Yeah this feels unbelievably anticlimactic after not only my top 50 songs for 2019 and my rambling top songs of the decade list but I realized that because I had worked on those and they took so much time I never put up my top songs for the month of December. I’m not sure why I’m bothering to do it now 11 days into January 2020 but I don’t want to break the chain and I’m going to take a stab at doing a somewhat abbreviated version of it, hopefully without being too redundant.
Zelooperz ft. Earl Sweatshirt – Easter Sunday 97
YNW Melly – Adam Sandler
Rio da Yung OG – Shit Talkin’ Part 4
Griselda ft. 50 Cent – City on the Map
Yung Cat – Gangsta Shit
Black Eyed Peas ft. J. Balvin – Ritmo
Zelooperz ft. Earl Sweatshirt – Easter Sunday 97
Probably my favorite song that I found reading other people’s end of year/best of 2019 lists, thanks to Rap Music Hysteria. I’m feeling everything about this one, from the beat, to the title to the video and just the overall vibe. Between Some Rap Songs, Feet of Clay, and features like this, Earl has quietly had quite the year and change.
YNW Melly – Adam Sandler
YNW Melly stays releasing some heat from behind bars with ‘Adam Sandler’. Now I’m assuming he’s evoking this new, bossed up version of Adam Sandler i.e. here –
as opposed to the previous, more typical sloppier Sandler that we’ve come to expect, before he glowed up…
The Martorialist pointed out last month that we could a spate of rappers named Buffalino and Tony Pro in the wake of the Irishman, is this going to be the month where we get a new rapper named Howard Rattner?
“I’m a real Blood, G-Shine, ain’t no bitch in me. I’m a real nigga ain’t no Lilo ain’t no Stich in me.”
Rio da Yung OG – Shit Talkin Pt. 4
Just more pure savagery from Mr. Consistency aka Rio da Yung OG. That “On Christmas we was getting shit we need, I didn’t want a coat” line hit hard. Anyone know what he said before that about ‘we didn’t have slice cheese we had (Focus Help?)’ I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying at the end there/and if it is Focus Help don’t know what he means.
FREE BIG GHETTO!
Griselda ft. 50 Cent – City on the Map
I’m not a huge Griselda stan like some people so I’m not extensively familiar with all their work but I do like these guys especially Benny (I wish that they had given Benny a verse on this track) and I’ll check for their stuff, and it was nice to hear a new verse from the Godfather in 2019. I wasn’t sure what to expect since he hasn’t exactly been the most frequent rapper in recent years but he does a nice job here, kind of taking on a boss bad guy type role. “Chill, play it cool, til I come and get frostbit, let the D’s find the strap in the snow after I toss it.” I love the callousness and just casual disdain of ‘Let the D’s fine the strap in the snow after I toss it,” that’s trademark 50 right there. This isn’t something that I’ll put on every day but it’s nice east coast winter time type music for when you’re driving around with the heat on and wearing a hoodie with a hockey jersey over it or under your winter coat and some Timbs. (This song and the album as a whole).
Yung Cat – Gangsta Shit
The official title ‘C-Bo presents Yung Cat (Fat Tone Jr.) – Gangsta Shit’ is a little too busy for my taste but regardless, like the big homie Martorialist said, it’s a “big, hooky Kansas City slapper.” Yung Cat just comes stomping through the Kansas City streets on this beat/hook. I’m not 100% sure what the deal with Yung Cat’s sloth shirt is but I’m kind of feeling it.
Black Eyed Peas ft. J. Balvin – Ritmo
I’m not sure what this is from or why it’s also called ‘Bad Boys for Life’, and it seems like a blatant ripoff of the original ‘Rythm of the Night’ instead of just a sample, but you know what? It actually is supq1d`er catchy and gets people moving and my one and a half year old son goes wild every time it comes on and dances around the living room so I’m going to be honest and include it in my top songs for the month since it may be the most played song in my humble abode at the moment.
Big Fenc ft. Rio da Yung OG, Dink, Sid Dawg – Can’t Fall Off
Obviously this site has been the ‘All Rio All the Time’ 24/7 Rio Da Yung OG coverage channel lately (and rightfully so!), so of course I scoped out this video out to see the Rio verse. But every now and then when you click a video just to hear the artist you want to hear you end up being blessed with an all-time gem from a bunch of other guys you’ve never heard of.
Flint Michigan linking up with Kalamazoo Michigan for one of the dopest songs I have heard in a long time. I’m loving the fuzzy-sounding production of the beat. From the hook, to the production/sample to all 3 verses, everything about this song is on point – Even just the overall message of refusing to fall off. This is real hustle music.
“Bitch I’m the big homie, I can put you on, and I can get a nigga offed if he try to do me wrong” might be one of the hardest lines I’ve ever heard, there’s not much to it but it just sounds so hard. (Big Fenc looks intense, I definitely would not want to ‘do him wrong’ and get on his bad side).”
The hook from Sid Dawg is godly. “Bitch I can’t fall offffff, I’m so up right now, I can throw it all right now. Niggas wanna shine like me, but they can’t grind like me, I can’t fall off”. This hook has me feeling motivated. (I’m feeling the Charles Barkley Rockets jersey too).
Dink’s verse is so dope and just has so much heart. I love the resilience of ‘Bitch I can’t fall off, as long as the stove on, big timer motherfucker I get my roll on.’
‘Bangin’ stone after stone that boy in go mode, gettin cream off that ice nigga, Cold Stone.”
And then Rio comes in as the closer throwing 105 MPH heat. “Nigga up the strap on me and bust he gon die shooting, grip the Glock while I grip the wheel I can drive it and shoot it”
“Bitch I can’t fall off I know I said it once, real hustle – I can’t find the Runts I’m bagging Reggies up”
“I can get a bag gone in Kalamazoo, doggie said he want some horse tranquilizer met him at the zoo.”
“My nigga Euro keep a laptop he be hacking computers.”
Does Rio ever take a break? No he does not. He’s putting on the whole state here.
The Michigan winter is cold but all 4 of these dudes (not to mention the producer) are firing on all cylinders and bringing some absolute flames.
*Spoiler Alert – I think at this point it’s between Can’t Fall Off and a certain CML song for song of the year on my year end list, with perhaps a dark horse or two still in the mix
Bericcus ft. Rio da Yung OG – Got Testers
This is like the 4th time in a row Rio has linked up with someone I’ve never heard of and made it into pure heat. Rio has the Midas touch except that everything he touches turns into flames. I was actually going to post a different song today but then I saw that this came out today and I was just too hyped about Rio’s verse not to post it instead. My man Ray Garraty is going to have to make another addition to his Rio loosies mix or maybe just wait for a volume 2 soon because this guy never stops. Rio is just relentless – who else can rap like this –
“I just linked up with BC, I ain’t have no cut I hit the powder with some BC, slick nigga, I put the play on Unc they say I’m greazy, .22’s bounce through your body like a P3 (?), back to back to back when we drink red got it on repeat, put your glasses on I’m bout to shoot the Glock in 3D, hit the button, shoot for 20 minutes this an EP, I just bought another pint from my Titi, my nigga doing life he said he good he need a TV, my Arab bought a zip that nigga rich he own a BP.”
One of the nicest verses/lines I’ve ever heard.
Bericcus sounds like he could be a feared Roman emperor with that name and he has a couple of nice lines here too; “Dodging potholes it’s just me and Ri, real shooters follow niggas home just like TMZ.” That OG Memphis Grizzlies jersey is tough. And I like that these Detroit/Flint rappers are bringing back Timbs.
RMC Mike ft. RLSG KD – What’s Love
Didn’t even get a chance to post this during the month but this RMC Mike interpretation of ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ from his ‘Rookie Season’ tape from earlier this year is just too smooth. “Your daddy got knocked out by a fiend ’cause he served him shake.”
RLSG KD kicking some knowledge at the end about not being TOO customer-friendly. This is one field where the old adage ‘the customer is always right’ does not apply.
CML – Drip Drop
Always-reliable CML getting some of that Cash Money, D-Rock production, and floating over it as you would expect. CML’s hooks are always good enough to find yourself singing along to. “Drip drop, I’m on the tip top, Super Bowl ring with the wrist watch.” I never get tired of rappers comparing their rings to Super Bowl rings.
“Put a rapper in a bag like a gift shop”
Kanye West – On God
What can I say, this is actually fire. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Pierre Bourne snapped on this beat. No feature from Joel Osteen unfortunately but maybe next time. Kanye rides out on this.
ShittyBoyz – Lamb Chops
These guys really, really don’t tolerate any delays or mistakes from restaurant staff, as evidenced in the chorus here and throughout the rest of their catalogue. A little bit of a departure from their usual more upbeat, freestyle-type production but they go hard over this more bleak, dark type of beat. “SB we the hottest in the universe, hit the runts now I’m blade dancing up on Jupiter”
Allstar JR ft. Overlord Scooch – Coutnted Last Night
‘Counted Last Night’ from Allstar JR and one of my all-time favorite rap names Overlord Scooch is just so damn smooth. JR and Scooch both making an appearance for the first time in quite a while on this site going back to last winter. From Allstar JR’s ‘Get a Bag or Go Home 2’ project form this summer. I feel like I could sleep on silky sheets of this sax sample.
Big Colin x Rio da Yung OG – Ghetto Boys
This beat from 1800it is so fucking cold. Even Rio’s young bols are snapping.
It feels refreshing to see someone embrace ‘Big’ as the prefix to their rap name with all these ‘Lil’s’ running around out there.
No homo but I’m kind of feeling this dude Big Colin’s voice. That ‘Drakeo hold 100 like two 50-pound dumbells’ line is so hard.
“2400 that can get you a bow sale, we ain’t breaking shit down we mailing it wholesale.”
“Police hit my crib, and I was madder than a bitch, it was God on my side them bitches didn’t find my stick, they done fucked up my crib tryna find them zips like I told you once befor we ain’t breaking down shit!” I absolutely love the part at the end where Rio/Colin’s whole crew yells along with Colin as he raps that last line, ‘Like I told you once before we ain’t breaking down shit!’
ShittyBoyz Babytron ft. Allstar JR – Bag Szn
BabyTron and JR over some more of that dope freestyle production that Crimedawgbylaw has been talking about. JR making not just one but two appearances on the list this month! “Left the Glock at the crib? I’ma throw a bomb” just sounds so damn resourceful. I love the “I rap and I punch, Def Jam Vendetta” line Babytron really keeps quotable after quotable up his sleeve.
