Category Archives: Monthly Top 10

Top Songs December 2020

07 Thursday Jan 2021

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A little late here since I kind of forgot about a list of top songs for the month of December since I posted my top 50 songs of the year in December, but better late than never and don’t want to forget about these bangers here.

Hellboy Rodd – HellsWorld (2019)
Nuk x Mo Money x Lil Mello – Go (2020)
Cash Kidd – Camera Roll (2020)
Nuk – RM 3801 (2020)
Cash Kidd ft. ReubGangDav, MellyvsMel, Lil Kenwood – Had To (2020)


Hellboy Rodd – HellsWorld

This HellsWorld video is from 2019, and the summer of 2019 at that, but I wanted to post it/write about it anyway since I just found it recently and since I’m feeling it so much. As I wrote previously, Hellboy Rodd might be my new favorite rapper. Just when you think that the Detroit/Flint rap scene couldn’t get any deeper, I start listening to Hellboy Rodd and Nuk more than any of my previous favories for a couple of weeks on end. Rodd raps with a chip on his shoulder and this song/video is the ultimate example of that.

I like how he’s rapping angry; he can’t believe that you don’t think he really has this much money. He can’t believe you have the audacity to think he really doesn’t have these glocks. He’s literally indignant about it, and that he isn’t getting the attention/recognition he deserves yet, and rightfully so.

“Real recognize real, you ain’t gotta ask, money speaking for itself we ain’t gotta brag” he says as he angrily grips his two straps, which is actually refreshing to see because let’s be honest, these rappers happily flashing their straps in videos as part of their swagger is usually a mirage, usually you are angry when you need to. I’m feeling the urgent but somehow still casual flow he employs as he pummels this beat, and more than anything I’m just feeling the conviction that he raps with.

No reliance on flashy jewelery or designer man purses here, this is real hustle music from the heart of a soldier on their way climbing out of the trenches – “Fuck a Wraith little nigga I’m tryna drop a jet. Fuck a bussdown Rollie brother we tryna cop Pateks. I’m mad that I’m rapping about it but don’t got it yet. Pops was on drugs, momma died from a heart attack. Y’all niggas swear that you’re some shooters but don’t got a strap. This interstate treat me good I ain’t gotta rap. I’m popping three percs a day cause I gotta trap. I watched the junkies do the dog out the bottle cap. You little niggas hold your water you can’t bottle that. Them niggas popped my cuz you know we got em back.”

“Talking all that crazy shit like we won’t roll up. Me and Jalen back to back you know we poled up. We got 80 with us too you know we showed up. We put some gas in the whip now we gonna go nuts.”

IT’S HELLBOY RODD WE KNOW WHO REALLY GOT THEM GLOCKS

I also love Rodd’s commitment to always pushing this demon/hellscape imagery, like the heavy metal devil hand you’d see a white metalhead from the 90s do at ‘It’s Hellboy Rodd we know who really got them Glocks” or the visual effect with the devil horns and his eyes blanked out at 2:30.

Awesome ad lib/body language to go along with “Final Destination shit, he won’t make the flight” BOOM

And lastly respect to Rodd for acknowledging that he knows Balenciagas are ugly but that he just wears them because the ladies like them – this is a true man of the people right here. And hell yeah I’m down with him rapping from the barber chair and the weight bench from his yard.

This is one of the most unique and interesting artists in the game right now and he’s rapping with a chip on his shoulder that he doesn’t have what he wants yet; in fact I feel like I have a chip on my shoulder that this video doesn’t have nearly as many views as it should.

P.S. is ‘purple like that Jewish shooter’ some sort of Joker reference? Lmao.

Nuk x Mo Money x Lil Mello – Go

GO! GO! GO!

You all know Nuk & Hellboy Rodd are my new favorite rappers; well this is Nuk and some of his young bols. Even more heat from Nuk – it’s the flow, the delivery, the charisma. It’s been a minute since I posted a female rapper but her flow is pretty cold, it’s a super grimey verse for a girl, and I’m kind of feeling that raspy voice.

Beat is SOOOOO fire

Where the hell did they get this camper from? Lol.

I’m down with this Big Godz movement

Happy New Year’s everyone

P.S. I guess I really should have put this on my top 50 songs of 2020 post but alas I didn’t start really bumping it until after I put the list together, so the thought of that happening will just have to exist in an alternate universe. C’est la vie

Cash Kidd – Camera Roll

Does anyone have more or better analogies for having spikes on his shoes than Cash Kidd? Just in this song – “Spikes on my shoes sharp like I’m walking on forks”, “Shoes got more spikes than a volleyball game”, not to mention “Shoes spikier than a pineapple” elsewhere on this album.

I love the “Niggas want to try to eat with me like the school dork” line, I can absolutely picture the dweeb in Cash Kidd’s high school trying to move to his lunch table. But Cash Kidd surprises you with his generosity – “But once I ate, I still passed out a few forks.” *SHRUGS*

Beat is fire and even my wife admitted that the hook is catchy.

Nuk – RM 3801

I mentioned in my Hellgodz post that Nuk and Hellboy Rodd are my two new favorite rappers that I’ve been bumping the most over the last month or so; here’s another banger from Nuk. Just when you thought Detroit couldn’t possibly get any deeper in terms of talent, they’re going deeper than the Lakers bench

“WE GOT A BAG JUST LIKE THE BRONCOS WE GO MILE HIGH”

P.S. Damjonboi on the production!

Cash Kidd ft. ReubGang Dav, Mellyvsmel, Lil Kenwood – Had To

Another highlight off of Cash Kidd’s ‘No Socks 2’.More on this album soon. Not even 100% sure what this long, slowly-building hook that takes up almost the whole song is saying but it’s really grown on me over time after a bunch of listens. Not even sure who is who here besides Cash Kidd but I’m feeling this one. Cash Kidd finally comes in at the end and as you would guess, rips.

I love Cash Kidd breaking out his singing voice more frequently and here breaking out the unexpectedly emo “We spin the whole city if niggas want us to, had to drop some shells on him he was overdue, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get over you”

“Doing fraud I’ve been freeballing like no drawers”

Top Songs November 2020

01 Tuesday Dec 2020

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Nuk x Hellboy Rodd – Hellgodz (2020)
Kodak Black – I Wanna Live (2020)
Peezy ft. Rio da Yung OG, RMC Mike – CFWU (2020)
Sosa Geek – Rambo (2020)
Peezy ft. GT, Overlord Scooch, Motown TY – YRN (2020)

Nuk x Hellboy Rodd – Hellgodz

UMM HOW DID I JUST FIND OUT ABOUT THIS NOW? I think Hellboy Rodd is easily my new favorite rapper. And Nuk is coming in as a close second. Just when I thought this whole Detroit/Flint ecosystem couldn’t possibly get any deeper, I belatedly find out about two new guys who could both become two of my top artists of the year.

Hellboy Rodd is getting that COVID money, $150,000 in the pandemic. This dude is flowing like a… demon on this.

“On the east or the west I can’t be touched, they got these fake ass demons trying to be us, that murder or that dope I got my hands in it, I made $150,000 off this pandemic.”

“These ain’t regular Adidas these the Yeezy kind, big demon big Glock don’t get demonized”. Side note I love how dedicated Rodd is to pushing this demon ethos.

I don’t know why but I love the “Bitch I’m on the block I’m selling big pies, I pull up on the east I’m with the big guys” line and Hellboy Rodd’s mannerisms as he raps it. My favorite part of this video is the look on Nuk’s face as he holds up his Bag Godz chain when Hellboy Rodd says “Pull up on the East I’m with the big guys”

I sent this video to my brother a couple of nights ago and he said that when the video started he wasn’t sure who the rapper was going to be and was surprised when Hellboy Rodd was ‘the big dude’ which I feel like just makes Hellboy Rodd even better. One of the things I like about Rodd is that he raps like he has a chip on his shoulder, but I’ll get more into that in my next post that I’m working on.

While Nuk might not have quite the same ridiculous bars as Hellboy or quite the same commitment to the demon vibe, he more than makes up for it with the casual swagger that he delivers his lines with; “trap nigga so they get the picture just like Vizio, ” “Pull out 50 if I get provoked,” “My bitch been to 8 countries”

As you all know I’m a fan of the rapper’s whole crew joining in and yelling along with the end of a line once per video, a la Big Wan’s Fast Lane Lifestyle or Rio and Big Colin’s Ghetto Boyz so I was pleased to see this tactic used again here. I’m not sure who made this beat but it sounds like it could be a 1800.

Seems like we’ve got not only the East and the West coming together here but a demon and a Bag God linking up to create something magical. Definitley one of my top videos/songs for 2020 already.

P.S. is it just me or is Nuk really tall?

Kodak Black – I Wanna Live

Lil Kodak did it again. Kodak came through and knocked down the buildings with this one. They can try to keep Kodak locked in a cage but they can’t stop him from making a hit!

