Rap
Song of the Week: Tkay Maidza’s “Syrup” Longs for Hot and Sticky Summer Nights to Come
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-10T20:55:49+00:00“>April 10, 2021 | 4:55pm ET Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, rapper Tkay Maidza reminds us of the fun times just around the corner. The rise of streaming has meant many things for the world of music over the past decade: the slow pull away from the power of radio and CD sales, increased accessibility to new artists, and constant questions around payment structures in this model, for starters. It also means that music is an abundance of...
R.I.P. DMX, Legendary Rapper Dead at 50
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T16:14:18+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 12:14pm ET Legendary New York rapper DMX has died following a drug overdose that led to a fatal heart attack. He was 50 years old. According to a statement released by the rapper’s family, DMX passed away Friday, April 9th. “We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50-years-old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days,” the rapper’s family said. “Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him. Earl’s music inspired countless ...
BROCKHAMPTON Get Introspective on the Soul-Searching ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T16:21:05+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 12:21pm ET The Lowdown: We’re now deep into the heart of hip-hop’s psychedelic era. As modern-day rappers and producers have begun to embrace the use of psilocybin and LSD, the mind-altering effects are starting to bleed into the music. But for the same reason that shrooms are being legalized for therapeutic purposes, these drugs, if taken in the right doses and circumstances, can inspire deep reflection and serious psychological growth. Not that BROCKHAMPTON needed any help to gaze inwardly. This Texas crew opt for introspection over braggadocio and thoughtfulness over arrogance. But the tone of their sixth full-length and the subject matter wi...
DMX’s Woodstock ’99 Performance Was Nothing Short of Legendary: Watch
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T20:24:06+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 4:24pm ET You’d be hard-pressed to find a more momentous concert video than DMX’s performance at Woodstock ’99. The 50-year-old rap veteran was sadly pronounced dead earlier today after spending a week in the hospital from a drug-induced heart attack, but thousands of his fans have memorialized his name by sharing clips from the 1999 set on social media. It’s how he deserves to be remembered. Woodstock ’99 was by nearly every metric a disaster (the heat was brutal, the food and water were dangerously overpriced, the crowds were unmanageably large, and there were numerous reported sexual assaults), but DMX’s 45-minute set felt like a beam of heav...
New DMX Track “X Moves” Features Bootsy Collins, Steve Howe, and Ian Paice: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T13:54:28+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 9:54am ET As of Thursday evening, DMX is still on life support and in a vegetative state after suffering a heart attack last Friday. In a curious move, Cleopatra Records thought now was the optimal time to release a new track from the rapper called “X Moves”. The track is a rap-rock banger that happens to feature three legendary performers: Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, and Yes/Asia guitarist Steve Howe. All three of those rock icons contribute to the track’s psychedelic bounce and Collins even hops on the beat for a few bars. It’s messy in a fun way, and it’s yet another reminder of the b...
BROCKHAMPTON Return with New Album ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T03:28:06+00:00“>April 8, 2021 | 11:28pm ET BROCKHAMPTON are back with their new album, ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE. The 13-track effort features a score of feature appearances, and you can stream the entire thing below via Apple Music and Spotify. ROADRUNNER comes almost two years after 2019’s GINGER — a significant gap for the Los Angeles crew that released three volumes of SATURATION in 2017 and dropped the incredible iridescence a year later. Collective leader Kevin Abstract tweeted that this would be the first of two BROCKHAMPTON LPs for 2021, and that they would be the group’s last. However, similar statements were made around SATURATION III, so perhaps we shouldn’...
