Crunk ain’t dead! Crunk ain’t dead! Duke Deuce is back with a new album, Tribe, but it’s not a solo project. This is the inaugural release for his new group, Made Men Mafia. This trio of Tennessee natives was founded by the crunk champion earlier this year, dropping their first single, “Get Nasty,” last month. Deuce has recruited Turnt LilThadd and Dubba G for this joint venture, and it looks to be another effort in keeping this Memphis subgenre alive. These three have been close behind the scenes for years, so we are sure they are excited to bring the vision to life this weekend.
According to a press release, there are some specifics that Duke Deuce and Made Men Mafia wanted to execute on Tribe. “The album, predominantly produced by Duke Deuce, fuses his iconic Memphis crunk with Dubba G’s trap elements and Turnt LilThadd’s high energy.” We definitely think that their goals were realized, as there really aren’t many misses. Even the slower tracks like “How We Live,” still present an engaging listen. But we also have to be transparent and say that the turnt tracks are what people are going to gravitate toward. Deuce doesn’t get enough for his producing chops, but there are some wavy and incredibly funky beats across the 12-song tracklist. Some examples include “Clickin,” which features some haunting keys and synth passages. “Stanga” is another one with its rumbling adlibs and piercing keys. In short, Tribe is a blast, and Deuce may have one of the most enticing new groups in rap right now.
After previously teaming up with Lil Wayne on “Ain’t Gonna Answer” and flourishing St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red on “Slut Me Out,” NLE Choppa teams up with fellow Memphian Duke Deuce for his latest video for “Stomp Em Out.”
A hyperactive song sitting in the middle of the spectrum of raucous Memphis rap tradition, “Stomp Em Out” is an exuberant fight song that positions Choppa and Deuce as a pair of neighborhood tough guys ready to rumble with whoever. However, in the video, they show off a different kind of footwork, taking over Beale street with a crew of dancers to to jitterbug and two-step all over the pavement with the kind of energy that lets you know this shoot was a fun one.
The song appears on the deluxe version of Choppa’s new album Cottonwood 2, which is out now via Warner Records. Unfortunately, the touring future for Choppa is up in the air; while he was originally billed as an opener on Lil Durk’s Sorry For The Drought Tour, Durk’s recent health setback canceled all but a handful of the tour dates. We’ll see how NLE Choppa bounces back, but for now, you can check out his video for “Stomp Em Out” above.
NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Duke Deuce defines Memphis rap. While many associate the rise of Crunk, a sub-genre of hip-hop, to the city of Atlanta, the movement actually began in the streets of Memphis in the ’90s. Crunk is often associated with up-tempo Southern raps, curating a sound tailor-made for club-oriented environments. The sub-genre arose from an inherent desire to subvert hip-hop’s familiar sound in the 1990s, extenuating between the West Coast and boom-bapping East Coast. However, as Andre 3000 put it at the 1995 Source Awards, “The South [had] something to say.”
Self-imposed Crunk Star Duke Deuce was destined to rap from the day he was born. As he puts it when speaking to us back in 2022, “S**t run through the family, man. From my granddaddy to my pops, I had to be in this. I grew up in the studio with my pops. He was a producer, engineer, and rapper. He did it all, so I had no choice.” Deuce is the product of generations of creatives in his family, with the work finally paying off in the form of his mainstream success. In essence, there was no other career plan for the outspoken Deuce. It was always going to be the studio or the streets. Towards the beginning of his career, that meant spending more time in the latter.
Duke Deuce Is Reviving Crunk
It wouldn’t be until 2017 that Duke Deuce began to garner real change in the music industry. His hit “Whole Lotta” caught the attention of Atlanta’s Offset, who took it upon himself to pen Deuce to Quality Control. Soon after, he released the enraging mixtape Memphis Massacre. While the now-trilogy didn’t do worldwide numbers, the project spurned the revival of Crunk in the local scene. In addition, he presents a distinguished sound compared to his Memphis contemporaries. Less polished and more raw compared to icons such as Yo Gotti or Key Glock, he’s been an undeniable breath of fresh air.