This is that vintage, ebullient Kodak that I’ve been missing. The hook goat is back…

I WANT THE ROLLS ROYCE TRUCK IM IN A MUSTANG, I ALREADY SHOWED MY ASS NOW I LET MY NUTS HANG

“I wanna live I want to chill I want a bunch of things”/”I’m tryna run my money up I’m tryna die slow” Can’t we all get behind this message? If you can’t get behind this message/song I don’t want to be friends with you. Maybe this is like when Snoop Dogg linked up with Willie Nelson, something that can bring everyone from all walks of life in this divided country together.

“My uncle knew I was a star he called me maestro. I’m blowing jet fuel pack I blow nitro, I’m tryna throw the roof back and live life though.” I hear you Kodak, I hear you. I love the nitro/life though rhyme; Kodak really is underrated as a lyricist.

I havent seen the production credits but whoever made this for Kodak laced him with the perfect beat for this type of Kodak.

FREE KODAK

Can Kanye get in Trump’s ear and PLEASE tell him to pardon Kodak before he leaves office?

Peezy ft. Rio da Yung OG, RMC Mike – CFWU

What a blessing it is to get a new album from Peezy right at the tail end of 2020. It’s too bad Peezy can’t be here for the video but his team is in here heavy. Like Peezy himself said back in ‘New Car Smell’, Ghetto Boys really is the “new Death Row.” I’d go as far as to say the new Death Row, new No Limit, and new G-Unit.

We’ve even got some cameos from Babyface Ray and GT here.

Rio absolutely slaughters this. “Ghetto Boys we untouchable. I bet a nigga ain’t gon hit my bitch she unfuckable. Real ghetto shit, turned some Benny’s down for Lunchables. TAKING PICTURES WITH MY FAMILY FRESH AS FUCK LIKE THE HUXTABLES, HALF A MILLION WORTH OF JEWELRY THEY CAN’T FUCK WITH US.”

Free Big P!

Sosa Geek – Rambo

I’m feeling Sosa Geek’s ‘blunt instrument’ type of delivery here, “I KEEP A GUN ON ME LIKE I’M RAMBO, I GET MAD I’M USING THIS AMMO”. I also just love the name ‘Sosa Geek’.

Peezy ft. GT, Overlord Scooch, Motown TY – YRN

Another selection off of the new Peezy album, mainly off the strength of the Overlord Scooch verse (still my favorite name in rap). Overlord’s verse is just so damn smooth. I’m feeling the “I hit the yard with Vice Lords nigga all is well, if I feel threatened nigga we gonna fill your car with shells” line, so dope.

Top Songs October 2020

12 Thursday Nov 2020

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Favorite songs from a month where I went from YN Jay and the Flint boys to Charlie Wilson to 21 Savage and Morgan Freeman and back again. I’m super late posting this for October now because life has been getting brazy but I have a bunch of new songs I want to get to so might as well post this first.

21 Savage x Metro Boomin – Runnin (2020)
Charlie Wilson – One I Got (2020)
21 Savage x Metro Boomin x Morgan Freeman – Intro (2020)
Lil Yachty x Rio da Yung OG x Veeze x RMC Mike x Louie Ray x Grindhard E – Run Down (2020)
YN Jay – Nicki Minaj (2020)
21 Savage x Metro Boomin ft. Drake – Mr. Right Now (2020)
21 Savage x Metro Boomin – Steppin on Niggas (2020)
Drake ft. Lil Durk – Laugh Now Cry Later (2020)
Lil Yachty x Krispy Life Kidd – Krispy Boat (2020)

21 Savage x Metro Boomin – Runnin

I’m hella late on this but you’ll have to forgive me because life has been brazy lately. Better late than never!

Like I said in my last post, this feels like a fucking movie! I’m loving the foreboding beat and the evil laugh in the beginning. As my brother pointed out, Savage’s half-assed ‘running’ dance move also just adds to the overall dark vibe here somehow; if I was doing it it would not look remotely intimidating but he somehow makes it sinister.

“I’M SLAUGHTER GANG P*SSY, YOU KNOW I BOUGHT MY KNIFE” I love Savage’s sporadic but consistent messaging over the years going back to his earlier tapes that you know he has his knife on him/that he brought his knife because he’s Slaughter Gang; all rappers talk about keeping their strap with them but something about always having your knife on you just sounds even grimier. I’m feeling Metro Boomin’s knife dance move when he says it too.

“2016 we was running around beating niggas up in the club”

“I LEAVE ALL MY CARS RUNNIN, RUNNIN, RUNNIN, ALL MY OPPS BE RUNNIN, RUNNIN, RUNNIN”

“I’M IN THE DEN WITH THE THIEVES”

“All that pillow talk I’ma have to send the boogie man come and get you”

I hate the sample that they play at the end of this/beginning of the next track on the album but I’m glad that Morgan Freeman drops plenty of jewels throughout to make up for it. Like I said in my last post, my brother nailed it when he said they got Morgan Freeman going from narrating March of the Penguins and Nat Geo’s “God” to talking about rats and snitches on a trap album; these guys are winning. I don’t listen to a ton of mainstream rap these days as you obviously know if you read this site but I have to give 21 Savage credit, this whole album feels like a movie. This is the first album I’ve listened to in a while that felt like an ‘event’ to me and we could certainly use that in 2020.

This was a dope concept for a video too, to bring the Grammy back to the hood.

Charlie Wilson – One I Got

Ummmmm… HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS UNTIL NOW??????

Legend in the game.

CW is feeling himself here, see the epic head shake move at 2:20, and you know what, why would he not be? The man is a beast.

(Thank God my wife had the DL Hughley show on in the car last night late at night on the way back from a family party (since you know, I can’t always have Rio da Yung OG or YN Jay on in that situation) so I found out that Charlie Wilson blessed us with this new single this summer.)

All of these fits are on POINT too, some of the young bols in the game could take note

The beginning of the hook about Wilson’s relationship with the ‘one he’s got’ could just as easily apply to Wilson himself; after all this time, it just gets better

I’m feeling this one today as a nice Sunday jam

21 Savage x Metro Boomin x Morgan Freeman – Intro

As my brother said, Morgan Freeman was narrating March of the Penguins and National Geographic’s ‘God’ and now 21 Savage and Metro have him narrating a trap album; if that’s not going big I don’t know what is.

I had kind of stopped checking for 21 Savage tbh but he came back and knocked down the buildings – this whole Savage Mode 2 slaps. This feels like a fucking movie.

I wonder if Morgan Freeman wrote this stuff himself, or if they gave him a general idea of what they wanted him to say, or perhaps best of all (what I hope) is that they all sat around at a table together with a bunch of drinks and chopped it up together to come up with what they wanted.

Lil Yachty x Rio da Yung OG x Veeze x RMC Mike x Louie Ray x Grindhard E – Run Down

Man it seems Yachty really took Hotbox Social’s advice about buying a $75k fixer upper in Flint and staying in town for a while to heart. Seriously, how long has Lil Boat been here for?? CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE BUY THIS MAN AN AUTOWORLD SWEATSHIRT

I’m pleased to see Rio has finally joined him on one of these since he was conspicuous in his absence before this. As an added bonus I love seeing Grindhard E aka Lil E on here since not too long ago it would have been hard to imagine him appearing on a track with Lil Yachty but the whole scene is deservedly leveling up. As Mike says, “Spice talking got the Ghetto Boys moving up the ladder” Perhaps my only regret is no YN Jay this time, but hey I guess he can’t be in all of them.

Yacthy is sounding better than ever and is clearly being influenced by his new Flint cohorts, talking home security “I live on the lake leave the crib and forgot to lock it, it’s okay I got cameras there, and my brother’s sleeping upstairs he’s got hammers there.”

The only guy I wasn’t too familiar with here before this was actually Veeze, and he actually has some fire; “I’ve got bitches selling p*ssy that look like Tyra Banks, I’m rocking Carhartt shooting basketballs like I’m Drake”

“I’ve been sipping dirty water with my Flint niggas, hey Cuz I just made a lot of blues with my Crip niggas, hey Blood I could never be bool with no snitch niggas”

Martorialist won’t like this part but “I’ve been dripping since the Trues with the thick stitching”!

Rio is always cold af “The funeral home will probably run out of dirt if you murk me, if the pastor sold dope I’ll walk into church with a turkey” (2 church references in the same Rio verse!)

RMC Mike never disappoints “Walking through the set with seppys on by Palm Angels, lil bitch been chasing me for years she got strong ankles”

I’m kind of feeling the Washington Nationals hat/Heron shirt combination

P.S. even more fire from Enrgy Beats

P.P.S. Yachty is really taking his artist-in-residency seriously as there is now even Yachty/Krispy Life Kidd collab

YN Jay – Nicki Minaj

I’m feeling this quick hitter off YN Jay’s Coochie Land. Is Nicki Minaj really typing back to YN Jay’s DM? We have no way of knowing for sure, but one thing is for sure – if she’s not, it’s her mistake because Jay is the hottest artist in the game right now.

