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The Weeknd & Ariana Grande — “Die For You (Remix)”
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande are stars in their own right, but the two have already proven that they’re a musical force as a duo as well. Following a few other past collaborations, the crooning pair is back at it with “Die For You (Remix).”
Coming through behind Abel Tesfaye’s first verse, Grande adds her own flavor to the mix. “I’m finding ways to stay concentrated on what I’ve got to do,” she sings. “But baby boy, it’s so hard with you…and yes, I’m blaming you.”
Grande teased the revamped “Die For You” on social media. “Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14-hour day on set,” she captioned an in-studio video of herself. “This certain exception had to be made.”
The Canadian superstar produced the original alongside Cirkut, Doc McKinney, Cashmere Cat, and Prince 85. It’s part of The Weeknd’s 2016 album Starboy.
Previously, Abel and Ari also teamed up on “Love Me Harder,” “Save Your Tears (Remix),” and “off the table.” Grande spoke about their collaborative chemistry on the latter cut during an interview with Zach Sang. “It was a very intimate moment and writing process between two friends,” she explained.
Lil Wayne — “Kant Nobody”
Lil Wayne pays tribute to the late DMX with the release of his newest single, “Kant Nobody.” The Swizz Beatz and Avenue-produced track is a nod and a tip of the hat to Dark Man X’s “N——z Done Started Something” classic.
The new track explores suppressed emotions and more. “Sometimes I smile to hide the miles of my road travelled / Shake my hand, it feel like you just touched a stove handle,” Weezy raps on the track. “Swizzy gave me a head-banger, a neck-snapper / All I need is a beat with a DMX sample.”
“N——z Done Started Something” came out as part of 1998’s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. The original also features The Lox and Ma$e.
Looking forward, Wayne says he plans to release Carter VI. “I never even imagined [it],” he told Apple Music, as per HNHH. “That didn’t even sound right years ago. I can’t believe we’re at Carter VI. My fans know I give my all. Go listen to my last feature and know it’s gonna be a thousand times better than that.”
Quavo — “Greatness”
Quavo keeps celebrating the late Takeoff’s life with “Greatness.” Much like the Migos rapper’s recently-released “Without You” single, the new track honors his nephew’s past while shedding light on his own present and future.
First up on the Al Geno-produced cut, Huncho reflects on his pain. “I’d give away all this just to see my dawg just one more time,” he explains on the track. “Look up at the lights one time / Hit the stage, rock the mic one time.”
Next, he seemingly closes the curtains on a Migos reunion with Offset following a perceived fallout. “Don’t ask about the group, he gone, we gone,” he affirms referring to Takeoff. “It can’t come back.”
In light of that, Quavo reveals uncertainty about his own path onward. “Trying to move forward but I don’t got all the answers,” he admits. “I know I can’t look backwards, that’s dangerous.”
Takeoff tragically died in a Houston shooting that reportedly took place last year. He was 28.
Yeat — AftërLyfe
Yeat has made a name for himself through a cloud of mystery. After generating quite an online buzz, the elusive California rapper has garnered more than 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. Now, he unleashes his newest project, AftërLyfe.
“Riding with my demons, I can’t take nothing back,” he says on the opening song, “No morë talk.” As the album continues, Yeat gets production assistance from the likes of BNYX, Prod Pink, Bugz Ronin, Dulio, and Lukovic, among others.
Beyond production, the masked artist has said that he typically works alone. “I record myself in my house, in my own studio,” he told Complex last year. “I don’t like going to studios and having someone else record me. So I mix and engineer everything myself.”
Despite this lonesome persona, Yeat tapped in with a series of artists for this project. The guest list includes YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Kranky Kranky and Luh geeky over the course of 22 tracks.
Logic — College Park
Logic goes back to the future on his newest album, College Park. The 17-song project is based on Young Sinatra’s early days in the rap game, dreaming about the start of his music career.
“On a beautiful autumn day in 2011, Logic and his best friends drive through the slums of College Park in a Chevy Impala around the streets of Prince George’s County,” the narrator explains. “[They’re] cruising through an unknown universe, beginning a journey that would inevitably alter the course of not only their own, but the lives of millions of people around the world.”
Logic also taps RZA, Redman, Joey Bada$$, and Bun B, among others. He also nabbed non-rappers for the project as featured guests, including Seth MacFarlane, Norah Jones, and Statik Selektah. Meanwhile, 6ix produced the bulk of the album, as usual, but this time, he’s joined by Boi 1da, Jahaan Sweet, Keanu Beats, and Logic himself.
This album, he says, is part of a new era. “I’ve been having fun,” he told Sirius XM. “Now — not to sound a way but — that I’m off Def Jam, I just have this sense of true freedom being independent. Now that I’m older, at 33, as a father and as a married man, my priorities and what I care about have shifted so much where, in many ways, music is almost like a side hustle now…So now, I don’t overthink anything.”
