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Top Songs June 2019

07 Sunday Jul 2019

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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.”

Top 10 Songs November 2018

08 Saturday Dec 2018

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Diplomats – Dipset Forever

Dip Gods are back. Just in time for Thanksgiving Dipset laced us with this reunion album. This was easily my favorite song off of it. Such a triumphant, prime-era Dipset, all-conquering Heatmakers beat. Apparently it samples a Queen song but I have no idea I just know it’s making me feel invincible right now. I love the over the top ‘Grrrrrrrr’ ad lib at 0:34 after Jim Jones says he was ‘purging for a check’ almost sounding like a rabid grizzly. Jones actually probably had the best verse out of anyone on this and has quietly had a really strong 2018. While Juelz rapping that he ‘gets loose like a tooth’ seems uninspired and isn’t the prime Juelz we all remember, it’s still good to hear from him and he makes up for it with just the sheer self-belief and intensity as he raps ‘From the stoop to the coupe, money stacked from the floor to the roof’ or ‘Cam saw a star and showed the world my light… I put in work they can’t take my stripes’. The song ends on the strangely sad note of Juelz musing that ‘I guess forever means forever til forever’s gone’ until, of course, Dame Dash breaks in with a typically firey Dame Dash half-time speech and starts yelling about that Dipset will live forever. A grandiose effort from the Dips and I would expect nothing less at this point. I wish I got to go to the album release party where, from what I can gather, it looks like everyone went around Harlem in an open-top bus, listened to the album on headphones with some sort of blue LED’s, smoked vape pens and ate chop cheeses.

Poppa da Don x Abillyon – Smoked 

1a and 1b this month were Dipset and this one. Staying on this unexpected NYC Crip wave/Poppa da Don wave with Poppa and Abillyon’s ‘Smoked’. Like one of those cartoon angels on your shoulder or a Loc’d out Sunday school teacher, Abillyon implores you to ‘do the right thing or you’ll get smoked’ in that heavenly voice of his. Abillyon is quite the hook-smith and this could be one of the best of the year. I also love the gleeful ‘I’m on the other side with the Locs!,’ willfully declaring themselves as the ‘other side’ or the opps and celebrating it. Abillyon is a name some may recognize from the height of the GS9 era; from looking at his Soundcloud and quickly browsing other streaming sites, it doesn’t look like he has released a ton of music since then but he seems to be making a resurgence now. Poppa is in the middle of a strong run as well between this, ‘Crip Shit‘ and his mixtape ‘Fucc Wit Da Cuz Vol. 2‘.

Dave East – No Pork 

East has me lacing up my Timbs and throwing on a big Marmot jacket with this first one. The smooth ‘No Pork’ might be the magnum opus of East’s career thus far. It’s a ‘classic’ sounding NYC rap song done right without sounding dusty or too formulaic. This is that classic wintertime music, and the type of track that you want to play while you’re hunkering down at the crib or out on a rare nice sunny day in the winter. East goes into full-on nostalgia/story-telling mode as he takes us on a trip down memory lane through the ups and downs of his life growing up in Harlem.

“I told Shooter (see below) we gon get rich no matter what, they was happy when we was down now when we see them they made as fuck. We don’t got to live in the projects no more, I dropped out, but it’s funny I’m hitting college on tour. I need ’em fresh, cop em again if I copped em before. Charlotte Hornets top and bottom, colored aqua velour. Ahki used to let me in after the locks on the door. I ain’t speeding, I ain’t smoking, what the fuck you stopping me for? I hid my first .38 behind the socks in my drawer, my mama asked me why you got a gun, you not going to war? If I go get a cigarette there might be opps at the store.”

Envy Caine – Intro

Your host got caught lacking in his car trapped in the big east coast snow storm this month for over 12 hours on the same mile of highway but fuck it it takes more than a few snowflakes to kill the old Pink C. Not only am I alive and well but as you can see I’ve been on a NYC kick lately catching up on some of these young bols. Even though I’m hella late on this one from Brooklyn’s Envy Caine but I’ve been blasting it non-stop. This is the intro to his ‘2 Many Situations’ mixtape from the spring.

