Source: @PhotosByBeanz / @PhotosByBeanz
Offset — Father of 4
Offset pops off as a solo star. Shortly after Quavo and Takeoff dropped their respective projects, the Migos MC delivers his first album as a soloist, Father of Four.
Kiari Kendrell Cephus gets introspective and personal throughout this effort, rapping about his struggles as a father. “Sorry I wasn’t there for all your birthdays,” he raps, regarding one of his sons, Jordan. Later, he speaks directly with his daughter Kalea.
“You’re my first daughter,” he raps. “I missed the first years of your life, I’m sorry / To tell the truth, I ain’t really know if I was your father / To tell the truth, I really don’t even know your mother / But I had to step up / My dad, he had left us / Even though we gotta catch up / Pray to God that he bless us.”
Offset discussed the album’s title on Twitter shortly before the LP arrived. “I want them to understand [their] dad for the good and the bad,” he explained.” The decisions I made was to feed I’m not a perfect FATHER BUT I AM A FATHER OF 4!”
Several stars join Offset on this effort, including his the mother of one of his children, Cardi B. J. Cole, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Quavo, Gucci Mane, Gunna, CeeLo Green, and Big Rube are also among the album’s other guests. Metro Boomin, Dre Moon, Cubeatz, So Icey Boyz, Allen Ritter, and Southside lend production.
Get to know the Father of 4 below.
Kehlani — While We Wait
The wait is over. A couple of years removed from SweetSexySavage, Kehlani returns with a brand new mixtape, While We Wait. Fittingly, the project arrives as Lani awaits the birth of her first child, Adeya Nomi.
While We Wait features some high profile guests, including Ty Dolla $ign, 6LACK, Musiq Soulchild, and Dom Kennedy over the course of eight tracks. DANNYBOYSTYLES and Nolan Lambroza are among the project’s producers.
Kehlani explained why this effort stands out in her discography. “This my favorite project i ever made,” she tweeted. “Pardon me if im geeked up.” She added: “this feedback, all this love, i’m so happy and full and jussssst grateful. thank you. so much.”
Up next, Kehlani is working on an LP about her family. “My next official album-album is a story,” she recently told Beats 1. “I’m telling stories I’ve never told. It’s my parents’ story.” She went on to say that it was now vital to share her parents’ journey with her daughter “so she knows where she comes from.”
Wait on it with While We Wait below.
Gunna — Drip or Drown 2
Gunna keeps swimming. Just months after Drip Harder, a collaborative album with Lil Baby, the Drip Season rapper unleashes his heavily-anticipated new album as a solo artist, Drip or Drown 2.
Two years removed from the original Drip or Drown, Gunna partners up with some heavy hitters. Lil Baby, Young Thug, and Playboi Carti all swim along as frequent collaborator Turbo mans the bulk of the production.
Gunna recently told Beats 1 that he wanted to keep his features to a minimum on DOD2. “You can expect a lot more of me and less features,” he explained. “A lot of my new fans just know me from [Travis Scott’s] ‘Yosemite’ and Drip Harder and some of my recent activities…But on this album, it’s gonna…let them know what kind of artist I am.”
The Georgia rhymer explains parts of his upbringing and personality throughout the effort. “I’m out the hood, but I’m still a hood baby,” he raps on “Out the Hood.” “Still going crazy / Made these labels pay me / Bought a new Mercedes / I come from where it gets crazy / Chasing this paper daily / Fuck these niggas who hate me.”
Swim with Gunna below.
Lil Pump — Harverd Dropout
Lil Pump didn’t actually attend Harvard as a student, but he is a Harverd Dropout. The burgeoning “Gucci Gang” rapper keeps his buzz going with a highly-anticipated star-studded new LP.
College Dropout Kanye West appears on the previously-released hit single “I Love It.” Aside from Yeezy, Pump also accepted Smokepurpp, Offset, Quavo, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne, YG, and 2 Chainz into Harverd. Diablo, DJ Clark Kent, Christopher Barnett, Diamond Pistols, and others laced the beats.
The release came with some controversy. Just hours before unveiling his new album, Lil Pump was arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct at an airport in Miami, according to TMZ. Pump posted body cam footage of the arrest. “THIS RACIST SHIT NEEDA STOP,” he captioned the video clip. “LAWSUIT ON DA WAY.”
Learn more about Lil Pump, the Harverd Dropout, below.
Eminem — The Slim Shady LP [Expanded Edition]
Eminem expands. Twenty years after exploding onto the music scene with his major label debut, The Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers celebrates the occasion with a brand new expanded edition, according to Rap Radar.
The expansion comes in the form of ten tracks, available now across streaming platforms. This includes rarities, b-sides, and old freestyles like “Hazardous Youth,” “Get You Mad,” “Bad Guys Always Die,” and “Greg.”
“I grew up in a wild hood as a hazardous youth with a fucked up childhood that I use as an excuse,” he raps on the fan favorite, “Hazardous Youth.” “And ain’t shit changed / I kept the same mind state / Since the third time that I failed ninth grade.”
Among those ten tracks are also instrumentals, a capellas, and/or radio versions of album standouts like “My Name Is,” “Just Don’t Give a Fuck,” “and “Guilty Conscience.”
“Besides rap, I was destined to be nothing,” he told MTV at the time of this album’s release through Dr. Dre’s Aftermath imprint and Interscope. “I feel like Dre saved my life. I knew that coming out on a worldwide scale and being produced by Dre, the world has now heard of me.”
Go back in time with Slim Shady below.