However, Duke Deuce would get his well-deserved mainstream appeal with the 2019 single “Crunk Ain’t Dead.” The speaker-blasting anthem became so critically acclaimed, in part, due to Deuce’s captivating music video for the track. His dancing throughout the video captured a wave on social media platforms such as TikTok, proving he was a performer and rapper. The multi-talented hyphenate can do it all, from delivering menacing verses to producing. “Crunk Ain’t Dead” exemplified everything great about the sub-genre, blending pure happiness with outspoken grittiness.
Now approaching the halfway mark of 2023, Duke Deuce’s sound has officially reached the top of hip-hop’s mainstream studios. Take Drake’s “Jimmy Cooks” off of Honestly, Nevermind. While most of the record attempts to imitate dancehall grooves, the outro track acted as a prelude to Her Loss. The track samples the echoing “Just Awaken Shaken,” a classic Memphis underground cut, a direct remnant of Deuce’s delivery of the sub-genre. In fact, Duke Deuce talked about directly contacting Drake regarding making music in the near future on Zack Fox’s The Internet People Live podcast.
The year 2022 was big for Duke Deuce. Crunkstar was 52 minutes of pure entertaining rage, featuring artists such as Rico Nasty, GloRilla, and Lil Yachty. Of course, the project’s hard-knocking hardcore hip-hop is there. However, there are also aggressive guitar riffs meandering through the record mix. In addition, there’s been a noted focus on Crunkstar as well as Memphis Massacre III to incorporate Memphis artists. When speaking to Billboard, Duke said, “It was very important. It is my way of giving back so we can keep the momentum as a city. As long as we show love to each other, we will always get bigger. Memphis deserves the spotlight, because we do not have the industry in our city, but we always had the talent. Now that we have the shine, we have to keep it going.”
Regarding Duke Deuce, half of the appeal is his hilarious and outlandish personality. He truly lives within the Crunk persona rather than solely creating music around it. Of course, that energy will always garner detractors and haters of your sound. Back in May, he was hospitalized after a truck nearly ran him over. Fortunately, the truck merely hit his arm without breaking any bones in the process. Now approaching the half-decade mark of his relevancy in hip-hop, Duke Deuce is just getting started.
It’s already been an undeniably big year for compilation albums. Still, before 2022 closes out, Rolling Loud is giving us a taste of what their upcoming project will sound like. On Friday (December 9), they shared “Finger Food.” The lit new track was chiefly crafted in collaboration with Rae Sremmurd and Duke Deuce.
The “Crunkstar meets Rockstar” single accordingly focuses on the trio’s no-f*cks-given attitude. As they each take turns sharing their verses, the artists are seemingly trying to capture the energy of what it’s really like to be at an RL show.
“All she wanna do is f*ck on a sand beach / And woah / Climb up in the DJ booth / Stand up in that photo coupe,” Swae Lee rhymes on the chorus.
Later, we hear from Duke, who raps, “Young and reckless, put the pedal to the metal, let it rock / Bitch, you know we crunk as hell, hittin’ donuts in the lot.”
Finally, Slim Jxmmi comes through with some lyrics of his own. “I’m just mixin’ up my dranks just like they chemicals / Double stuff my backwood and let’s go to the moon,” he spits early on in his verse.
It remains unclear what other artists will appear on the upcoming compilation project. According to a press release, though, it’s a “mix of collaborations that could only happen at the hands” of the festival.
Stream Rolling Loud’s “Finger Food” single with Rae Sremmurd and Duke Deuce on Spotify or Apple Music below. Afterward, let us know which artist had the song’s best verse in the comment section.
Quotable Lyrics:
Young and reckless, put the pedal to the metal, let it rock Bitch, you know we crunk as hell, hittin’ donuts in the lot You ain’t get that private message, you can’t pull up to the spot Bitches comin’ out they clothes, it ain’t really even hot (What the f*ck?)
This Friday is the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet; an eclectic mix of new songs and albums. We are so spoiled for choice, curating this list felt like having to drop Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon for Shaq as center in your all-time NBA first five list. I kid you not. From Drake proving he still […]
Rapper Duke Deuce expressed his displeasure after hearing about Drake’s surprise album release tonight at midnight on social media. Deuce’s new album is scheduled to be released tonight as well. The hip-hop community is very excited about Drake’s new surprise album, “Honestly Nevermind” – everyone except Quality Control artist Duke Deuce. The 30-year-old Memphis artist […]
It is bonkers to think that we’ve only gotten halfway through the year, yet we’ve already gotten an absolutely massive collection of new albums from some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Those names have included Gunna, Cordae, Earl Sweatshirt, Saba, Kanye West, Lil Durk, Denzel Curry, Latto, Vince Staples, Pusha T, Future, Black Star, Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone… and I’ve skipped more than a few of our favorites.
