Thanksgiving weekend pushed this post back from its usual Friday slot, but our favorite acts didn’t take any time off. As we head into the fourth quarter, here is some of the music that should be the soundtrack to your holiday season. There’s music from Meek Mill, Care For Me artist Saba’s Pivot Gang, Boosie, and not just one long-awaited album from Dipset, but two of them. Also, Joyner Lucas and Tory Lanez took turns frying each other in the days before Turkey day.
Meek Mill, “Oodles O’Noodles Babies,” “Uptown Vibes”
Meek Mill’s Championships is on the way. He’s looking to win big on the long-anticipated, post-jail album that he’s been carefully crafting. We’ve heard tracks with Cardi B and Philly upstart Tierra Whack, and now he’s offering up even more previews. On “Oodles O Noodles Babies,” Meek glides over an elegant soul sample and reflects on his Philly roots. “Uptown Vibes” is a more upbeat track, as he shows love to North Philly’s Puerto Rican community with the help of Anuel AA.
Pivot Gang, “Blood”
Saba’s Pivot Gang crew decided to offer us thanks with a posse track entitled “Blood,” where he rhymes along with Joseph Chilliams, MFnMelo, and Frsh Waters over a minimalist track produced by daedaePIVOT and SqueakPIVOT. It’s a pivot thing, but some of their clever lines may have you stuck after the first listen.
Smokepurrp, “But I Still Respect Women”
https://soundcloud.com/smokepurpp/but-i-still-respect-women-prod-purpp-a-lau-tonyseltzer
From the irony files, Florida rhymer Smokepurrp decided to offer up a track called “But I Still Respect Women.” With lines like “B*tch wanna argue with me / But I said it one time ‘Sorry, I don’t say sorry,’” he probably won’t be mistaken for a male feminist — but we’re sure that was the point.
Boosie, Boosie Blues Cafe
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The holidays are generally a time for cheer, but when you’re living a life as tough as Boosie has, you just need some blues to soothe your soul. That’s why the Baton Rouge rapper offered up an almost hourlong collection of mournful, reflective odes to his mama, his upbringing, and his glimpse of “Rap Star Heaven.”
The Diplomats, Diplomatic Ties and The Upstage
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In what’s likely a hip-hop first, Dipset made a long-awaited comeback last weekend with two group albums that were completely unrelated. The Diplomats crew of Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, and Freekey Zekey released their Diplomatic Ties album featuring tracks like “On God” and “Dipset/Lox.” But not to be left out in the cold, the Harlem crew’s famous “B-team” of respected acts like Hell Rell, JR Writer, and 40 Cal dropped The Upstage on their own, a project that just may be true to its title based on fan reception. Take a listen to both and let us know what you think in the comments.
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Key Glock, Glockoma
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Young Dolph was known an independent maven before signing a deal with Empire, and now he’s teaching the next generation how to boss up. His 21-year-old artist — and cousin-through-marriage — Key Glock is next up out of Memphis, and he recently offered Glockoma, which is full of gritty trap tracks like the sinister “Since 6ix” and “Life Is Great.”
Benny The Butcher, Tana Talk 3
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Buffalo’s Benny The Butcher is right on time for the hip-hop fans looking for cold bars to go along with the winter chill. The Griselda Records artist dropped his Tana Talk 3 album last Friday, which is full of menacing lyricism over arresting production. “Who Are You” with Royce da 5’9 and Melanie Rutherford and the Alchemist-laced “Rubber Bands & Weight” are a couple standouts.
Pro Era, Peep The Aprocalypse
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Joey Badass’ Pro Era crew is re-releasing their Peep The Apocalypse mixtape on its six-year anniversary with one more track titled “Know The Rules.” Thankfully, they followed rule number one of music re-releases by adding a new track to the 2012 collection.
Joyner Lucas/Tory Lanez diss tracks
You may have been slow-cooking a ham or a turkey last Wednesday, but Joyner Lucas and Tory Lanez decided to let the beef simmer. The two polarizing artists started going at each other out of nowhere last week with lyrical darts — then peaced it up and showed mutual respect. We’re still a little confused why it all happened, but at least they kept it to the bars. Pretty good ones, at that. Check out their tracks below:
Round 1:
Round 2:
