While the world was catching up on its beauty rest, Kanye West (Ye) and Ty Dolla Sign were plotting. The duo decided to give their supporters what they’ll been begging for—their Vultures 2 album.
Now that the anticipated album is officially available across streaming platforms, listeners are picking through it to unveil the special features. To save you some time, we’ve done it for you. Continue below for more information about Vultures 2, including the tracklist, features, artwork, and more.
In total, Vultures 2 seems to have five guest appearances. Across the body of work, fans can look forward to guest verses from Playboi Carti, Don Toliver, Kodak Black, Future, and Lil Wayne.
Artwork
View the official cover below.
YZY
Tour
In this stage of his creative venture, Ye has opted out of touring in favor of unique listening experiences with fans. Over on Instagram, the duo announced their next two listening experiences will be held on August 23 in Korea and August 25 in Taiwan.
Vultures 2 is out now via YZY. Find more information here.
PartyNextDoor’s Sorry, I’m Outside tour stopped in his native Toronto this evening, and was joined onstage by a fellow Torontonian, Drake, who popped out to perform “Finesse” alongside his OVO artist and deliver a second surprise to fans, just in case his presence wasn’t all that surprising. In a video shared by fans in attendance, Drake announced a joint album from himself and Party is coming this fall.
“I know you girls are outside,” he smarmed. “When it gets a little chilly, PartyNextDoor and Drake album will be right there for you.”
This joint album would be Drake’s second collaborative album, following 2022’s Her Loss with 21 Savage (2015’s What A Time To Be Alive with Future is officially listed as a mixtape in his discography, but you can count it if you want). It’ll be his first collab project with any member of his label, OVO Sound, as well.
Fans at the show sound fairly excited about the news in the video, but you can be sure skepticism for the project will be at all time highs on social media. The timing is certainly notable; Drake needs a win after being drubbed by Kendrick Lamar this summer, and it’s clearly good PR for him and promotion for his artist. In either case, both could certainly use the jolt of creative energy that comes from collaborating with a longtime friend — and project where neither has to carry the whole thing.
I guess we’ll find out this autumn — and what are the odds it actually comes out in October?
The Olympics can foster great rivalries between athletes and nations in certain sports. From an American perspective, the 2024 Olympics feature the rivalry with Australia in the swimming pool, Jamaica on the track, and, potentially, Canada and France on the basketball court, among others.
It’s part of competition at the highest level, but the Olympians aren’t the only ones settling some scores in Paris this summer. As part of NBC’s comprehensive coverage of the Games, the Today show is on site and had a special guest stop by on Friday, as Elmo from Sesame Street donned a Team USA beret to talk about his excitement to see all the big names in Paris, before reigniting his long-standing beef with Rocco the Rock.
I do appreciate the commitment to the bit here, and I have to say, Elmo makes a strong point that Rocco cannot win a medal, being just a rock. I’m sure Elmo will manage to still have a good time in Paris despite Rocco’s appearance, provided he does not run into Larry David again.
Some kids gravitate towards big kid stuff really early on. This tends to be especially true for girls, many of whom want to start experimenting with grown up clothes and makeup—and skin care from Sephora, of course.
Parents must decide whether or not to entertain these urges, whether to allow kids the freedom to explore and express themselves, or to protect them with boundaries. And rest assured, this will never be a decision all parents can agree on.
Just ask Florida mom Liana DeGeorge. Recently, DeGeorge bought her 7-year-old a pair of heels, which, unbeknownst to her, would ignite raucous online debate as to whether or not this was “bad parenting.”
In a video posted to her Instagram, DeGeorge shared how her daughter kept “begging” for a two inch pair of chunky heels she had tried on, despite mom telling her “let’s just wait a few more years.”
After seeing the tears in her daughter’s eye, DeGeorge admitted she “cracked” and let her have them, dubbing them “special occasion shoes” only.
The clip ends with DeGeorge’s daughter sashaying around in her kitten heels, while DeGeorge writes “let me tell you she SHINED.”