Rio da Yung OG x Lil E – Touchdown
I’m not sure if this is even a song so much as it’s a conversation between two veterans in the game over a nice beat, but either way, it goes hard and Rio da Yung OG and one of his many cohorts, Lil E, trade some serious bars over ‘Touchdown”. This is off of a new joint project ‘Professional Shit Talking’ with Rio and Lil E, right after Rio also just put out his ‘2 Faced’ tape. I also heard Rio mention somewhere that he has another new project coming out soon called “City on my Back.” Rio’s work ethic is unmatched, he’s like the rap games John Henry, a man outpacing the machines.
“My lil niggas want to kill some opps, I told em stand down.” Lil E is like a wise general, prudently showing some foresight and restraint; playing the long game in the trenches, giving good advice to his young hotheads and telling them to cool down. Frankly the world would probably be a better place if we had more Lil E’s. Between that and “Invest all our money in real estate, fuck a bust down,” I feel like Lil E is one of the most sensible men in rap. And may I just add, it feels refreshing seeing a rapper rocking a hoodie of a local sports team (and a gritty, nasty one at that in Michigan State) instead of some overpriced effeminate-looking designer hoodie.
I loved the “I just dodged a fed case I gotta crack a smile” line, who could argue with that?
“The police hit the crib two times, we bought some more houses”
Rio just goes crazy on this as always; “I got on sandals cooking dope at my hoe’s house, you know this shit finna be good I got my toes out.” So relaxed.
“.308 bullet this bitch’ll go through 4 houses”.
“When I was young I went skating ’cause the hoes was out, I pulled a strap out at the rink and made them roll bounce”. Rio is the grimiest.
ShittyBoyz Babytron ft. Lil Yachty – Lost It
Even more synthy freestyle production with from Babytron, this time featuring, surprisingly, Lil Yachty. I certainly wasn’t expecting Lil Yachty to be a feature on Babytron’s project and in all honestly I was not expecting to post a song with Lil Yachty on this site in 2019 but here we are. His voice/flow actually adapt pretty nicely to this type of song. Alright Lil Boat I see you out here.
Just wanted to belatedly throw this up real quick because I’ve got about 10 new songs by Rio, RMC Mike, ShittyBoyz, Big Fenc, etc. that I want to get to posting…
Also be sure to check out Ray Garraty’s Rio da Yung OG compilation with 79 assorted songs, loosies and features from him; it’s a library of a legend.
ShittyBoyz x Rio Da Yung OG x RMC Mike – Jackie Moon
Allow me to paint a picture of perfect serendipity here… you’ve been bumping Rio da Yung OG and RMC Mike all month… You see the holy trinity of Crimedawgbylaw, The Martorialist, Ray Garraty, all rocking with a new artist/group (in this case Shittyboyz)… you dip your toes in the water with ‘Spirit Bomb’ and ‘Simba’ and grow increasingly into what you’re hearing… and then… you see that Rio and Mike linked up with said new artist to collaborate together on a new joint.
(Side note, when you see a formidable triumvirate like Martorialist, Crimedawgbylaw, and Ray Garraty all talking about an artist, you almost feel like it would be foolish not to give them a listen. It would take a greater fool than I.)
It’s sometimes hard to live up to the expectations when you see a song combining two artists you’re feeling and all too often the collaboration falls flat but not the case at all here – this Jackie Moon song is hard as fuck. The beat is nice and sinister and serves as a great backdrop for these guys to trade bars over.
BabyTron acquits himself nicely here, keeping up with one of the best lyrical rappers in the game in Rio and not being outclassed at all. This kid has punchline after punchline in every song I’ve heard so far. I really liked the “That’s a jurassic kill, that means I turned him to a fossil. I’m in church banging this I’m like fuck some gospel” line and the “I’m in both conferences, went to Florida with my Rockets, feel like Jackie Moon I’m in Flint scoring like the Tropics” line. It’s hard to make something about the goofy Will Ferrell character from the forgettable (to put it kindly) Semi Pro movie sound cool but these guys basically just pulled off the impossible. Stan Will also represents himself well; “We on a different wave, Feds tried to hit me with the book we on a different page.” (I love the Avenged Sevenfold tshirt!)
Rio comes out swinging as always; “Flint niggas but we fucking with the ShittyBoyz, 4 Hellcats back to back we the kitty boys, you say you’re dropping who when you see who? You a silly boy. Fuck it I’ma scam a rich bitch I’m a city boy.” I’m not entirely clear on Mike’s ‘I don’t go to sleep when it rain I make rain sleep’ line but I don’t even care because it sounds badass and is exactly something wildly over the top that I’ve come to expect from Mike.
Rio and Mike look like they could be the ShittyBoyz’ muscle. What kid from their high school is going to fuck with them when they see RMC Mike posted up with them?
This run that Detroit/Flint rap is on right now is crazy; every time you think you’ve heard it all and think you might start to get bored someone completely new comes out of the woodwork and gets you excited about it all over again.
Rio da Yung OG & RMC Mike – Let it Breethe
I wrote last week about Rio Da Yung OG’s over the top, imaginative take on street rap, and what Ray Garraty described as his inventive and playful approach to familiar themes like drugs and street violence. ‘Let it Breethe’ with his frequent cohort RMC Mike is another great example. He and Mike are like the devils on each shoulders, bringing out the worst in each other (and by worst I mean best) and pushing each other to come up with even wilder and more aggressive lines. When working together, these guys take on an almost Joker-esque love of depravity and chaos.
RMC Mike: “Big bro just cooked a brick but we gonna wrap it later, cuz just bought a new Benz that’s voice activated, bought a zip of uncut soft and sold half to the mayor…Told my mom I sold my first brick she said congratulations, plug pulled up with some Ac in a glass container, took a trip to Texas with big cuz he tried to whack a Ranger”
I love how evil the Ranger line sounds it gets me every time. From what I’m hearing here and in other songs by these guys, Big cuz is a problem. You can’t take this guy anywhere he’s a total wildcard.
Rio: “My Mexican got caught in West End and got his ass deported, I caught a body out a Trail Blazer and took my ass to Portland”
This beat is just so cold and so clean and serves as the perfect blank canvas for these two to paint their wild pictures over. Mike and Rio are like a pair of supervillains ready to sack Gotham.
ALLBLACK & Offset Jim ft. Capolow – Fees
Ah, reliable old ALLBLACK, clocking in as the only non-Detroit rapper to make it into my rotation this month. And in fact not even only non-Detroit, just the only rapper outside of this seemingly colossal orbit of Rio da Yung OG. If it wasn’t for him and also for ShittyBoyz this would have certainly been my top song of the month and when I go back for my year end list this will certainly be on it.
The homie of impeccable taste Onmin Ernstig showed me this one and I’m feeling it. The hook from Capolow is so sick. I want to hear more from this guy, he almost sounds like a reggae singer here. Maybe one of my favorite hooks of the year. According to Onmin Ernstig this is produced by P-Lo of Same Squad fame, and he’s producing a whole ALLBLACK/Offset Jim collaboration EP, which I can definitely get behind.
Dare I ask if P-Lo one of ALLBLACK’s “Cambodian niggas that’s blacker than Barack Obama?” Just look at ALLBLACK and P-Lo strutting down the street together with the bikers @ 1:53. I’m not at all surprised that ALLBLACK is down with the BMXers I can see him moving comfortably in that crowd.
P.S. take notes on the sage advice from ALLBLACK at the beginning of the video.
Oba Rowland x ShittyBoyz – Stranger Things
I remember this dude Oba Rowland rapping ‘I’ve got diamonds in my Cardis, my girl looks like a Barbie’ from his song ‘Lifestyle’ from five or six years ago kind of before this current tidal wave of newer Detroit guys currently taking over. ShittyBoyz are doing some serious networking (is it just me or does Oba look like he could be their security?) and they’re linking up with him here to rap over some dope freestyle type production.
I actually didn’t even know what freestyle was or that it was a whole genre (I used to hear the word freestyle and think of like Reed Dollaz) but that Crimedawgbylaw post gives a really good description of it and how it’s seeping into the current Detroit sound. Also check out his mix of freestyle classics. I would have never went out of my way to listen to any of this stuff without his recommendation and now I’m loving it. This beat is sick, I think it’s at least loosely sampled from that Amber ‘This is Your Night’ song that goes ‘Da da da da, dit dot delay, dit da delay’? But I could be totally off on that because I have a terrible ear for that. Even if this isn’t a freestyle song per se I feel like it kind of fits into the same landscape production-wise. I would love to hear Rio da Yung OG and RMC Mike glide over a beat like this I feel like they would absolutely kill this.
I love Oba Rowland throwing up his hands at 0:53 during Stan Will’s voice like ‘Hey, I didnt’ say it’. Also on that part lmao @ the sheer unnecessariness of ‘Like a fat Japanese nigga you know I keep the chop.”
BabyTron is just so shameless and brazen with the scam talk! “Scammed the coach that’s really when the sports stopped.”
ShittyBoyz BabyTron – Spirit Bomb
This was the one, from Crimedawgbylaw, that really got me into ShittyBoyz and BabyTron. Admittedly, I was a little skeptical at first just based on the name and the picture of BabyTron in the picture for the video (no offense to big Tron but I was just like who is this guy? Lol). But I’m grateful I trusted the Crimedawg’s taste and gave it a listen because I was blown away. Just punchline after punchline over the unbelievable Shana-sampling beat. Maybe one of my favorite beats of the year. It’s just so dreamy and ethereal and he floats over it. “Tryna scrap? I let the chop do the spirit bomb. All I fear is God and my drip? That shit Fear of God.” So many other sick lines in this; “Jumped in the deep end I ain’t scared of pihrannas”, “Got this shit on lock threw the spare key in the garbage”.
I love BabyTron’s disrespectful attitude that he displays in song after song whether it’s about being rude to the waiter at Ruth Chris or smacking the chef for fucking up his lamb chops or “take those shoes off your feet and throw them far as fuck” here.
