16 New Rap and R&B Songs Out This Week
The big news in hip hop this week is that not only is Conway the Machine’s great new album From King to a GOD out, but that he also announced his Shady Records debut, God Don’t Make Mistakes. You can read my review of FKTG in Notable Releases. We also got a slew of singles this week, including from Spillage Village, M.I.A., Aesop Rock, Action Bronson, Tha God Fahim/Your Old Droog/Mach-Hommy, Homeboy Sandman/Quelle Chris, YBN Nahmir/Yo Gotti, Ludacris/Chance the Rapper, T.I./Young Thug, Usher, Stefflon Don, Mr. Eazi/Major Lazer/Nicki Minaj, Davido, and more. Scroll down for those and other rap and R&B songs released this week…
SPILLAGE VILLAGE – “BAPTIZE”
Atlanta hip hop supergroup Spillage Village’s “End of Daze” is one of the year’s best songs (and videos) so far, so it’s very exciting news that they’ve now finally announced a new album, Spilligion, due in just two weeks (September 25 via Dreamville/Interscope). It includes “End of Daze,” as well as the just-released “Baptize,” another great, powerful song with an equally great video. The group features J.I.D, EarthGang, 6lack, Mereba, Jurdan Bryant, Hollywood JB and Benji, though this song was just by J.I.D. and EarthGang.
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M.I.A. – “CTRL”
M.I.A. has shared this new song and said, “CTRL! A SONG FOR 2020… This is not a song from M.I.A’s upcoming highly anticipated IIIIIIth LP. It was made for the HERE + NOW, TODAY.” It sounds like classic M.I.A. and it’s predictably great. Listen at OHMNI.com.
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AESOP ROCK – “THE GATES”
Aesop Rock has announced his first new album in four and a half years, Spirit World Field Guide, and you can read more about the 21-song LP and lead single “The Gates” here.
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ACTION BRONSON – “GOLDEN EYE”
Action Bronson has announced a new album, Only For Dolphins, due 9/25 via Loma Vista (his first for the label), and you can read more about the reggae-tinged lead single “Golden Eye” here.
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THA GOD FAHIM – “THA POVERTY BROTHERS” (ft. YOUR OLD DROOG & MACH-HOMMY)
Tha God Fahim is back with a new self-produced song featuring frequent collaborators Your Old Droog and Mach-Hommy, and it’s a predictably killer dose of gritty, psychedelic rap.
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HOMEBOY SANDMAN – “TRAUMA” (PROD. QUELLE CHRIS)
Homeboy Sandman has announced a new album, Don’t Feed The Monster, entirely produced by Quelle Chris, due October 16 via Mello Music Group. They make a great team, as heard on the hypnotic lead single/opening track “Trauma.”
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YBN NAHMIR – “POP LIKE THIS” (ft. YO GOTTI)
Alabama rapper YBN Nahmir continues to rise, and as long he keeps dropping undeniable songs like this, his rise won’t be stopping anytime soon.
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LUDACRIS & CHANCE THE RAPPER – “FOUND YOU”
Early 2000s hitmaker Ludacris and 2010s melodic rap giant Chance the Rapper put their heads together for this multi-generational funk-rap slow jam.
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T.I. & YOUNG THUG – “RING”
Fellow ATliens and longtime collaborators T.I. and Young Thug team up once again for a dose of airy Atlanta trap.
https://youtu.be/ROjyWIQgiHk
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USHER – “BAD HABITS”
Usher has a new album (and a 2021 Vegas residency) on the way, and it’ll include this new song, which finds him in modern, atmospheric R&B mode.
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STEFFLON DON – “MOVE”
“‘Move’ is inspired by the old me, the Steff that the world was first introduced to,” UK rapper Stefflon Don says of her new single. “I felt like it was needed to come back with something hype, feisty and rooted.” We’d say she delivered.
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ELZHI – “LIGHT ONE WRITE ONE”
Former Slum Village member Elzhi has shared the second single off his upcoming album Seven Times Down Eight Times Up, and it’s another crisp, soulful track that puts a fresh spin on Elzhi’s classic sound.
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MR. EAZI & MAJOR LAZER – “OH MY GAWD” (ft. NICKI MINAJ & K4MO)
Nigerian Afrobeats wiz Mr. Eazi, dancefloor movers Major Lazer, rap giant Nicki Minaj, and Eazi’s Nigerian neighbor K4MO all teamed up for this song, and it’s one of those all-star collabs that really is just as exciting to listen to as it looks on paper.
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DAVIDO – “FEM”
Speaking of Nigerian crossover stars who collaborate with Nicki Minaj, Davido has announced that his third album, A Better Time, is due in October, and Nicki is expected to appear on it. Along with the announcement comes this warm, breezy new single.
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PIERRE KWENDERS & CLEMENT BAZIN – “SENTIMENT”
Pierre Kwenders and Clément Bazin are releasing the collaborative EP Classe Tendresse on October 23 via Bonsound, and here’s the lead single which Pierre calls “my love anthem with a prompt to “coupé décalé” carried by a simple message: One Love, Moko feeling!”
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NASTY C – “BOOKOO BUCKS” (ft. LIL GOTIT & LIL KEED)
Rising South African rapper Nasty C taps Atlanta trappers Lil Gotit and Lil Keed for this very ATL-sounding song.