“Damn, My whole city AGAINST me, but fuck it cause I got all these killers with me”

I love the raw aggression/malice and the me against the world ethos that Envy delivers that bar with. Almost reminding me a bit of AR-Ab.

This song goes so hard/aggressive it’s the new song I play when I want to get angrier in a situation, like in traffic or in a long line at a store, although that’s actually probably a counterproductive strategy on my part.

I also love the delivery of “Opp niggas throwing salt, tryna bad mouth” line. Salt kills snails but not Top Opposition.

Poppa da Don, Dave East, Tulito, Trap God Mula – Crip Shit 

It’s turning into winter fast out here, and you know what that means, it’s that time of year to hunker down, lace up the Timbs, throw on a big Marmot jacket and see what’s going on in the big apple. These NYC Crips have really been coming out with some heat lately. Here, we get two of the best linking up and Brooklyn and Harlem joining forces with Poppa da Don and Dave East, along with Tulito and Trap God Mula/Sha Mula who may have the best verse of all on this one.

I love the pure energy and fervor Mula brings here as he says ‘Sha Mula I’m the Trap God, probably made $100 thou in my backyard,” pounding his fist as he raps it. “Blue flag 100 Locs I’m moving wocky nigga, 2-seater, I8 they couldn’t stop me nigga!” I’m hyped off of the defiance he’s spitting with.

East makes a typically solid contribution here as well, and also just released arguably the best song of his career, in my opinion, with ‘No Pork .’ Poppa da Don put out a total banger ‘Smoked‘ with Abillyon over the summer which I think is going to start blowing up even more because Meek Mill was talking about it recently.

My only very minor gripe with this one is that I wish they grabbed my man Top Dolla and got him on this one this would have been perfect for him!

Peezy – Pressure 

Peezy is so consistent, coming out with one if not more song every month that usually cracks and sometimes tops this list. We really need to take a minute to step back and appreciate the run that this guy is on, he’s forced his way into the argument for top rapper of 2018 in my opinion. You’ve got to love the triumphant ‘Got shot a couple times they was hoping I died, popped up buying Rollies out the store with my guys’ especially since everyone really was briefly worried he died last winter.

Blueface – Respect My Crypn 

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first when I first heard about him but hadn’t listened to him yet, but Blueface is starting to grow on me. The ‘mop the floor and hide the wet sign just to catch him slippin’ line’ is genius; I can’t believe no one came up with that before. And to his credit apparently he really does ‘pull up and bounce out with a briefcase when it’s time to handle business,’ according to recent news reports.

I love his tone on the ‘I’m an alpha male, ain’t no bitch in me. Grown ass man, feed my family” line, like he’s incredulous that someone is even questioning if that’s the case. The ‘Give a fuck if he like it, he gon respect this Crippin’ hook is also strangely infectious. Blueface is almost sounding like a less artsy/creative but more Crip west Coast Young Thug. And while he can be a bit over the top, he actually has the charisma and personality to pull it off.

Juice WRLD – All Girls are the Same/Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams/Juice WRLD x Future – Fine China/Juice WRLD – Used To etc. 

At the risk of getting cyber-bullied by music critics with far better taste than me, I’ll admit that I went back and listened to a ton of Juice WRLD this month. Yeah, it’s some guy whining about girls but some of these songs are actually really dope. Some of these beats are absolute fire as well. I’m cheating here and putting all the Juice WRLD songs as one song. I’m going to ask my mom to drive me back to Hot Topic now. GO AHEAD AND CYBER BULLY ME, DO YOUR WORST!

