Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Consequence of Sound and Sony present The Opus, an exploration of legendary albums and their ongoing legacy. For Season 13, host Jill Hopkins (The Moth Chicago, Making Beyoncé podcast) will explore the Fugees’ second and final album, The Score. The Fugees were culturally unique in myriad ways. They were a trio comprised of one American-born Black woman and yet also two Haitian immigrants, who both took pride in their heritage. Naturally, this pride was weaved into the fabric of 1996’s The Score, and the album’s success meant that they were able to champion Haitian music in both America and abroad. In this episode, host Jill Hopkins speaks to the trio’s family, friends, and fans about Haiti’s effect on the Fugees and the...
Chicago rhymer Ric Wilson has unleashed pair of new singles titled “Woo Woo Woo” and “Everybody Red In The Face”. Stream both tracks below. The kinetic “Woo Woo Woo” arrives with a music video featuring dancers Tanya and Kid Nimbus. Running under two minutes long, the track features Wilson showing off a nimble flow. “From the land of gas station and Dunkin D’s,” he spits over the Melaniac-produced beat. “Chips and cheese / Grand Prix / Come roll with me.” “This song is just about me wanting to talk my shit sometimes and thinking less about how everyone receives and more about me expressing myself freely,” Wilson said about “Woo Woo Woo”. “Because sometimes you have to smile at yourself & frown at the world to keep from your own madness.” Wilson addresses social issues on the minute-lon...
Late Brooklyn drill rapper Pop Smoke has made history on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart with his posthumous album, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon. This week marks the project’s 20th week at No. 1, surpassing Eminem’s previous record of 19 weeks with Recovery. The Top Rap Albums chart first launched in 2004. Drake’s Take Care (16 weeks), Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (14 weeks), and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist (13 weeks) sit behind Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon and Recovery in the history books. Shoot for the Stars is the second-longest-running No. 1 album on the separate Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at 19 weeks, solely trailing MC Hammer’s 29-week reign with Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em in 1990. Pop Smoke was killed at age 20 during a home i...
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, Chicago rapper SABA returns with a double-single, his first new music of 2021. Chicago rapper SABA has returned this week with another set of double singles, “Ziplock” and “Rich Don’t Stop”, continuing the dual-drop format he established throughout 2020. “Ziplock” was produced by D. Phelps and Coop the Truth and marks the first new music from the emcee in 2021. (He can also be found on the soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah, appearing on “Plead The .45th” alongside Smino.) A recent press release st...
Earlier this week, a new report from Bloomberg insinuated that Kanye West’s net worth had skyrocketed to a whopping $6.6 billion. It turns out that those numbers were grossly inflated. According to Forbes, the figures we and numerous other publications reported on were based on West’s own speculative wealth, not the actual amount of money and assets he currently owns. As Forbes points out, the bulk of that $6.6 billion sum — which would make West the richest Black man in America — comes from a $4.8 billion valuation of his Yeezy company. A huge chunk of that figure is ascribed to the value of his Yeezy Gap partnership, but since the fashion collaboration has yet to launch or sell a single item of clothing, the assertion that it’s worth several billion dollars is en...
Benny the Butcher has linked up with producer Harry Fraud for the new album The Plugs I Met 2. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The Butcher has been cutting new albums left and right, recently dropping the Hit-Boy collab Burden of Proof and the soundtrack to the Griselda Records film Conflicted. That doesn’t even count Trust the Sopranos, the upcoming compilation LP he’ll be using to show off his Black Soprano Family roster. During this run he’s joined forces with all sorts of producers, but few have fit his strengths as naturally as Harry Fraud. Mr. Fraud broke out in 2009 as French Montana’s secret weapon, and in the intervening years he’s built a reputation as someone who can turn obscure samples into straight-up bangers. Benny and Harry pre...
Fresh off the release of their album Fly Siifu today, rising hip-hop stars Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin have released a new collaborative EP called $mokebreak. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. $mokebreak spans 10 tracks in total, all of which will be included on the deluxe edition of Fly Siifu. Throughout the EP, Anakin and Siifu take turns rapping over previously unheard production from Black Noi$e and Chuck Strangers in addition to original beats by Ohbliv, iiye, Graymatter, Ewonee, and Budgie. Apart from three songs, every single track on $mokebreak sees Siifu and Anakin linking up with another artist, including several heavy hitters. Chuck Strangers raps alongside them on “Oatmeal” while Peso Gordon and B. Cool-Aid jump into the fold for “Remote Relocation”. Elsewhere, the dup...
Rising Toronto rapper DijahSB is back with more new music that packs plenty of atmospheric style. Earlier this morning, they released “Overtime”, a slice of trip-hop funk featuring fellow Canadian artist Chris Castello. Stream it below. “Overtime” is an infectious, uptempo dance groove, especially compared to DijahSB’s previous single “By Myself”. Whereas that track was a more straightforward hip-hop number meant to showcase DijahSB’s freestyle skills, this new one is all about smooth choruses, slick rap verses, and finding the perfect casual-but-energetic balance between a shimmering synth loop and a funky bass line. Needless to say, DijahSB pulls it off perfectly. Considering DijahSB is behind some of the best new sounds of the year so far, we’re eager for the MC to drop their upcoming a...
Chicago rapper Saba is throwing deuces left and right. He’s dropped two separate double-singles since September, and now he’s back with a third set featuring the new songs “Ziplock” and “Rich Don’t Stop”. The 26-year-old MC has been busily writing guest verses and working with his Pivot Gang on releases like their 2019 album You Can’t Sit With Us, and so it’s hard to believe it’s already been three years since his last solo full-length Care for Me. But as the latest tracks demonstrate, his presence is as charming — and his flows as challenging — as ever. “Ziplock” comes with a beat by D.Phelps and Coop The Truth with Karim Hutton on bass and Justin Zim handling guitar. Saba layers his internal lines like a master chef layering lasagna. When he spits, “I come from the pa...
Open Mike Eagle has dropped a new song called “Gold Gloves”, which appears on Mello Music Group’s upcoming Bushido compilation album. Stream it below. The track is produced by Michigan producer The Lasso, who laces OME with a spacy beat and hypnotic bassline. “I brought a glitched-out Moog, a circling bassline, and a bag of plucky percussion, and did what we came to do,” The Lasso said in a statement. Meanwhile, Mike raps in a chanting flow. “Stretching out my arms, focusing my chi,” he raps. “Concentrating hard, can’t remember how / Swear I knew before.” “Gold Gloves” is the third preview of Bushido. Previously, Mello Music Group released Joell Ortiz, Namir Blade, Stalley & Solemn Brigham’s “Black Rock” and Oddisee’s “No Trouble”. Other featured artists include Quelle Chris,...