Duke Deuce

20 New Rap and R&B Songs Out This Week

This week in hip hop we got the new Erick the Architect (of Flatbush Zombies) solo EP (read more about that, and my interview with Erick, here), plus singles from Duke Deuce, Dark Time Sunshine, Madlib, Joey Bada$$, Vast Aire, Ashanti, and more, and new projects from BRS Kash, Anuel AA/Ozuna, J.U.S., and more. Read on for all the rap/R&B/etc we posted this week…

DUKE DEUCE – “SOLDIERS STEPPIN”

Duke Deuce has been on the rise since declaring that crunk ain’t dead, and he keeps the crunk revival going with his new single “Soldiers Steppin,” another insanely fun song (and video) that should make the genre’s ’90s-era founders very proud.

DARK TIME SUNSHINE – “THE RITE KIDS” (ft. R.A.P. FERREIRA & HOMEBOY SANDMAN)

Underground rap duo Dark Time Sunshine have unveiled the second single off their first album in nine years, Lore, and this one finds them teaming with two excellent likeminded guests: Homeboy Sandman and R.A.P. Ferreira (the latter of whom slips a nice OutKast reference into his verse).

MADLIB & FOUR TET – “DIRTKNOCK”

Madlib’s new album Sound Ancestors (“arranged, edited, and manipulated” by Four Tet) arrives next week, and here’s another promising taste of boom bap-infused soul from it.

BRS KASH – KASH ONLY

Atlanta rapper BRS Kash followed up his recent viral single “Throat Baby” with his 12-song debut project Kash Only. It includes a new remix of that song (featuring DaBaby and City Girls), plus appearances by Mulatto and Toosii, and it proves this LVRN signee has more up his sleeve besides that one viral single.

ANUEL AA & OZUNA – LOS DIOSES

Anuel AA and Ozuna are two of the biggest superstars of Latin trap/reggaeton, and they’ve put their heads together for this collaborative album.

R+R=NOW = “HOW MUCH A DOLLAR COST” (KENDRICK LAMAR COVER)

Back in October of 2018, the hip hop-infused jazz supergroup R+R=NOW — aka Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Derrick Hodge, Taylor McFerrin, and Justin Tyson — played four nights at the Blue Note in NYC. At those shows, they did a reworking of Kendrick Lamar’s “How Much A Dollar Cost,” which Terrace Martin had co-written, and now they’ve released a recording of that cover for their upcoming live album. Read more here.

JOEY BADA$$ – “LET IT BREATHE”

Joey Bada$$ celebrated his 26th birthday by releasing a jazzy, Statik Selektah-produced new single, “Let it Breathe.”

J.U.S. – GOD GOKU JAY-Z (ft. DANNY BROWN & MORE)

J.U.S. is part of Danny Brown’s Bruiser Brigade crew and he has just released his new album GOD GOKU JAY-Z on the Bruiser Brigade label. Danny appears on three tracks, and it also features production on multiple songs by Black Noi$e. If you dig Danny’s stuff, you’ll probably like the dark psychedelic rap of this album too.

YOUNG DOLPH – “LARGE AMOUNTS”

Memphis rapper Young Dolph has released a deluxe edition of his great 2020 album Rich Slave, featuring eight new songs.

VAST AIRE & COSMIQ – “GOOD FUEL”

Vast Aire of the great underground NYC duo Cannibal Ox has returned with a new solo single, produced by Cosmiq, who helmed the bulk of Can Ox’s 2015 reunion album Blade of the Ronin. It finds Vast Aire taking some shots at departed president Donald Trump and he hasn’t lost his bite one bit.

MOZZY – “NEVA SAID IT”

Having released two of 2020’s best rap albums, Mozzy is back with another hard-hitting, incisive song.

MARLON CRAFT – “STATE OF THE UNION”

NYC rapper Marlon Craft has shared another song off his upcoming album How We Intended, and this one’s a fiery political song that feels very timely on Inauguration Day.

HUS KINGPIN – PORTISHUS

As the album title, artwork, and some song titles (like “Beth Gibbons”) imply, Portishus is a new album by New York rapper Hus Kingpin with production inspired by Portishead’s eerie trip-hop. That production style goes well with Hus’ ’90s-style raps (the end result is not far off from, say, Deltron 3030’s psychedelic post-boom bap), as well as those of the album’s guests, which include Vinnie Paz, Ransom, Willie The Kid, and more.

RICH THE KID – “NASTY” (ft. MULATTO, RUBI ROSE & FLO MILLI)

Mulatto, Rubi Rose, and Flo Milli have all been on the rise and all make hard-hitting, early 2000s-inspired rap, and they’ve now all lent their talents to Rich The Kid’s new song “Nasty.”

ASHANTI – “235 (2:35 I WANT YOU)”

Fresh off going to head to head with Keyshia Cole on Verzuz, early 2000s hitmaker Ashanti has returned with a new song. It finds her channeling the more minimal R&B style that took off in the 2010s, and she adopts this kind of thing pretty damn well.

PNB ROCK – “ROSE GOLD” (ft. KING VON)

Auto-tune hook master PnB Rock offers up another one of his infectious choruses on this song, which also features a posthumous verse by the late, great King Von.

JOEBOY – “LONELY”

Nigerian singer Joeboy follows collaborations with Mr. Eazi, Major Lazer, and others with his debut album, Somewhere Between Beauty & Magic, due February 4 via Banku/emPawa Africa. Promising new single “Lonely” explores the chilled-out, R&B-tinged side of Afro-pop.

THE LASSO – “2121”

Hip hop producer The Lasso (whose album with Elucid as Small Bills was one of the best rap albums of 2020) is releasing his own new album, 2121, on February 19 via Mello Music Group. The album was made with vocalists A. Billi Free, Rachele Eve, cellist Jordan Hamilton and saxophonist The Saxsquatch (Jared Seiner), and it features appearances by Hemlock Ernst (Samuel Herring of Future Islands), Fat Tony, Ill Camille, Namir Blade, Nelson Bandela and others. The just-released title track is the second single, and like “Satellite,” it’s a psychedelic mix of jazz, funk, and soul with a modern twist.

TH1RT3EN – “CULT 45”

th1rt3en, the new rap-rock group of Pharoahe Monch, Daru Jones, and Marcus Machado, have shared another song and video off their upcoming album A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism, and it was intentionally timed to come out on Inauguration Week. “The video is a continuation from “Fight” in the sense that the band is exorcising yet another systemic thorn from the soul of the oppressed,” Pharoahe Monch says. “Police brutality against the black man. The occult’s manipulation of the masses behind the veil of democracy. This song speaks to the overall temperament of the album. The frustration with fighting the evil perpetrated against us. th1rt3en is tired of holding hands and singing hymns. We’ve been assigned from a higher power to combat you on your own terms. In this existence head on. Here, hold this voodoo! Fuck you!”

LIL WAYNE – “AIN’T GOT TIME”

One day after being pardoned by Trump, Lil Wayne has released a new song. The lyrics appear to reference the federal weapons charges he was facing, and Wayne also references the late Juice WRLD.

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

10 Best Rap Albums of 2020

See the full top 50 here.