Kiing Shooter ft. Dave East – 30 Percent 

A third Dave East appearance here for this month’s top 10; 30 Percent is the first track from his aggressively-named protege Kiing Shooter’s mixtape ‘Fucc the Doubters’.  The interplay here as East and Shooter trade bars back and forth like a Styles and Jada is great. Whereas ‘No Pork’ is the type of song you could kick back and relax at home listening to, ’30 Percent’ is more of an aggressive one you’d blast when you’re in the mood to get rowdy. Shooter has a dope and pretty unique-sounding deep/’blunt’ voice and raps over the top ignorant lines like “I’m creeping through the back window hoping they don’t keep alarms, .40 on me just in case the dog or the grandma home.”

Kodak Black – Take One

So dark and foreboding from Kodak.

Metro Boomin’ x 21 Savage – Don’t Come out the House

This became more of a meme than a song at this point but I had to include it even though we’re at over 10 songs now. This was a risky gamble by 21 Savage that paid off – if done wrong, his whole whisper thing could have backfired and sounded way too intimate and sensual (Pause!) but somehow he pulls it off and makes it sound menacing. I feel like 21 Savage has went on a certain trajectory, when he was first making a name for himself he was releasing a lot of interesting stuff, then he sort of reached peak Savage and got oversaturated as he got super popular, and now that we’ve sort of crossed past that bridge he’s releasing some nice verse here and there again.

Top 10 Songs October 2017

28 Saturday Oct 2017

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PC Tweezie – Really

Tweezie brings back that throwing ‘bos in the club type music and takes the crown for top song of October with ‘Really’…

“PC Tweezie opens strong and makes his presence felt right away, pummeling the opening verse, “I was really in the trenches with them wolves, I really tote a .30 hit the gas if I get pulled. I’ll really beat your ass run up on you like a bull, I’m really getting fat them hos say I’m getting full.” I love everything about this verse –  The hit the gas if I get pulled line just sounds badass AF, while in the days of rappers talking about their nose rings and desinger messenger bags it just feels refreshing to hear PC Tweezie rap about doling out a good old-fashioned beating and literally taking food off of other inmate’s plates. Lastly, I definitely respect that his hos are admiring his weight gain, because usually when I put on some extra pounds I end up just getting fat-shamed into jogging so he definitely has some serious clout.

In possibly my favorite rhyme of ‘extension’ and ‘extension’ ever, Tweezie deftly deploys it in two different usages and some pretty evocative imagery that shows he’s absolutely not fucking around: “I really keep a 40 glock that came with the extensions, I’m quick to bat a bitch and drag a ho by the extensions.” (Made even better by the ‘I’m silly’ ad lib right after).”

A big added bonus here is the headlines on the newspaper graphics in the video i.e. “Tensions Rise in Local Prison” with the byline “PC’s First Day in Lockup Didn’t Go So Well for the Other Inmates”

Ball Greezy ft. Mike Smiff, Kase 1, Major Nine – I Deserve it All 

Some more Florida smoothness from Ball Greezy and co., via Rapmusichysteria , the undisputed expert on Ball Greezy and Florida slaps in general.

From Rap Music Hysteria…

“Like Kodak Black, who combines new-gen meme literacy with older rap styles, Ballgreezy stands between movements but remains outside them, continuing in a post-jook mode while softening its Dionysian edges with grown-man world-weariness. At times he resembles one of the mournful songmen of today; this might be the case, and yet Greezy was crooning before Wayne and Kanye broke down the R&B doors and liberated moping for the kids of today.”

Ball Greezy kills it with a heavy but resilient verse, half rapping, half singing…

“Niggas wonder why Greezy don’t smile… I’ve been through the ups and downs, the back and forths the round and rounds. A real food stamp baby, born and raised in Little Haiti, I can’t lie the streets ain’t been the same lately. Niggas don’t keep it G no more, see they don’t make ’em like me no more. Red and blue lights behind me, where the heat gon go? Surrender or shoot it out? I heard they don’t care about you and I. I’m tired of even living like this. How the hell do you raise kids like this.