Objectively speaking, age 7 is quite a bit younger than 14-16, which is what podiatrist Romona Brooks recommends for starting young ones off in heels to avoid developing problems like lower back pain, shin splints, ankle sprains and fractures, bunions and hammertoes.
This was just one of the points that critics took against DeGorge’s decision, some saying that she was “deforming” her daughter’s feet. Many others argued that it taught her daughter how to cross boundaries.
“Moral of the story: cry if you want something,” one person wrote, while another bluntly said, “You are the mum, you should learn to say no.”
Others felt strongly that it was simply too grown up, and could attract the wrong kind of adult attention. As one person put it, “I was fine until I saw her swish walk. She’s SEVEN.”
Another joked, “Why stop there, next time give a glass of wine and a smoke.”
Still, there were plenty others who thought these comments were entirely too “dramatic,” and even remembered doing the same thing as kids.
“Why are people bugging out? It’s not like she’s wearing stilettos. I’ve been wearing those type of low block ‘heels’ since I was 6,” one person wrote.
Another added, “I had a pair of heels when I was little — it’s every little girl’s dream to be like their mama.”
Others applauded DeGeorge for helping give her kid a self esteem boost.
“I just know when she wears them she feels so confident 💕 you did good mama!!!” wrote one viewer.
For what it’s worth, Brooks does note that if a child insists on wearing heels, there are safe ways to comply, primarily by choosing a low, block-style heel with spaces for growing toes, and to only allow them on for 2-4 hours maximum, and certainly not every day. All of which DeGeorge seems to be doing.
And in an interview with Today, DeGeorge added that while she has no regrets buying her daughter the shoes, she does “say no to lots of things.”
“My daughter will say, ‘Mommy, my friends have TikTok’ and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?! You guys are 7!”
DeGeorge also countered that while people are warning her to not let her daughter grow up too fast, “this big-girl moment is part of her childhood,” and she wants to honor that.
Finding the balance between protection and freedom is a never ending battle for parents. And while there are certain aspects of modern life that undeniably expose kids to things which threaten their innocence, this story is a reminder that for the most part, there’s also a whole lot of gray area.
Lynelle Cantwell is in 12th grade at Holy Trinity High School in Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador (that’s Canada).
On Monday, she found out that she had been featured on another student’s anonymous online poll entitled “Ugly Girls in Grade 12,” along with several other classmates.
Cantwell responded via Facebook with her own message, which has already been shared more than 2,000 times and counting.
Take a look:
Since posting her brave response on Facebook, more people have come out to show support than people who voted in the first place.
Check out some of the responses:
The School District of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced that it will be looking into the incident further. For Cantwell, the positive outpouring of love and support vastly outweighs the initial cyberbullying and is raising her confidence in new ways.
I occasionally get asked by mothers of young children what the secret is to raising great teenagers.
My initial response is that I have absolutely no clue. My kids are who they are IN SPITE of having me as a mother. (The young moms don’t find that answer too helpful.)
Really, the first thing that I will tell you is to disbelieve the myth that teenagers are sullen, angry creatures who slam doors and hate their parents. Some do that, but the overwhelming majority do not. Every one of my kids’ friends are just as happy and fun as my kids are, so I know it’s not just us.
Teenagers are incredible. They are funny, smart, eager to please, and up for just about anything as long as food is involved. They have the most generous hearts and want desperately to be loved and validated. They are quirky and messy and have the best sense of humor.
So, here is my list of “rules” for raising teens. These are the secrets we have found to be successful.
1. Love them fiercely.
Love everything about them, even the annoying stuff. Love them for their actions AND their intentions. Let them know in word and deed how much you adore them. Daily. Love their wrinkled shirts and Axe-body-spray-covered selves. Love their bad handwriting and pimpled cheeks. Love their scattered brains and long limbs. All these seemingly insignificant details are an amazing, magical process at work. It’s like being witness to the miracle of a diamond mid-formation. All this imperfection is going to one day yield a responsible, serious adult. A loving husband and father. Or a wonderful wife and mother. It’s a privilege to be witness to such glorious growth.