Rio Da Yung OG – Duhh
Ever since Ray Garraty’s post about him a couple of weeks ago I’ve been bumping a ton of Rio Da Young OG. He goes to the same tried-and-true well of streets- and drug game- type subject matter and imagery as other rappers but he just puts such an over the top and almost fanciful spin on them with his boasts and brags that he makes it all his own. (i.e. “On my way to my other crib I just hit a deer, pistol in my hand while I’m rapping, shoot the engineer” from Crystal Clear or “I’m backwards, I’ll take the pint bottle and pour a Sprite in it, just stabbed a nigga in the club and broke my knife in him” here, or “My granny’ll still pop a nigga and she 89, I guess it’s in my jeans, you’ve got a 10 in your safe, that shit in my jeans” on Headache. Or how about “Just got a whole Hellcat wrapped in carbon fiber, niggas better chill before the carbon fire, killed 4 niggas in the whip and set the car on fire” with Peezy (!!!) on ‘Fire’.) I agree 100% with Ray when talks about how Rio’s ‘playfulness’ while sticking with the facts sets him apart and his comparison to Rio being like if MIKE started doing street rap based on his free-flowing, formless stream of consciousness song structure. He hits the nail on the head with his observation that “I think the last time somebody was playing with raw materials of the drug-selling business with such inventiveness was Gucci Mane in the mid-2010s.” This comparison is really apt; I think of even earlier Gucci Mane not just talking about how bright his diamonds are or reaching for an obvious, easy metaphor but talking about how they’re white like Santa Clause’s beard, or instead of just bragging about how much money he has, talking about how ‘white folks think he’s playing for the Falcons.’
“I woke up Friday morning mad, like ‘who I’m shooting?’”
“A nigga wanna ride this wave he need a huge boat. Heart cold, it’s 98 degrees I got on two coats, one day I was finna break down and cry, I was too broke.”
“I’m a grimey nigga, in a rental by myself I don’t ride with niggas. I’m really one of a kind, I ain’t lying nigga, Peezy came to Flint dug up some dirt and found a diamond in it.”
Rio da Yung OG – Legendary
Probably Rio’s most popular song to date, and not a bad choice. Another fine effort by Rio as always, and a perfect beat for it. Rio showcases how he’s really taking these themes and bars to a whole different level on ‘Legendary’ – “My Glock like a bad ass little kid, I put a switch on it” or “Stomped on his head off the yellow xans that’s what I call bar hopping.” I also like how instead of like other rappers just talking about that they’ll shoot you etc. he adds his own flair into it by adding a twist of paranoia and distrustfulness into the equation; “Paranoid; I shitbagged a nigga and fucked his stomach up, oh his car was right next to mine? I thought he was running up.” Interestingly, Rio also admonishes his peers that are rocking too much ice and too much designer clothing, making themselves sitting ducks for the powers that be.
As a side note, that Thrasher hoodie and Detroit Pistons hat is kind of a dope combo.
Rio da Yung OG – Ghetto Boy
Rio continues to artfully hone his craft and further stakes his claim as one of the nicest in the game on his new release ‘2 Faced’, for example on ‘Ghetto Boy’. Free Peezy!
“I’m a Ghetto Boy baby, free Big P,
I’m quick to chase a nigga down I’ve got big feet,
The SK will turn a nigga’s engine block to swiss cheese,
these ain’t no Puma runners baby these some Big B’s”
Rio throws haymaker after haymaker on every verse. I need Rio and Cash Click Boog to link up and make a song (or a whole tape) where they just trade bar after bar of pure griminess back and forth.
Bandgang Lonnie Bands x ShittyBoyz – Simba
I knew that this ShittyBoyz run was here to stay when I saw The Martorialist was rocking with Simba. I’ve always loved that ‘YAAAA SA-VENYAAA!!!’ thing at the beginning of Lion King; it’s just fun to yell and it’s about damn time someone sampled it. Everyone is linking up with ShittyBoyz right now. Lmao @ Lonnie Bands talking about stealing an old lady’s whole pension and his voice when he says ‘Told that bitch I work for State farm my name Jake.”
Rio da Yung OG – Clear
One more highlight from Rio here and then we’ll call it a day because I’ve got to go to work. I love the lo-fi production here as well as Rio’s inventiveness with lines like ‘On my way to my other crib I just hit a deer.’ Has anyone else noticed that Rio seems like a total threat to engineers and producers?
I listened almost exclusively to Cash Click Boog, Rockin Rolla and CML this month and I think it subconsciously made me a more antagonistic person lol.
CML – U Know That
Could the #1 song for the month on here really have been anything else?
OH MY GOD CML is just absolutely knocking everything out of the park right now. This man can’t be stopped. Is there anyone more consistent right now?
I want to be invited to one of Lav’s pool parties. Is that an A-Wax sighting at 0:32? I guess they’re still down! I can’t decide if A-Wax would be a great guest to have at a pool party or a really bad guest; I feel like there’s a very wide range of potential outcomes there. (Editor’s Note: Upon further thought, and the Martorialist’s views in the comments section, it’s been determined that A-Wax would be a less than ideal guest at a pool party.)
“I’m a big dog like a Great Dane, if you ain’t never caught a body Blood you can’t hang, run a nigga over like a freight train, all we do is set trip and gang bang.”
Lav crushes this hook, one of my favorites of the year “I’m real and you know that, I’m everywhere the dough at, Benz outside all black like Kodak, Big Bank Hank Cash Money I can show that, broke ass niggas’ pockets flatter than a doormat,” it’s that perfect but rarely-achieved balance of hard and catchy, and his troll-ish dance just makes it even better.
I believe this beat from D-Rok is the same D-Rock who did some of the beats for those great Juvie and Birdman songs from earlier this year so it looks like CML is getting the investment from Cash Money. If the rap game was like fantasy football and I was managing CML I would keep pushing this angle all day. This beat is wild with the flute and CML just floats over it like he’s swerving through the Everglades on a fanboat.
I usually hubmly consider myself one of the foremost purveyors of all things CML but I somehow missed this one at first, but thankfully my fellow connoseiur of all things Lavish D Onmi Erstig caught it and filled me in! It’s a tough call because there’s a lot of choices but I would officially add this in to my top 3 Lav songs of all time, along with the hard-to-argue-with classic Speak My Mind and the more recent slap Demons.
Cash Click Boog – Mayor
After giving Cash Click Boog’s Extras probably upwards of 50 spins over the last month or so, I think Mayor is the hardest song on the tape, which is saying a lot because I can honestly say that every track on it is a legitimate banger. I’d go as far as to say it may be one of the hardest 1:30’s I’ve ever heard.
Boog just sounds absolutely ruthless on this…
“He dissed Tino in a song he can’t take that back, that means him or his mans gonna have to pay for that, niggas mention my name state the facts, stripped Reesie out his chain, shoulda breaked his hat.” Something about the ‘should have breaked his hat’ sounds so angry and vindictive I love it.
“Free HTL Willy, he a maniac. The block on fire, I’m the one that got blamed for that. Been a killer, niggas act like I can’t relapse. 10 times out of 10 if we came we strapped.” Been a killer, niggas act like I can’t relapse just sounds so evil.
“Out here you either a bum or a cheddar chaser, they say you froze with that cannon you a hesitater. Monte on his way home, go and tell the haters. He only got one more year, like 11th graders. The trap slap so hard, used to scare the neighbors, but there ain’t shit in that bitch just scales and razors, too much money to count, had to scale the paper, I’m the man in my city, I’ll tell the mayor.” Oh my God I feel like I need to go outside and take a break/cool down for a few minutes after I listen to this. Boog really is one of the best in the game right now.
Rockin’ Rolla x ChrisOnThaBeat ft. Campain Papa – Different Time
Been bumping a whole bunch of Rockin’ Rolla lately since his last couple of beastly collaborations with Cash Click Boog, dude has been on fire lately. Ray Garraty had also mentioned to me to check out his First Quarter mixtape with Chris On Tha Beat from earlier this year and it knocks. Just more pure brutality from Chris On Tha Beat, maybe the hardest producer out right now, and more great verses from Rolla.
“He a fake P, nigga he ain’t got the strap he tryn’a fake me. Nigga ain’t got the strap trying to catch my bluff, before I whip that bitch out and start waking him up”
Just wanted to take a moment to point out that trying to ‘fake out’ Rockin Rolla like you have a strap when you don’t seems like an absolutely terrible idea. This seems like an astoundingly low-upside, high-downside move. It’s probably a bad strategy in general, but particularly with Rockin’ Rolla of all people? Isn’t there an easier person out there you could try it with?
Rockin’ Rolla not taking any losses to fake P’s out here.
Cash Click Boog – Decent
Another great track off of Extras and I didn’t realize a video for Decent came out a few weeks ago. This three-syllable 2 or 3/.223’s/Jujubees/bookoo cheese/threw 2 keys/blew 2 G’s/blew through cheese rhyme scheme here and the way he deftly weaves through it is nuts.
“My life remind me of State Property I feel like I’m Beans.” YES! I can definitely get behind a Beanie Siegel homage in 2019.
I’m not a huge car guy (mainly because I’m broke) but I have to say that this Hellcat with the Hellcat logo is dope and truly befitting of a rapper with Cash Click Boog’s lyrical acumen.
“You’re eyes would glow like a full moon if you hit this shit. I don’t care about your block I’ll spin that bitch. Beefing since ’06, boy you just hopped in some shit.” Oh my God.
“I just made it to Florida, but I’m leaving here shortly.” No trip to Universal or Disney for Boog he’s all business.
Rockin Rolla x ChrisOnThaBeat – Drop Off
Another highlight from First Quarter that now has a video. Ray Garraty points out that Rockin’ Rolla doesn’t even need a chain. Rolla knows who he is, he doesn’t need anything overly flashy for people to know he’s a boss. The ‘My little nigga knock down your top dog’ line is hard as fuck.
Rockin Rolla x Cash Click Boog x MA – Addy
Even more heat from Boog and Rolla. Do these guys ever stop? This beat is kind of dope and just a little different sounding than Chris On Tha Beat’s usual style and what he usually gives them to rap over but I like it. Not sure who MA is but if Boog and Rolla are down with him than I think it would be foolish of me not to be down with him.
Is there a better frequent collaboration going on right now than Chris On Tha Beat, Rockin Rolla and Cash Click Boog? They’re like the Richmond Dream Team.
Rico 2 Smoove – Thugs, Rico 2 Smoove – Like the Navy
Started checking out some Rico 2 Smoove when I saw he did a song with CML. He goes super hard on Thugs off his ‘Sleeping on Me’ tape with DJ Karl the Dog, sounding like a rabid pitbull lunging off of its chain here. ‘Like the Navy’ is a cool song too and I love the beat.
Cash Click Boog – 4 AM in Los Angeles
“Inmates still say I’m the coldest in it. I sell dope, I just rap for my bros in prison.”
“DJ playing ‘Gang in Here’ and we in this bitch, full nickel for a nigga if he think he nickel slick, the plug don’t speak no English, he an immigrant, I just text him ‘mandelo’ and he send that shit.”
