rolling punch-ins 2024

this is the rap thread

454 - "one in a million"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnfFw0xDNTk

sexyy red - "bow bow bow (f my baby mama)" (glomix) ft. chief keef
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK_UxRAX_h0

kp skywalka - "skino flow"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NbdIm3Qa6k

myaap & lil rb - "wham"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quGUE4tuBoo

havinmotion - "nobody know"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68zOdxGj7BI

ralfy the plug - "trophy" ft. itsmanman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Yqh-yQ254

catching up on late 2023 releases. new tape from starlito is typically excellent. he doesn't need to do much to make his style current. a couple tay keith beats here (a lighter, airier sound for him than usual), a couple nocap features there. the song with don trip is vintage. a couple highlights:

"1008" (prod. tay keith)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ebC59hyfoA

"put the gun down craig" ft. don trip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJy8MRw-oKM

G's Us (R.A.P. Ferreira and AJ Suede prod. by Steel Tipped Dove), highly recommended if yr into the Armand Hammer etc type stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0W6a-1gCic

apparently "frankie pulitzer," who has only appeared as a guest rapper on czarface songs, is the actor tom hardy

are we sure it's not "thee tom hardy," a rapper from the blog era?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ywoDoQLHM

the new rio song they dropped on new year's day is so fucking good, incredible rapping thru a jail phone, stepped out w/ a new flow. he's supposed to get out this year i cannot wait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA0TSM-iDRs

thanks for sharing i hadn't seen that. no one does it like him.

"movie" and "legendary" are two of the best rap songs of the decade from any region

new bruiser wolf, i love this guy. album coming tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFFLinTrv7U

kato sossa - "deja vu" (more bass) ft. dropp8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBpCAfLZGTw

tse e2 - "wock junkies" ft. tse vic & jay juice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpv-ULD8ZBk

New R.A.P. Ferreira sounds great

https://afrolab9000.bandcamp.com/album/the-first-fist-to-make-contact-when-we-dap

that Rio track is sick. one of my music goals this year is to keep up with this thread more.

still love anycia, but idk why she needs beats from jetsonmade. it's a tired sound that it felt like she'd be the antidote to. great latto verse, tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waQyrsQ1sVM

late pass from 2023 but AMAR by BigXthaPlug is fucking fantastic Texas shit, wow

amazing album

speaking of fantastic texas shit, the latest by that mexican ot crept into the lower reaches of the hot 100 last week (and it now sits exactly 1 spot ahead of bigx's "and the beat goes on"-sampling "mmhmm")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FSgekLujqE

ot just rules

chuck strangers + alchemist go well together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57aXv9Ai5E

funny video

los & nutty's latest is typically good, grimy street stories. my favorite was "the reason," which has a bay area bounce to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py5hcbYGK8w

oooh that beat is too smooth almost reminds me of classic warren g

Vic Spencer and Original Super Legend with the delightfully titled "Frog Nuts"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXgN8FDCvcM

been mostly lukewarm about tiacorine so far in her career, but her new project is by far the best i've heard from her. she's spittin! (i can take or leave the baby-voiced one, but sure, she can have a little carti apery as a treat)

"give no fuck"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3xWXCQQtD4

idk where to put this, but this made me very happy. "i look good" is a classic.

https://x.com/D3CHALIEBOY/status/1755318779204997409?s=20

Lil Yachty keeping it real on "A COLD SUNDAY"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cESPACytV4E

first viral rap hit of the year comes from florida's bossman dlow. it's a really good song, imo. dlow has a exaggerated drawl that hits the beat at odd angles. reductive comparison time: he reminds me of a southern e-40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmhAQJqOaIY

yeah i can hear a little e-40 know what you mean

digging this just some good ol nyc street raps (she's rome streetz sister)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oFhAF31lUw

the new Crimeapple/Preservation album is great, I love Preservation, I feel like it's a little more creative and not as stuck in the same rut as guys like Daringer or Conductor Williams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_aNOZh3suk

preservation is forever classic for his work on billy woods' aethiopes and ka's "i love (mimi, moms, kev)." and his "money in the wild" ft. tree.

and "i-78 / capillaries" ft. mach-hommy

yeah those are great, and the Dr. Yen Lo album

his comp album "Eastern Medicine, Western Illness" a few years ago was great

new daemoney *fire emoji*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gO-kkRE1g4

i like that!!

