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DMX’s New Posthumous Album Exodus Coming on May 28th
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-10T18:41:49+00:00“>May 10, 2021 | 2:41pm ET 18 years after his last release on Def Jam, nine years after his most recent LP Undisputed, and seven weeks after his death, Earl “DMX” Simmons will be heard on the new posthumous album Exodus. It’s out May 28th via Def Jam and Ruff Ryders, and Swizz Beatz is serving as executive producer. The New York legend’s return to Def Jam feels like the closing of a circle. The label began to flounder in the mid 1990s as it suffered from money problems, changed owners, and searched for its voice in a shifting hip-hop landscape. Well, if you can’t find an identity yourself, then X gon’ give it to ya. His 1998 Def Jam debut,&nbs...
15-Year-Old Admits to Being Trigger Man in Pop Smoke’s Murder, According to Detective’s Testimony
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-09T21:30:55+00:00“>May 9, 2021 | 5:30pm ET A 15-year-old has allegedly admitted to being the trigger man in the murder of rising hip-hop artist Pop Smoke. The revelation came during testimony of LAPD Detective Carlos Camacho at a preliminary hearing for a different defendant in the case, 20-year-old Corey Walker. According to Camacho, the shooter, the youngest of four defendants in the case, admitted to a cellmate at a juvenile detention center that he indeed was the one who pulled the trigger on Pop Smoke. The interview from last May was recorded by police (via The Daily News). According to Detective Camacho’s testimony, the 15-year-old “admitted that they asked for the jewelry”...
L’Orange and Namir Blade Uncork New Album Imaginary Everything: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-07T16:44:03+00:00“>May 7, 2021 | 12:44pm ET Producer L’Orange and Nashville MC Namir Blade have uncorked their new collaborative album Imaginary Everything. Stream it below with Apple Music or Spotify. Blade broke out last year with Aphelion’s Traveling Circus, while L’Orange has been bubbling just below mainstream success for close to a decade. For Imaginary Everything, the Mello Music Group labelmates acquired guest verses from Quelle Chris, Fly Anakin, Jordan Webb, and Marlowe, with L’Orange producing every track. In an interview with Consequence, L’Orange explained how he achieved the soundscapes on Imaginary Everything using an Akai MPC. “T...
McKinley Dixon Deftly Navigates Grief and Healing on For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-07T15:45:52+00:00“>May 7, 2021 | 11:45am ET The Lowdown: From the first track of McKinley Dixon’s For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her, you’ll be floored by the Richmond, Virginia-based artist’s ability to marry extremely personal storytelling with dazzling, and often unpredictable, instrumentation. The final installment in a five-year trilogy, the record builds on the legacy of 2016’s Who Taught You to Hate Yourself? and 2018’s The Importance of Self Belief. Across each of these works, Dixon sounds like a highly-trained musician, with melodic arrangements that induce a visceral reaction. Coupled with his gripping delivery and impeccable lyricism, it’s hard to believe Dixon h...
Artist of the Month McKinley Dixon on Time Travel, Cowboy Bebop, and the Death of a Childhood Friend
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-07T00:06:38+00:00“>May 6, 2021 | 8:06pm ET Artist of the Month is an accolade awarded to an up-and-coming artist whom we believe is set to break out. In May, we turn our attention to rising rapper McKinley Dixon as he caps off an ambitious trilogy of albums with For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her. Less than 30 seconds into our conversation, McKinley Dixon abruptly travelled through time. It happens frequently if you learn to see the world from a certain perspective, as Dixon has. The DMV rapper has a boundless cache of interesting ideas, and one of them — involving shifts in chronology — lands somewhere between a philosophical framework and a poetic theory of know...
Isaiah Rashad Announces New Album The House Is Burning, Shares “Lay Wit Ya”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-07T04:00:44+00:00“>May 7, 2021 | 12:00am ET One of the most hotly anticipated releases in hip-hop history is just around the corner, as Isaiah Rashad has finally announced his new album The House Is Burning. It’s slated for a June release, and Zay is offering an early taste with the new single “Lay Wit Ya” featuring Duke Deuce. Rashad’s legend owes a little to his 2014 debut Cilvia Demo and a lot to his 2016 magnum opus The Sun’s Tirade. Five years ago he seemed poised on the cusp of superstardom, but instead of following in the footsteps of his TDE label-mate Kendrick Lamar, he disappeared. Call him the Prodigal Sun. As he explained in a new intervi...