Dude’s ad lib game is a work of art too.

21 Savage x Metro Boomin ft. Drake – Mr. Right Now

I’m not even going to front, I actually really like this one. Metro Boomin came up with some sick production for this. I could obviously have lived without hearing about Drake’s sex life but it’s Drake what else do you expect. It’s some good feel good music to drive around with in nice weather. However, words can’t explain how much I hate the snippet at the end of this song.

21 Savage x Metro Boomin – Steppin on Niggas

Yet another selection from the 21 Savage/Metro Boomin album; this Eazy E beatjack is tough.

Drake ft. Lil Durk – Laugh Now Cry Later

Two Drake songs in one month? I don’t know maybe I’m getting soft but I like this one too. I wasn’t expecting to hear Lil Durk on a megahit in 2020 but good for him; the part where he swoops in with his verse after Drake sounds sick and works really well because of the contrast. I still am more used to seeing bald Lil Durk than Lil Durk with dreads.

Cardo came through with some heat for this production and I’m glad he’s getting paid.

Could this be the first time Cleveland Browns gear has ever made an appearance in a rap video?

Lil Yachty x Krispy Life Kidd – Krispy Boat

I kind of just love the fact that Yachty is so deep in the Flint rap game now that he’s linking up with Krispy Life Kidd, and that Krispy Life Kidd is about to get a million views on this. That Georgia Tech hat is kind of fire.

Top Songs September 2020

04 Sunday Oct 2020

Posted by in Atlanta, Bay Area, Detroit, Flint, Monthly Top 10

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Rio da Yung OG x JusJay R x Velly Beretta x RMC Mike – Kitchen (2020)
ALLBLACK ft. Daboii, Cash Kidd – Pizza Rolls (2020)
Lil Yachty x YN Jay – Blind Em (2020)
YN Jay x Louie Ray – Reflection (2020)
YN Jay – Coochie Land (2020)

Rio da Yung OG x JusJay R x Velly Beretta x RMC Mike – Kitchen

I think it’s about time I finally cop some of this Autoworld gear.

This might be a new top song of the year contender for me, off the strength of Rio’s hook and off of the third guy’s verse. Before this video I wasn’t even sure if the third guy was JusJayR or Velly Beretta but I’m feeling this verse and at this point I’m feeling it so much it might be my new frontfunner for verse of the year. It’s hard to really stand out when you’re on a song with Rio because usually his verses gobble up all the oxygen in the room but this guy (found out after that he’s Velly) pulls it off.

“Super solid, ain’t never been on no frail shit. My niggas know if I get caught I ain’t gon tell shit. Dolce Gabanna on my body bitch I smell rich, unemployment got me looking like I sell bricks

Or looking like I’m on my freelance. Boy you dumb as fuck if you ain’t get none of those free bands. I ain’t get my stimulus they sent it to my BM. As long as I keep paying forthe court I’m a free man. Lay a nigga down just so he can see how we land. Going superhuman on this bitch I’m on my He Man”

I love the hand motion at ‘unemployment got me looking like I sell bricks’ and the flex at ‘Going superhuman on this bitch’. Kudos to Velly for breaking the typical mold of rapping about trapping or scamming to talk about unemployment checks, stimulus checks, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, freelancing. I’m picturing Velly posted up at a Starbucks somewhere outside Flint with his laptop open Zooming with an editor making changes to an article he’s working on or going on Upwork and assigning tasks to a bunch of graphic designers in the Philippines. For some reason the going Superhuman on this bitch I’m on my He Man part gets me super hyped up.

And it’s not just the verse itself but also just the casual swagger and the smooth flow that it’s delivered with.

ALLBLACK ft. Daboii, Cash Kidd – Pizza Rolls

Cash Kidd and ALLBLACK joining forces (Ray Garraty pointed out to me that this isn’t the first time) and they’re both sort of the supremely talented wildcards/jokers in the deck of their respective Bay area/Detroit scenes. When I first read the title I thought it said ‘DaBaby’ instead of ‘DaBoii’ which would have made for an even wilder combination. ALLBLACK and Cash Kidd just stomp all over this crunchy production. It would probably be too much to ask but would be interesting to get a joint mixtape from these two.

Could any other rapper besides ALLBLACK pull off the line “Always been a piece of shit, used to piss in the tub?” (Used to drink a 4 Loko and then ride through the Dubs) Especially as the opening line for a song? Lol.

“I’m finna cut my hair and change my name to DMX… paranoid as fuck I’m in the window like I’m Malcom X… in the Gucci store got white hos breaking their necks” ALLBLACK definitley has some DMX in his game and I would not be opposed to seeing him embrace that angle further.

This hook goes super hard; it may be the first time I’ve heard Scottsdale mentioned in a rap song, and the eating addicts back to back part is fire. I was wondering where the ‘pizza rolls’ in the title would come from and here we are.

CLEATS ON, JOGGERS ON, GLOCKY ON, SCOTTSDALE UP TO PORTLAND I GOT IT SOLD, FOUR TOURS IN ONE YEAR, I’M NEVER HOME, EATING ADDICTS BACK TO BACK LIKE THEY PIZZA ROLLS

Cash Kidd just swoops in at the end like a bat out of hell. I love the ‘Cameras on the front and back who you creeping on?” and “The opps soft I don’t know how their bitches feel safe with them” lines

Lil Yachty x YN Jay – Blind Em

Looks like Lil Yachty really took Hotbox Social’s advice to heart about “taking advantage of Flint’s cheap housing market to stay in town for a while” because here he is AGAIN with artist of the year candidate YN Jay. Seriously he must be feeling right at home in “Vehicle City” since they did Flintana there over a month ago, I love to imagine he’s been there the entire time in a cheap rental house. Somebody get this man an Autoworld hoodie!

I was never super into Yachty (although I did love Minnesota when it came out tbh) but he seems at home with these Flint guys like Hotbox says and he’s been going hard on these Flint/Detroit beats so I’m warming to him. And I’ve got nothing but respect for the fact that he was doing ads for Sprite/Nautica etc. and he’s equally comfortable posting up in Flint so I feel like he’s really there for the love of the game.

Does anybody in the game have a better flow than YN Jay right now? And has anyone glowed up more in 2020? I feel like it’s YN Jay’s world and we’re all getting accustomed to living in it. My one gripe – they need to get Rio into one of these Yachty/Flint collabs!

“Oh they said the opps in the party? I’ma still come”

P.S. is Enrgy the producer of the year for 2020?

YN Jay x Louie Ray – Reflection

Still the best flow in the game in 2020. I be talking to myself like is that really you? And may I just add, YN Jay and Louie Ray are looking pretty fly in all this Lakers gear, especially now that the Lakers added that black trim to it.

YN Jay – Coochie Land

More magic from YN Jay and Enrgy. I’m going to have to write more about this YN Jay Coochie Land album later on. One thing I have to say is he is taking this Coochie Man persona very, very seriously. It took me a couple of listens and it seems like it shouldn’t work but this wierd Enrgy evil carnival sounding beat with YN Jay yawning about being in Coochie Land on it really grew on me.

The “Ape family did it first opened up the gate, I closed my eyes said a prayer niggas stole my plate, nigga died drowned in the water tryna hold my weight” line was fire.

Top Songs August 2020

27 Thursday Aug 2020

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Can’t believe I’m already writing the wrapup for August 2020 this year is going by fast but then again it’s been a pretty bad year so I guess that’s not a bad thing. It probably goes without saying but also just wanted to chime in here to say justice for James Blake and his family!

Here this month we’ve got the surging YN Jay topping the charts with two appearances on the first two songs (is anybody taking over more right now then this guy??), a resurgent Babytron making two appearances with two different crews, and an unexpected appearance by Lil Yachty, who my colleague Hotbox Social astutely pointed out “should take advantage of Flint’s cheap housing market and stay in town for a while because he sounds at home with these dudes on Flintana”.

I also spent some time traveling down a memory lane that I didn’t even know existed, with Martorialist’s post about old-wave British bbq music. I didn’t even know that this time existed but I’m feeling nostalgic for it and since we can’t go anywhere/do anything this summer anyway I’m walking around with a Guinness, rocking a Sheffield Wednesday third jersey, bumping these jams and pretending that I’m at a real British cookout.

One additional side note on the KrispyLife Kidd video – you guys remember those old Philly battle rap/freestyle DVDs where it would like show the rapper who was about to spit spit a line and then it would like freeze on him or do some sort of cheesy visual effect and show him spit it again and then his name would come on the screen with some sound effect? (For example, here) I feel like if someone was making one of those about KrispyLife Kidd the part where he raps ‘Hire a hitman from Jerusalem he’ll whack you for a plate of hummus” would be the perfect moment for him to do that with lol

YN Jay x BabyTron x  YSR Gramz – Candy Land (2020)
RMC Mike, Lil Yachty, YN Jay, Louie Ray – Flintana (2020)
CML ft. YID – I Be Mashin
KrispyLife Kidd ft. RMC Mike, Babytron – Spicelation (2020)
Damjonboi – Hayukin (2020)
Soul II Soul – Back to Life (1989)
Aretha Daye – No More (???)