“They told me that I would never ever be shit, now my watch and my chain make them seasick”

Que ft. Sada Baby – 90s Baby

From my previous post…

“For whatever reason, I have to admit I’ve been sleeping on Que and have never really gotten into him/checked out much of his stuff. I guess I had heard OG Bobby Johnson back in the day and wasn’t super into it/didn’t see what all the hype was about and then kind of forgot about him. But let me be the first to say, I’ll be DAMNED if his Class Clown EP isn’t a great project with some nice slaps on it. Paramount amongst these was ’90s Baby’ which I’ve been playing over and over again all month. “I’m a ’90s baby, I keep a little .380, it’s hard to tell it’s on me, that boy thought I was naked,’ Que warns potential foes who may be debating whether or not to run up on him.  Even when he’s by himself he’s never lonely because he has his little .380 with him. Delving deeper I’m not sure what being born in the 90s has to do with keeping a hidden .380 but either way I love this song. ‘He got beside himself, and got to talking reckless, he must not got the memo that me and my niggas PETTY!’ Que continues. As one of the pettiest people you’ll ever meet, I can definitely get behind this type of message.

‘He said he don’t fuck with me, well nigga vice versa… said when he see me… said he was gon do what, to who my nigga? How? You just a class clown.” I like the idea of just telling people that don’t like you ‘vice versa’ and I love how ultimately dismissive it is, ‘To who my nigga how? You just a class clown.”

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Top 10 Songs August 2017

22 Tuesday Aug 2017

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August was probably the best month of new music in a long time for your humble host, with new projects out by everyone from Kodak Black to Peewee Longway to Berner, and probably two of my favorite songs of the year so far, ‘4 Minutes All Me’ by OMB Shawniebo and Berner’s new joint ‘Knuckles’ with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane. Perhaps most importantly of all we got news of what I expect to be the holy grail in a long list of Berner collaboration albums, his project with Young Dolph, which should be out at the end of this month. Here are the top 10 songs for an unexpectedly great month.

OMB Shawniebo – 4 Minutes All Me

OMB Shawniebo comes out with an early contender for song of the year on here. See previous post on 4 Minutes All Me here. You can never go wrong with this type of combination of wolf masks, baby blue Gap sweatshirts, luscious beats, and 4 minutes of just obliterating one of the tastiest beats in recent memory.

Berner ft. Young Dolph, Gucci Mane – Knuckles

Ever the savvy businessman, Berner teased the release of Tracking Numbers with Young Dolph by serving up Knuckles, also featuring Gucci Mane, as a tasty appetizer for it. In almost any other month, when I didn’t first hear ‘4 Minutes All Me’, the unexpected duo of Bern and Dolph would have taken home the crown for top song of August. As In any case, I have a feeling that this will clock in in my top handful of songs for the year and I’m looking forward to Tracking Numbers at the end of the month. As I said at the time… 

“According to Dirty Glove Bastard, the upcoming project with Young Dolph, entitled ‘Tracking Numbers,’ will have features from Gucci Mane, Peewee Longway, OJ Da Juiceman, Juicy J, Philthy Rich, and more. I can’t wait to hear the one with Project Pat. I loved DGB’s tepid/noncommital reaction to news of the Berner/Dolph project – “Berner & Young Dolph were probably the last 2 people you’d expect to collab for an entire project, but here we are.” You’ve got to love the ‘But here we are’ as the way to end your thoughts on something that you’re just not sure what to make of. Also, are the ‘Tracking Numbers’ referred to in the title referring to shipments from the Cookies clothing line that this hard-working fashion entrepeneur is senidng out to his customers, or to ‘cookies’ of a more illicit nature? Only time will tell when the album comes out.

I was excited enough just to see an unexpected collaboration between these 3, but the beat is absolutely delicious and takes this song to a whole different level. I’m curious who made it and what the sample is from. It has me feeling like I’m at a roller rink in the 70s with Berner, Dolph and the crew just casually skating around, smoking some cookie, chatting up the roller girls.