J. Cole Unveils New Song “i n t e r l u d e”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-07T04:05:15+00:00“>May 7, 2021 | 12:05am ET J. Cole sent Dreamville fans into a frenzy on Tuesday by announcing a new album titled The Off-Season, and now he’s shared its lead single, “i n t e r l u d e”. Stream it below. To hear the North Carolina rapper tell it, releasing the track was an impulsive decision. “Told myself I would drop the album all at once,” he wrote on Twitter. “Sometimes you gotta say fuck it tho.” The Off-Season drops on May 14th. While announcing the project, Cole described the follow-up to 2018’s KOD as “years in the making,” which lines up with his first tease of the LP. “The Off Season coming soon… All roads lead to The Fall Off,” he wrote in the descript...
MF DOOM and Czarface’s New Album Super What? Receives Posthumous Release: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-07T04:11:17+00:00“>May 7, 2021 | 12:11am ET Czarface have just released Super What?, their new collaborative album with the late MF DOOM. The two recorded the LP together before the masked rapper’s unexpected death in October 2020. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. Out of nowhere, Czarface announced the album on Wednesday afternoon to a thrilled response from fans, less than 48 hours before it would be released. In total, Super What? spans 10 tracks. Four of those include guest verses by the likes of DMC, Del the Funky Homosapien, Kendra Morris, and Godforbid. Wu-Tang Clan‘s Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric, who make up Czarface as a unit, never expected Super What...
Little Simz Reunites with Cleo Sol for Uplifting New Song “Woman”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-06T16:00:24+00:00“>May 6, 2021 | 12:00pm ET Little Simz has released a new single from her upcoming album, Sometime I Might Be Introvert. It’s called “Woman” and it features guest vocals by Cleo Sol. Accompanying the track is Simz’s first self-directed music video, in which she brings the song’s empowering lyrics to life. Stream it below. “Woman” is a low-key retro hip-hop number that sees Simz rapping about the women around the world who inspire her to carry on. “Woman to woman, I just want to see you glow,” she sings sweetly with an audible grin on her face. In a press release, Simz explained why she felt compelled to write the track in the first place. “I love it when I see wo...
New MF DOOM and Czarface Album Super What? Coming This Friday
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-05T17:09:56+00:00“>May 5, 2021 | 1:09pm ET The enigmatic rapper MF DOOM passed away in late October 2020, but we haven’t heard the last of his music. Today, Czarface member Esoteric announced the group is releasing a joint album with DOOM called Super What? this Friday, May 7th. Super What? spans 10 tracks and features artists like DMC, Del the Funky Homosapien, Kendra Morris, and Godforbid. Esoteric explained on Instagram that it was originally slated to drop in April 2020, but they pushed it back when COVID-19 hit. “What you’ll be hearing was finalized, mixed & mastered in the summer of 2020, and it’s our honor and privilege to share it with you Friday,” the Boston rap...
Hip-Hop and TikTok Are Bringing Pop-Punk Back in a Big Way
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-04T18:36:48+00:00“>May 4, 2021 | 2:36pm ET Pop-punk has crept back onto the charts, and its latest takeover is well underway — without any live shows and long after the end of Warped Tour, a hallmark of the genre’s previous reign. In the past year, pop-punk has made its comeback, but with the help of some unlikely forces. The first of those forces are hip-hop crossovers, which have propelled pop-punk to the top of the charts. 24kGoldn and iann dior’s single, “Mood”, blended elements of pop-punk and hip-hop and went to No. 1. On the Alternative Airplay chart, All Time Low got their first No. 1 with their single “Monsters”, which featured hip-hop star blackbear. A remix featuring D...
J. Cole Announces New Album The Off-Season Arriving Next Week
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-04T19:39:57+00:00“>May 4, 2021 | 3:39pm ET J. Cole’s highly anticipated project, The Off-Season, is almost here. Today, the North Carolina rapper announced he will be releasing the new album on May 14th. While sharing the album artwork, the Dreamville boss tweeted that the follow-up to 2018’s KOD “was years in the making.” Cole originally teased The Off-Season in the description for the music video for his 2018 track, “Album of the Year (Freestyle)”. He wrote, “The Off Season coming soon… All roads lead to The Fall Off.” At the time, fans speculated the project would be a mixtape dropping ahead The Fall Off, an album that’s been teased under Cole’s kiLL edward alter ego...
