Rap
Kanye West Grossly Inflated His Net Worth
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 and Harry Fraud Unveil New Album The Plugs I Met 2: Stream
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...
Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin Release New Collaborative EP $mokebreak: Stream
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...
DijahSB Goes Into “Overtime” on New Single: Stream
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...
Saba Drops New Songs “Ziplock” and “Rich Don’t Stop” : Stream
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 Unleashes New Song “Gold Gloves”: Stream
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,...
Kanye West is Now Worth $6.6 Billion
Well, he’s definitely got his money right. Lord. According to Bloomberg, Kanye West is now worth a whopping $6.6 billion dollars. It was around this time last year that the rap superstar finally cracked the nine-figure threshold and became a certified billionaire. Now, after a terrific sales year for his sneaker and apparel brand Yeezy, and the closing of a new Yeezy partnership with Gap, the recent divorcee has seen his wealth skyrocket roughly 500%. Like all net worth estimations, some of this is based on fickle market speculation. However, Yeezy’s high-profile deals with Adidas and Gap have launched its value into the neighborhood of $3.2 to $4.7 billion. Since West remains the sole owner of the company, that money can be attributed to his personal net worth, which also includes another...
Paris Texas Share New Song “Situations”: Stream
Last month, the South Central rap duo Paris Texas released their first ever song, a metal-tinged banger fittingly titled “Heavy Metal”. The track quickly picked up some considerable blog buzz, and now they’re back with a much different-sounding loosie called “Situations”. There’s not a whole lot of info out there about the LA pair, but we do know that their names are Louie Pastel and Felix, and it seems unlikely that this is their first entry into the world of music. “Heavy Metal” featured pounding guitar chords that stopped and started with the choppy suspense of a horror film, but “Situations” is a completely different vibe. The track is piece of funky, warped club rap that sounds a lot more like Outkast than Death Grips. The vocals slip and slide over its tubular groov while gurgli...
Drake is First Artist to Debut Three Songs in Top 3 of Billboard Hot 100 Simultaneously
Drake has set yet another record on the Billboard charts, as each of the three songs from his latest EP, Scary Hours 2, entered the Hot 100 in the Top 3. As Billboard reports, “What’s Next” debuted at No. 1, followed by “Wants and Needs” featuring Lil Baby and the Rick Ross-assisted “Lemon Pepper Freestyle”. “What’s Next” becomes Drake’s eighth No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, and he now has a record-extending 45 Top 10 songs. He joins The Beatles and Ariana Grande as the only artists to simultaneously claim the Top 3 spots on the Hot 100 (though neither The Beatles nor Grande did it in their respective songs’ first week of release). Drake’s previous No. 1 hits include his Rihanna collaborations “What’s My Name?” and “Work”, as well as “One Dance”, “God’s Plan”, “Nice for What”, “In My Feelings”,...
Grammys 2021: Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B Perform “WAP” Live for First Time
The 2021 Grammys were one of the smoothest award ceremonies in recent memories, and the proceedings never felt more well-lubricated than when Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion performed their smash hit “WAP” live for the first time. That climactic moment didn’t come without foreplay. The song was preceded by a medley of other songs, beginning with Megan, the newly minted Best New Artist, who turned up the heat with the Good News track “Body”. Dressed in Las Vegas showgirl glamour, she segued into “Savage”, which would go on to win the award for Best Rap Performance only a few minutes later. While Beyoncé herself didn’t join the stage, her voice was heard through the speakers, and Megan used that moment to bust into a dance break. From there, the focus shifted to another side o...
AI Robot Rapper FN Meka Releases New Single “Speed Demon”
From Bot Dylan to digital film curators, there’s a whole wide world of AI robots out there slowly encroaching on human skills, and FN Meka is the latest to join the bunch. The bot, who’s credited as being the world’s first AI-powered robot rapper, just released a new single called “Speed Demon” that’s already making waves on TikTok. According to a press release, FN Meka is powered by Vydia, a distributor that provides a platform for his label, “which lives in a dimension somewhere between the human world and the virtual world, empowering not only these unique creators, but the teams behind them.” Together, they’ve released a handful of singles like “Moonwalkin” and “Internet” in addition to this new track. What’s a robot rapper sound like exactly? Well, “Speed Demon” isn’t all that inventi...
Song of the Week: Lucy Dacus Delivers a Wrenching Ballad with “Thumbs”
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, Lucy Dacus delivered a wrenching ballad that left all of us speechless. Some songs end and sit in the pit of your stomach for the rest of the day, so visceral and affecting that they can’t be shaken. Lucy Dacus’ raw, devastating new release, “Thumbs”, is such a song, offering a gothic revenge fantasy that lingers long after the four and a half minutes have passed. Extremely minimal in production, “Thumbs” is also nearly formless, unfolding more like a whispered secret, twilight confession, or piece of local mythos than traditional...
