Drake and 21 Savage, Dusty Locane, Lecrae and More – New Hip-Hop Projects

With November in full effect, the rap game powers into the new month with some notable music releases. This time around, a global megastar joins forces with a revered Atlanta rhymer to drop their first joint album surrounded by a ton of buzz, a Brooklyn, N.Y. spitter drops a horror-themed project, a rap-crooner repping Houston balances between being righteous and ratchet on a new mixtape and more.

After mounting up major hype since the album's announcement late last month, Drake and 21 Savage unleashed their first joint project together, Her Loss. In a very effective promotional tactic, Champagne Papi and the Slaughter King dropped a bombshell on Saturday (Oct. 22) by announcing the surprise album right before 21 was about to start rapping in their new music video for "Jimmy Cooks."

Originally slated to drop on Oct. 28, the release of Her Loss ended up having to be pushed back a week due to some unforeseen circumstances. Less than two days before the project's unveiling, Drake announced that his famed producer-engineer, Noah "40" Shebib, tested positive for COVID-19, which put a damper on the mixing process.

While both Drizzy and 21 were exceptionally tight-lipped about the details surrounding the album leading up to its release, the collab between the two renowned rappers makes complete sense given the massive success of the last two songs the duo appeared on together. Most recently, 21 Savage joined Drake on his 2022 dance album, Honestly Nevermind, with "Jimmy Cooks," the LP's sole rap record which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Prior to that, the two came through in 2021 with one of the most well-received tracks on Drake's Certified Lover Boy album, "Knife Talk."

Her Loss marks the first full-length project between the two "Mr. Right Now" rappers, but neither Drake nor 21 Savage are strangers to dropping highly acclaimed collabs with other artists. In 2015, Drake and Future dropped the classic mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive, and in 2017, 21 joined forces with Offset and Metro Boomin to put out their Without Warning project.

Dusty Locane comes through with his second solo project of 2022 in the form of Nightmare on Da Fifth. Released on Oct. 31, just in time for Halloween, the aptly titled release finds the Brooklyn, N.Y. drill spitter utilizing his raspy yet booming voice through menacing bars over ominous bass-heavy beats that sound like the soundtrack to a hip-hop horror flick.

Led by singles "Pressure" and "Rolando 2 (Catch the Rain), the 15-track offering includes guest appearances from Dusty Locane's frequent collaborators like 3Kizzy and OMB Jay Dee, and sees production duties primarily handled by Kajun Waters.

Nightmare on Da Fifth follows the September release of Dusty's two previous EPs, Rollin N Controllin and Say Dat, a joint effort with Rah Swish, OnPointLikeOP and Ron Suno. The self-proclaimed Cryptkeeper of Canarsie accompanied his new project with the release of the visual for "Flu Gang," a fierce posse cut that serves as the intro for his new tape.

Exactly 10 years after the release of the first Church Clothes mixtape, Lecrae caps off the series with its final mixtape, Church Clothes 4. Led by two previously released singles, "Spread the Opps" and "Fear Not," the 13-track project focuses on Lecrae's blend of Christianity and hip-hop, which he has been revered for throughout his career.

In announcing the project's release date on Instagram back in October, the Houston rap-crooner explains his unique brand of hip-hop and what it means to him personally.

"The Church Clothes projects are special to me because they are the greatest representation of who I am," wrote Lecrae. "A kid raised in hip-hop culture who came to know Jesus. Both are a part of who I am. I’m what happens when Outkast meets the writings of Moses. We all have a lane God calls us to run in. Run your race as I run mine."

Check out new projects from Boldy James, Bishop Nehru and more below.