See your teenagers as a privilege, don’t see them as a burden. They’re more perceptive than you can imagine. How you feel about them will be no secret. So just love ‘em.
2. Listen and pay attention.
When they walk in the door after school, you have a precious few minutes when they will divulge the secrets of their day with you. Be excited to see them. Put down the cell phone. Don’t waste this time making dinner or taking a phone call. Look them in the eye and hear what they are saying. Make their victories your victories. Be empathetic. It is really hard to navigate high school and middle school. Don’t offer advice at this time unless they ask for it. Don’t lecture. Just listen. It makes them feel important and valued. We all need to feel that way.
3. Say yes more than you say no.
The world is forever going to tell them no. For the rest of their lives, they will be swimming in a stormy sea with wave after wave of “you’re not good enough” and “you can’t do this” crashing down on their heads. If nothing else, I want to be the opposite voice in their lives for as long as I can. I want to instill in them the belief that they are not limited and they can do anything if they’re willing to work hard enough for it. I want to be the YES, YOU CAN in their lives. I want them to leave my house every day feeling invincible.
4. Say no often.
You need to say no to experiences and situations that will set your child up for harm or unhappiness. Don’t let them go to the parties where they will be forced to make a choice about alcohol at age 16 in front of their peers . Don’t let them stay out until three in the morning with a member of the opposite sex. Be the parent. Set up rules for their safety, both physical and moral. You would think this rule goes without saying, but we have known a shockingly large number of parents who don’t.
5. Feed them. A lot.
And not only them, but their friends too. These bodies are growing and developing at an astonishing rate and need fuel to do so — most of which they prefer to be loaded with processed sugar and hydrogenated-something-or-others. When their friends know your pantry is stocked to the gills with treats, they will beg your kid to hang out at your place. This allows you to not only meet and know their friends, but to keep an eye on your teen as well.
6. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
When living with teenagers, it can be so easy to see the backpack dropped in the middle of the living room as laziness. Or the bedroom scattered with dirty clothes as irresponsible. Instead, and before you open your mouth to yell at them, put yourself in their shoes. Find out about their day first. Maybe they are feeling beaten down, and they just need to unwind for a minute and tell you about it. Ignore the mess for a bit and put your arms around that big, sweaty kid and give him a hug. Talk to him about his world. Find out what he did, wants to do, and dreams of doing. THEN, and only then, ask him to pick it up and put it away.
That being said, do I completely ignore the state of my boys’ bedrooms all the time? No, I do not. But I pick my battles, and I pick the appropriate time to fight them. Once every seven to 10 days or so, I tell them their bedrooms need to be picked up. Which they do happily because it’s not the running loop of a nagging mom. They know when I ask, it needs to be done.
7. Stand back and watch the magic happen.
If you let them, these glorious creatures will open their hearts and love you more fiercely than you could possibly imagine. They are brilliant, capable, strong spirits who bring with them a flurry of happiness. They are hilarious and clever. They are thoughtful and sensitive. They want us to adore them. They need us to adore them. They love deeply and are keenly in touch with the feelings of others.
They are just about the greatest gift God gave to parents.
This article was written by Christie Halversson and originally appeared on 08.20.19
This week, Billie Eilish joined Charli XCX on the remix of her Brat song “Guess,” singing a lusty verse about pondering the color of a romantic interest’s underwear. While many fans were exuberant to see the two stars collaborate, at least one was not. Their resultant accusation, that Eilish’s verse engaged in the practice of “queer-baiting,” was seen by Eilish’s brother Finneas, who came to her defense, pointing out how some toxic fans had taken their parasocial fascinations with Billie way too far.
The fan, who posted their criticism to TikTok, wrote, “Billie’s verse on ‘Guess’ is highkey predatory, but y’all blinded by her usual queerbaiting for commercial gain. Ever since the ‘Lost Cause’ controversy, she’s been reducing girls to mere objects, all in an effort to convince the masses that she’s actually into them lol. Charli is 32 and engaged FYI.”
