anything notable to me either. I wasn’t even feeling the new 6ix9ine collaboration with 50 Cent which promised to be a magnum opus in multi-generational New York ignorant rap but underwhelmed so that’s how you know something is wrong. On the plus side, I did start checking out ShooterGang Kony for the first time so it wasn’t a total wash. Apparently a FMB DZ/Philthy Rich collab project also came out on the last day of August but I’ll have to save that for September since I just found out about it.
ShooterGang Kony – Numba 1 Stunna
This of course had to be number one for August 2018. The mix of the flow, great line after great line, dance moves and fly Liga MX sportswear instantly propelled ShooterGang Kony to the top spot for August.
Nef the Pharaoh – Lefty
Nef makes an appearance in the top spot with his appearance in the Numba 1 Stunna video but he’s not actually in the song. On the other hand, Lefty was one of the best tracks his somewhat hit or miss Big Chang Theory album. The chorus for this one is insanely catchy. I also like how in typical Nef fashion he curtly chastizes someone for wearing True Religion, asking them if they really didn’t get the memo that True Religion went bankrupt. So not only attacking them for being passe in a fashion sense but also taking it next level by criticizing the actual corporation’s unenviable fiscal position. So Nef.
Nef the Pharaoh ft. ALLBLACK, Cuban Doll – 86
My other favorite song from The Big Chang Theory. And it wouldn’t be a top 10 list from this summer if it didn’t have an ALLBLACK guest verse on it. It may be a bit economically reckless, but if nothing else you’ve got to respect the sheer gall of Nef’s blatant rebuke of one of his primary sources of income; “Fuck them stupid ass casinos, dumb ass clubs.” In essence, he isn’t happy with these places of commerce that serve as his sources of income because they’ll frequently throw him out for acting TOO much of a fool or for bringing weapons in.
I love the bite in Nef’s voice when he says, “Dropped a 4 in my Jones like I’m Donnell”
But by far my favorite part is when he declares, “I saw you tuck your chains in when we were in the club, you were glad I got kicked out, the life of a scrub.” I love how he’s almost becoming this omniscient narrator here and narrating the guy’s life; the life of a scrub as his voice shifts to a mix of disdain and almost pity for the said scrub.
Philthy Rich ft. Rexx Life Raj, ALLBLACK – Dope Boy
This was my top song from July and to be honest I’ve still been bumping it all August. At some point when I stop being lazy this one really needs its own post as its in contention for my favorite song of the year for 2018 so far. Between Philthy’s great opening verse, Rexx Life Raj’s incredible wardrobe and great half-singing half-rapping contribution, and of course the ALLBLACK cameo it doesn’t get much better than this in terms of 2018 rap.
Young Dolph ft. Key Glock – We Major
Saw this one on Dirty Glove Bastard’s always-excellent Spotify playlist and loved it. Dolph can always be a bit hit or miss to me to be honest but this one is a legit banger. Dolph just brings so much raw power on this one as he booms out “Mobbin’ in the Bentley smoking moon… rocks” in his unmistakable flow. Dolph also voices some support for the ancient Christian practice of tithing here, “Baby mama mad she said you live like a bachelor, sold 100 pounds and gave 10% to the pastor.” I love the random ad lib of someone just saying “church” afterwards. Dolph just comes out swinging on this one and it feels great blasting out of the car.
ShooterGang Kony – My City
This isn’t new but I saw it on Rap Music Hysteria last month and its what got me onto my current ShooterGang Kony wave so I’m including it on this list. Like the wise sage from that site said, “Kony works in the boilerplate nü-Bay style so quickly becoming indistinguishable from its Detroit counterpart, perhaps realizing the world-flattening that hysteric early-’00s rap millenarians saw in the internet’s rise, but, like, who really fucking cares? It makes me feel big and powerful when I’m driving in my fast car.” Mozzy definitley has a shrewd signing on his hands here.
ShooterGang Kony – All In
Not a new song but this was one of my favorites from my hunt for more old Kony loosies and mixtapes. The beat isn’t the Beanie Sigel type of ‘Feel it in the Air’ beat it’s more of the Phil Collins ‘Feel it in the Air’ variety and Kony floats over it.
Philthy Rich – Social Media Gangstas
Philthy Rich over a Fat Joe/Ashanti sample? Not exactly what I was expecting but alright I’ll take it. This actually ended up being a pretty fun song/pleasant surprise in the middle of Philthy’s NERNL4 mixtape which I guess is from May. “A bird on the microwave one on the stove, I used to heat the house up by turning on the stove.”
“Looking out the loft to see the white man play golf, sorry I didn’t make it to the funeral rest in peace Frost.”
Apparently one of his females is also complaining that all the steaks and lobsters he’s eating aren’t good for him, which I think may be the most universally relateable thing Philthy has ever said.
Shoreline Mafia – Foreign
In general I agree with the always-wise Martorialist’s edict that “Shoreline Mafia are just Brockhampton if they’d met in the NoJumper YouTube comments rather than on the KanyeToThe message board,” but I can’t lie they’re kind of growing on me. I don’t know if it’s just that I didn’t hear a ton else that I loved in August or that I’m starting to like them more and more but these coastal Mafiosos clock in with two songs in August’s top 10 from their Party Pack EP that came out on the last day of the month. Foreign has a nice, low-key but hard beat and they go pretty hard and ignorant on it. Nothing crazy here but a nice ignorant song that feels good in the car.
Shoreline Mafia – Boot It Up
The beat for this one off of the sameEP is just so icy and twinkly, it’s a nice book end to Foreign.
Another unexpected tres amigos type song here and this one is top notch. Philthy Rich is smartly jumping on the ALLBLACK bandwagon. ALLBLACK is literally everywhere right now, just crushing the feature game.
Rexx Life Raj kills the chorus here; this is definitely one of my favorite choruses in a long time. He’s rocking a very different look with the messenger bag, coat that looks like an old white grandma would wear, red winter hat, gold shades, and gold smartwatch but he can pull it off. If I wore that I’d look ridiculous but Raj has the style and presence to make it work and actually looks pretty badass. I’ve listened to more of his stuff a year or two ago and it didn’t jump out at me (which probably says more about my bad taste than him as an artist!) but his chorus and verse here are his magnum opus thus far and now I want to go back and re-listen to all of his stuff again… maybe he could become my 2018 version of Berner…
Philthy’s verse to open things up is textbook Philthy. “From the regal to the Wraith; I can tell what he’s thinking see the evil in his face.” I love the fact that he’s rapping in front of his own billboard.
