Month: July 2021

Young Dolph Is High Energy On “Talking To My Scale”

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It was only a few months ago when Young Dolph announced his retirement from rap (again) following the release of Dum and Dummer 2 with Key Glock. Yet, in true Young Dolph fashion, the Memphis rapper has seemed to have enough of spending more time with his children during retirement and has blessed die-hard listeners with PAPER ROUTE iLLUMINATI, a new full length release. “Talking To My Scale”, the introductory track, kicks off the 36-year-olds eighth studio album with nothing but energy.

Young Dolph seems most comfortable with a high velocity piano and a booming 808 backing his voice as evidenced further by “Talking To My Scale”. However, the production still presents itself as incrementally more experimental with a hypnotic synth lead that leads into the more familiar piano keys. Like frequent collaborator Key Glock, the trap style drums remain relatively stagnant throughout the song and let the 808 do the work.

Young Dolph dons a familiar flow on the track while flexing about his come up from a life of struggle. With a slightly more creative instrumental and hard hitting drums and vocals, there isn’t much more you could want from a Young Dolph track.

Check it out below:

Quotable Lyrics:

If I sacrificed myself, will I go to hell?
In my trap house countin’ guala, talkin’ to my scale
My jewelry box havin’ more water than Wisconsin Dells
Trap n****, I count money better than I spell

Air Jordan 9 “Particle Grey” Set To Drop In 2022: First Look

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If you were a fan of Michael Jordan in the 90s, then you certainly remember his short-lived stint in baseball. Jordan wanted to pursue his childhood sport and unfortunately, it didn’t work out as well as he wanted it to. During that time, Nike continued to release new Jordan models even if he wasn’t going to be playing in them. One of those shoes was none other than the Air Jordan 9, which continues to be one of the most underappreciated Jordan models of all time.

Next year, the Air Jordan 9 will be getting a brand new colorway in the “Particle Grey” model. In a new mockup from Sneakerfiles and @zsneakerheadz, you can see that the shoe mostly has a black base, while the sides and back heel are silver. From there, we have just a bit of red on the Air Jordan logo near the tongue, which ultimately helps liven the shoe up a bit. These elements come together to create a solid shoe that will certainly be a favorite amongst Jordan 9 collectors.

According to the post below, it is being reported that these will drop on January 8th of 2022 for a price of $190 USD. Stay tuned for more updates on these kicks, as we will be sure to bring them to you. Also, let us know what you think, in the comments below.

Dave East Sets Himself Apart On “Just Another Rapper”

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Dave East’s accomplishments are well known at this point. With a number of critically acclaimed and commercially successful mixtapes and an ever-growing acting portfolio, East was right where he needed to be to drop this week’s flex-heavy Hoffa album. The album, produced exclusively by Harry Fraud, mixes East’s classic New York flows with Fraud’s mafia-themed beats. While most tracks off of Hoffa center around East’s high-profile life after an upbringing rooted in struggle, “Just Another Rapper” off of the tracklist is a true “screw you” to all of his haters.

Whatever you have, Dave East has more of it as the track starts off- “Anything you put up, I can match it/ Make a hunnid, take fifty and you stash it.” Backed by a simple instrumental of muffled horns and overblown 808’s, East gives no space for silence between bars as he increases the length of his flow after every line. After a number of previous tracks discussing his impoverished upbringing, “Just Another Rapper” finds East tired of not having. So instead, he lists all the things he wants- cars, clothes, women- and how he’s already got them. 

Check out the track below:

Quotable Lyrics:

Anything you put up, I can match it (I can match it)
Make a hunnid, take fifty and you stash it (Stash it)
Spend the other fifty on some fashion
Drivin’ in the Bentley like I’m ’bout to crash it (Skrr)

You Can Now Stream “F9” From Home

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Just one month after its release, the ninth film in the Fast & Furious franchise, F9: The Fast Saga, is available to stream from home.

Upon its monumental June 25 release, the film topped box office numbers in a post-COVID world with $70 million opening weekend in a North American market where about 80% of theatres were open, eclipsing 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw spin-off which earned $60 million in the domestic market its opening weekend.

In true pandemic fashion, however, the film’s video-on-demand release has been rushed for viewers still opting to stay-at-home during uncertainty.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Directed by Justin Lin, F9 picks back up with its standard cast in tow as Vin Diesel and John Cena appear as rival brothers. If you haven’t already seen it, you can probably guess the gist of the plot from there.

Consistently priced at $20, the film is currently available on Amazon Prime, FandangoNow, YouTube, Microsoft Movies, Redbox On Demand, Vudu, and Apple TV. Left out of the initial release are services like HBO Max and Peacock, which are likely to tag along later on in the year in the case of the latter while availability on HBO is likely to occur sometime next year.

Isaiah Rashad & Pop Smoke Get The Spotlight In This Week’s “Fire Emoji” Playlist

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Throughout the last few weeks, fans have been anticipating the release of Kanye West’s brand new album DONDA. Of course, Kanye ended up delaying the release until August 6th, much to the chagrin of fans all around the world. Regardless, the album is, indeed, on the way and we should have some new tracks as of next week. In the meantime, there have been plenty of great releases, and we are proud to present some of them on our weekly “Fire Emoji” playlist.