YN Jay x BabyTron x YSR Gramz – Candy Land

This beat by Marc Boomin, the man behind some of my favorite beats of the last 2 years, has me going absolutely crazy in the house by myself right now. This man needs to start getting more acclaim.

YN Jay’s flow is crazy. Fresh off his surprise hit with ‘Coochie’ and an unexpected collaboration with Lil Yachty who seems to be taking up a residency in the Mitten a la a late career rocker in Vegas, here he is with another slap. I love YN Jay’s voice. “You sittin’ at home in the crib with your kids you the family man, I just pulled up with some doonies in a family van, bitch want me to send her my location we in candy land” I’m kind of feeling the Dallas Cowboys hat. I love the sheer level of disrespect of “Old lady walking cross the street too slow I’m finna hit your granny, I’m the real Coochie Man I’ll hit your granny.” YN Jay was not lying when he coined that moniker for himself.

Is YSR Gramz wearing an Animal Chin t-shirt?? “A nigga playin’ YN Jay nigga I’m gon kill him, FN 57 308’ll knock down a building”

I love the shade for Matt Stafford in his own city lmao

BabyTron is rolling super deep, working with RMC Mike and KrispyLife Kidd a couple of weeks ago and linking up with YN Jay and YSR Gramz here. “Shooters hitting baskets at the funeral we gonna hit his casket”

RMC Mike, Lil Yachty, YN Jay, Louie Ray – Flintana

I kind of love the fact that Lil Yachty seems to be hanging around in Michigan now, first doing the song with Sada Baby before now migrating to Flint to chop it up with Mike, Louie Ray, and YN Jay. This has to be one of my favorite unexpected developments of 2020. I kind of wish they got Rio on this because he would have killed this but on the other hand I’m glad these guys are stepping out of his shadow a bit too. YN Jay and Louie Ray are really getting some serious momentum behind them now after scoring a hit with ‘Coochie’ and now rocking out with Yachty. Say what you want with Yachty but hey the guy was in his own Nautica commercials in the not too distant past so to me it’s a win for Mike, Louie and Jay and anything to get them more exposure is a good thing in my book. Yachty’s verse on this is actually goes hard as fuck too. “Bro n them just shot another opp, cooked another crab. Young nigga mouth full of gold riding on slabs.” I’m kind of loving the Apple hat?

That tie-dyed Pittsburgh hat RMC Mike is rocking is fire. “First time I seen a dope sale I was in Pop Warner.”

“Went to church, prayed for my sins, then served the reverend.

CML ft. Yid – I Be Mashin

Missed this one from a couple months back from Mr. Reliable; CML. Here he links up with Oakland’s YID of ‘Keep it On Me’ fame for a track that just runs you over like an 18 wheeler.

CML really is the hook god of these simple but catchy hooks; I love the straightforward bluntness of ‘I’m a felon, nigga’

Is that CML’s boy at 1:33 rocking a newsboy cap??

“On my dead homies, I ain’t never caught a body, ask your dead homies” OUCH

Even the cops in CML’s hood are throwing up gang signs? (2:02). Maybe it’s some sort of peace offering to CML to be able to pass through.

YID seems to be adhering to CDC guidlines and sensibly wearing a face mask. On the other hand, CML unsurprisingly seems to be unconcerned about it.

KrispyLife Kidd ft. RMC Mike, BabyTron – Spicelation

This dude KrispyLife Kidd is hilarious. “I don’t think niggas know how I’m boming, hire a hitman from Jersualem he’ll whack you for a plate of hummus.” Is it an angry Palestinian or some sort of crazy Israeli mossad agent or something?

“When my son seen an opp they had to rope off the pep rally”

I’m trying to see what kind of hat Kidd is wearing but I can’t see the logo because of the angle.

RMC Mike is feeling himself and deservedly so. “40 million streams in a year yeah that’s kind of priceless, finna do a show overseas I’ve gotta fly to Iceland.”

Babytron must feel invincible rolling around the city with RMC Mike and KrispyLife Kidd.

“Catch an opp in traffic punch his window til it shatters”

Damjonboi – Hayukin

Can’t decide if the beat or the verses on ‘Hayukin’ are harder, and they’re both Damjonboi since he’s the producer too. Just so sinister.

Damjonboi is posted up in the red zone heavy. I love the look on the female cop’s face at 1:27, she’s just like ‘Alright I’m out of here.’ Jonboi’s boy in the orange looks like a total loose cannon lol.

“Slidin’ in an Audi with the top off nigga. Real zone ties get you knocked off nigga. Take that chain and that watch off nigga.”

“I’ve been stacking so much paper it’s getting scary. I love my city, dropped a tape and called it Barry.”

HAYUUUKIN HAYUUUKIN

Soul II Soul – Back II Life

Boom. Heard this before including in DB the General and Mistah FAB’s fantastic ‘Dope Era‘ but I have a new appreciation for it listening to it with a fresh set of years thanks to Martorialist’s British street soul post and it’s still fire 30 years later. Also, being a typical provincial American I had no idea these guys were British lol. 

Aretha Daye – No More

See note above regarding my solo virtual British cookout. This beat is fire. I could honestly listen to more of this all day. No idea who the rapper is but I’m guessing he’s Asian, perhaps my main man Martorialist can enlighten us…

Top Songs July 2020

31 Friday Jul 2020

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Rio da Yung OG x LCF Kari x Big Homie Dada x HBK Teezy – Free Charles (2020)
Pop Smoke ft. Roddy Rich, 50 Cent – The Woo (2020)
Pop Smoke ft. Rowdy Rebel – Make it Rain (2020)
YN Jay x Louie Ray – Coochie (2020)
Pop Smoke – Bad Bitch from Tokyo (2020)

Rio da Yung OG x LCF Kari x Big Homie Dada x HBK Teezy – Free Charles (2020)

It feels like it’s been a while since I posted a Rio track on here but that’s probably more because he’s so prolific at this point that it seems like he has a verse in someone else’s video coming out on a daily basis at this point. This one that Ray Garraty posted is actually unquestionably my favorite out of all the recent output. And I’d actually say it’s as much for the verses from the three young bols as it is for Rio’s verse, which you can’t often say about these types of tracks. He may be Rio the Yung OG but here he plays the role of Big Homie Rio. I hope he did this verse for free because these guys earned it.

Literally all three of these kids can REALLY spit. I went from clicking the link just expecting to wait for the Rio verse to being like ‘Alright, alriiiight, first kid can spit’ to ‘Damn this second kid has some bars too’ to ‘Wow this third guy is spitting some absolute flames all three of these young bols are on their game.’ The beat is simple but goes super hard and is perfect for this type of track.

I’m not sure who’s who or if these guys are from Detroit or Flint or somewhere in between but I’m feeling it. All three of these guys have a lot of heart. I want to actually search for some more of their stuff. The first dude’s flow/voice is just like a blunt instrument.

I love the second guy’s verse especially starting with the elongated”Shhhhh I can’t hear these niggas, we’ve got straps why the fuck would we fear these niggas?”

Third dude kills it “Free my baby brother Charles he made 20 down in West V, I done passed niggas to the point where they can’t catch me, I really move the bag tell the plug come and bless me, Glock with a ladder in case an opp try to test me.”

“I went broke and got it back, I don’t cry about them losses”. True hustler right there.

“We the reason these niggas in the house fuck corona, if this loud burn out I’ma drive to Oklahoma.”

Pop Smoke ft. Roddy Rich, 50 Cent – The Woo 

SHE WANNA FUCK WITH THE WOO-OOOO-OOO-OOO

The Woos are really taking center stage here

I’ve been bumping the new Pop Smoke album all 4th of July weekend and damnit Pop Smoke singing over this flamenco guitar beat is absolute fire.

As if that wasn’t enough, then you have Roddy Ricch swooping in sounding damn near like an angelic choir when he’s singing “inside of the cooo-oooo-ooo-uuupe”. Is Roddy Ricch the new Young Thug at this point?

I’m always down to get a new verse from Godfather Fif, who also executive produced the album. I didn’t think 50 would make an appearance on one of my top songs lists in 2020 but here we are.

RIP to the young king this guy, you can see this guy was going places and taking his game into all kinds of interesting new directions, and didn’t even get a chance to expand further.  You can see with this kind of material on this album, I think if he hadn’t been killed, I could picture this guy eventually becoming one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

P.S. this was actually a surprisingly good article on Pop in the NY Times the other day, I think my favorite part is him meeting Marylin Manson and not knowing who he was because of course he wouldn’t lol

Pop Smoke ft. Rowdy Rebel 

I MAKE IT RAIN ON WHOEVER

Man this song had me ready to fight someone and I’m a total square who admittedly couldn’t bust a grape in a fruit fight.

