The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Nas, GloRilla, and more.
The year-end slowdown is upon us, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no new music coming out — merely that the flood has become a much more manageable stream. Indie artists would be wise to take the advice of Audio Mack’s Brian Zisook, who pointed out ” this represents a great window to land editorial with less competition.” Meanwhile, a few artists who offered new music this week include Slowthai, Channel Tres, Stormzy, DDG, and the artists named below.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending November 11, 2022.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
David Sabastian & DJ Drama — Gansta Grillz: God Save The Rave
David Sabastian has been kicking around the LA underground fashion scene for some time, but it seems he’s been pursuing rap in earnest recently, signing with Warner Records and releasing a handful of singles. This week, like labelmate Symba, he teams up with DJ Drama for a Gangsta Grillz installment that shows just how seriously he’s taking his music.
GloRilla — Anyways, Life’s Great…
Talk about a breakout year; Glo’s hit single “FNF” was a fan favorite, but its follow-up, “Tomorrow 2” with Cardi B, took all that forward momentum and supercharged it. Now, the bundle of lovable ratchet energy releases her first major-label collection of songs, packaging her stellar hits with a handful of new songs, with features from her new label boss, Yo Gotti.
Nas & Hit-Boy — King’s Disease III
I’d say Nas and Hit-Boy scored a hat trick with this one, but given they split their KD trilogy with Magic last year, the most appropriate sports analogy might be the relatively rare four-point play. Consider this one the made free throw, putting the puncuation mark on an incredible feat. To sweeten the deal, Nas goes solo eschewing contemporary features to prove he can finish just as strong.
Yung Bleu — Tantra
Yung Bleu still lands firmly in the “hip-hop new releases” categories on DSPs despite his love for gentle melodies and emotive subject matter, so we’ll keep him here until further notice (DRAM, unfortunately, has gone full neo-soul on me, meaning I have to let Wongo have that one this week). Notable features on this one include Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Ty Dolla Sign, and Zayn Malik(!!).
Singles/Videos
38 Spesh X Harry Fraud — “Band Of Brothers” Feat. Benny The Butcher & Ransom
38 Spesh and Harry Fraud are two of underground rap’s go-to producers for soulful, nostalgic beats, so seeing them team up is exciting enough on its own, but doubly so when you realize who all they’re probably bringing along. Obviously, pairing the polysyllabic flows of Benny and Ransom is an appetizing teaser of what guests like Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, Conway The Machine, and Stove God Cooks will bring to Beyond Belief next week.
BabyTron — “AirTron”
Coming from BT’s Bin Reaper 3: Old Testament last week, “AirTron” nabs a sample of the Kurtis Blow classic “Basketball” to backdrop the Michigan rapper’s herky-jerky NBA punchlines. A sports fan’s dream come true.
Dusty Locane — “Rolando 2 (Catch The Rain)”
For the life of me, I can’t figure out why this Brooklyn drill stalwart hasn’t caught fire yet. I can only assume that it’s because the genre as a whole has gotten so crowded it’s hard to cut through the noise. Between his distinctive voice and consistent work ethic, it really should only be a matter of time.
G Herbo — “It’s Something In Me”
Lil Herb’s new album Survivor’s Remorse weirdly flew under the radar last week, but that isn’t stopping him from supporting it like a top-ten hit. “It’s Something In Me” is a prime example of the Chicago vet’s rugged but tortured perspective and the cavernous instrumental supports some of his most engaging bar work from the project.
Gucci Mane — ” Sh*t Crazy Remix” Feat. BIG30, Sett & Mac Critter
Gucci shares the spotlight with his Icy Gang here, letting the youngsters shine while remaining his usual consistent self.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