So… to quote Mr. Mulaney, we don’t have time to unpack ALL of that, but to provide some background, some of the earliest accusations of queer-baiting against Eilish came after she dropped the video for “Lost Cause.” Apparently, hanging out and dancing with girls suggests that she should want to sleep with them or something, I don’t know.
Finneas, however, had time today, in the words of Mr. Yo. “What a take, you little clown,” he shot back in the comments. “I got to watch the entire internet slam my sister for queer-baiting for an entire year when in reality, you were forcing her to label and out herself.” He has a strong point: Billie was technically outed during a red carpet interview at the Variety Hitmakers event, although she was pretty chill about it at the time, answering the reporter’s question with a dismissive, “Wasn’t it obvious?”
Finneas defends Billie Eilish after someone said that her verse on Charli xcx’s “Guess” remix was “predatory”:
“I got to watch the entire internet slam my sister for queer-baiting for an entire year when in reality, you were all forcing her to label and out herself.” pic.twitter.com/7V7iTQatg2
Still, if we could all stop projecting our insecurities onto artists and entertainers — at least, not on social media, where people can SEE it — that would be nice.
Aerosmith has ended its farewell tour early after lead single Steven Tyler suffered a vocal injury. The Peace Out Farewell Tour was initially rescheduled after Tyler’s injury, which included a fractured larynx, at the outset of the tour, but after unveiling the new dates to begin in September, it turns out that Tyler’s recovery was more complicated than they originally thought it’d be.
In a statement, the band wrote:
It has been the honor of our lives to have our music become part of yours. In every club, on every massive tour and at moments grand and private you have given us a place in the soundtrack of your lives.
We’ve always wanted to blow your mind when performing. As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear, that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible. We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision – as a band of brothers – to retire from the touring stage.
It was 1970 when a spark of inspiration became Aerosmith. Thanks to you, our Blue Army, that spark caught flame and has been burning for over five decades. Some of you have been with us since the beginning and all of you are the reason we made rock ‘n’ roll history.
The announcement ends a near 55-year run — most of it with the same members — that included four Grammy Awards, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the record for the most total RIAA certifications by an American group. They’ve made rock history and it seemed for a while like they’d be around forever, but all good things, it seems, eventually do come to an end.
If you took a Marty McFly-like trip back in time and stopped in 2003 instead of 1955, you’d find a beer marketplace devoid of juicy, hazy, New England-style IPAs. This is because, even though it feels like you can’t stop into a brewery from Savannah to Montana without encountering a New England-style IPA, the style was created in 2004.
You might be wondering what the first New England-style IPA is. It’s the now beloved Heady Topper from Vermont’s The Alchemist Brewery. Back in ‘04 brewing pioneer John Kimmich created the style when he launched iconic beer known for its unfiltered, hazy, juicy, tropical fruity-filled, and very little hop bitterness. This is thanks to a special, proprietary yeast, a blend of six hops, and a lack of pasteurizing (among other things).
If you’re a fan of this juicy, flavorful 8% ABV hazy IPA or if you simply can’t seem to get your hand on a four-pack, there are reasonable options available. To help you out, we found eight of the best hazy IPAs to drink if you enjoy the mouthfeel and palate of the wildly popular Alchemist Heady Topper. Keep scrolling to see them all.
Orderville is a unique beer in the New England-style IPA world. The San Diego-based brewery couldn’t just make a tropical juicy bomb without paying tribute to its West Coast roots. This 7.2% banger starts as a juicy, tropical fruit-filled hazy thanks to the use of Mosaic hops. But gets some of its dank, resinous aroma and flavor from the use of Sultana hops. The hops are rounded out with Simcoe and Ekuanot.
Tasting Notes:
It begins with a nose of tangerine, mango, passionfruit, guava, ripe pineapple, grapefruit, and dank pine. There’s more of the same on the palate with a ton of juicy orange, grapefruit, peach, mango, and caramelized pineapple up front followed by resinous, sticky pine. The finish is a dry mix of tropical sweetness and bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
This is the epitome of the East Coast meets West Coast. This has something for fans of both styles.