Cash Click Boog ft. Shred Gang Strap – Smoke Out
Boog blends so well with these Detroit rappers that when I first heard him last year I just assumed that he was from Detroit. LMAO at how disingenuous Shredgang Strap sounds here; “Detectives get me in that room, I can’t do shit but lie, like sir I’m scared to hold a gun, I’ve never been that type of guy.”
J. Cole, Lute, DaBaby – Under the Sun
This probably seems a little out of place with the rest of my list but I love this song. Wrote about this one a couple of months ago when the Dreamville album first came out and now it has a video. I still feel like DaBaby’s verse could be Cole’s verse and Cole’s verse could be DaBaby’s verse based on subject matter! That NC State Wolfpack baseball jersey is kind of sick.
Cash Click Boog ft. Rockin Rolla – Southwest Gangin
Even more heat from Cash Click Boog, one of the nicest in the game right now. Boog and Rockin Rolla would have already had a contender for my favorite/most listened to song of the month with Tap Out but then they unleashed this slap which took top spot. I don’t know who did this beat but it’s nasty. Perfect type of production for Boog/Rolla, they absolutely float over this. “Paid the bouncer 200 just to get the rifle in, can’t leave without the strap that’s the life we live.”
“Instead of doing 9 to 5 buddy doing 5 to 10, I ain’t handing out no deal take this dime for ten.”
Boog’s shirt is fire; equally at home in the trap or at an art gala. I’m usually not a fan of these shoulder bags some of these rappers are rocking now but I’m not going to tell Boog that when you’re Boog you can rock whatever you want.
Rolla is stepping over the bodies of the lyrical myrical rappers, “I be coming off the head ’cause writing easy.” It would be hilarious to see him get into that lane and just put all those guys to shame. I love Rolla’s attitude “Where they count on me to lose, I’ma show they ass.”
That Oakland tattoo with the guy with the bandana and the bags of money is super intense.
“Rolla hit me on the phone what’s the deal with it, I done lost some but I deal with it, don’t be talking bout them murders we kill witness, all these Percs in my system I feel different, Southwest that’s west Oakland the real Richmond.”
Boog and Rolla have just been lining them up and knocking them down lately, maybe my new favorite tag team in the game. I finally checked out Rockin Rolla’s most recent solo tape and he’s got some joints on there too. We need a whole album of collabs from these guys at this point, with Chris On The Beat and whoever made this beat handling production.
Little Brother – The Feel
I’ve honestly never really gotten into these guys and admittedly I haven’t checked out much of their previous stuff that I can think of off the top of my head but I’ll be damned if this intro off of Little Brother’s unexpected comeback album May the Lord Watch isn’t some serious heat.
North Carolina is having a really nice year between the surprisingly good (to me!) Dreamville album, DaBaby planting his flag on the map and now this unexpected comeback from Little Brother.
I don’t know why but I love the ‘Raleigh…Durham… Chapel Hill’ of the intro right before the beat kicks in. This beat is so smooth and laid back.
My favorite part is the mental image the chorus conjures up of a turned-up Phonte about to go so hard at the bar or club just stomping onto the dancefloor one step at a time and warning his companions that they may literally need to reel him in because he can’t promise that he won’t get completely out of hand.
The rest of the album was also a very nice listen as well and I’m usually not a huge skits guy but even some of the skits weren’t bad. I agree with Ray Garraty that unfortunately a lot of new albums/music these daysis just made for the sake of being made and don’t really need to exist and just blend together into one big forgettable haze, but thankfully, unlike those I feel like May the Lord Watch is one that while not my usual style, stood out from the morass and needed to be made.
E-40 ft. Rexx Life Raj, Lil Boosie – Blossom
THIS is the type of song I want to hear for new music from a legend with three decades in the game. Rising up above the circumstances to not only grow but blossom in a hostile environment.
“They outed me doubted me didn’t want me to flourish, I come from the ghetto where we was famished, malnourished. When people first heard me they thought that I was a fluke, but I’m a real nigga like Kunta Kintae from Roots. I’ma keep running even without any shoes.”
“Broken towel racks and bullet tissue holders, used to keep the bacon fat up in a can of Folgers, and if the heater ain’t working and it’s freezing cold? We open up the oven and turn on the stove.”
I’m absolutely loving E-40’s verse it’s low-key one of my new favorites; Simultaneously inspiring, reminiscent and defiant. I love his tone and flow/cadence on it whether it’s the affectation on ‘keep running without any shoes’ or the way he raps ‘We open up the oven and turn on the stove’ like he’s answering a question. The Kunta Kinte line and the part about how he keeps running even without shoes is just too fucking real. I wish it was a little longer!
As soon as I saw that Practice Makes Paper was out and browsed the tracklist, this was the first song I jumped to as it seemed like the most interesting combination of features and it did not disappoint. (And I’ve got to hand it to 40, he did a really good job of putting together some interesting features on this album and some unexpected combinations of artists, i.e. Tee Grizzley and Rod Wave, or putting together an all-star team of Detroit hustlers with Payroll, Peezy and Sada Baby. Some people don’t like when an artist has too many features and guest appearances on his solo album but I for one love it; variety is the spice of life, and when done organically, it’s interesting to see who artists you like are listening to and who they respect). I like that he tapped Rexx Life Raj for the hook here and I look Raj’s take on it. Raj is great with these types of reminiscent more serious songs, i.e. his verse and hook on my song of the year for last year. The Boosie verse wasn’t one of his all-time highlights or anything like that but I’m never opposed to hearing some new Boosie.
As a side note, elsewhere on the album, I have to salute E-40 for his ‘I keep a stick like Moses’ line; at this point in time rappers have made so many references to staying strapped that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find original ways of saying it but comparing yourself to Moses is definitely a new and inventive way to do it. And lastly let’s all take a step back to appreciate E-40l this guy has stayed strong in the game for over 30 years now and has done it his own way the whole time. It’s been a good year for 50+ year old West Coast rappers between E-40 and Suga Free.
Cash Click Boog & ChrisOnTheBeat ft. Rockin Rolla – Tap Out
Pretty much exactly what you want to hear from Boog over typically harsh ChrisOnTheBeat production that’s perfect for all these Bay/Detroit guys. I love Boog’s voice (pause! pause!), definitley one of the most unique in rap.
Boog is sounding like every old, grumpy suburban dad here when kids are playing outside near their car; “Tipped the valet at the door told him grab my whip, I’ll put my foot in your ass if you scratch my shit”.
Another hightlight is Boog bluntly telling the squares to get out of his way – “Nigga shut the fuck up if you ain’t making flips, on the plane with a roll I had to take a risk”
From what I gather from features etc. it seems like Rockin Rolla is one of Boog’s top right-hand men. I like his name Rockin Rolla it has me picturing a greaser from the 50s or an Elvis type instead of a rapper. But Rockin Rolla quickly puts that notion to bed because he comes out firing here – “Boog I’m tired of niggas saying all this hating shit, take a trip with 10 bags that’s a baby trip, I just bought a Draco with a baby Kick… Southwest we the army and the navy bitch.” I didn’t know much about Rockin Rolla when I first checked this out but after this and Southwest Gangin’ I’ve been bumping a bunch of his solo stuff and he definitely has some joints on there too he quickly becoming one of my new guys that I’m checking for every time I see they have a new video.
Cheers to ChrisOnTheBeat for putting his name as one of the artists now instead of just a producer credit in parentheses at the end of the title. I’m definitley a fan of this guys’ menacing production.
E-40 – Bet You Didn’t Know
People use phrases like spitting knowledge/dropping knowledge/dropping jewels or ‘putting us onto game’ pretty loosely these days when a rapper talks about any type of life advice or (usually) financial advice in a song i.e. someone like a Rick Ross talking about investing or stacking up for a rainy day etc. But E-40 takes it to a whole new level in ‘Bet You Didn’t Know’ because the ENTIRE SONG IS JUST E-40 DROPPING KNOWLEDGE.
After the first two points, I was kind of like ‘Alright, I see where this is going, it’s going to be a political/socially conscious song from E-40’ but then I did not see the third point coming at all ‘You can bring your own bottle of wine and pay the corkage fee in the restaurant. You can have your own wine locker and you don’t have to pay the corkage fee in the restaurant.’ Not what I was expecting but nonetheless helpful advice for those who don’t know. After that, E-40 really blindsides us by schooling us (in order) on some grammar, anatomy and the corporate structure of Volkswagen as the crowd behind him implores him to ‘Teach, teach, teach’ and encourages him to ‘Drop gems on them’ over and over again. From there, it’s a pretty wide-ranging cornucopia of topics, from the genuinely useful and insightful like helping your kids build their credit and quite a bit of health is wealth advice to less applicable in daily life such as ‘A maggot morphs into a fly, a caterpillar is a butterfly’. There’s quite a bit of animal talk (my favorite of which would have to be ‘A dolphin can beat a shark’) and religious musings. (By the way is it just me or does the ‘glass of wine a day keeps the heart attacks away’ sound like a credo you would see on like some wooden wall art from Walmart in a middle-aged woman’s kitchen? Then again based on the name of my site I guess who am I to judge).
The beat is actually fairly fire too. In short, 30 yeas into his career E-40 is still one of the most colorful and unpredictable characters in the rap game. Elsewhere on the album E-40 makes references to everything from Moses to Ashley Graham.
OMB Peezy – Big Homie
Hadn’t really listened to anything new from OMB Peezy in a while for whatever reason to be honest, and kind of out of nowhere, he unleashes probably my favorite song to date “I hope you niggas ain’t forget homie, young nigga still’ll kill a nigga’s big homie, word around town I ride around with a stick on me, and I’ll do a walk-through like Rich Homie.” That hook is just so fucking savage. Peezy just goes so hard over this Lil Baby/Gunna/Ghetto Guitar-esque beat and it works perfectly. On a side note I kind of slept on One Me when it first came out and Onmi Erstig and Ray Garratywere talking about it but I gave it another spin after how much I liked Big Homie and it really grew on me now I can’t stop playing it.
Little Brother – Work Through Me
Nice joint to end the Little Brother album. I’m primarily posting this because I have no choice but to be impressed by Phonte’s ability to rhyme ‘no cap bitch prove me wrong’ with ‘catfish courtbouillon’
Little Brother – Sittin Alone
People throw around the phrase ‘Grown man rap’ or pretty loosely but no one lives and breathes it more than Phonte, the utmost purveyor of grown man bars. “After 35 the club’s a different type of torment, pretend to be excited watchin’ bitches ditty bop, when you’d rather be at home watching Flip or Flop.” Damn I felt that Phonte, maybe a little too much.