Late ASAP Mob Affiliate Chynna’s New Song “burnout” Posthumously Released: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-08T21:58:17+00:00“>April 8, 2021 | 5:58pm ET Late ASAP Mob affiliate Chynna is being honored in New York City today on the one-year anniversary of her tragic death at 25 from a drug overdose. A new posthumous song titled “burnout” has been released to mark the occasion. “burnout” is produced by Brooklyn producer and Pro Era member Kirk Knight. Featuring a dark, murky beat, Chynna shows off her swagger with lyrics like, “700 n-ggas getting in, it’s a turnout/ Every other n-gga couldn’t win, better learn how/ Only giving passage to my friends and my birds now.” Chynna Rogers was discovered as a teenager by late ASAP Mob co-founder ASAP Yams. Some of her early breakout songs include...
clipping. Perform Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-08T19:59:05+00:00“>April 8, 2021 | 3:59pm ET The experimental rap trio clipping. have shared their “(Home)” version of NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series, and they really took the “tiny” aspect to its most extreme point. In a typical, non-pandemic-times Tiny Desk concert, the guest artist performs an intimate set while stuffed behind desks in NPR’s actual office workspace. Throughout the coronavirus, NPR has kept the Tiny Desk institution alive by having musicians send in pre-recorded sets from their homes or studios, but clipping. decided to switch up that now-predictable format. For their contribution to the Tiny Desk Meets SXSW series, the group — rapper Daveed Diggs and...
Tkay Maidza Unleashes New Song “Syrup”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-07T21:08:42+00:00“>April 7, 2021 | 5:08pm ET Buzzing Australian rapper Tkay Maidza has shared a new song titled “Syrup”. Stream it below. Produced by Maidza’s frequent collaborator Dan Farber, the beat is reminiscent of 2000s era Missy Elliott and Timbaland, giving the Zimbabwe-born artist a thumping palette over which to deliver energetic rhymes. You can tell she had fun recording the song, thanks to lyrics like, “Homie wants the best, but he can’t pay my rate, yuh/ Small body Hilfiger on the dater/ Small money thinker, I’m a navigator/ And that’s the tea, Arizona.” “Syrup” follows February’s “Kim”, Maidza’s bouncy collaboration with rising Georgia rapper Yung Baby Tate. In Marc...
Topaz Jones Unveils Album Release Date, Shares “D.I.A.L.”: Stream
Back in February, Topaz Jones announced that his sophomore album was on the horizon by dropping a single called “Herringbone”. Now, the rapper has officially unveiled the record’s release date alongside another preview track called “D.I.A.L.”. Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma is due to arrive in the world on April 23rd. It’s the New Jersey artist’s sophomore album, following his widely-regarded 2016 debut Arcade. Like many artists these days, Jones is choosing to keep many of the record’s details (tracklist, artwork, potential guest features, etc.) under wraps until we get closer to its street date, but at least he’s giving us a taste of what it’ll sound like. Whereas “Herringbone” saw Jones channeling College Dropout-era Kanye over a luscious jazz-rap instrumental, “D.I.A.L.” feels m...
DMX in “Vegetative State” Following Drug Overdose and Heart Attack
DMX is in a “vegetative state” having suffered “lung and brain failure,” according to his former manager, Nakia Walker. Walker told Buzzfeed News that DMX’s condition has not improved since he was initially hospitalized on Friday following a drug overdose and heart attack. “We’re just praying and waiting,” Walker said. “Praying and waiting.” The 50-year-old rapper is currently in the ICU at a hospital in White Plains, New York. His family will host a prayer vigil outside of the hospital on Monday evening at 5:00 pm local time. DMX is best known for his platinum-selling albums It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot and … And Then There Was X, which contained signature hits like “Get at Me Dog”, “What’s My Name?”, and “Party Up (Up in Here)”. He also appeared in feature films like Bel...
Song of the Week: Indianapolis Hip-Hop Trio 81355 Bury the Past in Hope of a Better Future on “Capstone”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, hip-hop trio 81355 return with the second single off their upcoming, full-length debut. If there’s any initial impression to be gathered from hip-hop trio 81355, comprised of three staples of the Indianapolis music scene (Sirius Blvck, Oreo Jones, and Sedcairn Archives), it’s that great music can come from anywhere. It’s commonplace to see artists emerging from the expected staples — Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Nashville — and, so often, it’s harder to find gems like 81355. This collaborative effort has alre...