It was awesome getting a new Rowdy Rebel verse in 2020 and I love that they included his phoned in verse from jail on one of the big singles for the album. When are these GS9 guys coming home anyway? Feels like they’ve been gone forever. FREE ROWDY

YN Jay x Louie Ray – Coochie

Like Hotbox Social said, nice to see Rio/RMC Mike’s boys YN Jay and Louie Ray have a surprise sit on their hands. This is the Louie Ray that Rio says ‘this is my tenth time hitting a bitch off of Louie’s name. This flow is crazy and this beat from Energy Beats is nasty, as always.  This is really blowing up with 8 million views without having Rio or Mike in it and now these guys have a song with Lil Yachty too.

Pop Smoke – Bad Bitch from Tokyo 

Damn I’m feeling this 48 second intro from Pop Smoke’s album. Add this to the list of ‘good’ album intros. This goes hard af, there’s just something captivating about it that grabs your attention and I love the way it blends into the next track too, which is exactly what an intro is supposed to do. Whether he’s referring to ‘his’ killer i.e. one of his guys or ‘his killer’ meaning someone who might kill him, the “I look my killer in his eyes, we talking face to face” line is super eerie in retrospect given what happened.

I’ve been listening to this album a lot over the past week and change and while there are certainly a few tracks I would to swap in other tracks for and some filler, as you’d expect from a major label release, I’d say it’s definitley one of the best ‘major’ albums I’ve listened to in quite some time. The Roddy Ricch/50 Cent flamenco song was fire, Make it Rain was hard AF and it was awesome to hear Rowdy on a track again, albeit through the jail phone, and I respect that they included his phoned in verse on the album’s lead single. This intro was dope, and Aim for the Moon and the Thief in the Night song definitley grew on me. Got It On Me was cool too. I was hoping to hear a Fivio verse on this album/surprised not to hear one given their connection and how big Fivio has gotten but Fivio has told fans to be patient so I’m assuming they have something on the deluxe version whenever that comes out. RIP to the young artist.

Top Songs June 2020

04 Saturday Jul 2020

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A lot of Cash Kidd this month, and really not much else…

Cash Kidd ft. Icewear Vezzo, Sterl Gotti, Lavier, Rio da Yung OG – See You (2020)
Cash Kidd – Barefoot (2020)
Cash Kidd – Kiddnapper (2020)
Cash Click Boog – Come Back (2020)
Bankhead ft. Larry Byrd, Big Fonz – Swipe Yo Line (2020)

Cash Kidd ft. IceWear Vezzo, Sterl Gotti, Lavier, Rio da Yung OG – See You (2020)

Man I had heard this a few months ago and seen Ray Garraty post it and it was one of those things where I was like ‘Oh nice all of my favorite rappers on one track’ and expecting it to be the best thing I ever heard and for whatever reason when I first listened to it the one time it wasn’t clicking with me and I forgot about it and  never went back to it.

Now, bumping the Cash Kidd album ‘No Socks’ that it came out on, giving it another chance, it’s hitting me in a different way and it’s been like a revelation of biblical proportions. This has become one of my all-time favorites.

“Throw these Balencis on the wire after I wear them tonight. I keep a big 30 on me and I carry a knife.”

I love Cash Kidd’s callous disregard for material things; yeah he’ll buy the Balenciagas because he’s bored and because you can’t but fuck it, he’ll throw them up on the wire after he wears them tonight. He keeps a big .30 on him AND he carries a knife.

“Bought a crib in Canton because the area nice, I’m barely there but I watch the cameras every night.”

I’m also feeling that posessed, dark side version of Cash Kidd when he’s singing ‘When I seeee you, when I see yooouuu”

I am decidedly in the camp of fans of Icewear Vezzo but it would be unfair to expect him to keep up with probably the two best lyricists in the game right now in Cash Kidd and Rio but while he can’t do that, you know what? He absolutely fucking bodies this track with just the sheer energy he brings to it and his unique style. I love the Icewear voice no homo and every time his verse comes on on this I get hyped. “WHEN THEY SEE US CHANGE SHIFTS LIKE WORKING MAN”

I don’t know much about Lavier and I kind of slept on his verse at first but after a few listens you realize that his verse is on the next level, with next dimension lines like “These hoes don’t want you in their presence til you lit like Christmas trees.’ I’m almost a little frigthened by the ‘shout out my nigga G, dog been getting tortured for that little shit he did to me.’ Part of me is curious to know what the guy did/what they’re doing to him but honestly I probably don’t want to know! “Big eyes with the gat but hoes on me like I’m spongebob, feels like yesterday I was the poorest in that lunch line, free my pops, we just chopped it for the one time, I could be a star but they don’t want to see the sun shine.”

I NEED to start finding more Lavier verses or he needs to start rapping more because he’s a beast.

And then of course, you get the Rio verse as the grand finale. I love hearing Rio rap over this light piano type beat.

“You know I’ma up the heat when I see you. Fiberglass on the pistol that bitch see-through.”

“Sorry I’m aggressive off this perc I can’t crack a smile, I robbed a nigga with a (???) for a half a pound, I got it from my granddad the handle crocodile.” I absolutely love when rappers talk about old straps, like Rio here talking about his granddad’s Saturday night special with the crocodile-skin handle or ALLBLACKtalking about stealing his granddad’s revolver and taking it to school.

I feel like this is a zenith for the whole Detroit/Flint scene that’s been taking over for the last few years, and should go down as one of the all-time great posse tracks.

Cash Kidd – Barefoot (2020)

I’ve been a little quiet lately but I’m back in the game. Been bumping the latest Cash Kidd album ‘No Socks’ non-stop this week off the strength of Ray Garraty’s recommendation and it might be my favorite project of the year so far after City on My Back.

Move over Barefoot Contessa, Cash Kidd is taking over the barefoot lane here.

Man shout out to Cash Kidd for having the courage to have some extra thick video thots, I can definitely get behind it.

Beat is fucking flames and Cash Kidd is underrated with the hooks this one has been in my head all week. “Like a butcher let ’em meet the chop!”

“Only thing I’m scared of is the cops” unfortunately rings to true, fuck 12

“We running through these scrips like its practice”

“Told my ex bitch to Kwame a river, Kilpatrick”

“Ain’t gotta swipe no more, I’m still swiping”

No homo I’m usually not into designer but I’m feeling Cash Kidd’s Versace t shirt and the light blue/yellow/gray color combo

Cash Kidd – Kiddnapper 

Another highlight from No Socks. Just heard it on the album and didn’t realize it had a video from a few months ago. One thing that I love about Cash Kidd is that while he has the clever/over the top punch lines like Ray Garraty has mentioned (like ‘One wrapper with five sticks like a pack of gum’ in Barefoot or ‘Whacked a broke opp thought he had some money til I punched a donation to his go fund me’ here) and the creative (maybe sometimes even too creative!) wordplay aerobics like ‘Kwame a river, Kilpatrick’ or ‘Get My shell like Barack’, he also is so effortless with his more casual boasts and brags like here with “In an opp hood getting gas, I’m so comfortable.” He throws the line out so casually/easily but something about it just paints such a picture about him – the relaxed, cool confidence he freely moves about his city with and the relaxed, dismissive disdain he has for the opps.

P.S. I’m not sure what Don World is but I’m feeling the Don World hoodie.

Glad to see the video has over 2 million views it seems like Cash Kidd is starting to get the recognition his work ethic and skill deserves

Cash Click Boog – Come Back 

I’m glad Crimedawgbylaw posted this quick hitter from Cash Click Boog, otherwise I would have missed out on it. Boog was up there with my Rio last year for my ‘rapper of the year’ when I did my year-end post, but I haven’t heard as much output from him this year. I can’t fault him for that becuase he blessed us with so much heat last year. But in any case, ‘Come Back’ is a nice start for 2020. I love the beat and the way the almost forlorn piano loop of seems to build up to a crescendo only to evaporate into nothingness.

“ITS BEEN HARD TO BUST A SCRIP THEY’VE BEEN CRACKING DOWN, BARAK GOT A GLOCK WITH A BLUE FLAG WRAPPED AROUND”

“50 rounds in my coat, bitch I’m top heavy”

Bankhead ft. Larry Byrd, Big Fonz – Swipe Your Line

A beat jack of Brandi’s ‘Boy is Mine’ reimagined as an anthem for scammers was exactly what I had been missing in my life, and I didn’t know it.

Shout out to the Crimedawg again for this one. It’s obviously meant for comedic value but it’s also actually fire

Top Songs May 2020

26 Tuesday May 2020

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I wasn’t super active this month so figured I’d post this now…

Fivio Foreign – Drive By (2020)
Mozzy – Boyz To Men (2020)
Mozzy ft. Blxst – I Ain’t Perfect (2020)
Stove God Cooks – Rolls Royce Brake Lights (2020)
Drake ft. Fivio Foreign, Sosa Geek – Demons (2020)
Mozzy – Bulletproofly (2020)

Fivio Foreign – Drive By

One of the tres amigos behind last year’s ‘Waka’ is back with a new project, ‘800 BC’, and while the project is not as fun as Waka, and is in fact a very different, MUCH darker vibe, the whole project is fire, highlighted by the opener, ‘Drive By’.