It wasn’t my favorite ALLBLACK verse ever but even an average ALLBLACK feature is better than 95% of other rappers’ best efforts these days. As evidenced by the fact that he’s in about half the songs on this month’s and last month’s top 10 lists. The shot of the bus with the ‘Go Warriors’ message was a nice touch.
03 Greedo & Nef the Pharoah ft. ALLBLACK, Chris O’Bannon
There were a couple of other serious contenders but this song and the above were my two favorites this month I couldn’t decide between them. From the original post…
“Could this new choon off the new 03 Greedo/Nef the Pharoah collaboration possibly be any flamier?
I was hyped up enough about getting a joint project (albeit a short one) from two of my favorites and as if that wasn’t enough there are multiple ALLBLACK features on here who like I said last time is quickly ascending to those ranks, as well as a wildly catchy chorus from Chris O’Bannon who I don’t know but who sounds like some sort of benevolent angel welcoming you to the pearly gates here on this song (Pause! Pause!). ‘Choosy’ just may be in the mix for my top song of 2018 so far. My favorite part is Greedo crooning ‘Make project music like Juvie’.
An added bonus here is the always-entertaining ALLBLACK comparing himself to the ‘fat nigga from D12’ because he’s not wearing a shirt. I absolutely was not expecting to get a Bizarre shoutout/reference in 2018 especially not on a banger like this, but I’ll take it.
I’ve talked about unexpected ‘Tres Amigos’ pairings before, i.e. 3 (or in this case I guess 4) guys you would never have expected to hear on a track together working out surprisingly well i.e. Berner with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane – I don’t know if this is so much an unexpected grouping as just a dream team Tres Amigos type of combo that is not to be trifled with.
This is that California sunshine-y type of summer music we need right now. FREE GREEDO!!!”
FMB DZ – Fast Money
From original post…
“DZ with what I guess you could call a homage to his crew over a more somber-sounding but dope beat, just killing it. This is my favorite song off his new album ‘In My Bag’ and one of his hardest songs to date which is saying a lot because those of you who have been checking out this site for a while know that ‘The Gift’ and ‘Washington DZ’ were two of my favorite albums last year and this guy had a heavy presence on my top songs of 2017 list. It’s good to see him not taking his foot off the gas and picking up where he left off in 2018. I feel like this song is both DZ taking a moment to step back and reflect on what he’s had to get through to get to where he is now, as well as to stunt on those who stood in his way or otherwise didn’t believe in him. I wasn’t expecting to hear DZ sing on this album but him singing his own hook here ended up sounding really good.
“Big strap on my lap I can’t lose, where would I be without them motherfucking blues? My nigga Jocka will put a nigga on the news, self defense knock him out his shoes, we’ll hit whoever nigga we don’t pick and choose”
“Got a crib out the way it’s on duck, boss man I’m that nigga you can’t touch, wrong move my young dog know the clutch, it’s all hustle over here it wasn’t no luck, catch a nigga out in traffic flip his truck”
“You’re looking at a made man I got big money, rich nigga bitch my shirt cost your rent money, I know if you’ll go a mile you’ll go an inch for me, test run take this package down to Flint for me.”
FMB DZ – Not the Same
After ‘Fast Money’, my favorite song off of In My Bag was the intro track ‘Not the Same’, which really set the tone for the album and let you know FMB DZ was coming out swinging.
“Ain’t no faking in my blood bitch I’m orignale, I just poured up a four in my ginger ale.”
“That nigga Joseph in this bitch he got another chain, if that boy ain’t got no ice on he ain’t with the gang.”
03 Greedo & Nef the Pharoah – Pluto
Another gem off of Porter 2 Grape. Nef is sounding incredible on the chorus here.
Rick Ross ft. T Pain, Kodak Black – Florida Boy
“It’s hard as hell for a young Florida boy, where we play football and sell dope…”
Alright I’m mucho late on this one since I guess it’s from February and I definitley wasn’t expecting to put up a T-Pain song on my blog any time in 2018 but damn I’m feeling this one this is some ultimate summer/driving music. The T-Pain chorus here is so fire, he’s still got it it just took a tribute to his home state to bring it out of him. I’m loving all the Florida pride here, from the Florida A&M rattlers jacket T-Pain is rocking to Rick Ross’ all Canes gear to the numerous Florida cameos like Khaled, Baby Soulja, and probably a few more that I don’t even recognize, to the Haitian flags flying to just the pride and passion for the state you can feel emanating from the song.
Ross gets all political on us here, “wake up nigga wake up, all these politicians need they face cut.” He doesn’t get too specific but I can’t disagree. “Beefin’ with niggas you went to school with, Easter Sundays at the church I prayed in the pool pit. Rocking rollies with homies I made some moves with.”
I love T-Pain triumphantly exclaiming, “I beat all of them cases, I’M ON!” and Kodak’s “Young nigga in a stolen car with no headlights, I’ll stop at the Wingstop but never at a red light!”
ALLBLACK ft. Shoreline Mafia – Road Run
While I’m generally in accordance with The Martorialist’s edict that “Shoreline Mafia are just Brockhampton if they’d met in the NoJumper YouTube comments rather than on the KanyeToThe message board,” this one was definitley worth it for the ridiculous ALLBLACK verse and I admittedly was kind of feeling the chorus too. I love how just absolutely reckless ALLBLACK can get; “I’m in the Ville tweaking and shit right hand on my tool, I’m high as fuck I feel like white bro who shot up the school.”
03 Greedo & Nef the Pharaoh – Blow-Up Bed
Yet another one off of Porter 2 Grape. I feel like I spent the last month or two mainly listening to Greedo, which made me obviously listen to this tape, which made me go back and listen to a bunch of Nef the Pharoah, and ALLBLACK was all over a bunch of songs with all of them and I listened to a ton of ALLBLACK as well and he’s become easily one of my new current favorites so those 3 have basically become the holy trinity of my listening this summer, with the new FMB DZ and Peezy mixtapes sprinkled in over the last week. I don’t like this one as much as Choosy or Pluto but it’s another cool song off an all-too-short EP, and I like the concept of the blow-up bed as an inanimate object illustrating how far these guys have come.
