Kevin, Abstract, OMB Peezy, Schoolboy Q, Rico Nasty, and Tink are among the hip-hop albums releasing this week. As you can see, there’s plenty of girl power on deck, as Queen Key’s long-delayed mixtape Eat My Pussy Again is set to join Rico Nasty’s surprise mixtape and Tink’s follow-up to last year’s independent comeback album, Pain & Pleasure.
But the biggest ticket release of the week has to be Schoolboy Q’s long-awaited fifth studio album, following up 2016’s Blank Face LP. The album apparently went through multiple completed and scrapped iterations before “Groovy Q” settled into his creative groove and finally hit on a sound he liked that also met the approval of his TDE brethren, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar.
With an ambitious lead single featuring Travis Scott and appearances from 21 Savage, 6lack, Kid Cudi, Lil Baby, Ty Dolla Sign and YG, Schoolboy is aiming for big first week numbers. He even joked that he’s willing to do just about anything to get them, including asking J. Cole to help him spoof streams so he could outsell Korean boy band BTS, whose EP Map Of The Soul: Persona has been out for a couple of weeks, but is still going strong at streaming. Hopefully, Q won’t have to resort to such extreme measures, but a No. 1 first week couldn’t hurt his return one bit.
Kevin Abstract, Arizona Baby
After releasing his second solo album in bits and pieces for the last three weeks, Brockhampton leader Kevin Abstract finally released the whole thing in the wee hours of Wednesday night. Produced in large part by Jack Antonoff and featuring some of Kevin’s most personal songwriting, this collection of eleven songs is more heartfelt than some of the mosh pit-rocking material Brockhampton is best known for, which is why he decided to release it as a solo album, despite members of the group appearing on a few of the songs and much of the album playing off the warmer, melodic tones they employed on their most recent album.
OMB Peezy, Preacher To The Streets
OMB Peezy is a 22-year-old Bay Area rapper who has been slowly building a buzz with a series of EPs and mixtapes that display a region-defying drawl and personal heartfelt lyrics about growing up rough in Sacramento and nearby Richmond, California after being born in Mobile, Alabama. Signed to Sik Wid It Records and 300 Entertainment, he’s a savvy independent entertainer who has already worked with some of the region’s biggest veterans and up-and-coming stars like E-40, SOB X RBE, and Nef The Pharaoh. Despite being shot during a recent concert in Mobile, he seems nothing but optimistic about this album’s prospects, especially since it contains features from Boosie Badazz, G-Eazy, Lil Durk, Sada Baby, and T.I..
Rico Nasty, Anger Management
If rap is Rico’s anger management, fans might hope she never works out her issues. With last year’s Nasty mixtape shattering both genre and gender expectations, Rico Nasty instantly skipped to the head of the line of next big things in a musical category all her own. Brashly mixing elements of punk and hip-hop with bizarrely cartoony goth aesthetic, Rico grabbed the attention of hardcore rap heads and ladies looking for a raunchy outlet alike. By the time you’re reading this, this EP will be out already, so I won’t mind if you want to take a second to throw it on before you finish the rest.
Schoolboy Q, Crash Talk
Get ready to “yawk, yawk, yawk” it up with the LA rapper’s latest work, which includes high-energy, elbow-throwing singles like “Numb Numb Juice” and grown-man anthems like “Crash.” With a plethora of high-profile features and an enthusiastic fanbase starved for new material from the rowdy rap dad, success is all but guaranteed.
Tink, Voicemails
Welcome back, Tink. Voicemails will mark the Chicago rap singer’s first full-length project since her highly-publicized split with Timbaland early in 2018. The EP that she released later that year established that she hadn’t lost a step as she returned to the soulful vibe that initially made her a star. The new project features another midwestern MC on the redemption trail in Dej Loaf and will continue to build upon the new foundation Tink has carved out for herself as a returning independent artist.
