Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
Pusha T & Nigo — “Hear Me Clearly”
Hot off the commotion surrounding “Diet Coke,” Pusha T joins forces with Nigo for the new single, “Hear Me Clearly.” The new track was produced by BoogzDaBeast, Ye, Luca Starz, and ThaMyind.
King Push blasts off with boastful bars. “Extracurricular art buyer, 812 ‘Rari driver / Spent six just to make the roof Harry Potter,” he raps. “Kilogram Kickstarter / Push a brick harder / Left my elbow in the pot à la Vince Carter.”
Steven Victor, who also manages Push, spoke about Nigo’s forthcoming album during an interview with Complex. “It was just super organic how it all came about,” he said. “I think [Nigo’s] in his zone, where he’s going for everything right now…It’s just time, and music drives everything for him, so it makes sense that he’s in this particular space and making music.”
See the lyric video and hear the track below.
Labrinth & Zendaya — “I’m Tired”
Euphoria’s second season has found a dynamic audience while breaking records for HBO. Music has no doubt played a pivotal role in the much-discussed series’ success. This week, fans have been treated to new releases from the show, including Labrinth and Zendaya’s “I’m Tired.”
Zendaya celebrated the song’s release on Instagram Stories. “Thank you bro for allowing me to write, create and share space with you on this very special song,” she wrote in reference to Lab. “I learn so much from you every time we work. Excited for what’s to come.”
The two also co-wrote the series’ “Elliot’s Song,” which was performed by Dominic Fike. Lab talked about the collaborative process on “Enter Euphoria.”
“Me and Zendaya were actually sitting in each other’s spiritual energy and space, and we’re getting to inspire each other to make something fresh,” he said. “The cast are not just acting, they’re part of the music now…I think that makes it even more special.”
Listen to “I’m Tired” below.
RZA & DJ Scratch — Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater
Bobby Digital returns. This time around, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA links up with DJ Scratch for Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater, a seven-song album that delivers on the kung fu-inspired nostalgia its title represents.
“The album is a callback to when albums were thematically crafted like a good book and sequencing meant something, and it is intentional from start to finish,” reads the album’s press release.
The statement continues: “It is a tribute to those Saturday afternoons when kung fu movies aired on local tv channels, inspiring fantasy and imagination for a legion of young people.”
Stream Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater below.
Machine Gun Kelly feat. Lil Wayne — “ay!”
Lil Wayne keeps the high-profile features coming with yet another guest appearance. This time around, Tunechi joins Machine Gun Kelly for the latter’s latest single, “ay!”
MGK kicks off the track, which was produced by Travis Barker, BazeXX, and SlimXX. “I wrote a letter to myself in the form of a song I can play when the sun shines,” he sings on the track. “I know better than to trust anything that I say to myself when I’m this high.”
Weezy handles the second verse. “I just looked in the mirror, who is this guy?” Wayne asks. “It’s a full moon / Where the good shrooms?” Later, he adds: “Lean in my soda so I’ma need a shoulder / Why y’all got your noses up? I smell like guns and roses.”
This could be a glimpse into the kind of album MGK is crafting. “It feels more guitar-heavy for sure, lyrically it definitely goes deeper but I never like to do anything the same,” he told Billboard last year. “Every album is a juxtaposition of the last album.”
Listen to “ay!” Below.
DaBaby & YoungBoy Never Broke Again — BETTER THAN YOU
What happens when two of the game’s most prominent and oft-controversial rappers team up for a collaborative album? DaBaby and YoungBoy Never Broke Again showcase their answer to this question with a new joint project, Better Than You.
The 12-song album features production from a slew of beat makers, including Cardo, Cheese, Nash, Haze, and TnTXD, among others. It arrives while NBA YoungBoy is on house arrest awaiting trial on federal gun charges, according to Rolling Stone.
While YoungBoy manages strict conditions related to his release on bail, DaBaby has been promoting the album on a press run. During a recent conversation with SiriusXM, the Charlotte emcee explained how he views this offering.
“My description of this project is putting a tornado in a rollercoaster. Like a tornado strapped down in a seat with a little bar. We both just go at it cohesively,” he said. “We went back and forth and just built a project and came together with a hell of a body of work. Craziest collaboration.”
Listen to Better Than You below.
Joell Ortiz & KXNG Crooked — “Backstage”
In the wake of Slaughterhouse’s apparent demise, Joell Ortiz and KXNG Crooked return as a duo for closure in the form of their new joint single, “Backstage.”
Over sped up soulful vocals, Quick kicks things off. “Here’s a little something you didn’t know,” Ortiz explains. “We’d split the dough and after the tour was over, so was the show / No hangin’ out, no phone calls, just holiday texts / And e-mails from management on what’s probably up next.
He goes on to reveal more about the inner turmoil that caused the group to disband. Then, Crook follows up with his own “biblical” verse about the group’s quarrels. “I was trying to organize the last supper,” he reflects. “If Joseph is married to retirement, why we makin’ the fans suffer?”
This is the second single from the duo’s forthcoming album. The first was “Vacancy” and it also detailed Slaughterhouse’s fall. “They called us Voltron, where did we go wrong?” Joell asks on the track. “We ‘posed to did this shit for so long / Instead, it’s so long.” Crook added: “The fans deserve flowers, this is a bouquet.”
Listen to “Backstage” and watch the visual below.
