To keep the blog regularly updated with good rap recommendations, I’ll continue to re-post relevant articles from other publications. In addition, every week or so I’ll briefly write about a small handful of songs I’ve been listening to a lot recently. A lot of music will be recent (released within the last year), some of it will be brand new, and occasionally I’ll post throwbacks that I can’t get out of my head.
Here are my picks for this week:
1. NF - “Therapy Session”
Haunted by his mom’s death from pill addiction and other childhood trauma, NF’s raw emotion and spiritual journeys have fueled me lately. He’s a good guy, an angry guy, and a helluva rapper. Some of the music and hooks aren’t perfect (he sings a lot of his hooks too), but his rawness and the integrity of his lyricism really carry him a long way. Also very noteworthy: his two studio albums have been in the top 10 of the iTunes hip-hop charts for the past two years and have cracked the Billboard album charts without radio singles.
2. Profit Z - “Way We Live” feat. Azurah
Austinite and all-around cool guy Profit Z released a pair of songs in July, and I’ve been getting into “Way We Live.” It features a great sample of woodwinds to start it off, throwback boom bap drums with thick bass, and artist Azurah singing the hook - “it’s the way we live, Profit, it’s just how it is.” Z’s raps promote acceptance of a gritty reality that’s not ideal. But, that’s just how it is. He says, “it's sunny in my city and my mind is always raining” while he covers a storm of topics. Most of all, he’s trying not to slip up and get caught in the storms of others. Follow him on Soundcloud.
3. JoJo - “F*ck Apologies” feat. Wiz Khalifa
Yes - this is the teeny bopper famous for the #1 hit single “Leave (Get Out)” that was a hit when she was THIRTEEN. After her sophomore album at age 15, her record label folded and she was contractually unable to release any more albums until…last October. A friend of mine played “F*ck Apologies” featuring Wiz Khalifa and I’ve had it on repeat for a week. The first song from the album I really got into was “FAB” featuring Remy Ma. Can’t go wrong with Remy. JoJo’s attitude, diverse musical influences, and her persistence in the recording industry are on display in her new R&B/pop/rap tunes.
4. Hollyn - “Party in the Hills” w/Steven Malcolm & Andy Mineo
Another female pop/R&B singer, Hollyn is one of my favorite signees to Christian label Gotee Records. Not every song is free of religious CCM popspeak - but Gotee is doing a good job shaping this artist to have more universal, unifying pop appeal. Andy Mineo has been a successful crossover rap artist from Reach Records (Lecrae’s label), and he’s featured on “Party in the Hills” with Hollyn. Her debut full-length album just released a few days ago and this song is one of the highlights free of Christianese. It’s just a positive party jam. She’s been compared to Ariana Grande a lot and I think that’s a pretty accurate comparison.
Please leave a comment with your thoughts.