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For even more new songs, browse our daily ‘New Songs’ lists. For more hip hop news, browse our ‘Hip Hop News’ category.
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25 Early 2000s Rap Albums That Hold Up Today
Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele (2000)
Deltron 3030 – Deltron 3030 (2000)
Lil’ Kim – The Notorious K.I.M. (2000)
OutKast – Stankonia (2000)
Ludacris – Back for the First Time (2000)
Eve – Scorpion (2001)
Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein (2001)
Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)
Jay-Z made a name for himself rapping alongside Jaz-O and then Big Daddy Kane in the late '80s and early '90s, but took his time when it came to making his own album. And while he was watching and waiting, the young Queensbridge rapper Nas released his 1994 debut album Illmatic, an instant-classic that received a now-legendary score of five mics from The Source and changed rap forever. Jay took obvious notes from Illmatic (and sampled a line from it) when he finally released his own debut album, 1996's Reasonable Doubt. Gone was the fast-rapping Jay-Z of the Jaz-O days and in his place was an artist with a smoother, grittier style who told real-life stories of life on the streets in Brooklyn over some of the finest production of the era (courtesy of Ski, Clark Kent, Illmatic contributor DJ Premier, and others). Jay-Z intended for Reasonable Doubt to be a classic, and it was, but it wasn't the instantly-game-changing album that Illmatic was and it couldn't compete with the flashy, pop-crossover "Jiggy Era" that Puff Daddy started to lead after Biggie's tragic death. So Jay-Z went in an increasingly pop direction, and by the time of his 1998 single "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)," he wasn't just competing with the "Jiggy Era," he was starting to take over.
Going pop in the late '90s and early 2000s also meant getting dissed by other rappers, among them Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Nas, whose feud with Jay-Z was about to boil over as Jay-Z geared up for his best album since Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint. Months before its release, Jay made Hot 97 Summer Jam history by debuting "Takeover," a diss track aimed at Prodigy and Nas, during his set, alongside a childhood photo of Prodigy in dance clothes on the big screen. The finished version of "Takeover" ended up on The Blueprint, and the studio version proved it to be not just a brutal diss track but also a genuinely great song, and one of many on The Blueprint. Jay-Z didn't stop being "pop" on The Blueprint -- it still had the radio-friendly "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," the sentimental balladry of "Song Cry," and other "pop" moments -- but he figured out how to put the accessibility of the "Jiggy Era," the grit of the streets, and the album-oriented structure of Reasonable Doubt into one whole masterpiece of an album. Production came largely from Just Blaze and Kanye West (plus Bink, Timbaland, Eminem, and others), and together they established a rich, soulful production style that would dominate rap for years. There's perhaps never been a better example of the classic Kanye sound than "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)." Jay's ear for beats on The Blueprint was matched by his most consistently great rapping since Reasonable Doubt, and still some of the very best rapping of his career. Unlike his previous guest-filled albums, Jay carried the album almost entirely by himself, and he never lost steam. The only guest appearance came from Eminem on "Renegade," and look, Nas is right, Em out-rapped Jay on the track, but Jay still packed some of his finest rhyme schemes into that song.
Aesop Rock – Labor Days (2001)
Nas – Stillmatic (2001)
El-P – Fantastic Damage (2002)
Eminem – The Eminem Show (2002)
If we're picking one album per artist, a lot of people would go with 2000's near-perfect The Marshall Mathers LP for Eminem, but if pressed, I always go with The Eminem Show because it feels like the grand finale to the classic Eminem era. The Marshall Mathers LP is just as essential, but Eminem as we came to know him doesn't exist without The Eminem Show.
An artist who almost always knew how to title an album, Marshall Mathers introduced the world to his massively offensive alter-ego Slim Shady on 1999's The Slim Shady LP, he introduced us to the man behind the madness on The Marshall Mathers LP, and he took a look at the impact Eminem the artist had on the world with The Eminem Show. (He also admitted the show was over with 2004's Encore, and then made a series of failed comeback attempts with Relapse, Recovery, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, and Revival, before finally abandoning this trend on the still-just-okay-sounding Kamikaze and Music to Be Murdered By.) Eminem catapulted to the forefront of rap because of white privilege but also became a scapegoat for everything white suburban conservatives hated about rap, and there's perhaps no better response to all of it than "White America," the first proper song on The Eminem Show. And then there's "Sing for the Moment." The Marshall Mathers LP gave us "Stan," a Dido-sampling ballad about the real-life dangers of toxic fandom and the importance of mental health, and The Eminem Show gave us "Sing for the Moment," an Aerosmith-sampling ballad about the importance of rap music to young kids amidst backlash from the media, the government, and scared parents. You might argue that song ruined white rap forever (and also unfortunately convinced Eminem he needed more and more ballads on later albums), but it also spoke directly to and validated the feelings of a lot of kids who needed to hear it. The Eminem Show also attacked George W. Bush ("Square Dance"), took on personal issues like the toll fame takes on a person ("Say Goodbye Hollywood") and fatherhood ("Hailie's Song"), and also reminded the world Eminem was still better than most people at making straight-up rap songs ("Business"). One of three songs on The Eminem Show produced by the man who made Eminem a star, Dr. Dre, "Business" found Eminem packing so many career-best punchlines over a top-tier Dre beat, reminding us that -- when you put all the baggage associated with Eminem aside -- he was truly one of the greats at the pure art of rapping.