Wow I have been lazy this month, posting my top songs for July almost halfway through August, and only posting 8 songs instead of 10 but they all slap. I guess better late than never!
ALLBLACK ft. Kosisko – 304
HOW IS THIS NOT THE NUMBER ONE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE RIGHT NOW
ALLBACK is the best. He’s like Oakland’s Dos Equis guy; the most interesting man in rap.
I don’t know who Kossisko is but since ALLBLACK is rocking with him I’m obligated to blindly be down with him, and he glided on the hook here. (I’ve since been informed by my knowledgeable and discerning readers, Kossisko is the rapper formerly known as the 100s.) This beat is wild too but I don’t know who produced it. ALLBLACK looking burly out here with the windbreaker and the taped up wrists. I’m loving the theme and format of the video which made 304 even more fun and took things back to a simpler time. ALLBLACK knows how to make function music; I have a feeling my man the Martorialist is going to love this one if he hasn’t seen it already. We’ve been blessed with a nice feast of fun songs/videos lately and 304 is definitely worthy of that company if not at the top of it.
ALLBLACK is coming out firing with verse of the year material, “Can’t trust hoes, barely can trust my partners. In a Sprinter with 3 Glocks and a mint green chopper. My Cambodian niggas blacker than Barrack Obama. My migo niggas knock the meat out up your enchilada… Y’all know me I just walked down here for carne asada, sour cream extra cheese and a large horchata… Same nigga from the group home drinking UV vodka.” Like my homie Icebergsweater said, this opening verse was easily one of his favorites of the year, and I couldn’t agree more.
I love the ‘Pull up whenever wherever like Kerr from the Bulls, stole my granddad’s revolver and took it to school’ line because when you hear it you either think of ALLBLACK or an angry, goth-y suburban teenager. (See ALLBLACK’s verse on Road Run, he seems to be well aware of this dichotomy.) “Had an all black AP that held 32, I’ve been turned up since AIM this fame ain’t new.”
I’ve been rocking with ALLBLACK since Florida Gator last summer, and I’m glad to see he’s gotten bigger and bigger since then, and hopefully this song/video propels him into an even higher stratosphere.
Duke Deuce – Yeh
This is my new favorite/most fun song since Waka, and I’d say up there with Waka if not surpassing it for best choreographed group dance moves as you’ll see around the 0:59 mark or so. Seriously this sideways strut/spin thing they’ve got going on is fucking fire. (I’d say don’t try this at home but helpfully, Duke has a really comprehensive, easy-to-follow tutorial video on it that walks you through it step by step.)
Memphis’ Duke Deuce is kind of reminding me of a 70th Street Carlos but more of an evil twin/more sinister 70th Street Carlos. On ‘Yeh’, Duke pulls off the difficult task of making a song that’s hard as fuck that’s ALSO simultaneously fun and something you’d want to throw on at a party.
I’m absolutely loving the blunt and relatable self-assessment and flow on “Smoking weed at the school getting in trouble with the law, hard-headed ass nigga mama said your ass off, hard-headed ass nigga down their knocking heads off, Daddy found out I was GD damn near knocked my chest off.”
I’d also like to take a moment to salute the eclectic collection of sportswear in this video ranging from the New England Patriots to the more obscure Xavier Musketeers and even the fictional Los Angeles Knights from Like Mike, not to mention even a D Generation X t-shirt.
I know what y’all are thinking, this guy has barely posted in like a month and comes back posting a J. Cole song instead of Rich the Factor or CML, did someone kidnap the real Pink C and assume his identity? Rest assured it’s me, because I don’t have that lucrative of an identity to steal.
I’ve never gotten into Cole but I’ll be damned if this ‘Under the Sun’ off of Revenge of the Dreamers 3 isn’t a verifiable banger. Maybe I’m just getting older and softer or maybe this summer weather just has me in a good mood but I’m feeling this. This beat is sounding downright exquisite, all 3 rappers are on point; even Kendrick’s hook is dope. And while Cole and one of his Dreamville footsoliders with Da Baby sounds like a strange mix they come together seamlessly like tres heat-producing North Carolina amigos here. (According to Reddit/Wikipedia etc. the sample is ‘The Argo Singers- How I Love to Call His Name’ and the producers are Christo, Pluss, and Nice Rec).
Upon first listen, without knowing any better I assumed that the either the Cole verse or the Lute verse was Da Baby, and that Da Baby’s verse was one of the first two; what with Cole and Lute rapping about having a couple of guns and their cousin airing out a party for fun, and Da Baby rapping about being in college and smashing college bitches. (I’ve got to check out some more of Lute’s stuff this is the first time I’ve ever heard him).
There are a couple of other nice songs on this album too but I’m still trying to remember which is which with all the features etc. and how they kind of blend together. My one complaint is that this album keeps giving me anxiety when I listen to it on my phone especially during work hours because with the way the songs cut off abruptly/before you expect it I keep thinking that I’m getting a phone call.
I’ve got to give Cole credit he really brought together a pretty impressive list of artists for these Dreamville sessions, with everyone from Rick Ross to Terrace Martin (was Terrace Martin really on this?? Or maybe he’s on one of the songs that hasn’t been released yet). I think if I could choose any 5 artists that weren’t there/weren’t invited to throw into the mix at the recording sessions, off the top of my head, regardless of how realistic it would be, I’d go Peezy, CML/Lavish D, Rich the Factor, let’s get ALLBLACK in there too (of course), and the last spot is a tie between Duke Deuce, 03 Greedo and Kodak.
ALLBLACK – Little Miami
I want to go boating with ALLBLACK.
This guy is on a completely different level right now; he’s unstoppable.
DaBaby – Suge
I’m hella late on DaBaby but between Suge and his verse on the J Cole song I’m coming at you with an unprecedented TWO appearances by DaBaby on this month’s list. I remember Martorialist talking about him when Texas Ranger came out and checking it out and not really seeing what all the buzz was about. It wasn’t until hearing people driving around in my area blasting Suge that he started to grow on me and now I can’t stop playing it. It hadn’t dawned on me just how big DaBaby had gotten until I heard multiple people blasting it in their cars on the same weekend and then checking it out on YouTube and seeing it was in the 100s of millions of views. I’m always favorable to Suge Knight references/homages so DaBaby is preaching to the choir here. I finally checked out DaBaby’s whole album and there were quite a few good songs on it; I have to say he was a lot more lyrical than I expected and he has a good sense of humor; definitely one of the most interesting out of the newer/younger dudes in this style.
Maxo Kream ft. A$AP Ferg – Murda Blocc
Maxo’s ode to his Murda Blocc is my favorite song off of his’Brandon Banks’ album after a couple of listens through. I don’t know how he made ‘I’m on Murda Blocc from the sun up to the sun down’ sound so catchy but damn it this one stays in your head. “And if you’re looking for me I be with the Forum Park Crips!”
Maxo Kream – Brandon Banks
Another highlight from Brandon Banks. Maxo going with the Lil Baby/Gunna acoustic guitar-beat angle and doing it very well. I like this video for it with just the audio and no video instead of the other one with the cheap CGI animation!
CML Lavish D – Real As Us
King Lav serving up more red meat to his base. This man delivers pretty much every time.
I don’t know how CML always does it but he always comes up with these simple lines that sound so fire when he says them; “.308s make a nigga Harlem shake, all this pressure I’m applying it’ll make a nigga break.”
Alright fam no need to fear the kid is back after a long, involuntary absence more or less forced upon me by my son 187ing my laptop by repeatedly smashing it on the floor. But your humble host picked up a cheap offbrand Chromebook in some sort of white snakeskin pattern on sale at Target and is now back in the saddle. Living without internet since my fateful Celly Ru post which seems like way longer than 3 weeks ago, I’ve been in a bit of a musical and cultural abyss but here’s my belated list for best music of July 2019.
Jim Jones ft. Jadakiss, Philthy Rich – Don’t Know What they Took Him For
Harlem to Yonkers to Oakland
This Heatmakerz beat is unbelievable. Almost makes me feel like I’m in the 80s watching some type of promotional video from one of those sketchy self-help gurus where the actors are talking about how good their lives are after they paid him to walk over hot coals in his sketchy desert retreat and made his suggested life changes, or like a corporate training video from the same era telling you how to be a good employee. Or maybe even some sort of anti-drug PSA where the kids are talking about how great their lives are by not doing drugs. So many good Heatmakerz beats on Jim’s new album but this might be the best.
“On birthdays was the worst days, now I might pop $80 grand on a Thursday”. I love the over the top ‘Grrr’ ad lib after he mentions goons his goons purging which we’ve also seen previously in ‘Dipset Forever’ (the second coming of it). Ad lib game on point as always, and Jim does very well with the hook.
I’m never opposed to hearing what Jadakiss has to say and I obviously welcome the Phil feature. Jadakiss sounds like he’s in a good place these days here (‘Count my blessings get my lessons out the Good Book’). Jim and Philthy have done some good work together before on ‘East Side‘ with Peezy. (Wish he would have gotten a Peezy feature for this album!) It’s kind of random that the Jim Jones album ends with a Philthy Rich verse but again I’m down with Philthy so I don’t really mind.
Lil Baby ft. Future – Out the Mud
Wasn’t sure what to expect here but damn Lil Baby really came with the heat on this one. I love his weird voice/flow that he went with over this beat.
The “My earings like baseballs, clout chasers I hate y’all” line was dope. Birdman may have been sporting diamonds the size of golf balls in his ears in ‘Shine’ but Lil Baby one ups him.
At this point Lil Baby is probably my favorite of the ‘new’ wave of nationally known rappers that the kids are into.
Celly Ru – Ru Gotti
Maybe Ru Gotti is bad luck for me since it was the last song I posted before an angry one year old tombstoned my laptop but it goes too hard to not include at the top here. Celly beasted out on his whole album.
Jim Jones ft. Marc Scibilia, Fabolous – Nothing Lasts
Yimmy is back with a new album El Capo to follow up on last year’s somewhat overlooked Wasted Talent. I can’t decide which I like better yet after a couple of listens but they’re both good. Jim is having a nice little Indian summer to his career with 2 straight solid albums in 2 years, and has evolved from probably the least checked for main member of Dipset (through no fault of his own) to arguably the most checked for and is going the strongest of all them with the most consistent output. After a couple of spins so far I’m really feeling this one, Mama I Made It, and Don’t Know What they Took Him For (which has a Philthy cameo!).