ALLBLACK – ALLWHITE
Got this one from the homie icebergsweater. No, unfortunately ALLWHITE isn’t ALLBLACK’S Waspy alter ego from New England, but it’s him warning you to stay back from him because he’s rocking all white and doesn’t want you to have to suffer the conseqeunces of getting any stains on him.
03 Greedo ft. ALLBLACK, Prada Mack – Florida Gator
This was my top song last month and I’ve still been bumping it all July.
Dave East & Rick Ross – Fresh Prince of Belaire
Cheating with an 11th song here… honestly the Fresh Prince homage seemed a bit out of place/half-hearted but the beat was heavy and it also just whetted my appetite for more Ross (Pause! Pause!). We need a new album from the big man soon.
MAKE ME SAY UHHHHH LIKE A MIX OF MASTER P AND RICK ROSS (Pause! Pause!)
Here’s my top 10 songs from the month that first brought us… this?
ALLBLACK ft. 03 Greedo, Prada Mack – Florida Gator
The ALLBLACK and Greedo tag team take the crown for June, from the original post…
“Here ye here ye, your host is hereby temporarily abstaining from the Martorialist-issued embargo on listening to rappers with septum piercings, which as you know, I usually strictly adhere to as they are wise words to live by, but ALLBLACK has me breaking the embargo. (Plus, ALLBLACK actually looks pretty badass with his, unlike some rappers who get them and just end up looking like bratty kids that hang out at Hot Topic.). I originally came here for 03 Greedo’s chorus but left as a new fan of Oakland’s rose-gold-grilled ALLBLACK. (I’m definitely feeling this rose gold grill).
ALLBLACK is certainly a character, and he links up with another big personality here in 03 Greedo in this ode to Florida Gators of an entirely different nature (and nothing to do with Tim Tebow or Aaron Hernandez). ALLBLACK mixes that old school, Oakland/Bay Area attitude with the newer vibe of these Soundcloud era type guys that dress like punk rockers. I fucking love what he’s saying here in his verse… “Y’all want ALLBLACK to be like James Stacy, wouldn’t stop running if the doctor amputated my legs… grinding like Chris Cole cause I gotta keep Maxine fed… take the pedals off the bike and I’ma hop on the pegs”. (By the way I feel like Chris Cole and James Stacy are two of the most random/unexpected references ever in a rap song and here they are basically in the same line). ALLBLACK’s verse and whole flow/vibe have grown on me very quickly and now I’m blasting his verse all the time. His song Canadian Goose is a flamer as well.
Could Greedo’s hook here possibly be any more flammable? 03 Greedo on auto tune is on a whole different level. God Level perhaps? It’s just a short cameo from him here on the hook and no verse but it sounds heavenly. My only complaint is I wish they looped it in a couple more times at the end or something.
ALLBLACK is definitely adding his own spin and style to the Bay and really out of nowhere is turning into one of my new/recent favorites and this and Canadian Goose are turning into two of my most heavily-played songs of this young summer so far. FREE GREEDO!
Jeno Cash, FMB DZ, Peezy – Dog Food
The 03 Greedo/ALLBLACK combo is pretty serious but Peezy and FMB DZ is a formidable pairing in their own right. Saw this on Ray Garraty This beat is crazy. I like the idea of Peezy as a hook guy more people should start using him for that. I’ve been on a big Peezy grind for months and it’s always good to hear new stuff from him especially after his near death experience over the winter when he got shot. By the way is it just me or does Peezy’s shirt look like something some flamboyant Italian tourist would wear in the 80s? But when you’re Peezy you can pull it off. Overall it was nice to hear all these guys together on a track and this is so far one of my favorite songs to blast out of the whip in 2018.
ALLBLACK – Canada Goose
Me and Icebergsweater have been rocking out to ALLBLACK heavy, and Canada Goose is another banger from him. He looks comfy AF in that fleece too I respect it.
“ALL MY BITCHES GOT ON CLEATS, THEY DON’T TRAP IN HEELS”
Freddie Gibbs – Weight / Freddie Gibbs ft. 03 Greedo – Death Row
I probably haven’t listened to Freddie Gibbs as heavily as a lot of other bloggers or readers and I’m not super familiar with his back catalogue but I gave his new project Freddie a spin and definitley enjoyed it. I mean come on how could you not be down with this album cover. My favorite song was the opener, Weight and I also loved the fairly ridiculous ‘FLFM’ interlude and of course, the 03 Greedo-assisted Eazy-E homage Death Row. I’ve obviously been listening to a ton of Greedo but I wasn’t expecting to hear him on this album so this was a pleasant surprise. We haven’t even gotten into God Level yet and there’s already 2 songs on my June top 10 with Greedo just on the hook or as a feature. (P.S. listening to new albums by Freeway and Freddie Gibbs this month has me feeling like it’s 2008 out here).
Waka Flocka Flame – Flava / Waka Flocka Flame – Smoker
Two songs from Waka Flocka Flame’s fairly unheralded comeback ‘Big Homie Flock’ clock in here too…
“I didn’t realize how much I missed Waka Flocka until I decided to give his new tape Big Homie Flocka a couple of spins over the last week. There’s a couple of bangers on here, including Flava and Smoker.
Flava brings forth that classic Waka Flocka sound, like a mix of trap music and just straight up mosh music. “I’m doing shows selling bails at the same time, I’m taking business calls and trapping off the same line.” I love the almost gleeful way he croons about taking business calls and trapping on the same phone, clearly relishing his niche he’s carved out as a businessman who can get paid to do obscure EDM shows in Europe while still having a foot in the streets. I love the ridiculously long, overstated ‘B-rr-r-r-r-r-r-r’ phone ring ad lib after it.
“Hot Boy like I’m BG, broad day you can meet me at the BP”. Flocka has never been a lyrical wizard or anything but there’s just something about his lines like these and the way he delivers them that still make them memorable. Also, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m always a sucker for rappers that post up trapping at the gas station and tell you to meet them there.