I loved Big Bern’s opening salvo “No handouts, I got here with nothing. The bezel and band on my wrist keep busting. I got birds from the Asians, guns from the Russians, VVVS’s on my chain keep dancing all custom” BUT the part of his verse that put it over the top for me and really spoke to me, as a big introvert, was Berner’s bold declaration “Fuck the club, dog. I’d rather stay in. I’ve got stacks to count, plus this batch just came in.” We definitely need more of that attitude in the rap world I’m all for it. I mean I don’t have many stacks to count when I stay in it’s more likely that I’m just eating takeout and watching Shark Week or Drugs Inc. but I’m feeling what he’s saying.”

Ryan Hemsworth ft. Yakki, E-40 – Hunnid

Definitely one of the happiest and sunniest songs of the year so far, this unlikely group of tres amigos certainly bring the fire on Hunnid. This is another song that in some months could have plausibly took the honor of song of the month if it wasn’t such a stacked lineup already.

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Young Scooter ft. Future – Can’t Play Around

11 Friday Aug 2017

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Young Scooter goes hard AF on the Future-assisted ‘Can’t Play Around’ off his new album ‘Jugg King’. The piano-laced beat is so harsh and foreboding, I feel like I’m ready to scale the castle walls and go to battle with this Black Migo Gang/Freebandz horde. This is one of the best songs I’ve heard out of ATL’s legion of trap rappers in a while and it feels great to blast it out of the car.

Future sounds great on the chorus; “I stay working through a hard rain and thunderstorm, I’m gonna stack this paper up again like I’ve never done. I’ve got these rose gold jewels I feel better now, I put the city on my back and I can’t let ’em down.” There’s just an unmistakable heaviness to this track, with the way Future extols hustling whether it rains or shines, and how Future and Scooter both reflect on losing everything and getting it back.

I love Young Scooter’s first line, “They like Scooter where you been, bitch I’m in Saint Laurent. My nigga VL keep that stick like he play lacrosse.”

This is more my fault than any reflection on Scooter himself but I guess I had overlooked him a bit, with so many rappers coming out of Atlanta during that sort of first ‘post-Gucci Mane’ era/wave and sort of all being part of that same scene and aesthetic. I had always more thought of him as Gucci’s old cellmate/a guy being featured on songs with Gucci, Future, Chief Keef, etc. but he certainly seems to be rounding into form as his own artist and making his own name for himself; Jugg King was a really strong project top to bottom so I’m interested in checking out some of his previous output now.  Also even with all of the work we’ve gotten from Future this year, by year end I think that Can’t Play Around is going to be amongst his top few tracks of 2017.

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Top 10 Songs April 2017

26 Wednesday Apr 2017

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Future – Buy Love 

I found this song via redlitedj.com, a great blog, and had never heard it before, and it ended up becoming arguably my top song of the month. As far as I know it’s a Future ‘loose end’ from January that was probably overshadowed by the two full-length projects that he released in February and the ubiquitous success of Mask Off, but it may actually be my overall favorite song by him to date. The song improbably samples K-Ci and Jo Jo’s ‘All My Life’ and kind of reminds me of a lullaby. As an added bonus I love the nostalgic vibes of the VHS-esque video for the song.

Drake – Passionfruit

Those who know me are probably surprised by this selection as my friends know me as a bit of a Drake ‘hater’ sometimes but I have to admit I did enjoy the ‘More Life’ album, specifically ‘Passionfruit’ and ‘Glow’, and I have to be objective and give credit where credit is due. The light, lilting tropical beat for Passionfruit is so relaxing that at the very beginning of April,  I had listened to it a bunch of times in a row, and almost felt irritated and unrelaxed when it wasn’t on for about a day or so, almost like withdrawal from some sort of depressant drug. For some reason I can picture this song being in the background of one of the Yoshi type video games playing as the Yoshis dance around and enjoy their island paradise. One of the writers for Pitchfork called this version of Drake ‘Margaritaville Drake’ and it really is the perfect description.