Who doesn’t love fuzzy baby ducks, right? This beer is as adorable as it is delicious. This single-hop New England-style IPA is kettle-hopped and dry-hopped with Citra hops. The result is a hazy, juicy beer that’s not exploding with ducks. Instead, it’s bursting with tangerine, grapefruit, mango, passionfruit, and other tropical fruit flavors.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are aromas of mango, passionfruit, pineapple, tangerine, grapefruit, and light, floral pine. The palate begins with a nice sweet malt backbone that is propelled by grapefruit, orange peel, melon, mango, guava, ripe peach, and grassy, lightly dank pine. The finish is prickly, sweet, and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
New England Fuzzy Baby Ducks is a great beer if you’re a fan of Citra hops alone. This beer proves you don’t necessarily need a whole slew of different hops.
This 8% double IPA is brewed with a base of Golden Promise malt as well as Maine-grown wheat. It gets its hop aroma and flavor from the liberal use of Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops. The result is a hazy IPA loaded with citrus, tropical fruits, and dank, resinous pine.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find notes of sweet wheat, lemon peels, grapefruit, tangerine, mango, ripe peach, pineapple, wet grass, and floral, lightly resinous pine needles. The palate begins with a nice kick of caramel malt sweetness that’s followed closely behind by juicy pineapple, tangerine, lemongrass, grapefruit, guava, passionfruit, and more grassy, floral, sticky hops. The finish is a nice mix of tropical sweetness and dank, bitter pine.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of Heady Topper, you’ll love the balance you’ll find with this epic beer from Maine’s Bissell Brothers.
Trillium’s flagship IPA, Congress Street is brewed with American 2-row barley, white wheat, C-15 malt, dextrin, and dextrose. It gets its hop presence from the addition of Columbus and Galaxy hops. This creates a memorable cloudy, hazy, juicy beer featuring citrus, pine, and ripe pineapple throughout.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is an aromatic mix of caramelized pineapple, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon zest, honeydew melon, and a field of pine needles. The palate continues this trend with juicy peach, pineapple, tangerine, lemon, orange peel, mango, sweet, biscuit-like malts, and a gentle hop bitterness at the very end.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason this is Trillium’s flagship IPA. It does tick all the New England-style IPA boxes.
With a name like Pulp, you should have a pretty good idea about what you’ll find when you crack open one of these beauties. First brewed in 2016 as a complementary beer to the brewery’s popular West Coast IPA, Pulp is brewed exclusively with Citra hops. It’s known for its flavors of ripe peach, tangerines, lemon, mangy, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a nice mix of bready, sweet malts, ripe oranges, grapefruit, lemon peels, peach, and lightly floral, piney hops. Drinking it reveals notes of sweet malts, ripe peaches, pineapple, tangerine, lemongrass, fresh-squeezed orange juice, mango, and just a hint of prickly, floral, dank hops.
Bottom Line:
Some breweries describe their beer as a “juice bomb”. Pulp lives up to that name. It’s fresh-squeezed citrus juice through and through.
3. Hill Farmstead Abner
Hill Farmstead Abner
ABV: 8.2%
Average Price: Seasonal Availability (currently off-season)
The Beer:
Hill Farmstead is one of the few breweries that make nothing but noteworthy, award-winning beers. One of its best beers is its New England-style double IPA called Abner. Named for the brewery’s founder’s great-grandfather, it’s brewed with house ale yeast and American malted barley and hopped with Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, Simcoe, and Warrior hops.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of pink grapefruit, orange peels, lemon, tangerines, mango, vanilla beans, caramel malts, and dank pine greets you before your first sip. Sipping it brings creamy notes of orange peel, pineapple, grapefruit, honey, fresh-cut grass, mango, vanilla, and dank, floral pine. The finish is juicy, citrus-sweet, and lightly bitter.
