Duke Deuce announces new album due out this week, shares "Spin"
Over a year after declaring that crunk ain’t dead, Duke Deuce has announced a new album, DUKE NUKEM, due this Friday (2/26) via Quality Control/Motown/Made Men Movement. Along with the announcement comes new single “Spin” (ft. Foogiano), which follows last month’s “Soldiers Steppin.” The previous single and its video were as over-the-top as the crunk hits of the the late ’90s and early 2000s, but this new single is more in line with today’s moody trap music. Duke Deuce is good at this kinda thing too, as you can hear for yourself below.
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10 Best Rap Albums of 2020
10. Armand Hammer – Shrines
9. Flo Milli – Ho, why is you here?
8. Pop Smoke – Meet The Woo 2
7. Conway the Machine – From King to a GOD
6. Boldy James – The Price of Tea In China / Manger On McNichols
Detroit rapper Boldy James released four albums in 2020. All of them were good, but The Price of Tea In China (produced entirely by The Alchemist) and Manger On McNichols (produced entirely by Sterling Toles) were exceptional, and in entirely different ways. The Price of Tea In China is Boldy's third project with The Alchemist, and those two have a chemistry that clicked more than ever on this album. The Alchemist had a landmark year, blessing Freddie Gibbs, members of Griselda (who Boldy is now signed to) and others with some of the finest smoky, jazzy production in his catalog, and The Price of Tea In China is no exception. It's hypnotizing from start to finish, and Boldy sounds calm but menacing as his voice casually cuts through the mix, making for a deadly counterpart to The Alchemist's beats. Guest verses come from Freddie Gibbs, Benny the Butcher, Vince Staples, and Evidence, all of whom sound carefully curated into the mix.
On the other hand, Manger On McNichols is a multi-layered, live-band jazz-rap album, as immersive as modern jazz-rap classics like To Pimp A Butterfly and Room 25. It's an album that was in the making for over a decade (and includes an appearance by DeJ Loaf, recorded before her career took off) that Sterling and Boldy kept going back to and kept tweaking. It was worth all that work; not only is it nothing like any of the other albums Boldy released this year, it's really not much like any other rap album released this year. The instrumentation is genuinely breathtaking, and Boldy supplied Manger On McNichols with some of his most remarkable verses.
5. Benny the Butcher – Burden of Proof
4. Westside Gunn – Pray For Paris
3. Run The Jewels – RTJ4
2. Megan Thee Stallion – Good News
1. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo
See the full top 50 here.