It seems like since ‘Waka‘ (the post on Waka is actually by far the most read post on this website, believe it or not), Fivio Foreign has  only gotten bigger and bigger, for example releasing probably the biggest Brooklyn drill song to date (Big Drip), getting a Meek Mill feature on this project, to now going where perhaps no Brooklyn drill rapper has gone before, getting a feature on Drake’s new album. Say what you want about Drake, but he’s the unparalleled expert of latching onto the buzz of new rappers and scenes right as they’re blowing up (i.e. Lil Baby, Blocboy JB), so this certainly solidifies Fivio’s star status and perhaps that of Brooklyn Crip rappers and Brooklyn drill itself. I had actually been bumping the 800 B.C. tape and ‘Drive By’ in particular all week so imagine my surprise when I lazily clicked to see the tracklist of the unexpected new Drake album on Friday morning and saw that Fivio was one of the few features.

If I had to define Fivio’s ‘identity’ or what makes him unique in the rap game, it would be hard to pinpoint an exact feature but I’d point to his heart, grit, aggression/anger, and that he just absolutely HATES opps. ‘Drive By’ is the perfect example of that. It’s a total tour de force by an artist just coming into his own and reflecting on both the triumphs and losses on the road to get here as well as where he’s going next.  The beat is sick and almost a calm backdrop to the anger that Fivio punishes the track with; I’d describe the vibe of ‘Drive By’ as almost apocalyptic, it’s Fivio riding around the ruins of the city in a tank after he won a war there and surveying the damage and carnage of his victory.

“The opps tell me we be going too hard, we be shooting too much we be going too far”

“I’ve got wolves I’m still feeding them off. I’ve got money so I’m feeding them all. Stood tall when they needed to ball. Ten toes, two feet on the floor.”

“Fovvy, boss, now I could by me a loft. But I ain’t satisfied at all. Still got Fetty (?) in the fort. Going back and forth to court. Couple of fights that still need to get fought.” On the one hand he’s enjoying newfound success and touting the money and fame that signing a major label deal brings, but on the other hand he’s still focused on vengeance and settling old scores.

“Fovvy, I’m different. Everyone know that I’m gifted. 2 shots for the wicked. Pull up, silence, critics. It’s my crib you evicted.”

Also anyone else reminded of Chief Keef’s ‘Now it’s Over’ by the mansion and specifically the staircase?

I’m also loving the plain blue Balenciaga hat

(P.S. interestingly, Fivio was somehow left off of the ‘Waka’ remix featuring Waka Flocka himself?)

Mozzy – Boys II Men 

This ‘Boyz To Men’ off the new Mozzy album absolutely knocks. This beat is hard as fuck and Mozzy’s flow is perfect for it. But after the way Mozzy made magic over that Mario sample in ‘Big Homie from the Hood‘, I can’t be the only one that saw this title on the tracklist and was hoping it was Mozz flowing over a smooth Boyz II Men sample, am I right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but before I made this site, Mozzy was probably my favorite rapper of 2015/2016. Then for whatever reason I kind of moved on and wasn’t as into some of his material over the next year or two. But lately Mozzy has been back with an absolute vengeance. Big Homie from the Hood is probably my favorite song of the year so far (yeah I know, December 2019 but still) and this album is really good. I love this one, the aforementioned Big Home, and the surprisingly introspective ‘I Ain’t Perfect’. (Was not expecting to hear the line ‘Compassion for the homeless cause they’ve been through enough’ from anybody I listen to but Mozzy makes it work.) There are a couple of other bangers that I’m sure I’ll add to that list to after a few more listens. I’d go as far as to say that between the quality of the album and his recent songs, the increased mainstream attention/buzz he seems to finally be getting, and his history/track record, as well as the step up in material he’s taking on in this album, Mozzy seems to be making a pretty credible run for the (always up for discussion/unofficial) crown as king of the West Coast. In a lot of ways it seems that Mozzy is taking a Nipsey type turn in terms of subject matter and becoming more concerned about the youth, his community, business etc. and I think he would be proud of this album.

“Suckers on the Gram with blammies they tell them to use them. My brother’s brother just paroled, family reunion. I know 100 niggas broke that ain’t selling the toolage. Pink 50’s is looking crispy the 100s is blue in. My location is the ghetto I’m bomfortably booling. The Crips love me on the beat they fuck with the movement.”

“If they threatened you with life would you crack on your goon? I tend to whisper when I feel there’s a rat in the room.”

“How you put the homies on but let your brother starve? That nigga Bob was taking trips inside his mother’s car. It’s Oak Park 4-5 forever fuck a star. 30 P’s inside a duffel, this 100 large.”

Mozzy ft. Blxst – I Ain’t Perfect

I think Crimedawgbylawsummed up ‘I Ain’t Perfect’ when he said, “Mozzy keeps supplying the music that I need right now.” I never thought I’d hear the line “Compassion for the hopeless and the homeless because they’ve been through enough” from any rapper that I listen to and certainly not from Mozzy, but he seems to really be taking his game to another level and is thinking more about his community, his legacy, etc. He seems to be heading down the Nispey Hussle path and alludes to that himself on the album.

As I said to my man Yohan in the comments for ‘Boyz II Men’…

“I feel like Mozzy’s storytelling and imagery are always on point and you see that on this album, but he also seems to have taken a step up in terms of some of the subject matter/themes he’s approaching. It’s interesting because he hasn’t turned into a full-on conscious rapper obviously or anything like that but he appears to be spending more time thinking about his community, his legacy, the weight that comes with being ‘the big homie’ and your whole hood relying on you etc. This album seems to kind of catch him at a crossroads in life.”

It was nice as well as unexpected to hear Mozzy rap over an acoustic-guitar type beat and the hook from Blxst actually really grew on me over time and I even catch myself singing it to myself here and there.

Some of Mozzy’s bars on this just hit so hard…

“Let me tell you about the absence of a rolling stone. Mama said he want to leave, then let that nigga go.”

“Compassion for the hopeless and the homeless ’cause they’ve been through enough. Right there on the ave with the killers before I knew enough. I just bought a truck for my daughers and bulletproofed it up.”

“There was roaches in the apple jacks we eat at home. Mama manage a McDonald’s she rarely be at home.”

“If I middle man the play then I’m gon tweak the price; on Jesus Chris retaliation helps me sleep at night.”

The video was on point too; just an unvarnished look at Mozzy’s hood.

I feel like Mozzy is taking the mantle as the champion of society’s downtrodden and ‘have nots’ and I can certainly get behind that; I’m intrigued to see where he goes next with this direction.

Stove God Cooks – Rolls Royce Break Lights 

I keep going back to the well of this Stove God album. This guy can really paint a picture but he’s not boring like the average ‘lyrical’ rapper and actually makes actual music that you want to come back to. (Case in point, even the god of function music himself, Martorialist, was feeling Money Puddles, calling it a Faux Marciano song with chutzpah, which all in all is a pretty apt description). This is just bar after bar after bar on the album’s opener, Rolls Royce Brake Lights.

I love the reprisal/flip of Drake’s ‘I just want to beee successful’ taking it from someone corporate like Drake and flipping it into the ambitions of a young stove god just trying to cook his way up in the game.

“I’m the truth, I’m the light I’m the way. Niggas broke, niggas fake, they in the way.”

P.S. after quite a few spins of the whole album I’m kind of intrigued by how many space/planetary/religious references there are are here and there sprinkled in amongst the drug raps.

Drake ft. Fivio Foreign, Sosa Geek – Demons 

I wrote about Fivio Foreign above so not too much more to say here except that while I’m not necessarily a huge Drake fan, it was cool to see Fivio go from a local/regional artist that I mentioned in passing as being part of a fun song a year ago to blowing up to the point that he had maybe the biggest song in New York over the past year and now hopping on a song with Drake. You can certainly question whether Drake is a ‘vulture’ or a just a well-intentioned fan of these artists and scenes just trying to give them a bigger platform, but in any case, I’m always happy for these guys when they get a huge spotlight like this. (P.S. is it just a coincedence or does Drake love Crips? Between these guys and Blocboy JB…)

“I love the 6, 6, 6, 6, 6,” at the beginning of the song and I actually don’t mind the hook from Drake. “I’m in this bitch with the wooski, ball in the summer like Drew League”

It wouldn’t be a Fivio song if he didn’t come after the opps.

While Fivio Foreign’s rise was unprecedented, Sosa Geek would probably be even more unexpected to be on a song with the Champagne Papi but here he is and he’s making the most of it/enjoying his time in the spotlight. This is the Sosa of ‘Free Sosa he a demon’ fame from Big Drip.

With the unfortunate passing of Pop Smoke, you could really make the case that his confidante Fivio has filled the void and is arguably the king of NYC right now.