Bottom Line:
This is a sublimely creamy, juicy IPA for fans of ripe citrus fruits. Even with that, it has a nice sweet honey malt backbone as well.
This dinosaur-adorned New England-style IPA is well-known for its monstrously balanced, hazy, juicy flavor profile. This 7.8% ABV is solely hopped with Citra hops. The result is a hazy IPA bursting like the gates at Jurassic Park with notes of orange, mango, and other tropical fruits.
Tasting Notes:
Before your first sip, you’ll be greeted with scents of fruit salad, tangerine, pineapple, orange peel, mango, guava, and pine resin. The palate is filled with juicy orange, guava, peach, mango, sweet oats, honeydew melon, grapefruit, and dank, resinous pine. The finish is dry, bitter, and memorable.
Bottom Line:
This is an epic, citrus-filled take on the New England IPA style and one that you need to try if you enjoy Heady Topper.
To say that Massachusetts’ Treehouse Brewing Company is well-known for its hazy IPA prowess is a massive understatement. There are no other breweries that do it better. One of its best is Treehouse Julius. This 6.8% ABV IPA is known for its creamy, juicy mango, citrus fruit, and passionfruit flavors thanks to a blend of specifically selected hops.
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of passionfruit, tangerine, grapefruit, mango, guava, peach, and pineapple start everything off on a great foot. The palate is creamy, juicy, and loaded with more tangerine, lemon peel, guava, mango, passionfruit, lychee, peach, pineapple, grapefruit, and light, sticky, hop bitterness at the finish.
Bottom Line:
If you only try one beer on this list, make it Treehouse Julius. This is the juicy, creamy, fruity flavor profile we imagine when we think of New England-style IPAs.
This week of hip-hop has been both celebratory and somber, as fans were forced to say goodbye to underground rap mainstay Chino XL, who passed at age 50, and DJ Polo, who died over the weekend. However, contemporary figures in hip-hop continued to show the genre’s versatility, adapting Charli XCX’s hyperpop for freestyles, as shown by Aminé and his “360.5” video, and reflecting on lost love (Kevin Abstract’s “Big Dog“).
Meanwhile, ASAP Rocky made a triumphant comeback with “Highjack” featuring the surprising collaboration with Jessica Pratt.
Big Sean reveled in fatherhood with the video for his latest Better Me Than You single, “On Up.”
Ice Spice extended her debut album Y2K! with the bonus track, “Gyatt.”
Polo G followed up the official release announcement for his long-delayed album H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. with new single “We Uh Shoot” featuring fellow Chicagoan Lil Durk.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending August 2, 2024.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
Emilio Rojas — It Always Gets Better
Emilio Rojas
This is kinda wild, but I had almost forgotten about the Rochester rapper, despite being a fairly fervent supporter in his early career. His mixtapes A Breath of Fresh Air and The Natural stayed in rotation throughout the so-called “blog era” for me, but then, he seemed to sort of fall off the national scene for a bit. I was surprised — pleasantly so — to see his name pop up in my inbox this week. I’m equally pleased to report he’s still a fantastic rapper, with observational skills as deft as his writing and delivery. The pictures he paints are as crisp as they were a decade and a half ago, and his latest deserves a listen.
Jpegmafia — I Lay Down My Life For You
Jpegmafia
There’s nobody in hip-hop making music like Jpegmafia. Yeah, there are plenty of rappers who adopt a thrash rock aesthetic, but I’ve yet to hear anyone else literally rapping over hardcore and metal riffs, melting those genre deconstructions down alongside glitchy noise and industrial rap beats. Naturally, guests on the album include Denzel Curry and Vince Staples, the two other rappers who get the closest. Then there’s “Exmilitary,” a straight-up bar fest. There’s something for — if not everybody, then anyone with an open mind.