I can’t decide if ‘Still going cray on them like a coloring book is one of the best lines I’ve ever heard in a rap song or one of the worst lines I’ve ever heard in a rap song.
This production with the Lionel Richie sample is sounding downright godly. Heatmakerz have a lot of nice beats on this album. I’m not sure who the hell Marc Scibliani is or why he’s all over every song on this album but he doesn’t sound bad on the hook here so I can’t hate, and let’s be honest no one could ruin this sample. Imagine if Jim wanted to get a little wavy and got El Debarge on the hook? Or if he was hellbent on going down the white R&B singer route for whatever reason, if he sprung for like a Michael McDonald or the guy from Hall and Oates or something? Lol. Either way Jim definitley has a nice smooth summer jam on his hands here. In a perfect world this would be a summer hit on radio.
Peezy – New Car Smell
I’m kind of cheating here since I already did a post on New Car Smell and made it my top song of March but as The Martorialist pointed out they actually came out with a video for it now and I’m posting it again for this month. It’s an instant classic anyway so no harm posting it twice. Apparently Peezy is still a free man but we don’t know how much more music we’ll get from him before he has to sit down for a while. I’m super hyped about this Ghetto Rich Niggas project he’s talking about with Payroll Giovanni that’s supposedly in the vault let’s hope that comes out this summer. I’m glad to see Peezy is in on the silky trend I can support it. Also I remember recently on Instagram Peezy was calling out the actual couch salesman who talking like the cartel so it’s actually a specific person. The Ghetto Boys chain is hard as fuck.
Polo G – Dyin Breed x Polo G – Through Da Storm
I think The Martorialist described it best when he called this style Durk-core that he can usually take or leave but that in this case Polo G gives it the “bars and pathos for summer, winter, the 4th quarter, whatever”. I wasn’t super into it when I first checked out Deep Wounds in that post but it slowly grew on me and I checked out the rest of the album and I’ve got to say some of these songs by young Polo go hard as fuck. It definitely does have the pathos and just catchiness that the more generic post-Durk core purveyors lack. While Martorialist is rocking out with Deep Wounds and Chosen 1 which are both solid choices, after a couple of spins my favorites from the album are Dying Breed and Through Da Storm. I’m feeling that baby-block nursery toy sounding beat for Through Da Storm and Dying Breed is just a tour de force. Also, weirdly I’m getting ads for some sort of cloud-computing mumbo jumbo for offices called Monday while I’m watching the Polo G videos which just doesn’t seem right but get your money Polo G.
Jim Jones ft. Cam’ron – Mama I Made It
Another gem from El Capo. Just Jim and Cam flowing like it’s 2005 over the perfect type of triumphant Heatmakerz sample for them to crush.
Polo G ft. Lil Baby, Gunna – Pop Out Again
Another hit from the Polo G album that grew on me. I’m unclear on if Miami Garden is some feared hood/project in Miami where Gunna is mentioning that he’s wearing his Richard Millie Plain to show how tough he is because no one took it from him, or if it’s a high-end exclusive Miami restaurant/night club and he’s mentioning he’s wearing it to show how hard he’s stunting, it’s either one or the other.
AzChike ft. AzSwaye – OOUH
Despite Netherlands losing in the Nations League final Onmin Ernstig still pulled through and posted a nice new slap from AzChike/AzSwaye this month with OOUH. “Better watch what you say to some rich niggas, in the basement cooking crack like I’m Big Tigger, even white bitches say boy you that nigga.”
CML Lavish D – Before You Speak
I’m officially a Lavish D stan. I don’t even like this one as much as a lot of Lav’s other recent slaps but I’m just excited for any new Lav in general. Is this the first sighting of Lav without his buffs on? “Applying pressure on niggas, uppin’ weapons on niggas, better get up out my way Blood I’m steppin’ on niggas.”
How could top song of the month be anything besides Suga Free the Pimp? This veteran in the game really turned up the pressure on the simps with The Resurrection and let them know he has no plans of taking his foot off the gas any time soon. Arguably my favorite/best album of 2019 so far.
Like the homie Icebergsweater said, the whole Suga Free album slaps. Another great production by L-Finguz, who it seems like pretty much produced this entire album save for a song or two, I love the beat and the flourishes of talkbox thrown in. As my boy Onmirestig points out, L-Finguz is having a big year, producing the lion’s share of this album and a bunch of joints on the new Mistah Fab album as well and probably a bunch of other stuff I’m overlooking at the moment. At some point soon I want to sit down and put together a list cataloging all of the L-Finguz productions from this year.
On a related note, I’m usually not a huge Vlad TV guy but his most recent interview with Suga Free is non-stop entertainment, because it’s Suga Free, and even Vlad can’t get in the way of that. Even just the introduction itself is hilarious, where Suga Free is like ‘Nice to be here, right on’ and ‘I get to meet the man behind the magic’ to Vlad and it’s a mix of friendly, intimidating and somewhat troll-y all at once, or when Vlad is asking him about the secret to success in pimping and Suga Free takes a long pause and then just asks ‘Why?’. It’s also a 14-part interview so you have to really carve out some time to sit down and watch it. The shirt he’s rocking for it as wild too.
P.S. I heard there’s a new Kokane album out? But I haven’t seen it anywhere yet. And are we really supposed to get a joint album from Suga Free and Kokane? Based on this song that’s definitley going to be one of my most anticipated albums so fingers crossed it comes into fruition.
CML – Demons
If it wasn’t for Suga Free, CML/Lavish D/King Lavish D/Lav etc. (what should we call him now??) was probably my other most listened to artist of the month.
King Lavish D is keeping his foot on the gas. Lav is more consistent and focused than ever in 2019. I don’t know how he does it but Lav is the master of creating these simple flows and rhyme schemes and making them sound dope… (i.e. this song, Speak My Mind, U Feel Me, etc.). Nice hard beat from Royce on The Beat.
“The gang cold nigga, you a ho nigga, free D-Steez we got hella poles nigga, we demons in the field we got hella souls nigga, everybody pimpin’ we got hella hos nigga.”
On a side note I see that Lav’s chain collection is continuing to grow with this Big Bank Hank chain. I haven’t seen that Waldo chain in a while. I kind of want one of these Bank’d Up ENT hoodies/sweatsuits but I’m not sure if Lav would let me or if they’re even for sale they’re probably just for his crew.
My one small gripe here is that the production/mix sounds kind of off and doesn’t do the song justice when you put it on full blast maybe they can give it a quick remaster since it just came out. Cash Money West needs to give Lav some serious investment for production etc. Another thought here is we have so many collabs with Detroit rappers reaching out to Bay rappers like all the songs with Philthy Rich I feel like it’s time for some of the Detroit heavy hitters to come to Sacramento and start putting Lav on those.
Speaking of Lav and Philthy I feel like last time around I overlooked how hard Dead Presidents with Cash Click Boog and Prince Dreda goes. Boog’s verse on that is sick. I always thought Boog was from Detroit but I just learned apparently he’s from Richmond? I’ve got to post a couple of songs from his new album The Streets Ah Vouch up here soon.
Coach Joey x DamJonBoi – 7 Mile Zoo
My only break The Bay and from Suga Free for the month was to post some heat out of Detroit by this newcomer DamJonBoi, but everyone knows that The Bay and Detroit are like cousins anyway. This dude DamJonBoi is a monster, he’s getting some buzz right now and not only does he rap he also makes a lot of these beats too on his own songs and for other artists like Mozzy and FMB DZ. His song ‘Capers‘ is blowing up and he has a lot of other heaters on his new ‘The Number 20’ project like the Barry Sanders intro and RIP Icewood. ‘Uncle Elroy‘ is an older song by him but that bangs too.
Coach Joey aka Jospeh McFashion is doing his thing here as a Motor City version of DJ Khaled except with better taste and putting some dope collaborations together with some of the D’s biggest movers and shakers instead of say Jay-Z and Nas or Beyonce for the umpteenth time and without the Weight Watchers endorsement money or book deal.
“RIP my nigga Woo, niggas lying in their songs but on the stand telling truths, in the D it’s a zoo, raised in the Zone my first words was sowuu”
Lmao @ “Fuck these hoes I just want some lambchops to tell the truth, Red Zone in this bitch Joey pulled up in a coupe, lil blood like Klay Thompson with the chop he can shoot”. I kind of feel where you’re coming from about the lamb chops sometimes Jon Boi.
I love the ‘Red Zone’ name. Clearly DamJonBoi is from 7 Mile and he’s a Blood he’s not making it much of a secret; but I’m unclear on where he stands on the rest of the Detroit rappers that we all love like Peezy, FMB DZ etc. Because on the one hand he’s doing songs with DZ etc. but on the other hand I’ve seen him and Sada Baby throwing shots back and forth at each other online so not sure what the situation is.
A lot of times when producers start rapping the verses aren’t as good as their beats but Jon Boi is killing it in both departments.
Mistah FAB ft. CML, Philthy Rich – U Feel Me?
Front Row Fabby linking up with King Lavish D and Philthy for this absolute banger.Was about to post ‘taking a break from Bay beef for a day’ and post a different song today but then I was hyped when I saw that the video for U Feel Me came out a couple of hours ago since I’ve been bumping it all week. Weirdly it appears on both Fab’s new ‘Gold Chains and Taco Meat’ album as well as CML and Philthy’s ‘Political Ties’ project but it slaps so I don’t mind hearing it on both. The song/concept is so simple but just goes so hard. It reminds me of Lav’s ‘What Else’ i.e. the pattern of saying ‘What Else’ and then a short line being repeated over the course of the song/rapping a short line and then asking ‘U Feel Me?’. Not sure who handled the beat for this one but it knocks.
Everybody here is good and their resumes speak for themselves but Lav steals the show which I feel like is becoming a common theme lately. I love the ‘Stepped out of prison going brazy’ line. The ‘I’m a Livewire like Shady’ part was an unexpected surprise since I thought Lav funking with Shady back in the day was how his original feud with all of the One Mob guys started (as my boy Onmirestigexplained) but as we’ve seen, you never know what to expect in these ever-shifting Sacramento/Oakland politics; enemies can become allies quickly and vice versa.
I always figured Mistah FAB was friendly with Mozzy and they’ve done a bunch of songs together (including with Philthy Rich on the same track) back when everyone was still friends so I’m not sure if this appearance is a statement on where he stands by Fab or if he just wanted to get two of the hottest names in the game right now on a track he knew was going to be a banger. I’m going to assume the latter because I feel like Fab is too friendly and positive of a dude for that type of beef.