“I put Christians on wifey she a walking blessing”
“Ay my smoker cooking dope for me, they say there ain’t no hope for me, white folks got the rope for me, my shooter bought a scope for me”
I’m loving these over the top Waka ad libs in the background after not hearing them in a couple of years. You’ve also got to respect Waka’s efficient utilization here; having one of his customers cooking for him and a shooter on his payroll gifting him an expensive scope. That’s what I call getting the most out of your investments.”
03 Greedo – Fall Off
God Level certainly lived up to the hype and is a pretty legitimate masterpiece for Greedo as his last album before he begins his prison sentence. There’s a good 10-12 legitimate bangers on here which is pretty ridiculous when you consider that a lot of artists are releasing albums that are 7 songs now. Fall Off is my early favorite from the album but really any of about a dozen of them could be on this list. This is a six minute tour de force by Greedo and a good message of resilience and determination about refusing to fall off or give in before starts his prison term. This one is almost hypnotizing with the beat and chanting, recurring chorus.
03 Greedo – Gun Bucc
Another selection from God Level. This beat is sick and Greedo kills it as usual.
Kanye West & Kid Cudi ft. Pusha T – Feel the Love
Kanye West & Kid Cudi – Reborn
Kanye West – Ghost Town
I wasn’t expecting to be into this string of Wyoming albums that Kanye has been putting out, and there were certainly plenty of misses to go with the hits, but curiosity got the better of me and I’ll be the first to admit that I surprisingly really enjoyed Kids See Ghosts, which is weird since I’ve never been a Kanye fan one way or the other, and I’ve never gotten into Kid Cudi, and have found them to be fairly self-indulgent artists, but this album was pretty epic. The ‘I Can Still Feel the Love’ chorus being shouted out is dope and I love the part where Kanye spazzes out making the gun sounds at about 1:07. I thought it had to be Desiigner at first!
Reborn was another highlight of this string of projects to me. Sort of a similar sentiment to Greedo’s aforementioned Fall Off.
Ghost Town was my favorite song off of Ye, the album preceding this one, and seems like it could easily have fit into Kids See Ghost as an honorary eighth track.It was pretty out there compared to what I’m usually looking to listen to but it’s another gem from Kanye’s recent slew of Friday releases. A quick side note is that while I wasn’t really into about half of the material that came out from this weekly spate of releases and while complaints about them being only 7 songs certainly are understandable, I have to give this guy credit because it built up a lot of excitement and it really made each release seem like an ‘event’ and something that everyone was talking about, which I don’t feel like we often get to say about album releases anymore in this streaming age so I have to give credit for that. (P.S. I still wish he used that picture of the doctor as his album cover and really called it Love Everybody becasue it would have just been so over the top and troll-y but alas it wasn’t to be).
Guys sorry I’m late with this May top 10 and posting it in June, and have been MIA for the last week, I’ve been holed up in a cabin in Wyoming, wearing wierd clothes, working on my next album…
Kevin Gates – Change Lanes
Gates is really baring his soul on this one. Right from the opening bar this one hits you…”Been through a lot of pain in my life and I pray the Lord take it all away. I’ve got family doing life that’ll never see the sun shine again and I pray it all away. Gates touches on a lot of heavy, real topics in his life in ‘Change Lane’s, including his time in prison in Illinois, incarcerated family members, wanting to pull back from public life/fame, and, also, McDonald’s salads and rocking Islamic fashion out in Paris. This is off Gate’s 3 song ‘Chained to the City’ EP, his first work after being freed, and I’ve got to say, Gates is back in a big way because that EP was ridiculous. Not to mention the work he’s been putting in and posting the snippets of on Instagram; I almost want to include a couple of those as my top songs of May as well but I feel like that would be cheating a little.
Kevin Gates – Vouch
As much as I love ‘Change Lanes’, ‘Vouch’ might be even better. The singing, warbling Gates might be my favorite type of Kevin Gates. “I do for me I feed myself my crew not willing to help me, we either die or go to jail so what the fuck could you tell me. Fully loaded Mac 11 when this pressure get applied; got a brand new Glock 90 and I keep it by my side. That part starting at around 2:15 just sounds absolutely heavenly; “”I ain’t never change up, let’s get that understood, I’m in that 70805 they don’t show love in my hood.”
Lil Baby ft. Drake – Pikachu
Damn it feels like this came out a year ago instead of a few weeks ago, what with all the sniping back and forth between Drizzy and Pusha T just completely usurping everyone’s collective attention span, not to mention Drake announcing his ‘Scorpion’ album and then of course the new .
From the original article…
While I wouldn’t have gone as far as to call myself a Drake ‘hater’, I think the old, healthier but less enlightened me would have perhaps best been described at the very least as a ‘Drake skeptic’ or a ‘Drake nonbeliever’. I wasn’t that into his early stuff when he first started blowing up and later on I really couldn’t stand most of his hits over the last few years like Controlla and One Dance. More than anything I kind of just considered him to be bland elevator music. But I’ll be the first to admit, and as someone whose been critical, I feel responsibility to give credit where credit is due; I’ll be damned if Drake’s last couple of songs haven’t been absolute bangers. He’s had a good 3-4 songs or more in a row (this one with Lil Baby, his song with Trouble on the ‘Edgewood’ album, ‘Look Alive’ with Blocboy JB, and I’ll admit I was even down with Nice for What even though that was definitely shamelessly pandering to the ladies. I also didn’t mind God’s Plan.) that have forced me to mention them with the same disclaimer every time, ‘I’m not a big Drake fan but…,’ so I don’t know if he’s actually getting better or if I’m just going soft in my old age but I’m slowly…becoming a fan??? That was hard to type!
Whether you love him or have him, (or should I say – whether you’re siding with him or Pusha T in the new World War 3?) the man has a pretty unassailable ear for great beats, and if he retired from rapping he would make a great A&R he has an eye for up and coming talent. He has a penchant for working with hard, down south rappers like Blocboy, Trouble, and now Lil Baby. Drake is like the 2018 version of 2017 Berner to me.
Enough about Drake though, Lil Baby is actually the real headliner here. His verse/flow is crazy. He’s another artist I was kind of tepid on at first, not that I disliked him but just none of his songs really jumped out at me, but I loved this song, and ‘I Remember’ with Quando Rondo, and ‘Day in my Hood’ with Sherwood Marty were pretty solid jams so I’m starting to become more and more of a fan. I’ve also warmed to his hits like ‘A-Town’ and ‘My Dawg’. ‘Trap Star’ while delving into his previous work in preparation for ‘Harder than Ever’.
