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Normani — Dopamine
Normani has been crafting her debut solo album for quite some time. Fifth Harmony, the group she came into the industry with, disbanded in 2018 and fans have been clamoring for the project since then. Now, after a series of singles and false starts, the singer-songwriter finally unveils her highly anticipated Dopamine LP.
Cardi B appears on the smash hit “Wild Side” and Gunna also shows up on the previously-released single “1:59.” Elsewhere, James Blake pops up on “Tantrums” and Starrah on “Big Boy.” Meanwhile, Tommy Brown, HARV, Stargate, and James Blake are among the LP’s producers.
“[This album] is me finally stepping into who I’ve been called to be,” she recently told Billboard. “There has been so much adversity, so many roadblocks, just in the process of putting this body of work out, you have no idea. I can probably write a book…This is me owning who I am and me being able to recognize that I’ve been enough this whole time…and me being the hit, me being the dopamine.”
During the interview, Normani also talked about the album’s delays. “I know that it’s been such an extensive journey and process,” she explained. “But the wait, for sure, is gonna be worth it.”
Don Toliver — Hardstone Psycho
Don Toliver hops on a motorcycle and revs things up with the release of his newest album, Hardstone Psycho. The new project features 16 songs divided into 4 different “discs.” Each one rolls on with some familiar faces.
Cash Cobain and Charlie Wilson, for example, show up on the previously-released “Attitude.” Elsewhere, Kodak Black (“Brother Stone”), Teezo Touchdown (“Backstreets”), Future and Metro Boomin (“Purple Rain”) all lend their voices to this project. Travis Scott also appears on two different tracks (“Ice Age” and “Inside”).
Don stands in front of a chopper on the album’s artwork and he recently said his biker gear is an extension of his everyday life. “Lately, I’ve been in a hardcore phase of my life,” he told Hot 97. “I’ve been heavy on my Harley, on my chopper…It’s just keeping that with me.”
NxWorries — Why Lawd?
NxWorries — the acclaimed duo of Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge — are back with a new album as part of an ongoing collaborative series. This project follows 2016’s Yes Lawd! and its 2017 follow-up remix album.
The duo deliver plenty on their own, but they don’t show up alone. In fact, Thundercat (“KeepHer”), H.E.R. (“Where I Go”), Snoop Dogg (“FromHere”), Charlie Wilson (“NVR.RMX”), and Earl Sweatshirt (“WalKOnBy”) all lend their vocals throughout.
Anderson called this “eight years in the making” on social media. “Thank you for your patience, love, and support through these trying times,” he added. “After 8 years my brother Knxwledge and I have completed our second album…All I ask is that you listen to it in its proper order.”
LL Cool J f. Rick Ross & Fat Joe — “Saturday Night Special”
LL Cool J, one of rap’s most influential voices of the 1980s and 1990s, hasn’t released a new album since 2013. He hasn’t had to, it seems. Instead, the former Def Jam star has been firmly entrenched in Hollywood, filming shows like Hawaii Five-0, NCIS, and Lip Sync Battle during that musical hiatus. Today, he returns and continues his rap legacy with “Saturday Night Special.”
LL’s return also comes with some familiar faces as Rick Ross and Fat Joe join the “I Need Love” star on this Q-Tip-produced banger. “So many different hustlers you meet in the game,” Cool J raps on the cut. “Sh-t is cold, don’t put your trust in ’em, let me explain.”
Rozay, fresh from his Drake feud, pops up in the second verse. “Million on the wrist, quick to skip a battle rap,” he rhymes on the track. “Corvette club, wavin’ Maybach flags / Hundred for yachts, jumpin’ waves, runnin’ laps.” Later, Joe adds: “I brought the purses to the Verzuz / Been bodying, big boy hearses.”
The trio also appear in the song’s black and white music video. The Jake The Shooter-directed clip features a minimalistic aesthetic and a Mercedes-Maybach. LL announced the single shortly before the video dropped and said a new LP will be coming this fall.