Mozzy – Bulletproofly 

Another introspective song over a nice beat for that type of song off the Mozzy album. As I mentioned above I always love Mozzy’s imagery and short-form storytelling, painting a picture with sometimes few words…

“The pictures that my father sent me prepared me for jail”

“I gave him packs of cappucino for his pain pills”

“Remember that sweet and sour spread we shared in the cell?”

“We turn on ovens when it’s cold inside the house, they found a qualude but no poles inside the house”

“Bulletholes in the Saturn we just left a trip”

 

Top Songs April 2020

02 Saturday May 2020

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FMB DZ – Ape Season
Rio da Yung OG – Feelings
FMB DZ ft. Rio da Yung OG – High Speed
Stove God Cooks – Money Puddles
Foogiano ft. Lil Baby – Trapper (Remix)
FMB DZ – Keep it On Me
Icewear Vezzo ft. Sada Baby – 2 Hands

FMB DZ – Ape Season

Ray Garraty was right, Ape Season was a harder tape than The Gift 3, although both were dope projects. In fact, Ape Season is one of the hardest projects I’ve heard in a long time. The eponymous opener is just a complete tour de force by DZ. The bars speak for themselves as he just pummels this track like an old punching bag at the gym…

“I just made $200,000. I’m about to close out a deal on 2 houses. Get a nigga kidnapped for 2 ounces. I snuck the pole in the club fuck the bouncers.”

“Took the doors off this bitch we in the hood with it. AR on my lap I look good with it. Pull up in a red Ferarri looking like Suge in it.”

2015-16 NBA Thread | Page 71 | BigSoccer Forum

Rio da Yung OG – Feelings 

Just when you thought you had Rio pegged down as just rapping about the streets he shows you he can surprise you with a love song/song for the females too – a love song of a decidedly Rio flavor (“I even got the pistol on me when we in the mall shopping”), but a love song nonetheless.

This Mark Boomin’ production on here sampling Surface’s ‘Closer than Just Friends’ is flawless and I love the whistle form that song that he uses  (same guy that produced ‘New Car Smell,’ maybe my favorite Peezy song. I have to learn more about this guy and check out more of his production credits). This guy is a genius and I never would have pictured Rio rapping over an 80s R&B beat like this but it just shows what a mastermind he is too.

I bet this is a Rio song that the Martorialist will like; I want to see what he thinks of it.

I love the ‘Your last nigga was a square, bae I’m a different shape’ pickup line, I don’t think it will work out as well for me as it would for Rio but I’m about to steal it.

I think this Youtube comment sums it up perfectly… you can get in your feelings for a minute with Rio but it won’t be long before you’re back on your bully…

Felt this I was just in my feelings , you hit this shit perfect now I’m back on my bully
FMB DZ ft. Rio da Yung OG – High Speed

Rio and DZ showing that the grind doesn’t stop just for a quarantine or a stay at home order.

My favorite rapper from late 2017/2018 linking up with my favorite rapper from 2019 (and 2020 so far).

FMB DZ is flowing with such urgency over this beat. “I’m not a rapper I’m a motherfucking street nigga. If you ain’t tryna get no money I can’t eat with ya.”

“I’m out West with it, with my Vatos, me and Chino counting $50,000 eating tacos”

I just started bumping ‘The Gift 3’ and there are a whole bunch of bangers on it so far, definitley FMB DZ’s best work in a while; he’s spitting with high intensity on this.

I love the transition from DZ to Rio with DZ using that wierd effect on his voice and then Rio casually walking into the restaurant  (LA Coney Island).

Before we even get to Rio’s verse, let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that this man just dropped a great album, ‘City on My Back,’ then released a dope track with RMC Mike and Lil E (Still Spice Talkin’) and now still had enough gas left in the tank to release ANOTHER classic verse here as a feature on FMB DZ’s album. This guy is rap’s iron man he literally doesn’t stop.

Now let’s get back to Rio’s verse.

“Drop a nickel on your ass I got cheap killers, everybody got a body if you see them with us.”

Then Rio yet again shows that he’s probably the most inventive, ingenuous mind in rap today with this sequence where he adds bouncers to strippers as the nightclub personnel that he is a clear disdain for,  comes up with a creative way of robbing a dealer in Colorado, and flexes on us by saying he doesn’t need to use a mask when he’s robbing because he’s an out of towner.

“I’m in the club with some shit that will drop a bouncer, robbed a bow man in Colorado, made him climb a mountain. I even robbed a coke man for an ounce of powder. I did that shit without a mask, I’m an out of towner.”

Oh, and did I mention that he has kamikaze bombers?

I also like that Rio seems to be amongst the more humble rappers in the game and doesn’t seem to have much use for stunting or flexing for social media etc. he’s just 100% about his money, consistently saying things like this…

“I didn’t act like I was rich, I was humble poor. You ain’t learn nothing when you was broke, what you struggle for?”

I’m always a sucker for rappers talking about the security at their spots…

“HD cameras on my house watching down the street. Your hemi slow as hell I’ll chase you down on feet.”

Stove God Cooks – Money Puddles

The rhyme scheme on this from Stove God Cooks is insane. Almost like a coke rap version of DMX’ ‘How We Be’ where he’s not so much rapping lines but just free-associating different words/phrases that fit a theme while he’s flowing. Just the pure artistry that went into this is something to take a step back and admire.

“Keep the planets all in orbit, dirty Porsches, half a million dollar mortgage, lemon swordfish”

“Hangin out the window eyes closed he shooting on a xannie, Versace (???) print look like cotton candy, this that hard knock, this that Orphan Annie”

“A hundred kilos, run up the C-Notes, my nigga ducked the RICO, pray for me though, Valentino, glass of pinot, ain’t no room up in this Benz, it’s me and my ego! These niggas forgot the G code, 36 to 63 O’s, that’s the reload, Rhinna twerking on my B-Roll!

“I deserve a rose I rose out the concrete, Ferarri, Fear of God I’m feeling like Haille Selasse”

I don’t know much about the Stove God but it looks like he is Roc Marciano’s new protege and Roc produced the entire album, I know some of you guys love Roc. I believe he is from Long Island like Roc. I’m just sinking my teeth into the album now and this was one early standout but the whole album is really good/interesting after a couple of listens. I like this guy’s angle and artistry he definitley somehow puts a new spin on things that thousands of artists have covered before, so that’s no small feat. My one minor complaint would be that similar to Roc himself and the Griselda dudes etc. I wish he would rap over some harder beats too, like something that the Detroit/Flint guys rap over because I feel like he could absolutely destroy a couple of those beats. Regardless, I am down with the Stove God.

Foogiano ft. Lil Baby – Trapper (remix)

BECAUSE THE TRAP DOESN’T CLOSE FOR STAY AT HOME ORDERS

I’m feeling this dude Foogiano’s flow/voice he’s a fool with it

I can usually take or leave the video vixens but I can’t lie I’m a big fan of this one

Lil Baby is floating on this beat I might like his verse here better than anything on his new album.

 FMB DZ – Keep it On Me 

I love the sheer sense of urgency that DZ is rapping with here in ‘Keep it On Me’ from his new tape ‘The Gift 3’ which essentially serves as a surprisingly heartfelt and effective ode to his strap, showing what a vital part it is of his everyday life and how much he needs it, whether he’s on offense or defense. He just comes out swinging over this beat with such an intensity. It’s obviously a well-traveled theme for rappers, but he still somehow makes it sound original…

“I go to sleep with it, I take a shit with it, I brush my teeth with it, I handle beef with it. I go to the store with it, I get low with it. I take out the trash with it, get on your ass with it. Go to the O with it, go to the K with it, go to the A with it, nigga I stay with it. I hit Miami with it. I was in Collins with it. In the drop with it, ONE IN THE TOP WITH IT.”

Between releasing The Gift 3 and Ape Season (thanks to Ray Garraty for re-recommending this one to me) just in the last few months, FMB DZ is at the top of his game right now.

Icewear Vezzo ft. Sada Baby – 2 Hands 

Icewear is feeling himself here, one of the best verses I’ve heard from him. I was listening to a bunch of Icewear probably about 4-5 years ago or maybe even earlier before he got locked up, I feel like he sort of preceded this current wave of Detroit rappers who have now gotten more popular, I haven’t really checked out most of his recent stuff but saw he just did this song with Sada Baby and decided to check it out, glad to see he’s back at the top of his game. Icewear is linking up with Sada Baby, rocking a bandana with a khaki suit which I am definitley in favor of, flowing like a beast, and just reeling off bar after bar like it’s nothing…

“I get higher than a nigga finna go to court. I got fire like a nigga that ain’t go to work. I’m so lit round this bitch I can’t go in stores.”

I def feel you on that last part, Icewear.

“She only tells me she loves me when it’s beneficial, wear my jewelery out in public yeah I been official, nigga touch one of mine and I’m sending missiles”

“A nigga catch me broke, come sign my cast”

“Catch an opp while he lacking I’m an opportunist”

I love Sada Baby’s typically over the top boasting, “We might be the toughest richest niggas in America.” Not only the toughest, or richest, but the toughest and richest.