Drake is doing his best Hoodrich Pablo Juan impression on this one. Side note on the Drake verse – he says ‘my shorty a goodie’; most of my friends have been calling bad bitches baddies have they been doing this all wrong? My favorite part is where Lil Baby sings, ‘Waaah waahhh waaahhh bitch I’m the Baby’.
Another side note – apparently on the album this song is called ‘Yes Indeed’ but when it dropped on Youtube they were calling it Pikachu and I’m still calling it that.
YELLOW FERARRI LIKE PIKACHU, CARTIER LENSES I WON’T EVEN PEEK AT YOU
All Star Lee – Cash Money Flow
Flammable song by All Star Lee out of Detroit. I’m loving the throwback Orlando Magic jerseys and the soulja rags in this Cash Money homage.
Lil AJ, Joe Blow, Lil Frost
Dope song from two workmanlike Bay Area stalwarts who don’t get as much love/hype outside of the Bay as some of the bigger names from out there, but who are pretty much always reliable for solid, real music. I’m starting to like Lil AJ’s stuff more and more over time. “Lash Money burning bridges nigga, see an opp slipping in traffic and them niggas get the business nigga, rest in peace Boss Nuge and the nigga Jack, catch me out in traffic riding with the mini MAC”. I didn’t realize Lil Frost had passed away until I saw this video; and it took me a minute to realize what was going on. His verse being overlaid by old clips of him rapping interspersed with the scenes from his funeral, since he wasn’t here to shoot the video, was straight up heartbreaking and actually hit me pretty hard since I wasn’t expecting it. RIP to Frost man, gone too soon.
Pusha T ft. Rick Ross – Hard Piano
Some people are mad about the album cover, some people love it. Some people feel like Drake bodied Pusha with his diss track, and other people feel like Pusha ended Drake with his response. Regardless of all that, there were some straight up slaps on ‘Daytona’ (I love that name by the way), my favorite amongst them being ‘Hard Piano’. Kanye really did work his magic on the beats on this one, regardless of his recent controversies and what some would call his subpar rapping on ‘Ye’, the guy is in the zone right now on the boards, this album had some of the best beats/production I’ve heard in a while. I like the combo of Pusha and Rozay. If Ross is sounding like this, I can’t wait for his comeback album. It’s funny I didn’t realize how much I missed prime Ross until I heard this. Yeah he’s another artist with plenty of questionable moves/songs over the years but at the end of the day he’s still here, he’s been through a lot, he has a lot of dope songs over the years throughout his catalogue and I’m looking forward to what he has to say on his next album.
“The Warhols on my wall tell a war story.”
“Chilling in a condo full of ready rock”
As much as I like my rappers and their music to be ‘real,’ sometimes some straight up luxury/over the top drug kingpin rap can be dope too, if it’s imaginative and really paints a picture for you, which I feel like Hard Piano does.
Mannie Fresh & Birdman
This was uh… unexpected… and ridiculous. Man I love Mannie Fresh. Such a classic Mannie Fresh type beat! I could have lived without the 3 minutes of vignettes that randomly interspersed throughout the song that kept interrupting it but on the other hand I loved the video itself with the New Orleans mardi gras band in the street with them. Any time you get Mannie actually rapping on a track is always a good thing; he’s just so happy and jovial – “$100,000 in a brief case, orange Lamborghini yours with the dealer plates… Bricks, pounds, scales, weed, went to Hiroshima came back speaking Japanese.” The chorus for this one is super menacing; ‘Note around his neck saying get right with the Lord.” I don’t know if Big Tymers is back but if we could get some more stuff from Mannie or even a full Big Tymers project that would be a pretty nice surprise.
Pusha T – If You Know You Know
Another dope song off of Daytona. The production is so good. ‘If You Know You Know’ is going to be big this summer. I bumped Daytona so many times over Memorial Day weekend.
Quando Rondo – Paradise
I put ‘Paradise’ up in April’s top 10 but I only heard it at the end of the month and I really bumped it much more in May so I’m kind of cheating here. Quando Rondo is dope I’m starting to get into this new wave of Atlanta guys like him, Lil Baby, and Gunna which I wasn’t expecting.
Lil Reek ft. Brodinski – Rock Out
I’m surprised this hasn’t blown up actually. Maybe it’s just because it’s a change of pace but I love this kid’s voice!
And that’s my top 10 for May but here’s a couple of bonus tracks for ya since this month was one of the best in a long time…
03 Greedo – Fortnite
FREE GREEDO!
Q Money – Countin’ Up a Check
Tee Grizzly – Colors
Sherwood Marty ft. Lil Baby – Day in My Hood
Playboi Carti ft. Lil Uzi – Shoota
P.S. I usually follow the Martorialist’s embargo on rappers with septum rings but I’m not going to lie this one with Lil Uzi from Playboi Carti’s new album was just too catchy not to mention here.
03 Greedo ft. Drakeo the Ruler, Fenix – Wake Me Up in Traffic
I usually like to joke around on this site and keep things light/entertaining (or at least I hope!) but on a very serious note, please pray for Greedo as he is facing some very serious time in prison in Texas. The circumstances are particularly unfortunate as he got hit with this big sentence just as he was starting to blow up and create a huge wave for himself. In the same month that Meek came home, we sadly lost one of the most creative and innovative, truly interesting artists to come out in a long time. I’m glad that apparently he has tons of unreleased music still in the vaults that we can enjoy but sometimes real life and whats at stake for the artist facing all these years just feels bigger/more important than the music itself. Originally it was being reported that it was a life sentence but now it seems like places are saying it’s 20 years… maybe he can appeal or get out early.
‘Wake Me Up in Traffic’ featuring him, Drakeo the Ruler, and Fenix from Shoreline Mafia is my top song for April; from the original article…
Even 03 Greedo’s unreleased loosies are better than 95% of other current artist’s best material that they would choose as the singles for their new album. This guy really is on a different level. Almost reminds me of an in-his-prime Gucci Mane with all the vaults upon vaults of quality material he has laying around. I really hope this one doesn’t get taken down from Youtube! This is going to be a dope summer driving song.
