Pusha T Sends Shots at Drake & Birdman on DAYTONA
Venom raps, over Kayne soul beats, has Pusha T sounding his best in years on his project DAYTONA. Within the first seconds of the album, Pusha explodes out the gates with hard hitting bar after bar. On the intro track, If You Know You Know, he asks "Where were you when Big Meech brought the tigers in?" Reminiscing on a drug dealers paradise in Atlanta, while also claiming his long time involvement in the game.
Epic drops and transitions within songs like Santeria, free Pusha to focus on the lyrical content. He addresses, Drake, Birdman, Lil Wayne, and others, while still showing homage to rap legends Jay-Z and Eazy-E.
On the outro, Infrared, Pusha states he is aware of the fakes in the industry that others are blind to. "How could you ever right these wrongs? When you don't even write your songs?" The highly anticipated response to Drake has many fans seeing Pusha as one of the kings of rap.
Kahrion & Squeak from Pivot Link on Weight
Kahrion flows effortlessly on a Lil Wayne sampled track produced by Squeak from Pivot titled Weight. The spacey beat is complimented by the raw lyrics about losing friends, breaking laws for cash, and the emotional toll this has on a person.
Being introspective about the life he is living has a sobering feeling, very similar to I Feel Like Dying, the song that is sampled in this track. Weight marks the first release in seven months from Kahrion with a new project, Rambleworld on the way.
Michael Christmas Drops New Single with Fool's Gold
Michael Christmas follows up with his second single titled Ball, produced by Thelonious Martin & Aniko Thomas, off his upcoming album Role Model. The album will be released with his new label home Fool's Gold. This project is the first full length release from Christmas since the rapper’s 2016’s Baggy Eyes EP release.
The Boston native drops Ball right before NBA game 5 between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Your head will be bouncing like the beat to this funky track.
Saba returns with "Busy" Video
"Tell me, how are you said? You got all of these friends, you got all of these fans."
Man, it feels good to write about Saba again. One of my favorite artists, and former students, Saba is back in 2018 with a new haircut, new music, and a new nationwide tour. While that's all cause of celebration, his first musical offering carries a melancholy vibe and speaks to being lonely in a room full of people. "Busy" is the name of the song and video that Saba teased on social media for about a week. He doesn't disappoint in its delivery, however, the young veteran seems to be a bit disappointed in the emptiness that can be a music career, as well as relationships and loved ones gone.
To fully understand "Busy" requires multiple listens. Get started right now with the video below.
Watch Bishop Nehru's New Video for "Rooftops" (prod by DOOM)
Bishop Nehru is aiming high, and for very good reason. The young emcee with a strong resume is gearing up to release Elevators, a conceptual project that carries production exclusively handled by DOOM and Kaytranada. On paper, this is going to be fantastic. But, music is made on paper and eventually, every tracklist has to show and prove.
Nehru took a big step forward in that regard with his new video for "Rooftops", which premiered yesterday via Complex. The visuals don't disappoint, and the song is horn driven and very jazzy as Bishop tells the story of his life as an artist, where he is, where he's been, and where he wants to be. That's at the heart of Elevators as well. Bishop told Complex that it is feeling-based, and his attempt at something like Pet Sounds, by the Beach Boys.
Peep the video below.
Elevators releases 3/16.
Listen to Curtis Roach's new mixtape Highly Caffeinated
"got sick of class, and started making classics."
Detroit has a long line of great emcees, and those rappers always tend to come with cadences and patterns all their own. From Royce, to Black Milk, Guilty Simpson etc... they all very identifiable voices. A couple weeks ago, I found another Detroit emcee enter into my consciousness - 18 year-old Curtis Roach. While I don't know if Curtis has ever hit the stage at the Shelter, I have feeling if he did, he would fit right in. With jazzy production, and relatable bars, Roach hits the sweet spot for my crates. His video for "Extra Fries" has the rah rah of a 90's video that will get you all up in the nostalgic feels. Roach's "shiny new backpack" appeal is all over his debut mixtape, Highly Caffeinated, which released about a month ago, and deserves repeatable listens.
You can stream it below, as well as peep the video for "Extra Fries". Look for much much more from Curtis Roach on RH.
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Watch Evidence's New Video for "10,000 Hours" featuring DJ Premier
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argued that it takes 10,000 hours practicing a craft before one becomes a master. Evidence picks up the concept in his new song/video produced by the legendary DJ Premier. Fans will recall that Premier produced "You" off Ev's last LP, Cats and Dogs, and it's great to see the two come together again here.
Utilizing vocals from "Ain't Nuthin' But A G Thang", Evidence appears ready to accept his status as an OG and master at music. Throughout his career, he has discussed his confidence as well as not being able to handle praise. Parts defense mechanism, part insecurities, it is a theme that has ran throughout his solo work.
In "10,000 Hours", Evidence talks about his early days rapping with a deep voice, staying guarded and slowly meeting and becoming peers with his rap heroes. In the glory days of Napster I found and downloaded all kinds of early Dilated Peoples and Evidence records and his voice is noticeably different. If you did the same then you know what I'm talking about. Evidence sounds comfortable and confident on this track, and his fanbase has been calling him one of the best for years. Hopefully now he believes it.
The video is below, and the record is on Weather or Not, which drops 1/26 via Rhymesayers. I can't fucking wait.
Your Old Droog - "Cement 4's" featuring Conway
"We up next, no, we got now, that's why they upset."
Simply put, this shit is dope. Bars.