This week in hip hop, we got new projects from Tee Grizzley, Yungeen Ace, and more, plus new singles from Black Star, KeiyaA, Kay Flock/Cardi B, 26AR, Lizzo, Theo Croker/Kassa Overall, Trina/Latto, Big Jade, Ransom/The Game, Plato III, and more. Read on for all the rap and R&B we posted this week...
BLACK STAR - "MINERAL MOUNTAIN" FT BLACK THOUGHT (PROD MADLIB)
Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli's first Black Star album since 1998 is out May 3
and they just released the first single.
--
KEIYAA - "CAMILLE'S DAUGHTER"
KeiyaA has released her first new song since her great 2020 debut album Forever, Ya Girl, which will appear on the Touching Bass presents Soon Come compilation, due July 1 via Touching Bass. It picks up where the lo-fi R&B/soul of her debut LP left off, but a little cleaner and a little more psychedelic, and it's great stuff.
--
KAY FLOCK - "SHAKE IT" (ft. CARDI B, DOUGIE B & BORY300)
Kay Flock dropped a new Bronx drill posse cut and one member of the posse is none other than Cardi B, who spits one of her hardest verses in years on this track.
--
26AR - "CAN'T SLIP"
More New York drill: Brooklyn's 26AR has signed to Def Jam and dropped this instantly-satisfying new anthem.
--
LIZZO - "ABOUT DAMN TIME"
Lizzo has announced a new album, Special, and you can read more about new single "About Damn Time" here.
--
THEO CROKER - "JAZZ IS DEAD" (ft. GARY BARTZ & KASSA OVERALL)
Theo Croker taps saxophonist Gary Bartz and rapper Kassa Overall for a genre-blurring jazz-rap song with the message that "using ‘Jazz’ as a label continues to displace the music and unfairly categorize the contributions of our LEGENDS. I would like to join THE MASTERS, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Donald Byrd, and Gary Bartz, to name a few, and dismiss 'Jazz' as a descriptor for the genre. The music must live on unchained, no longer marginalized from the community who continues the legacy of our ancestors."
--
TRINA & LATTO - "CLAP"
Latto is one of of rap's brightest new stars and Trina was one of the brightest stars of 2000s rap, and they sound great together on this new track.
--
JESHI - "PROTEIN" (ft. OBONGJAYAR)
UK rapper Jeshi will release his debut LP Universal Credit on May 27 via Because Music, and new single "Protein" features Nigerian Afropop great Obongjayar.
--
RASHARN POWELL & OJERIME - "PLAY 2"
UK R&B singers Rasharn Powell and Ojerime team up for this airy, syrupy jam.
--
BIG JADE - "EAT" (ft. Z-RO)
Rising Texas rapper Big Jade is back with a new single, "Eat," which finds her sounding equal parts hard and introspective with help from hometown veteran Z-Ro.
--
RANSOM - "CIRCUMSTANCES" (ft. THE GAME, prod. NICHOLAS CRAVEN)
New York rapper Ransom announced a new project, No Rest for the Wicked, due April 29, and the first single is a somber, sentimental, Nicholas Craven-produced track with a verse from West Coast vet The Game.
--
PLATO III - "SORRY IF I DISSED YOU"
Texas rapper Plato III has announced his first album for Polyvinyl, The Devil Has Texas, and new single "Sorry If I Dissed You" interpolates Modest Mouse's "Trailer Trash." Read more about it here.
--
CAM WALLACE - "THROW'D AS IT GETS" (REMIX ft. MAXO KREAM)
Houston rapper Cam Wallace has released a new remix of "Throw'd As It Gets" from his 2021 EP These Perfect Moments, and this one's got a newly-added verse from fellow Houston rapper Maxo Kream, whose charismatic verse is a nice foil to Cam's smoother delivery.
--
DUKE DEUCE - "RUNNING OUT OF LOVE" (ft. DANTE SMITH)
Crunk revivalist Duke Deuce gets his melodic side on with new single "Running Out of Love."
--
MALIIBU MIITCH - "LETTER TO MY EX"
Bronx rapper Maliibu Miitch tones it down for a new slow jam addressed to an ex.
--
BAS - [BUMP] PICK ME UP EP
Dreamville rapper Bas has dropped a four-song EP, with appearances by J. Cole, Gunna, Ari Lennox, Lil Tjay, and Galimatias. It finds him exploring a softer, more melodic side while we await his next album.
--
MALLRAT - "SURPRISE ME" FT. AZEALIA BANKS
"It's so true that the music you listen to when you're little really shapes you," Mallrat says. "Or at least it hangs out in your subconscious for a very long time. The first album I ever bought with my own money was Broke With Expensive Taste. Azealia Banks was truly the best to work with. It felt like she really cared, which you don't always get with feature artists; often, it can feel like they're fulfilling an obligation. Maybe I'm biased, but hers is one of the most iconic and memorable verses I've ever heard." The track is from her debut album, Butterfly Blue, due out May 13 via Nettwerk.
--
For even more new songs, browse our daily 'New Songs' lists. For more hip hop news, browse our 'Hip Hop News' category.
--