“And I got my mask and my gloves, dead presidents chasing bank do some drugs, every day I repent but I keep fucking up, only my God can judge me, too rich for a judge…Unless I get paid I don’t go to clubs.” This line was so dope and mind-blowing to me because it was so braggadocios but also simultaneously so humble, which you would think would be impossible but Greedo pulled it off.
03’s cohort, Drakeo the Ruler, who if not for Greedo would almost certainly be the most dynamic rapper in L.A. right now, also contributes a dope verse as does, according to Youtube, someone named Fenix of Shoreline Mafia. Let’s keep our fingers crossed/prayers up that Greedo and Drakeo both beat their cases and we can keep getting awesome collaborations from them for years to come.
03 Greedo has easily usurped the Dos Equis guy as ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’ at this point.
Man fuck Hot 97 and the current headliners, Kooda B should be on center stage getting the star treatment at Summer Jam this year. KOODA B FOR SUMMER JAM MAIN STAGE!!! Or else I’m boycotting.
The Kooda GOAT is ridiculous. I wasn’t sure if I had ever pondered the concept of whether someone could rework Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ into a foreboding message to potential foes warning them not to run up on them in his neighborhood or risk becoming a victim of gun violence, but Kooda certainly comes about as close to achieving that odd task as humanly possible. But more importantly, his heartfelt ode to gun crime is also undeniably catchy as fuck.
Tekashi’s bodyguard(/wingman/handler/subject of the song ‘Kooda’) has quite a bit of charisma and even some star power of his own. He reminds me a bit of a Sonniebo in that while some of the songs are clearly trolling and made for comic value, they also stand up on their own as songs that whether you want to admit it or not, just straight up slap.
Favorite part: About 0:40 to 0:45 in – ‘I was walking through the Viiiillllllle, fans ask me how I’m doingggggg!” I also love when the beat ‘drops’ at about 1:00 like in the real song and he goes ‘TONIGHT – we gon get you… we wont’ miss you!”
I don’t know how he pulled off driving that piano around through the streets of Brooklyn. Also – he DEFINITELY picked up those two girls at Starbucks and asked them to be in his video, and let’s be honest, how could they have resisted?
Quando Rondo – Paradise
A late entrance to the list, ‘Paradise’ is an amazingly catchy song by rising young artist and apparently aspiring herptologist Quando Rondo out of Savanna, Georgia (the home of Camoflauge! RIP!). There are so many new rappers out of Atlanta and the surrounding areas all the time right now that it’s hard to keep track of them and to be honest a lot of them are kind of generic/blend together but this young bol Quando Rondo is different and has an absolute gift for creating catchy, anthemic songs as well as deep, introspective ones. This is one of my favorite choruses of the year so far. Paradise should definitely have more than a million views!
Jim Jones – Never Did 3 Quarters
These recent posts about Cam, Lil Flip, etc. have got me feeling like it’s the mid-2000s and that’s definitely not a bad thing in my book. Jimmy brought his A-game on his new album Wasted Talent and after multiple listens through it this week ‘Never Did 3 Quarters’ stands out as my favorite track off of it. You really can’t go wrong with the capo, or really any Diplomat, over a soulful Heatmakerz sample like this one. Jim gets introspective and reminisces on this one, creating a narrative that goes perfect with the reflective vibe of the beat.
“Gotta look both ways before you cross the street, you’ve got to watch out for them strays from across the street. In my day I was clapping at all the beef; start beefing now these rappers might call the police. I grew up in a country that rather war than peace, in my hood there’s always war so I wore the piece.”
If it’s possible for an artist who got as popular as Jim did at his height to be ‘underrated’, I’d say that Jim Jones is criminally underrated, especially from a lyrical standpoint and from the perspective of how impactful he was on the rap game and the culture. Between his material with Dipset, his solo work, and things he was working on with Max B and Stack Bundles, Jones has compiled a pretty impressive catalogue and almost 20 years in the game.
Drakeo the Ruler – Big Bank Uchies
I’m a little late on this one but I’ve been bumping a ton of Drakeo over and over again all month, probably more than any other artist. I love his guttural flow and his unique lingo. Him and Greedo have the West Coast rap game on lock right now. Unfortunately like Greedo he’s also in the midst of some questionable at best legal troubles; I’m not sure what the exact status is right now but hopefully he’s home and can get back to living his life and making dope new west coast music; I hope we can still get that Greedo/Drakeo collaboration album one day.
Drakeo the Ruler – Flu Flamming
I’m a Flu Flammer
Jim Jones ft. Mozzy – Bangin’
Another highlight from Wasted Talent. One of my favorite rappers from the mid to late 2000s linking up with arguably my favorite rapper of 2016? I didn’t expect to ever hear them on a song together but sign me up. And the results weren’t disappointing at all as they often can be in these types of collaborations.
Capo really crushes both the chorus and his verse on this one and it’s also nice to get a little bit of a look back at a different time in history from him…
“I loved the gang I even banged when I was famous… I put the city on my back, had my biddy screaming blatt, all the main events with 40 niggas in the back. I was bicking back booling, skipping all the schooling, small .22 in the Timbs to get my tool in…They called me Billy the Kid, Sex Money Murder we was killing as kids, I send a missile and get you killed on your bid.”
“I used to rock a vest cause in my streets no love, I was the first to hit the West and show them East Coast Bloods. Everybody screaming gang but nobody put in work for it, my whole gang was putting bodies in the church for it.”
It looks like there may also be a video coming out for this at some point soon which I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to.
Quando Rondo – My Motivation
Another nice melodic jam from Quando Rondo as he gets his Rich Homie Quan on. This is off of his Life B4 Fame mixtape which I definitley need to finish listening to the rest of. I love introspective songs like this, he really gets a lot off his chest and takes you through some heavy things that he’s been through. “RIP Quafee 3 times, and my niggas they with it we just buried about three 9’s”. I also always love videos where rappers walk you through their hoods that you’ve never seen before, like Savanna here.
Drake – Nice for What
Your humble host must be getting soft in his old age, because I used to be known as a bit of a Drake hater but lately I’ve been oddly at peace and down with pretty much each one of his latest string of singles. Is Nice for What clearly pandering to female fans? Probably, but the song and sample are both fire so I can’t complain.