With all that, you’d think we’d be all out of new music to discuss for at least the next six months, but you know what they say about hip-hop parties and stopping. As the weather heats up, you can expect the pace to pick up as well, with even more established stars and rising newcomers staking their claims on our cookouts, pool parties, picnics, and summer basketball leagues. With that said, here are our picks for the ones you should be keeping an ear out for this summer.
Mount Westmore — Bad MFs
Mount Westmore
Although technically, this album has already been released via the Gala Music platform, fans who aren’t sold on blockchain quite yet can still look forward to enjoying this album from the California supergroup on DSPs sometime soon. With Bay Area pioneers E-40 and Too Short teaming up with their SoCal counterparts Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg, this one is the latest proof in the growing body of evidence that California still knows how to party.
Erica Banks — Diary Of The Flow Queen — Due June 17
Erica Banks
Despite the obvious similarities between 1501 Certified’s more recent signing and her immediate predecessor, Erica Banks has managed to distinguish herself thanks to the viral TikTok trend based on her breakout hit “Buss It” and a string of strong performances that show she can more than hold her own and bring something new to the table. It should be fun to see how she continues to set herself apart on her debut project.
Logic — Vinyl Days — Due June 17
Logic
For a guy who’s two years past his “retirement,” Logic sure has been busy. His seventh studio album will be his last under his Def Jam contract, and he apparently wants to go out with a bang. Vinyl Days is expected to boast a 30-song tracklist with features from all corners of the hip-hop world. Action Bronson, Blu & Exile, Curren$y, Royce Da 5’9”, Russ, RZA, and more all contribute.
Kevin Gates — Khaza — Due June 17
Kevin Gates
Gates’ last album, I’m Him, dropped in 2019 — you know, a whole lifetime ago. The intervening years should have given the 36-year-old Baton Rouge rap vet plenty to talk about and lots of time to sharpen up his pen. Plenty of his peers had similar gaps before their 2022 releases and have impressed; can he keep up the trend?
Duke Deuce — Crunkstar — Due June 17
Duke Deuce
Regular Uproxx readers will know that this site has been following the Quality Control Music artist from Memphis since just about the beginning of his rise to stardom. His 2021 debut Duke Nukem certainly paid off that early support in quality, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he improves on the formula while capitalizing on his No. 3 Heatseekers chart placement with his sophomore effort.
Westside Boogie — More Black Superheroes — Due June 17
Westside Boogie
Boogie made an impressive entry to the rap game with his mixtapes Thirst 48, The Reach, and Thirst 48, Pt. II. Since then he seemingly slowed down the pace of his releases, taking another three years to drop his Shady Records debut Everythings For Sale. Three years later, he’s back with another serving of his unique, Compton-bred perspective. His low-and-slow approach to the last album paid off, and we fully expect it to do so again.
Joey Badass — 2000 — Due June 17
A rapper’s rapper, the 27-year-old Brooklynite has 10 years in the business, but only two full-length albums to his name. That should be enough to tell you why his new album is one of our more anticipated releases of the year; the quality with which he’s approached every project beginning with his breakthrough mixtape 1999 at just 17 years old bodes well — especially considering 2000‘s title appears very much to evoke a spiritual successor that exciting introduction.
Black Thought & Danger Mouse — Cheat Codes — Due August 12
Let’s keep it a buck. There are few rappers better at rapping than Black Thought. He’s hands-down one of the illest spitters to ever pick up a microphone, and three decades of releases are all the proof he needs to support this claim. Anyone who disagrees should get their ears examined. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse is one of indie music’s most respected producers, even though his output has slowed down a bunch in the last few years. However, during his most prolific era, he produced some of the most groundbreaking, genre-blurring projects in popular music, from the Gorillaz album Demon Days to the MF Doom Adult Swim experiment The Mouse and the Mask to projects with ASAP Rocky, Norah Jones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Karen O. Basically, this one is as close to a must-listen as it gets.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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