How about getting a mega-mix of this one where they add Suga Free and let’s say… Cookie Money, and ALLBLACK why the hell not?
P.S. I got a chance to bump Fab’s new album ‘Gold Chains and Taco Meat’ (what a name lol) a couple of times on a long drive this week and as usual you can count on Fabby to deliver with at least a couple of bangers; so far I like U Feel Me, Hey Baby, Time 4 U, and of course Playa Shit at the end with Suga Free and Too $hort.
Suga Free – Here’s to You
At age 50, Suga Free is rapping better than almost anyone else in the game and showing the squares whose boss.
Suga Free ft. Pomona M Drey, Deuce Mack, Blacktovan – For My Niggas
Mistah FAB ft. Juan Love – Time 4 U
Not sure who Juan Love but I also liked this one off of FAB’s album, it almost sounds like a song that like DJ Mustard would make for some industry plant that you’d hear on the radio but with FAB doing it so it’s actually good.
Preddy Boy P & Strakavelli ft. Dolla Dame – Stay Dangerous
I love the honesty from Preddy Boy P when he’s like ‘Some of my day ones have switched on me, some of my bitches jumped ship on me. I remember being down on my dick homie, that’s why I never leave the house without the stick homie.
The ‘I don’t entertain gossip, go to the source, I knock a nigga down just for the sport’ line is so cold.
Great hook from Strakavelli and the Dame Dolla verse is nice, especially when he reminds us that Anchorage is in Alaska.
‘They tryin tell me play it safe and put the gun down, when these niggas killing over crumbs now.’
DB Tha General – Oakland in My Soul
Cool little joint by DB over the Souls of Mischief beat. I always loved this beat. I wonder what DB The General thinks about the Philthy/Mozzy beef since I feel like he doesn’t like any of these guys. I think at one point him and CML were cool/did a couple of songs together but I don’t think they’re actually simpatico anymore either. DB should start a consulting service on beefing with Bay Area rappers and getting through it, like those prison consultants who advise rich people who need to learn how to survive a year in minimum security prison.
Mistah Fab – Hey Baby
The intro for this one (separate track) with Snoop Dogg talking about plays rolling up to his mom in traffic and saying ‘heyyyy baby’ to his mom was just a LIT-TLE wierd but overall the song itself knocks. The beat is dope I feel like it could be from the hyphy era. I like this positive-aura Fab; ‘We gettin’ money havin’ fun say Hey Baby’ or ‘A hey baby get his money and don’t bother folks’ or ‘Hey baby’s full of positive energy, but hey baby’ll still slide on his enemies.’ Alright, actually I guess the part about sliding on his enemies isn’t super positive but you get what I mean. Also, did FAB start saying ‘Hey Baby’ as like a gretting but then by mid-song started referring to himself as ‘Hey Baby’ in the third person?
Young Thug ft. J Cole, Travis Scott
I’m laughing about how out of place this one looks with the rest of this list. But I’m not going to lie I kind of enjoyed ‘The London’ and was bumping it a whole bunch over Memorial Day weekend. This is probably the first time I’ve ever mentioned Cole in my two-three years of doing this site, I don’t have anything against him I’ve just never gotten into him before and have never really seen the hype/why so many people are so I honestly don’t know much about him, but I did like his verse here. Is it just me or does it almost sound like he’s going with a little bit of a Tupac flow/voice on this? I could have lived without the Travis Scott hook they should have just given the hook to Thugga. I’ve been less into him as of late but it’s good to hear some new music from Jeffrey. I kind of wish he just kept rapping like he was when his verse started instead of shifting to the singing because he was going hard in the beginning. I don’t know, overall, nothing crazy but it was/is a nice little summertime jam to throw on I liked it overall.
By the way I feel like they kind of ripped off Maine Music/TEK with that spider artwork
Lil AJ ft. Shoddy Boi, Young Bossi
Saw this on Onmi Restig; The always-dependable Lil AJ linking up with Young Bossi and Shoddy Boi from Akron. As always another solid, workman-like effort from lil AJ whose like the PJ Tucker or Draymond Green of Bay rap; not getting all the shine but getting the rebounds, playing defense and just doing the dirty work for the team to win. We all know about the Bay to Detroit connection and even the Bay to Kansas City, but how about The Bay to Akron/Ohio? I remember the Jacka was always doing tapes with Ampichino and now we have these guys linking up. I don’t know whose who of the two Ohio guys to be honest because I haven’t seen them before but I love the ‘It’s the mob you can’t hang with us you too square, third-person trapping I don’t pull up I send my dudes there’ line.
Cash Click Boog ft. Yatta – Gang in Here
Need a somewhat inexplicable late pass for this one but was blasting this non-stop the last couple of days. How was I bumping a ton of Cash Click Boog at the end of last year and didn’t realize what a monster this is? I was posting about 200 Proof and Fuck With Me and somehow overlooked what’s now by far my favorite Boog song. I was blasting this full volume with the windows down last night for my little night out on the town and let’s just say it definitley passes the whip test. I don’t know whose beat it is but it’s just so HARSH. Basically the way I came back across it now was after I heard Mozzy’s ‘Free Yatta 2’ I typed in Yatta on Youtube to listen to some of his old stuff and then saw this again. I love how they got Yatta’s verse from prison on video instead of just having it phoned in. “I didn’t miss the store bitch I’m straight in here, I ain’t rolling shit up I’ll catch a fade in here.”
Anyone know when Yatta is getting out? I couldn’t find much info about it online.
DamJonBoi – B. Sanders Intro
DamJonBoi – Capers
DamJonBoi – RIP Icewood
A couple of those aforementioned DamJonBoi slaps from his new project.
“Since he playing half crazy give his ass the whole clip.”
“50 niggas in the club that’s how we bomin’ ”
“Blow the finest cookie nigga this shit loud, I’m in the Zone but they smell me on Mile, jump in the water with them sharks you might drown, go crazy walked in this bitch yeah it’s on”
Could it really be any other song for top song of the month? As my boy The Martorialist would say, this is FUNCTION MUSIC, as opposed to functional music.
From the fact that it’s loosely a Waka Flocka Flame homage in 2019 to the Mexican sombreros to the ridiculously fuego spin move that they choreographed at 0:33 I’m down with everything going on here and want more of it. This is the hottest song I’ve heard out of NYC (or pretty much anywhere) in a minute. Only in NY could you hear a rap song with no Hispanics in it mentioning bachata, pandejo, etc. The beat is dummy hard too.
“Oh let’s do it like I’m Waka, met her out in Opa Locka, baked potato with the lobster, that’s my baby – Goo… Gaga”.
Added bonus in the Youtube comments is a female Doordash delivery driver saying that she watched the video because these guys told her to check it out when she delivered food to them.
This always amorphous Brooklyn GD/Blood/Crip beef is serious and Game of Thrones-level complicated but I think these guys are Envy Caine’s (who I’ve posted here before) opps based on my extensive research of Youtube comments but like I said last time I don’t want to wade into all that I’ve got love for everyone I’m just here to enjoy the slaps. I’ve got to check out more of these guys’ videos.
P.S. for the record I’m definitely strongly in favor of silkies making this big comeback in 2019 I’ve been seeing them everywhere lately.
Chief Keef x Zaytoven – Ain’t Gonna Happen
I can’t believe how little fanfare this Keef/Zaytoven album got, I feel like a couple of years ago this would have broke the internet. I didn’t even know about it until like a month after it was out and I would like to think I am one of the world’s biggest Sosa fans. The project was really good overall with this being by far my favorite track and Spy Kid being another highlight. I love this crooning version of Keef that we hear from time to time especially over this great twinkly piano beat from Zaytoven. I’m glad Keef is doing whatever he wants now and really experimenting/pushing his boundaries musically and getting to enjoy himself out in California after he has lost so many people close to him. Keef has nothing to prove in my opinion and this is probably a topic/article for another day but is one of if not THE most creative/influential artist of the 2010s in my opinion.
“Come on my property I turn you to a french fry, turn my front yard to a fish fry, I see Big Glow in the big sky crazy how I turned into the big guy.”
“Face dried up, from all of the tears that I cried up, lost most of the niggas I would ride for.”
By the way I forgot all about Tadoe! I wonder what he’s up to.
Chief Keef x Zaytoven – Spy Kid
Like I said antother higlight from the Keef/Zaytoven project.
GLOTOVEN OR NO TOVEN!
San Quinn – Ain’t Nobody Thuggin
CALIFORNIA KID LIKE…. TOM BRAZY
San Quinn has got over 25 years in the game at this point and he’s still putting out heat. This beat is slapping like a San Fran pimp when the money ain’t right. That voice singing the hook is so dope. I love the video too with the shots of the bridge and the waterfront.
“Big wads, new cars, move around with 10 large, for a verse 10 large after this I’m finna charge”
“We ain’t sippin Hen we sippin’ Dom Perignon, move along square nigga let the mob carry on”
I lied when I previously said I hadn’t been keeping up with the Mozzy/Philthy/Messy Marv/Lav beef because now its quickly become my new favorite topic. Quinn could probably advise the Philthy/Lav camp on beefing with Messy Marv as Messy was beefing with him about a decade ago even though he’s his own cousin! This guy is a loose cannon. Wouldn’t mind getting a remix of this with Lavish on here and maybe a couple of Frisco rappers – dare I suggest Berner anyone?
Daz Dillinger ft. Layzie Bone – Gotta Get That Money
Between this and Bizzy Bone’s diss tracks to Migos, I’m down with this unexpected but welcome mini Bone Thugs resurgence that we’re getting in early 2019. The sample and that ethereal beat behind it in the beginning sound so dope. I wonder if we’ll actually get a whole project out of this Daz & Layzie collaboration it would be cool to get a full album from them. I love the production here and Layzie sounds smooth on the hook. There’s something just relaxing about listening to this, for lack of a better word.
“Looking at the world like it’s my oyster, closed mouths don’t get fed, little nigga turn your voice up”
Also anyone else feel like Daz sounds kind of like Rozay on his verse?
Nipsey Hussle – Real Big
RIP to Nip, seems like it was a long time ago but it was really just this month.
Lil Uzi Vert – Sanguine Paradise
I guess it’s true that absence makes the heart grow fonder becuase I wasn’t really feeling Uzi that much and generally subscribe to the Martorialist’s school of thought on embargoing rappers with septum rings but I’m feeling some of these new leaks that Uzi is putting out now that we haven’t heard from him in so long. I’m kind of intrigued/surprisingly anticipating Eternal Atake to hear what it sounds like when it comes out if DJ Drama ever frees Uzi to release it. Also wouldn’t it be the ultimate marketing scheme by Drama if this whole thing with him stopping Uzi from releasing new music was just a ploy to build up anticipation for the album? That would be on like Suge/Birdman mastermind level.
