Happy belated 4/20 everyone.
To celebrate the occasion, rappers from all over dropped a handful of new projects this week. Most notably, Snoop Dogg released a new record titled From Tha Streets 2 Tha Suites, and Curren$y dropped a new NFT-exclusive EP to honor the holiday. For rap fanatics, today also bred some exciting new releases.
Moneybagg Yo returned today with A Gangsta’s Pain, and Lil Yachty surprised fans with the release of Michigan Boat Boy. The Weeknd and Ariana Grande also teamed up for a sleek new remix of the former’s hit “Save Your Tears,” and Flying Lotus dropped two new songs for the Netflix anime series Yasuke. Here are some of the other great releases that hit the shelves this week that you may have missed.
Welcome to Pap World
Melodic rapper Pap Chanel tackled a handful of classic hip-hop beats on her 4/20 release Welcome to Pap World. Harkening back to the mixtape era that found emcees merely spitting over classic beats to demonstrate the strength of their pens, Welcome to Pap World is nostalgic in that regard, as Pap spits over Clipse’s “Grindin’,” and Cardi B and Offset’s “Clout,” among others. Her 2020 release Pretty and Paid showed Pap’s knack for dominating the club, but Welcome to Pap World shows that in addition, she’s a lyrical force that should not be toyed with.
“Mile Zero” by Yelawolf and DJ Muggs
Let’s be frank, Yelawolf’s jumbled braggadocio and Americana-tinged country raps haven’t fared well against the test of time. Nut DJ Muggs, who has collaborated with some of the toughest rappers of late that include Westside Gunn, Rome Streetz, Flee Lord, and Roc Marciano, has a knack for pulling out a gritty underbelly from any artist he works with. On Mile Zero, the pair team up for a charismatic collection of straight-forward street raps. Yelawolf fits comfortably into DJ Muggs’ unsettling lo-fi loopings, rapping with a newly hushed tone that suits him.
SZNZ by Mother Nature
The Chicago duo Mother Nature have been grinding incessantly since 2016, but after last year’s PORTALZ marked them as a talent to watch, their name has kept popping up across the rap landscape. Their latest effort, SZNZ, was produced entirely by Boathouse and is propelled by a wide-ranging collection of spit-fire flexes over galactic instrumentals. The 15 track EP has great features throughout, but no one commands our attention throughout the project quite like its creators.
“Moetoven” by Moe and Zaytoven
The Florida emcee MOE started to make a name for himself this past year when he was added to the soundtrack for NBA2K20. But even prior to that, the rapper had stacked up over 10 million streams independently. His dry and gravelly voice is both sinister and soulful, and his early work showed he could bounce around braggadocious rhymes on bellowing trap cuts like the Hotboii-assisted “Can’t Help It,” only to coast alongside the lush backdrop of Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle.“
Today, Moe returned with a collaborative EP with Zaytoven, a major milestone for an artist whose mainstream crossover potential has brewed beneath the surface for years. He tip-toes into new melodic territory on “Cost,” and spends lavishly with the radio-ready Young Scooter collab “F*ckin Up a Check.” If this EP is any indication, Moe seems geared up to meet his moment.
Just Until… by Cordae
As Cordae’s lyric “my girl a tennis star, you n***** out here marrying hoes” makes the rounds on social media, the North Carolina emcee’s latest EP is a satisfying collection of introspective raps. Cordae’s debut was a Grammy-nominated gem in 2019, so the EP finds the former YBN affiliate, like many of us, reflecting back on his past, and speaking on his newfound fame and goals. He also spends a good amount of time just basking in his love for his legendary girlfriend Naomi Osaka.
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