Killer Mike — Michael & The Mighty Midnight Revival: Songs For Sinners And Saints
Killer Mike
Conceived as an “epilogue” of sorts for Mike’s Grammy-winning(!) 2023 album Michael, this new 10-song collection was called a “testimonial” in its press release. “When I was growing up, an important part of church service was people having the opportunity to stand up and give public testimony on their trials, tribulations, and triumphs,” Mike explained. “After the celebratory atmosphere that followed MICHAEL I was reminded that tribulations never cease, but God is always with me and this is a testimonial of my tumultuous times, my trials, and my continued triumph in spite of doubt, outright hate, and fear.”
Navy Blue — Memoirs In Armour
Navy Blue
Skater turned rapper Navy Blue (also known as Sage Elsesser), is back independent after releasing his last project through Def Jam and his latest release finds him back in the mode we’ve come to expect from the underground champion. Soulful production backs heady, intricate, stream-of-consciousness raps that’ll be a hit with fans of longtime collaborators like Earl Sweatshirt, Mach-Hommy, and MIKE.
Singles/Videos
42 Dugg — “Wrong Right”
Coming off the release of his album 4eva Us Neva Them Detroit breakout 42 Dugg shares a mellow video for album standout “Wrong Right.” It’s a departure from a lot of his prior singles, embracing a more reflective direction that adds depth to his current oeuvre.
Boldy James & Harry Fraud — “Cecil Fielder” Feat. Tee Grizzley
Boldy James is, to me, like the Motor City version of someone like Curren$y, Dom Kennedy, or Larry June, but way grimier. Teaming up with Harry Fraud only strengthens those comparisons, creating a deceptively smooth groove for Boldly’s coke raps. On Cecil Fielder, Tee Grizzley offers a rougher edge that breaks through the dreamy atmosphere to remind listeners that Tony definitely dies at the end. Even better: It’s only the first single from a Boldy/Fraud collab project called, hilariously, The Bricktionary.
Kaliii — “Big One” Feat. Monaleo (From The Block performance)
Performances like this usually don’t make it to this list — mostly because they are usually of songs that have been out a while — but this one’s special because Kaliii uses it to reveal the sex of her recently revealed pregnancy. Congrats to our former cover artist and good luck as she continues her career while embarking on this adventure.
Mutant Academy — “Liberation” Feat. Quelle Chris
The Richmond, Virginia rap collective has been steadily releasing music for a decade, but only announced their debut group album, Keep Holly Alive, today. The timing is fortuitous; group member Fly Anakin received a wave of critical support for his 2022 album Frank, bringing residual attention to his wider crew in the process. “Liberation” proves it’s well-placed.
Saweetie — “My Best”
Saweetie’s music has taken on a motivational bent over the past year or so, but also a bit of a nostalgic one, as in this video for “My Best,” which reproduces Saweetie’s academic experiences. She recently told Complex that she feels she has begun to reveal more of herself in her latest output and honestly, that could almost never be a bad thing.
Tay B — “All Ten” Feat. Lil Baby
The main co-sign any street rapper would want to have these days is Lil Baby, because he’ll not only bring his own grit to your tracks, he’ll also bring a certain degree of polish that shows that no matter how grimy your origins, you can always be palatable for the masses. Case in point.
Wiz Khalifa — “Baby Girl On The Way”
I guess the theme for this week is babies, because between Big Sean, Kaliii, and Wiz Khalifa, we’ve got the prospect of parenthood covered from seemingly every angle. Oddly enough, this track contains some of the best technical rapping we’ve heard from Wiz in a long time.
Wynne — “Dog In Me”
While Portland rapper Wynne has built a reputation on her deft lyrical skills, recently, songs like “Dog In Me” have added a new dimension to her discography, allowing her to delve into subjects that might surprise rap fans with strong feelings about separating female rappers into two disparate camps.
YG — “Love Make”
The latest single from the Compton rapper’s upcoming Just Re’d Up 3 samples Avant(!!)’s “Makin’ Good Love,” for what is as close to a romance ballad as he’s ever gotten. Of course, because it’s YG, it’s raunchy and uninhibited, but there’s a time and a place for everything. Hopefully, I don’t have to explain when or where it is for this sex anthem.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