You know what? Shoutout to Marathon Petroleum man

Top Songs March 2020

04 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in Monthly Top 10

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Lil Uzi Vert – That Way (2020)
LBM Lil Joe – How You Want It (2020)
Rio da Yung OG – Copy Cats (2020)
Rio da Yung OG x RMC Mike x Lil E – Still Spice Talkin (2020)
Lil Uzi Vert – Baby Pluto (2020)
Big Wan – Eggshell (2020)
Preddy Boy P ft. CML, Philthy Rich – U Playin (2020
Rio da Yung OG – Groovy (2020)

Lil Uzi Vert – That Way

Maybe it’s just the cabin fever from these coronavirus ‘stay at home’ orders kicking in but I’m enjoying Lil Uzi’s Backstreet Boys beat/hook jack way more than I expected to or should. While I had long adhered to The Martorialist’s decree of not taking rappers with nose rings seriously (with the exception of ALLBLACK  and maybe a couple of others), I can’t lie, Uzi is finally starting to grow on me; the production and some of the melodies on this ‘Eternal Atake’ album and the outtakes album he put out right after are fire and I love the album cover.

I never expected to hear a rap song interpolating the Backstreet Boys’ I Want it That Way that contains the line ‘They laugh at me because I’m Emo’, let alone enjoy it, but here we are. It’s like rap, 90s bubblegum pop from a ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ CD and goth all joining forces and coming together as one. The song drops off a bit in the second half but the big bombastic hook saves it.

There’s just something almost triumphant about the way Uzi chooses such an unexpected/difficult to execute concept to close the album, makes it a hit, and croons ‘If I wake up don’t make no money that’s a sad day, 2500 for the shirt that’s what the tag say’ all over it.

LBM Lil Joe – How You Want It

This unexpected and very effective Tupac ‘However You Want It’ beat jack was a pleasant surprise on LBM Lil Joe’s excellent ‘Slapp or Die 3’ mixtape that Crimedawg put me onto and after many spins became hands down my favorite song on the tape. This is a fun one to drive around to.

The hook is fire “However you want it, come to your city, I’m busting down in the trap really shipping out packs lil nigga I’m the plug for real,” with the fidelity to the original Tupac hook and LBM Lil Joe’s gruff voice making it even better, and I love the McDonald’s analogy at the beginning. LBM Lil Joe is evaluating his trap with the business acumen of a manager from McDonald’s corporate headquarters; billions and billions served, have it your way.

Rio da Yung OG – Copy Cats 

“What up Sav?”

Rio might be the only thing out there that’s sicker than coronavirus. Regeneron needs to get Rio in the lab and have him cough up a few bars for them to use create the vaccine and save the world.

“30 shots hanging out the glock look like a hockey stick, 3 of Wok in a Chinese pop ain’t no jollies in it. Walk into the club wearing a trench coat with a shotty in it. Thought I seen an opp in here I was probably tripping. Put a nigga in a box I’ll Roddy Rich him. Bought some more black Balenciagas and caught a body in them.”

THE GOAT HAS SPOKEN.

Other rappers are walking into the club wearing tight jeans and effeminate designer shirts; Rio is just fine walking in looking like a suburban teenage Goth that may or may not have brought a strap to school. (Whether it’s Rio or ALLBLACK, I always get a kick out of real street rappers adapting the imagery of school shooters).

“The tips on these .308 bullets look like Jolly Ranchers, pole on me in the strip club damn near shot a dancer”

The imagery of the bullet tips looking like Jolly Ranchers is too good, and when you combine it with Rio’s comically ever-present casual disdain for exotic dancers it makes for a classic Rio line. This guy really is on his own plane of existence right now.

I also love Rio’s self-reflective earnestness when he says ‘Street nigga; when I jump out fresh I still look kind of tacky.”

Rio’s “City on My Back” is out now and after a couple of listens last night/this morning it definitley does not disappoint. And I’m sure I’ll listen to it about a dozen more times this weekend while I’m trying to ride out the coronavirus storm at my crib, so I’m sure there will be more posts about it. I’m going to try to actually buy this one to try to support Rio for all the entertainment he’s given me at this point.

P.S. I hope all you guys are safe/healthy out there with all this craziness going on

Rio da Yung OG x RMC Mike x Lil E – Still Spice Talkin

Rio dropped so much heat on City on My Back and now he’s back with even more heat that wasn’t even on the album. Rio links up again with RMC Mike to form their usual dynamic duo and also adds in his other frequent and lesser-known collaborator, Lil E who he did the ‘Professional Shit Talking‘ album with to morph into a triple threat as they rip this beat from Baby on the Track. For all the songs each has done together, I think this is the first time I’ve heard Rio, Mike, and E on the same song. Hotbox Social described Rio and E’s ‘Buy the Block’ as “basically the last regional rap song”. It’s too bad Peezy is still locked up and couldn’t get in on this one –  Rio and the boys really are the new Death Row.

It seems almost impossible for Rio to go harder than he already has but he somehow finds a way to keep pushing the envelope –

“I shop on one side of the set, I don’t sky walk, just seen an opp strolling, now that nigga sky walking”

“Don’t even know what dog drive, bro just shoot at every white Charger”

I’ve said before I love when everyone yells along with the line at the end of a verse to add emphasis i.e. here in ‘We’ve got the city hot from all the spice talking, BITCH SHUT THE FUCK UP WHEN ME, E AND MIKE TALKING, or on Big Wan’s ‘Fast Lane Lifestyle‘, or Rio and Big Colin’s ‘Ghetto Boyz‘

Mike comes roaring in as abrasive as ever. “Whole team doing good we worked our ass off. Doc I need an 8 of red I got a bad cough. Chilling in the trap with my fiend drinking Mad Dog.” And they really did work harder than anyone else, these guys have the best work ethic in the rap game right now. Mike is at home in the trap, he’s not just serving the fiends he’ll drink some Mad Dog with them.

And then Lil E comes barging in – don’t act like Lil E isn’t spitting he actually low-key may have the best verse and bring the most energy out of all of them on this one. “Nigga play with me? He might as well buy a coffin. Shot a nigga’s house up everybody in the house crawling.”

Would love to get more songs with all 3 of them on it or even a whole project, but I’m being greedy since ‘City on My Back’ just came out. Even the rest of the guys in Rio’s crew that don’t rap look intense.

P.S. – Is that the American Gothic painting on Rio’s hat??

Lil Uzi Vert – Baby Pluto 

BRUH JUST CALL ME BABY PLUTO FROM NOW ON

Something about those opening notes and the ‘Welcome to Eternal Atake’ just gets me hyped up every time

Big Wan – Eggshell 

Another highlight off of Big Wan’s ‘Dogslayers’ tape gets a video, although actually with the whole tape being about 13 minutes I guess the whole tape is really just the highlight. Glad to see/hear Big Wan is free.

Crimedawgbylaw summed this one up nicely better than I ever could and hits the nail right on the head  – ”

Every once in a while, I don’t realize how much I love a song until the music video drops and that was the case with this cut from Wan’s recent Dogslayers mixtape. Melo and RichieWitDaHitz’ sprawling piano on the intro perfectly matches the floating drone shots over Milwaukee and the image of Wan standing on a balcony with his arms spread out like the wings of an airplane. The city is Wan’s, despite recent legal trouble – as shown at the start of the video, Wan was one of 17 arrested in a drug trafficking investigation that recovered 900 grams of heroin, over 150 grams of a mixture containing fentanyl, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, 20 kilograms of marijuana, nearly $300,000 in U.S. currency, and 53 firearms. For the time being, however, Wan is back on the streets and poised to become Milwaukee’s hottest young rapper.”

Preddy Boy P ft. CML, Philthy Rich – U Playin 

CML is the go-to feature now for pimp rap. Nice one by Preddy Boy P fresh off a spot on last year’s top songs list with ‘Stay Dangerous‘ now with another banger featuring Lav and Philthy Rich. CML’s verse is on point as always, this is textbook CML right here.

One thing is clear, CML, Preddy Boy and the rest of the gang do not tolerate renegades.

“I’m the only nigga living on my block. I came a long way from hustling on that block.”

Rio da Yung OG – Groovy

Rio may be one of the hardest rappers out but don’t for a second think that he’s not groovy.

Every once in a while, I worry and think to myself wow rap has been around so long that I wonder if eventually rappers are going to run out of new things to say that actually rhyme, but then you have a creative maestro like Rio come up with something like this rhyme scheme here and you realize that he’ll never run out –

“Pop a perc drink a deuce of red that’s a perfect high/now I’m finna smoke half an ounce of turtle pie/auntie hide this brick for me, pull up your gurdle high/the green got a shell on my back I’m ninja turtle high”

Let’s hope Rio really makes good on his claim here that he might ‘drop 100 tapes this year I’m Gucci.’ I’ve been saying for a while now that Rio is the new Gucci in his prime.