First up on the playlist, we have Isaiah Rashad’s brand new effort with Lil Uzi Vert called “From The Garden.” This is one of the standout songs off of Rashad’s new project The House Is Burning, and fans are already deeply in love with this new body of work. From there, we have Paper Route EMPIRE’s new joining “I Do This” which features the likes of Key Glock and Gucci Mane.

Pop Smoke gets some recognition on the playlist as well thanks to the track “Bout A Million” with 21 Savage and 42 Dugg. This is then followed up with Toosii and Fivio Foreign’s latest collaboration “spin music.”

Last but not least, we have the Sleepy Hallow and Coi Leray-infused joined “2055” which certainly adds a unique twist to our playlist’s tracklist.

You can check out the entire “Fire Emoji” catalog, below.

Another Six Songs Were Secretly Added To Pop Smoke’s “Faith” Album

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Pop Smoke’s second posthumous effort Faith just got an update. Faith initially dropped with 20 tracks, which is already pretty lengthy. Among the features included were Kanye West, Pusha T, 42 Dugg, 21 Savage, Rick Ross, The Dream, Future, Swae Lee, Chris Brown, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, and more. Then, a deluxe edition of Faith was dropped off, adding another 4 tracks to the list. Those tracks brought in even more features from G Herbo, Dread Woo, Travi, Killa, and OnPointLikeOP. Now, Faith has been updated yet again. 

Six songs were added to Faith, bringing the tracklist to 30. Five songs are a mix of new and older material, while the outro, “Dior,” is Pop’s most popular cut. In fact, “Dior” has now been on all Pop’s albums. The other five added songs are “Rumble” with Tay Floss, “Don’t Know Em” with Rah Swish, “Double It” with Fetty Luciano, “Mr. Jones” with Anuel AA, and “Bad Boys” with Obasi Jackson. 

Faith was initially projected to bring in 110,000 to 120,000 units in the first week, but those projections decreased and pulled more like 98,000 copies. Still, the album placed #1 on Billboard for its debut. How do you feel about the mix of new and old material added to Faith?

Unknown T Drops Off “Adolescence” Mixtape Featuring Potter Payper, M1llionz, & More

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Unknown T is back. After dropping off Rise Above Hate last year, the young rapper has been working hard to bring fans another mixtape. He hit us with a few singles and collaborations, but that was barely enough to satiate supporters. And at last, we are blessed with Adolescence. The project runs for 15 tracks and features guest appearances from Potter Payper, M1llionz, Digga D, Nafe Smallz, and M Huncho.

The production is stacked with UK drill masterminds such as Chris Rich, Ghosty, Byrd, Sean Murdz, X10, AV, and R14. The energy for the album is amazing and Unknown T really took a step forward from Rise Above Hate. For those who enjoy some good drill style hip-hop, this is the album to stream. Check out Adolescence everywhere now and let us know what you think about the album below.

Scorey Finds His Own Lane With “Guardian Angel”

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Syracuse rapper Scorey has come up in the shadow of some of his more mainstream influences. Following his verse on Polo G’s Hall of Fame record earlier this year and his deal with the Chicago rapper’s Capalot Records, Scorey has been the subject of many comparisons made between him and his contemporary. With similar sound and cadence choices, especially on tracks like Guardian Angel‘s title track, it seems clear that Scorey is chasing that same sound. However, the rest of the new Guardian Angel EP proves that scorey is transcending the styles of his contemporaries and has a lot more creativity and talent in store. 

Guardian Angel features three of Scorey’s most popular songs to date, “Dior You” being the most popular on the EP. While it stands tall on its own as a single, in the context of the EP it falls short of the creativity exhibited by other tracks. “Rock and Roll” is admirable in Scorey’s ability to perform well over a heavy guitar-driven beat. Though his flow seems a bit less inspired, it’s always a nice touch when he reaches into his higher register. 

“Love Letter” is the true stunner on the EP. Scorey’s vocals seem more passionate than ever; and while he isn’t trying anything too different with his flow, the lyrics and his strained voice amass a compelling melodic trap song. 

Check out Scorey’s mixtape below:

Meek Mill Credits Lil Baby & Lil Durk With Helping His Writer’s Block

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The effects of COVID-19 and lockdown are sure to continue to show up for months to come. Not many of us can say we went by unaffected by it all, Meek Mill included.

In a recent return HBO’s The Shop, the Philadelphia rapper sat down with Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, DJ Khaled, the Washington Football Team’s Chase Young, and Jemele Hill to chop it up. During the discussion, he opened up about the creative rut that quarantine brought into his household and the “youngins” who helped him shake it off.

“Probably six months ago, Lil Baby and Durk terrorized me in the studio,” Meek is heard saying in a new episode of The Shop: Uninterrupted. “I had writer’s block. I’m in the house with a bunch of babies, quarantine. My lifestyle just changed dramatically.”

“They start coming to my house and I start noticing these young boys, they smokin’ me,” Meek adds. “I’m taking two hours to finish my verse. Khaled know I do nine songs a day. I just wasn’t in it but I fed off of them. And I told them that, ‘Yeah, y’all youngins in the building, I’m feeding off y’all today. I need the energy.’ They came back four weeks later, I’m in that room going like this, bangin’ out. We just fed off each other through that time.”

For an indication as to what came of their encounter, fans can find evidence on the three rapper’s “Still Runnin” track, found on Baby and Durk’s collaborative The Voice Of The Heroes album.