January was a strange month in rap. The genre brought in the new year with a lot of Soulja Boy doing things on Instagram but wrapped things up with a ton of dope music from the likes of Migos, Big Sean, J. Cole, Future, Dave East and many more. Life is all about balance, so I can handle plenty rap foolishness as long as it’s offset — no pun intended — with enough dope music to get me through my commutes every month.
So the chips fell and so did the social media stunts and random drama that’s just as much a part of rap as the 808 drum. But, we more than got that balance by the time the calendar turned and after a massive 2016, rap brought in the new year right. Here are the best songs released in January.
Migos — “T-Shirt”
Just about every song from Migos new album Culture could and probably should be here, but it just feels right to give “T-Shirt” a little individual recognition. It’s liteally impossible to hear this and not spend the rest of your day blurting out “Seven-Teen-Five-Same-Color-T-Shirt.”
Big Sean — “Halfway Off The Balcony”
Big Sean’s new album is shaping up to be something serious.
Wale — “Running Back” (Feat. Lil Wayne)
Guest Appearance Lil Wayne is slowly creeping up on Mixtape Weezy as the best version of Wayne. He’s not there yet, but getting closer by the day.
Joey Bada$$ — “Land Of The Free”
Joey gave fans this potent but sobering track on his birthday, and slowly began the build up to his new album AABA.
J. Cole — “High For Hours”
Jermaine might have been better off throwing this heater onto 4 Your Eyez Only, because it continues a weird trend of his where his best tracks of the past few months were random Soundcloud dumps, not album cuts. Either way, fire is fire.
Future — “Poppin’ Tags”
Future has a formula, sticks to it and keeps churning out quality material.
Migos and Hoodrich Pablo — “I Can”
Yes, Migos dropped a whole damn album of heat, but still made time to come with their A-games on this track with fellow Atlanta-native Hoodrich Pablo.
Dave East — “No Hook” (Feat. G Herbo and Don Q)
Dave’s New Year’s track “What A Year” is deserving of a spot as well, but since he dropped it on December 31st, it just misses the deadline. Calling “No Hook” a consolation prize is shortchanging how dope it is on its own, it’s just the track that actually came out in January so it gets the nod.
Rick Ross — “I Think She Like Me” (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
Is Rick Ross back? It sure sounds like it on this smooth number with Ty Dolla $ign.
Gee Watts — “Moany Soaked Me”
https://soundcloud.com/gee_watts/moany-soaked-me
Gee Watts rides effortlessly over this sinister production, and the Missouri-native somehow finds a way to stick out in a month full of highlights.
Peewee Longway — “Master Peewee” (Remix) (Feat. Gucci Mane and Master P)
PeeWee adds Guwop and Master P to his rambunctious banger.
Lil Bibby — “You Ain’t Gang” (Remix) (Feat. Kevin Gates, Lil Durk and DeJ Loaf)
Even while he’s in jail Kevin Gates is still killing features.
Casanova — “Don’t Run” (Remix) (Feat. Fabolous, Dave East, Young M.A and Don Q)
Fabolous and Dave are the MVPs of this Brooklyn anthem, but the whole track is worth five minutes.
Scotty ATL — “Marry Me”
Scotty jumps all over this booming Drumma Boy production and cruises all over it, especially the woozy second verse.
YSL Duke — “Billboard” (Feat. Wiz Khalifa and Dave East)
https://soundcloud.com/yslrecords/lil-duke-billboard-feat-wiz-khalifa-dave-east-produced-by-wheezy
Young Thug’s right-hand man celebrates making Billboard with this Wheezy-produced anthem, and Dave East makes the best of another 16-bar showcase.
Bankroll Fresh – “Truth Be Told”
The late Bankroll Fresh clearly left some solid material behind and thankfully the tracks are surfacing.
P Reign — “Prescription Freestyle”
https://soundcloud.com/preign/prescriptionfreestyle
P Reign is much more than some guy that knows Drake, and he shows it every single time he runs through an instrumental like he did on this Bass Line production.
G Herbo – “Blackin Out” (Feat. Lil Bibby)
Anytime Herbo and Bibby get together it’s a must-listen and this time is no different.
Royce Da 5’9″ — “I Got The Keys” (Freestyle)
Royce has one of the best pens in the game, and his delivery is right behind that, so killing every single iteration of his freestyle series was probably easy for him. Being effortless for Royce doesn’t make this “I Got The Keys” freestyle any less mean though.
Russ — “Sideline Number”
Not much more you can ask for from Russ on “Sideline Number.” He produced the track, ripped through a few solid rapped verses, mixed in some infectious melodies and a sings the addictive hook. Add this to your daily rotation and thank Gotty, who has been touting the Atlanta native for as long as I can remember, and thankfully I finally took the plunge.