maxo kream mourns his dad, who inspired his 2019 album brandon banks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyXAz5Wh_oE

heartbreaking song. lives in a similar sonic space as the new (really good) schoolboy q album

loving the new raheim supreme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENwXzFquv6g

that's a great EP thanks for the heads up

Enjoying the production on Lafandar by Heems & Lapgan: throwback to the early 00s, orientalist, fun, dense enough and clear enough. Album is focused, just over 30 minutes. Rapping is on point.

aight time to run down the rap songs in the hot 100

4. ye & co - "carnival": beyond all the terrible nonsense kanye's been up to, this song just doesn't hit the beats it should. terrible rich the kid verse, a ham-fisted nod to a kanye era where only some people hated him instead of everyone, and a soccer hooligan chant stolen straight from "mo bamba." imagine this would sound terrible on the radio if anyone would play it. still, intrigued by carti's new style and need his album expeditiously.

5. jack harlow - "lovin on me": everything i like about the song comes from the sample, not harlow's tortured s&m puns. it's a really great sample, to be fair

7. 4batz - "act ii (date @ 8)" ft. drake: doesn't move me, don't quite understand why it's taken off the way it has. i thought we left this boring, gauzy rap-n-b back in the original ovo era. call it 2024hrs.

12. doja cat - "agora hills": i liked the 'scarlet' album more than most, and this was one of the highlights. the rap section kind of reminds me of kitty pryde? that def seems to be what she's going for in the video. the melodic parts are standard issue, jhene aiko-esque slow r&b.

22. 21 savage - "redrum": another great sample–was pleasantly surprised to see that london on the track produced this. the shining references are a little dated but it's surprising enough that so few people have used it as a concept for a song yet that i have to give it respect. 21's voice sounds good on the song, but the only line that stuck out to me was "i don't go through tsa to get on planes" lol

32. doja cat - "paint the town red": pasting what i wrote in the year end poll: "was surprised by how much i liked scarlet, but i haven't returned to it. i actually dig the "walk on by" sample, and the hook is sticky, tho i burned out on it after hearing it in a few thousand tiktoks"

34. flo milli - "never lose me": i love flo milli, and don't mind this song, but it makes me sad that this comparatively tame song was her breakout hit, instead of one of the ferocious mean girl anthems that marked her rise. still need to check out her new album.

41. glorilla - "yeah glo": my first full-throated endorsement so far. a true head-slammer, and a nice rebuke to the dummies who thought she was done after not scoring a "fnf"-sized hit in 2023. glo might have the single thickest memphis accent in the game today.

50. travis scott "fe!n" ft. playboi carti: it's not a song that deserves the "n****s in paris" run-it-back-10-times treatment that travis thinks it does. the chair-smashing grammys performance was embarrassing. decent song tho, love the squiggling synth arpeggios and a much better carti verse than "carnival."

59. nicki minaj - "everybody" ft. lil uzi vert: junior senior sample is incredibly grating, nicki's flow is awkward as fuck. she's fighting for her life on this thing.

61. jid - "surround sound" ft. 21 savage & baby tate: confused and somewhat impressed that this 2+ year old song is still charting. another reheated sample. jid's casual virtuosity has always been kinda boring to me. he can spit, but so what? lots of syllables, not much to say. the song gets better when the beat switches at the end–nearly all the memorable lines pop up during that closing verse (".40 on his side, boy you mike alstott").

62. 310babii - "soak city (do it)": the first real deal l.a. rap hit in a long time. of course, like a lot of l.a. rap, it sounds just like detroit, and no surprise, the guy who produced this was mainly known for songs by memey michigan rappers yuno miles and yn jay. he did good tho: the spritely piano riff is def the song's main hook. 310babii is a great story (current high school student in inglewood) but the dead-eyed sex raps don't "do it" for me (sorry).

i'll do the rest tomorrow

great rundown, thx!

The God is back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Q8kUccyXw

love when babytron raps over dance beats. this is kinda footwork-y?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQbGKWjUifc

i haven't been a huge fan of anycia's but i love the way her verse sounds over this beat & some fun lyrics too

https://soundcloud.com/anycia/up-lit-freestyle

that's one of my favorite babytron tracks in a while. nice to hear him let loose and not feel beholden to the "chemical calisthenics"-style gimmick raps

ok gonna hurry and finish before all the future x metro songs hit the chart next week

63. bossman dlow - "get in with me": another ringing endorsement here. i posted the song upthread a bit ago, and it's only grown on me since. every line is memorable, and his delivery is incredible: the way he phrases the first half of his bars like a question makes it even more satisfying when he lands the punchline. alphonse at pitchfork compared his rapping style to big tymers-era birdman, and while i think he's got more style than that, i hear it.