Cam’ron – Harlem Streets
From my post earlier this month…
With the passing of Steven Boscho earlier this week I kept hearing the ‘Hill Street Blues’ theme song on the news radio that I listen to for traffic info etc. in the car and I kept thinking to myself damn this song is so smooth, where have I heard it before? It’s sampled in one of the all-time great (and dare I say underrated?) Killa Cam songs, ‘Harlem Streets’. I love when the saxophone (or trumpet?) kicks in. We need more rap songs over these type of samples like Cam sampling Hill Street Blues or Peezy (and others) sampling Herb Alpert’s ‘Making Love in the Rain’. I loved the classic Heatmakers sound/beats that the Dips usually rapped over but they sounded so dope over these more jazz/soul-infused samples too. So many Cam quotables here…
“And I get it cheaper, I cop bricks like sneakers, and if the cops come I just hit amnesia, but i give them an earful, it’s tearful, told my mom I hustle and she said be careful.”
Including perhaps, gun to my head, my favorite Cam sequence of all time…
“And when I rap it ain’t no punchlines. I be on the highway, dirty, crunch time. No timeouts homeboy, just one time, if they find that stash box just one time? Shit, they put the dogs in the trunk, side of the road, holding you up, cold as a fuck, they want that button, lunge it and push it, as soon as they lunge it and push it, I run in the bushes. That’s how I play mine, jump over the grapevine, take my chances one on one with the canines, steel and a clip for anyone squealing their lips, fuck y’all if y’all ain’t feeling the Dips.”
Got me feeling all nostalgic right now. KILLA!
Bonus
Not really a song per se but to celebrate Meek being free I’m also throwing in this clip by the Hoodies celebrating the news with this great freestyle snapping over the ‘Monster’ beat
It was a hard choice between this and Never Bend but Baytoven is my favorite song for the month and overall my favorite song off of Wolf of Grape Street, which is my favorite project of the year so far. From the original post…
“Another ridiculous banger off the new Greedo album. The drums on the beat hit hard AF as Greedo melodically yells about how he’s quick to dog a bitch like Beethoven (presumably the sloppy but lovable St. Bernard from the 1992 movie Beethoven as opposed to the more famous 18th century composer by the same name, although it’s certainly plausible that that Beethoven would also similarly ditch a female companion) and then gives a nice homage to one of his main producers Ron, Ron, comparing him to Zaytoven (and also favorably compares his other producer Beat Boy to Metro Boomin’).
“Dog a bucket head bitch like a cocker spaniel, 03 Greedo got it lit just like a Roman candle”. I’m not entirely clear on what a bucket head bitch is but presumably it’s not a desirable trait and the line flows nicely. So many other wild rhymes and rhyme schemes in this one; “Dog a little bitch like a Pomeranian, I’m in Dubai, hair-tied like Arabian, tryna know if niggas pulling triggers all my bitches gradient I be on some player shit”. I would pay to see 03 Greedo exploring Dubai and the Middle East.
I can’t get this one out of my head and I keep blasting it in the whip. I hope 03 makes a video for this one, for some reason I can picture it having an awesome dance to go with it. 03 Greedo is playing above the rim right now.
NO LOW RIDER BUT I’M MOBBING AND JEFFING!
03 Greedo – Never Bend
From the original post…
“03 Greedo has me feeling grapey with Never Bend, the monumental nightcap off of his ridiculous new Wolf of Grape Street album. 03 has about as much charisma and star power as anybody in the game right now and keeps things interesting with his unique, larger than life personality, adept lyricism, and dope production.
Greedo produced the sick beat for Never Bend himself on a laptop while he was laying in a hospital bed after being shot. I really can’t compare him to any other artist right now; the closest analogy I could make would maybe be a more experimental Sada Baby, but if you ask him, he wouldn’t compare himself to any rapper at all, but iconic figures like Prince and Michael Jackson and he describes his sound as “emo music for gangbangers.”
I love the droning, self-produced beat for Never Bend, with that recurrent noise that interrupts it intermittently, and I love its resolute, defiant message of the chorus; “I’m thanking God, I could have died in the pen, you haven’t been against the odds like I been, you haven’t been where I been, I never fold never bend.” Greedo also briefly alludes to being shot by someone he loves and being betrayed/snitched on by family members. This is definitley one of the most compelling figures in rap and we’re only beginning to scratch the surface of his backstory.
The entire album is filled with amazing songs, and I don’t want to overreact/be too hyperbolic as bloggers often can be, but Wolf of Grape Street is an instant classic in my book and an early choice for Album of the Year for 2018. After listening to it a couple of times front to back this weekend, there really are no tracks that are skips, which is saying a lot for an album with 21 full-length songs on it (and keep in mind this is only half the length of previous releases like Purple Summer. Sitting down and listening to full 03 Greedo album is making a commitment but it’s a worthwhile one). If I were to name my favorite 3 tracks on it so far I’d go with Never Bend, Baytoven, and the Yhung T.O-assisted Bacc to Bacc, but it’s hard to narrow it down. What would it take to get a collaboration between 03 and his fellow Grape Streeter Blocboy JB?
Don Q ft. Desiigner – Trap Phone
Favorite song off Don Q’s new, all-too-short Don Talk project. The beat is just so triumphant; it sounds like something you’d blast as you ride through a city you just conquered. A lot of people are saying they don’t like Don Q rapping over trap beats but he sounds dope to me on this one and a lot of the other ones on this tape. I didn’t expect to be rocking out to a Desiigner feature in 2018 but this goes. Ultimate song for the whip.
03 Greedo ft. Yhung T.O – Bacc to Bacc
Yet another banger off of Wolf of Grape Street. SOB X RBE is everywhere right now and Yhung T.O complements 03 nicely on Bacc to Bacc.
Fat Tone – Juicy
Kick back, put your feet up, and soak in the nostalgia! Obviously this song isn’t actually from this month but I found myself bumping it over and over again this month after initially hearing Fat Tone thanks to the Martorialist last year. I love the ‘Sprewells on my car’ in the chorus. Fat Tone’s take on ‘Juicy’ is now up there with the one with Fat Pat and DJ Screw as my favorite of all of them. RIP Fat Tone!