DJ Paul ft. Beanie Sigel – Real Money
Admittedly I wasn’t feeling this song but I’m more posting it out of anticipation of getting a full project of Paul and Beanie collaborating in 2019 which would be awesome. We could definitley use a Beanie resurgence in 2019 we need some of that Carhartt and Dickies hustling out in the cold type rap. This would be a wild mix for an album but hopefully it comes into fruition.
Three 6 Mafia – Paul, With Da 45 / Three 6 Mafia – Ridin in da Chevy
Speaking of DJ Paul, I was bumping a bunch of old Three 6 this month. Beat at around 0:52 of ‘Paul with da 45’ is so crazy.
I love the ‘Every time you see the Chevy riding it be full of FOLKS’ at the end of Riding in Da Chevy.
It’s incredible how well this stuff holds up in today’s rap climate.
Envy Caine ft. Cooaxh Da Ghost – Woo K
The ‘Waka’ track had me inspired to go back and delve into this whole Brooklyn drill scene and this GDs/Bloods/Crips beef and go back to one of my favorites from last year Envy Caine to see what he’s been up to.
Apparently I’m already late on ‘Woo K’ because ever the beef connoisseur, Envy has already released a ‘Woo K Pt. 2’. This goes hard as fuck. Definitley more ‘functional music’ than ‘function music’ though.
I love how Envy looks like an angry NFL coach giving a firey halftime pep talk to his team at halftime about how they’re giving up too many big plays and need to hit harder in the second half.
Envy stays with these European soccer jerseys with Juventus here and I always see him rocking Bayern Munich gear too.
Coaxh the Ghost is intense I have to check out more of his stuff.
Pop Smoke – Meet the Woo
If we’re posting Woo K I guess it’s only right that we post Meet the Woo. This song is catching a lot of buzz in NY quickly. Pop Smoke’s voice is kind of cool and makes this sound even more aggressive.
As my fellow Peezy evangelists like Nyquil510 and Raygarraty have recently been pointing out, Peezy is on top of the game right now.
Obviously we’re used to hearing Peezy over more intense Detroit-type beats and he excels on that type of production, i.e. this or this but it’s also nice to hear him kicking it over a little more of a laid-back, soulful beat like this that you can picture cruising around to or chilling with in the spring/summer. After a couple of listens to ‘No Hooks 2’ this is my favorite song off it or at least the one that jumped out at me the most, but honestly the whole album is fire. New Car Smell is also a great name for a song. Crime Stoppers (another great name), the title track, No Limit, etc. were all dope.
“Leftover lobster, champagne in the fridge” is such an ultimate humble brag. Peezy is just so accustomed to fancy restaurants and lobster that he said that’s enough at the restaurant and will just finish it whenever he feels like it at the crib next time he doesn’t feel like leaving the house to eat, no big deal.
“Bossed up on these niggas like I’m Darnell, niggas selling couches rapping like the cartel.” Such a great diss line since we all know someone who’s working at like Bob’s Furniture or Aaron’s and living at their mom’s house but acting like they’re some big plug to anyone who will listen.
“Ain’t no heat inside the crib but it slap though, Ghetto Boys baby we the new Death Row,” a bold claim but I’m feeling it and hey someone has to go for that mantle it might as well be Peezy.
Let’s all hope that Peezy doesn’t have to sit down for any length of time for the charges he’s fighting while he’s in the prime of his career like this.
Juvenile x Birdman ft. NLE Choppa – Dreams
I’m ABOUT this 2019 Juvenile resurgence. I would have been a happy camper after just JAG but this new ‘Dreams’ joint is a nice unexpected surprise. Juve comes through and delivers again with another fire hook. He’s turning into 2019’s unexpected hook god.
It was only a matter of time before Birdman and his cohorts got in on this rapping over acoustic-sounding beat that guys like Lil Baby and Gunna have been making hits with. (Great beat by D-Rock here yet again, after a nice beatjack/update of Too $hort’s Dope Fiend Beat on JAG as I learned from Martorialist. I’m not too familiar with him but maybe he’s Birdman/Cash Money’s new in-house producer which based on his showing thus far I would certainly welcome.)
While JAG was just Birdman and Juvenile, here, they link up with Birdman’s latest protege NLE Choppa, he of ‘Shotta Flow’ and it’s 2 billion views fame, giving this a circle of life effect as one generation of Birdman cronies passes the torch to the next. Choppa does a decent job of holding his own here and proving he’s worthy of standing alongside a legend in the game like Juve. Birdman’s verse was predictably mediocre but he’s the money man putting these all together so I can’t complain. I wish Juvenile did a verse here instead of just the hook but the hook is good enough that I can’t get greedy. C’est la vie.
Last time around, Birdman was showing off his art collection of questionable quality to some sort of female curator/critic, this time he’s showing off his taste in animal-themed topiary on the grounds of his sprawling estate to a group of lovely ladies, because he’s Birdman.
Let’s hope that there’s a part 3 to this series.
Saint Jhn ft. Lil Baby – Trap
I bet y’all weren’t expecting to see me post this. I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t expecting to like this guy because he seems like a plant because he’s been getting pushed by Roc a Fella and been appearing on a lot of radio shows/interviews etc. but I can’t front, his hook on ‘Trap’ is just too fire to hate on. It sounds like some unearthly message being beamed down to us from the heavens. I don’t know much else about him yet but after this I decided I needed to be a little more open-minded and get out of my usual lane a little and decided to check out his debut album from last year, Collection One. It was a little more on the ‘artistic’ vibe than what I usually like but he had a couple of good joints on there I surprised myself again and really liked ‘I Heard You Got Too Lit Last Night‘ as well.
El Camino – Davis St
Dope intro off of El Camino’s new ‘Don’t Eat the Fruit’. El Camino is really coming into his own and going from Griselda sidekick to featured artist. If you like this lane, you were eating really good this month or so with new albums like Eto’s Hell’s Roof, El Camino, Flee Lord’s Gets Greater Later, Rick Hyde’s Plates, and Knowledge the Pirate’s Black Caesar all coming out seemingly one after another.
Rick Hyde ft. Benny, El Camino
Speaking of Griselda/El Camino etc., Lanez off of the aforementioned Rick Hyde mixtape goes hard as fuck. Benny is the best of the bunch in terms of Griselda. It’s crazy how deep upstate New York is right now, Rick Hyde doesn’t seem to get as much hype as some of these other guys yet but this tape was really good. Lanez was my favorite song off of it. The intro had me all hyped up between that sample of the guy talking about how these are the real Sopranos (no idea what it’s from but just sounded awesome), the beat kicking in, the El Camino hook, the brrrrraatt, and Benny yelling his trademark ‘The butcher coming nigga!’ ‘Eastside Buffalo shit!” I felt like I got taken back in time to an old DJ Clue or DJ Kay Slay mixtape from the mid-2000s which is a very good thing.
“Six figure diet make my heart stable” is such humble brag by Benny since at the end of the day health is the ultimate luxury.
Also this might sound like sacrilege but is it just me or is El Camino sounding at least just a little like Max B on the hook here? At least a poor man’s Max B. But with the wave god still locked up, I’ll take it.
Memo the Mafioso – The Race
Saw this on Nyquil 510 and I’ve been on a big Memo the Mafioso kick ever since. Memo the Mafioso > Shoreline Mafia in my opinion. I’m feeling this San Diego wave that Memo is at the forefront of.
Memo the Mafioso ft. C-Loccs – Swervin
It seems like Memo is starting to get some deserved buzz with the above video; this one ‘Swervin’ is from a year ago so well before his star turn. The production is kind of low-budget but it kind of goes with the old-school west coast vibe of the song. I don’t know who C-Loccs is I’m assuming he’s Memo’s OG or something but I love the way he’s flowing on this song I feel like this could really be some early 90’s Death Row era album cut. ‘Just bangin’ and slangin’ what’s the word on the street, here in Southern California where you gotta pack heat.’
Memo the Mafioso x O’Way
Another heater from Memo and his boy O’Way. Alright I’m officially a Memo fan now I guess.
I don’t know who Alejandro that they refer to is but it’s clear he’s not one to cross and his association with Memo apparently means that this sentiment extends to him as well.
PLUS TAX WE THE SAN DIEGO BEATLES. I’m loving the boldness of this line and the ‘Alejandro’ ad lib afterward. Not just Plus Tax we the new Hot Boys or Plus Tax we the San Diego Death Row; Plus Tax we the San Diego Beatles, just going straight for the crown of the best-selling band of all time, I respect it.
Flame Blazin x Shotgun Quannie – Regardless
Still been bumping this all month because it’s so hard. ‘Judge put me on probation, I’ma be with my squad regardless’.
‘If they bring him back to life than we shoot the doctor’.
‘We got too many guns we gon go to jail/chill bro we got money for bail/we got too many bodies we gon go to hell/fuck a judge he can get it as well.’
Leeak ft. Peezy – True Story
This wasn’t on Peezy’s No Hooks album, since it’s just a feature for another artist, but his verse on here is crazy which just gives you an idea of how insanely prolific Peezy has been lately. This is probably one of my favorite Peezy verses and it’s just a quick feature that didn’t make it to his album.
‘Big bag on my like it’s Christmas Eve, smoking fluffly light green Christmas trees. Judge thought I was gonna fold told him sentence me.’
‘Brodie heard I’m in Cali want to send us cheese, cuz called me from the joint said he need a sleeve.’
‘I can’t help but eat I gotta get it gotta chase these millions gotta get my people out the swamp gotta feed my niggas.’
I also love the Peezy pretending his playing the keys in the video like he’s Mannie Fresh!
Peezy – Crimestoppers Peezy – Homecoming
More heat off of No Hooks II. I love the Peezy billboard.
NLE Choppa – Shotta Flow
Yeah I’m hella late on this (crazy that in this era a song from like 2 months ago can already be ‘old’ but I went back and listened to all of NLE Choppa’s other stuff after ‘Dreams’ with Juvenile and Baby and this one really grew on me. ‘Extended clip long as a rope’ is such a vague unit of measurement but it sounds nasty.
Project Pat – Choices
Went back and listened to a bunch of old Project Pat this month. So smooth and such an all-time great flow and voice. I’m surprised how positive/upbeat ‘Choices’ was, with songs like this and ‘Choose U’ Pat kills soulful production.