65. yeat - "breathe": yeat has a very particular set of skills (delivering drugged out gibberish in sticky melodic cadences over video game beats) and while it might've been a wise commercial decision to have him go full travis/yeezus on the new album, this doesn't have any of the spark he had when he started

66. drake - "you broke my heart": he made this song because he was sad that people didn't like his album. the verse is not bad as far as these things go, has a little of the old 'nothing was the same' energy, but the hook is one of his very worst

70. rich amiri - "one call": a slavish imitation of ds2-era future, "i serve the base" in particular. i like it tho, the hooks are fun to sing and there are a few of them.

71. nicki minaj - "ftcu": better than "everybody." nicki is much sleepier than she should be on here. sounds more like a gentle nudging of the club than any kind of fucking up

78. don toliver - "bandit": tame impala sample?? it's a good flip, makes it sound more like queen or a glam rock stomper than the warmed-over neo-psychedelia of the original song. i still prefer the don toliver of donny womack and heaven or hell, but i appreciate him trying to do something different here: he's more deliberate with his melodies, and instead, kinda raps his ass off.

80. bigxthaplug - "mmhmm": bandplay is one of my fav producers in the game and his whispers flip here is really interesting, keeping the double-time bassline from the original song but slowing the percussion down to half time. bigx has a voice that sounds pre-chopped n screwed, and he navigates the push-pull of the beat with panache. when he says "know i'm a stepper, i step with some elegance," it's easy to believe him.

84. cardi b - like what (freestyle): had a slight hope that this would be a freestyle over the beat from problem's "like whaaat," but no, it's a "she's a bitch" flip. this dropped pretty precipitously in the charts after a week, which makes sense–it's charming, but low stakes. doesn't feel like the kind of single that'll lead an album push (not like the album is ever coming, but i digress). here's a take: nicki should've rapped on this beat, and cardi should've rapped on "ftcu"

85. 21 savage, travis scott & metro boomin - "nee-nah": snooze

89. key glock - "let's go": real arena raps. this is on a way to becoming a sports stadium anthem, and deservedly so. will be kind of funny to hear the line, "i told her take plan b and stop playin'" through stadium speakers.

91. ¥$ - "burn": a decent ty dolla $ign song, tbh. ye is less unhinged than usual but he's still annoying ("i burnt 8 billion to take off my chains" - shut the fuck up man)

95. travis scott - "my eyes": interesting that the warmed-over blonde wannabe is the song on utopia with the longest tail so far. impersonal pseudo-confessions, irritating auto-tune warbles, beat switch that does not hit.

99. offset - "worth it" ft. travis scott: after coi leray scored a hit last year when someone mashed up her song with "put your hands where my eye can see," the seals & croft sample returns, this time for some pleasantly bland adult-contempo-rap. to be fair, it's probably what seals & croft would have wanted.

100. ¥$ - "fuk sumn": no.

i meant voice not verse wrt anycia

looking forward to the new Future/Kendrick song bringing a Rodney O & Joe Cooley renaissance in 2024

"verse" is how glorilla would say "voice"

new loe shimmy album is good as hell. for those who like their trap with a strong helping of croaky blues crooning

"pray for peace"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQOnJjVDorI

"dirty soda junkie" ft. veeze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDRfp8Ytbq0

the dmv crank sound has proven to be really malleable, supporting rappers of a lot of different styles. there's the hard-headed poetic street shit a la paco panama, kp skywalka's honking, offbeat situationships, etc. maryland producer sparkheem's 2023 album survivors guilt is a great listen, basically every dmv rapper with a little bit of motion is on there (and i'm just seeing he has a new mixtape out, nice)

paco panama - "contraband"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8_WVWpn00

kp skywalka - "main bitch" ft. eko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVtIC0j0mFE

sparkheem - "made a way" ft. lil gray; the first song i've heard from the new tape, it's good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9995IcrUqA

some good karrahbooo verses on the lil yachty/concrete boys tape

"not da 2" is my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7P5vaWbE7U

tisakorean - "ucci"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYgUQFmoQQk

have i posted "bad bitty" in here yet? it's one of my fav rap songs of the year. alphonse at pitchfork wrote an article about it today, but it's been percolating for a few weeks. feels like milwaukee's best chance at an actual mainstream rap hit, but it might need a remix to get it over the top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPLp6GUSwA

the Kendrick/Drake/Cole "beef" and the attendant online discourse is seriously the lamest shit I've ever seen, who gives a fuck either way

diss tracks/battle rap can be fun spectacle they're instant relics. very rare that a diss track has any type of cultural value beyond the beef in question

also "ether" is probably the most overrated song in rap history

presenting without comment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSca__bu0is

ether has always sucked, I have no idea why anyone thought it was better than takeover

ha ha yeah when I first heard it I was like, "Wow, Jay-Z rapped over the Doors and Nas has this cheap sounding beat" but apparently calling another rapper gay is what wins the battle.

but he calls jay z gay in so many creative ways like "Cock-a-Fella Records" do u see??

aged like milk

point of order: on "type beat" anycia says, "i fuck your n** to detroit-type beats," but it uses handclaps that should only be in a milwaukee-type beat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2HoXagzpAU

good song either way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWJYDPcBZoo

i love key!

was unfamiliar but saw him on Twitter, very engaging and fun stuff, summer vibes

i think this is the first song i ever heard from him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzDvokT2Gbw

that's great

now that you mention it, i saw a few people talking about him on twitter today. idk what it's about but glad he's getting some flowers

EssJay TheAfrocentricRachet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UYUkMXPE8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfAM99XQiV0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFfR3558YQs

thanks for this, really like "blick back"

sheff g is back like he never left:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNamx_PKkEM

xpost yeah really enjoying her stuff! honestly, i saw a small reference to her and with a name like TheAfrocentricRatchet I couldn't help but listen

unlikely collab i'm loving it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_AeErMrReQ

(w/03 Greedo)

yeah the mach album (out tomorrow) is something special

the makers of last year's best ny drill song ("bent") have returned with a totally different energy. good as hell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLn2SIj1CuA

oooh this mach-hommy album is great

montreal represent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoV43j6hCHQ

more chill mcvertt from earlier this year that i missed til now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzHil1F3Eqg

Love the two 41 + McVertt songs! They did two of my favorite hiphop albums last year, 41 World and the Bandmanrill/Sha Ek/McVertt album.

that mike shabb song is a journey

the new bigxtheplug crew tape is a lot of fun, with some audacious soul samples, following the trend set by his whispers-sampling hit "mmmhmm"

"meet the 6ixers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoYNYOSbOKg

"the finals"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWLrDP354DE

at the risk of coming off as a complete dilettante... is there a term for the relative looseness in recent flow styles? I realize it goes back some years, maybe even a decade, I hear it applied everywhere from Lil Yachty to KP Skywalka... a talkative off-beat vibe, off the clock

who started it?

Eric Sermon in 87 ?

Erick*

there's def something talk-y in his delivery, but rhytmically I'd say it's tight

DOOM is pretty loose on stuff like "Doomsday" but I'm looking for something... much looser

kp and the rest of the dmv crank rappers got their flow from goonew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uE-s2Nm57U

historically, e-40 claims to be the originator of the offbeat flow, tho he has claimed to be the originator of a lot of things (some probably true, others probably not). there’s a whole host of west coast rappers who grew up on him and suga free

flavor flav on cold lampin with flavor flav is definitely dragging the beat on purpose at times

but overall E40 feels right....also the Hot Boys/early Cash Money

Oh yes, Suga Free! Very impressive how he lands some of those lines

Thx for the Goonew info

I guess there's a lot of potential originators, as always with these things

i remember this feeling really strange and cool when i first heard it, really stopped me in my tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww9VlmXKYgs

It's still wonderfully weird to my ears - and very much what I was looking for

goonew himself got it from hoodrich pablo juan

whatever happened to him? is he locked up?

i have no idea

this is really engaging, nice jazzy Native Tongue vibes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFBdWHemLVE

this is so good, beat knocks and esp love rowdy racks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gt6ApIv15A

loving that Mexican flow (which I first heard from That Mexican OT but again have no clue where originated)

a bit heavy on the misogyny rowdy?

psyching myself for new RXK tomorrow listening to Slitherman Activated

digging IAMGAWD, beat kinda reminds of Operation Doomsday type beats, good ass rappity rappin

https://nxmedixcre.bandcamp.com/album/more-suede-bs25

41. glorilla - "yeah glo"

heard this in the car yesterday. love it