Polo Hayes – Gucci Shoes

With over 51k plays on Soundcloud after being out for just 2 months, ‘Gucci Shoes’ by Polo Hayes is blowing up on Long Island and beyond right now and I’m predicting this regional hit could make waves nationally soon because its’ just that good and that unique. Polo is one of the most dynamic and creative artists to come out of Long Island and is garnering considerable buzz right now. He’s affiliated with the same YGRF group as Z$tat$ who I featured the other day. I’m planning on doing a full post about this song tomorrow. Polo comes out guns blazing with these two ridiculous lines in the first verse…

“They don’t want me in the Benzes, with Versace lenses…none of my niggas got pensions, I ain’t never learn my lesson, my AK need extensions, bullets the same size as wrenches”.

“They don’t want me in that ‘Rari, sh*ttin on em never sorry, I know people want to harm me, but they don’t want it with the army.”

He has a lot of other really good songs check out his Soundcloud here

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Kodak Black – Painting Pictures (Album Review)

06 Thursday Apr 2017

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Kodak Black – Painting Pictures

Given that the only narrative arc with as much scope to it as Kodak’s elevation of his status into both a local folk hero and a veritable cult hero a la a Gucci Mane or Boosie to his rapidly growing legion of fans is the constant specter of legal troubles that has haunted his young career so far, its fitting that rather than with lyrics or a catchy chorus, his debut album Painting Pictures begins with just a stark, minimalist medley of clips from the news of newscasters reading off headlines mentioning his indictments, house arrests, parole violations, no contest pleas, etc. “You know I’m a hot boy, but I never lose my cool, the streets on fire, that’s why I’m riding with a tool,” he raps over the understated, twinkling production from Ben Billions after this on the excellent, minimalist album intro “Day for Day”, who produced many songs on this album. He reminisces on lost friends, both to death and incarceration, like his childhood friend Cool, who he has already done a separate song about (Free Cool). You get a sense of the heaviness he has already felt on his shoulders at a young age from these losses as well as from the pressure on him that he feels (whether internal, external, or both) to succeed for those around him, “I ain’t tryna see the pen I’m tryna make it shake, neighborhood hero I’m the one who gon save the day, chosen one; my folks depend on me to make a way, I do it for my niggas locked up doing day for day.”

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Top 10 Songs March 2017

23 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Monthly Top 10

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Here are my top 10 tracks for March, click the link below the first couple of them to read/listen to the full top 10, and enjoy

Valee – Shell 

Starting off this month is a song I played about 500 times by a newer (at least to me) artist from Chicago, Valee. Clocking in at barely over a minute and a half, I love the simplicity and minimalism used here. I have to give credit to one of my favorite blogs, somanyshrimp.com  as I first heard this on Episode 5 of their great new podcast that they put up every couple of Sundays now. The plot of the story can be condensed into Valee describing a trip to a Shell gas station. As someone who spends a lot of time on the road I can certainly appreciate the appeal of taking a break walking into a Shell or Exxon to grab a cool beverage, although admittedly mine aren’t usually as syruppy as Valee’s.  My favorite part is the description of the Margielas as ‘bumpy Margielles, feel like braille’ something about this description of them makes them sound so luxurious. Also of note in the video is the nice old school Chevy that Valee is taking out for a ride from a very anonymous looking storage unit.

Ripp Flamez – Church in the Projects

I found out about this song on one of my favorite sites, and one I feel like I’ve been checking for as long as I can remember, Dirty Glove . This whole mixtape, Project Melodies, by Ripp Flamez is incredible and very different than anything else out right now, and definitely deserves more views/listens than it already has. I don’t know a lot about the artist Ripp Flamez but he is from Ohio and has a really unique voice/delivery it’s almost more singing than rapping. I could have went with a number of songs from this mixtape for my March Top 10, including standouts like ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Blurry’ but I decided to go with the project’s finale, ‘Church in the Projects’ because overall it was the best track to me and was haunting and alluring all at once. You’ll have to listen to it for yourself but there’s just something resilient that stops you in your tracks about the opening/chorus as he sings ‘I keep my hand on the Bible/they won’t understand I’m a man from the projects/I won’t stand through the nonsense/I’m just a man from a land full of violence.”

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