Valee

19 New Rap Songs Out This Week

In addition to the very good new Pivot Gang album out today (which I wrote about in Notable Releases), this week saw the release of Beyonce’s new live album (including a new Frankie Beverly & Maze cover as a bonus track), three more Kevin Abstract songs, CupcakKe’s “Old Town Road” remix (titled “Old Town Hoe”), a surprise SOB x RBE album, a surprise Your Old Droog album, and new singles from Kota The Friend, Valee, Injury Reserve, Octavian/A$AP Ferg, Tee Grizzley, and more. Read on for all the hip hop we posted on BV this week…

BEYONCE – “BEFORE I LET GO” (FRANKIE BEVERLY & MAZE COVER)

Beyonce’s new 2018 Coachella live album is out now, and it comes with this bonus track, a cover of Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go.” Bey makes it her own, complete with the kind of triumphant horns her music has had since Lemonade and all the powerhouse pipes you’d expect from the Queen.

KEVIN ABSTRACT – GHETTOBABY (EP STREAM)

Kevin Abstract is in the midst of releasing three EPs that will come together to create his next solo album, ARIZONA baby. The second EP, Ghettobaby, is out now, featuring the recently released “Baby Boy” along with the new “Corpus Christi” and “Mississippi.” “Corpus Christi” sees Kevin rapping in the personal, introspective mode that his best songs are often in, and “Mississippi” is more on the R&B side like “Baby Boy” is.

YOUR OLD DROOG – IT WASN’T EVEN CLOSE (ALBUM STREAM)

Your Old Droog’s Packs was one of our favorite albums of 2017, so it’s exciting that he just surprise-released its followup, It Wasn’t Even Close. The album was executive produced by Mach-Hommy (who also appears on two songs), and other guests include DOOM, Wiki, Lil Ugly Mane, and Roc Marciano.

CUPCAKKE – “OLD TOWN HOE” (OLD TOWN ROAD REMIX)

Raunchy rapper CupcakKe put her spin on Lil Nas X‘s viral hit (which tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the second week in a row), and the results are incredible (and NSFW).

SOB x RBE – FAMILY NOT A GROUP (ALBUM STREAM)

West Coast hip hop group SOB x RBE are as unstoppable and prolific as ever. Last week, they dropped a collab EP with Marshmello just a few days before playing Coachella, and now they surprise-released an album produced entirely by Hit-Boy (who you know from Kanye & Jay-Z’s “N****s in Paris,” Kendrick’s “Backseat Freestyle,” Nicki Minaj & Beyonce’s “Feeling Myself,” and more). If you’ve been keeping up with SOB x RBE, it sounds pretty much how you’d expect it to, not that that’s a bad thing.

KOTA THE FRIEND – “BIRDIE”

Brooklyn rapper Kota The Friend is opening the Freddie Gibbs / Wiki cruise in NYC on 4/20, and as new single “Birdie” (and his other songs) prove, he fits that bill perfectly. The new one is head-nodding, laid-back dose of soulful rap, and it sounds smooth af. His new album FOTO drops May 15 via Fitsbys.

VALEE – “YOU & ME BOTH”

Since releasing his great 2018 single “Womp Womp,” we’ve been waiting patiently for a debut album from Valee. No word on that yet, but he just returned with this blunted new single “You & Me Both.”

INJURY RESERVE – “KORUNA & LIME”

Injury Reserve officially announced their debut album and share third single “Koruna & Lime,” which we wrote more about here.

CAM’RON – “CHOPPERS”

Cam’ron is releasing a new project called The Program 2 this year, and it features new single “Choppers” which just got a very ambitious video treatment (it’s an 11-minute short film). The song embraces a handful of modern trap elements, but Killa Cam still sounds booming and hard af in that classic New York rap kind of way.

OCTAVIAN – “LIT” (ft. A$AP FERG)

Octavian continues his prolific, breakthrough year with this new single featuring A$AP Ferg. It sees the UK rapper injecting a little melodic US trap into his sound, and Ferg suits the song well.

MATT MARTIANS – “KNOCK KNOCK”

Matt Martians of The Internet is releasing his new solo album, The Last Party, on April 26 via 3qtr, and it features his Internet bandmates Steve Lacy and Patrick Paige II, as well as Mac DeMarco, and others. The lead single is the soulful, sorta psychedelic “Knock Knock,” which was produced by Omar Apollo and Dreamboy Oscar.

SZA, THE WEEKND & TRAVIS SCOTT – “POWER IS POWER”

On April 26, the Game of Thrones album For the Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) will come out, and there are some pretty cool artists on there including SZA, The Weeknd, and Travis Scott who all team up on this song “Power Is Power.” Both the lyrics and title are (perhaps very surface-level) references to the show, and the song is the kind of moody electronic R&B that’s very much in The Weeknd’s realm.

https://youtu.be/1HIEAkMCYXE

TEE GRIZZLEY – “GOD’S WARRIOR”

Some of Tee Grizzley’s stuff got a little too radio-friendly last year, but new single “God’s Warriors” sees him returning to the hard-hitting bars that won a lot of us over in the first place. More like this, please.

KASH DOLL – “HUSTLA”

Detroit rapper Kash Doll released a six-minute “mini movie,” which includes the new song “Hustla.” “‘Kelly Chronicles’ is a story based on things I’ve seen in the real world strip club life, although thankfully it’s not my own experience. I wanted to show girls that it’s not all glitz and glamour. Sometimes women sacrifice their peace of mind, dignity and most importantly self-worth,” Kash Doll says about the mini movie. “‘Kelly Chronicles’ will be an ongoing story. As a former dancer, I used to be in that world, and I want girls to know it’s not just what you see on social media. There are stories of missing girls with cases still open because of situations like these. With this mini movie series, I’m speaking on situations that come from living that lifestyle. There is a lot of peer pressure and you can easily get led in the wrong direction. I want to give these women a voice, and make sure these stories and cautionary tales are told.”

ERICK SERMON – “MY STYLE” (ft. RAEKWON & NOREAGA)

Veteran New York rappers Erick Sermon (of EPMD), Raekwon, and Noreaga teamed up for this head-nodding throwback “My Style.” Over a soul sample-driven beat by Boogeyman, the three veteran rappers do what they do best and sound great together.

ERICK SERMON – “THAT GIRL” (ft. BIG K.R.I.T. & RICCO BARRINO)

EPMD’s Erick Sermon recently released his single “My Style” (ft. Raekwon & Noreaga), and today that single appeared on his new album Vernia, which — among other things — also includes this soulful, funky song with modern Southern rap great Big K.R.I.T.

HEALTH x GHOSTEMANE – “JUDGEMENT NIGHT”

HEALTH have released another of their collaborative singles, and this one’s with metal-tinged rapper/screamer Ghostemane. All of HEALTH’s collabs have been with artists from different genres of music that work well with HEALTH’s, and this one is no exception. It’s an eerie, abrasive song that could’ve worked well during the ’90s industrial boom and sounds great today too.

For even more new songs, browse our daily ‘New Songs’ lists. For more hip hop news, browse our ‘Hip Hop News’ category.