Rich Homie Quan – Fuck Wit Me
RICH HOMIE BABYYYY! Here’s one I didn’t see coming. Rich Homie Quan seems to be making a nice comeback for himself in 2018 with his new album ‘Rich as in Spirit’. It may seem like a long time ago now but it was just a few years ago that Rich Homie could basically make an undisputed claim to the title of hook god. I remember listening to some of the earliest, pre-Rich Gang Quan songs like ‘Can’t Help It’ and ‘Where Were You’ (probably still my two favorites by him) and feeling like this guy was on a whole different level at the time.
Obviously he had some success thereafter with Rich Gang but it seems like while Young Thug’s career catapulted from there, Rich Homie just completely fell off the map. I’m not sure what he was up to or what he went through in the time period since he was last a marquee name, but from listening to Rich as in Spirit you can tell he’s been down in some dark places and bounced back/worked his way out of it and is eager to perfect his craft again. ‘Fuck Wit Me’ was probably my favorite song off of Rich as in Spirit but there were plenty of other contenders, like ‘Achieving’, ‘Foot Soldier’, and ‘Changed’. Honestly the whole album was really good and there were no songs you feel like you have to skip on it, which is saying something for a 19-track album.
I’m interested to see what Rich Homie does next, I feel like he’s almost comparable to a post-hype high NBA draft pick that doesn’t live up to his lofty draft position, than people write him off, but then he comes back in a new role on a new team a couple of years later and is a force to be reckoned with again. A lot of new guys have come in and set up shop in his lane that he carved out but he can definitely reclaim his spot amongst them.
Trouble – My Boy
“I AIN’T EVEN ATE YET, DRINKING LEAN WITH MY BOY”
Substitute Lean for Coors Light and I’ve been there before with you Trouble, I know that feeling.
Speaking of Atlanta rappers of the early 2010s making a comeback, Trouble just released a really solid project called ‘Edgewood’; produced entirely by Mike Will Made It. ‘My Boy’ was the highlight of ‘Edgewood’ in my opinion. I remember bumping his stuff 6-7 years ago and then kind of losing track of him/not keeping up with him anymore but it seems like he’s back. He’s in a good spot for himself here working with Mike Will Made It and getting features from Drake, Quavo, Boosie, etc. ‘My Boy’ seems like one of the more unassuming tracks on the album at first especially given some of the superstar features, but it’s stayed in my head for weeks and has become my favorite.
AR-Ab ft. Lik Moss – Blood Brothers
You know the old saying; hell hath no fury like an AR-Ab scorned. Ab is in fine form here on Blood Brothers as usual. This is quintessential Ab – Ab being provoked brings out the best in him, as he mixes hilarious bars with brutally violent threats and just a downright sneering mockery for all who dare oppose him. Those who have read my ‘homage to AR-Ab‘ from last year know he’s one of my all-time favorite artists and a rapper who I feel truly embodies the gritty spirit of Philly.
“I’m purple-hearted I done been to war; you kill one of mine I kill ten of yours. Ring his bell than I riot pump through your door, then I try to stomp your head through the fucking floor.”
“Tell my brother if you spot him get brutal with him, my only problem is deciding which shooter to send.”
“I watch Instagram I seen what you said homie, now I’ma fill your whole page with your dead homies.” (P.S. I love the idea of Ab reluctantly joining the social media age).
You’ve got to love Ab’s ever-present charisma and how expressive he gets with acting out his lines as he raps them, like how he jumps down and stomps the floor when he says about stomping his opp’s head through the floor, or when he motions to his homie behind him holding the pool stick like a rifle when he says his only problem is deciding which shooter to send. Or when he acts out throwing a no-look pass. (Not to mention his illustration of ‘stab you with both hands like Wolverine’ at the 2:55 mark).
“They was on the Gram talking murder, I was no good, now I declared martial law on your whole hood. I heard your corny mixtape, did it go wood? My plug pass me the brick with the no look.” This sequence is classic Ab – deftly maneuvering from threatening violence on his enemy’s whole hood, to mocking his mixtape and gloating about how he’s sold more copies than him.
While Ab’s brother Lik Moss doesn’t get as demonstrative as him, he brings a lot of raw bars and the self-assured veneer of someone who knows they’ve earned their stripes over the years and earned the respect of their hooddd, sneering as he raps lines like ‘Call Moss and see if he scrimmage, but I ain’t leaving off the field until the evil is finished’ and ‘They don’t try me here and they don’t try me there; niggas try me anywhere there’ll be a body there.’
“I’m laying dirt broke before I compromise what I stand for, these niggas laying down they manwhores… keep my foot on the gas as soon as they slam the can door, right back to putting niggas out like a landlord.” Steadfast would be a good way to describe Lik Moss.
AR-Ab – Glory Road
The booming opener to AR-Ab’s new ‘Protocol Volume 4’ mixtape is textbook Ab; in 3 short minutes he discusses the ups and downs of selling dope to his uncle, seeing his old head become a junkie, his murder trial, and having to take Percocets to fall asleep at night. Alright admittedly that sounds like more downs than ups but Ab made it through it all to tell the story, and now he’s cruising around town in his luxury vehicle, literally and figuratively looking down on the girls that used to curve him for having holes in his sneakers as they comb through the trash. Other highlights from the tape include ‘Biggest Fear’ which has a pretty dope chorus, his remake of Pac’s ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Come Home’ which has a beat you wouldn’t expect to hear Ab rapping on.
Yo Gotti ft. 8Ball & MJG – Walking in Memphis
Another blast from the past I found myself bumping all month, something about the start of spring has your humble host here feeling nostalgic. I’m not even really a big Gotti fan or that into most of his recent hits but his remake of ‘Walking in Memphis’ where he links up with Memphis legends 8Ball and MJG and repurposes the hook of the famous song of the same title is a personal classic of mine; they just use that sample so flawlessly. My favorite part is 8-Ball coming in at the end and just knocking over everything in his path; “Boys hatin’ cause their hoes be so in love with it, that pussy might jump off a bridge if he knew I hit it. That’s why I keep my pistol closer than my boxer drawers, handle my business without ever getting the law involved. Fake niggas get the Ruger to their fucking chin, mama don’t raise punks I ain’t gonna say it again.” 8Ball manages to be both chill and intimidating in the same time in that way that only big dudes are able to. Hotbox Social just put up a dope tribute to 8Ball with a big collection of his best features on his site a week ago.
