Miami’s own City Girls make their much-anticipated return with a new single and music video entitled “Top Notch” [feat. Fivio Foreign], out now via Quality Control Music / Motown Records. It marks the multiplatinum duo’s first release since the gold-selling 2021 smash “Twerkulator.”
The track finds a sweet spot between sexy Southern hip-hop and gritty East Coast drill. City Girls, Yung Miami and JT, instantly show out with fiery bars before Fivio warns, “This is not a movie.”Oozing confidence and charisma, JT counters, “You gotta pay for this.” In the accompanying visual, they take over New York city, turning up on street corners with a whole crew and descending upon the Big Apple like a storm.
It will serve as the follow-up to 2020’s City On Lock LP, which graced year-end lists by NPR, Rolling Stone, and Vice, to name a few.
Vince Staples presented the latest track and video for “Rose Street,” from his upcoming album Ramona Park Broke My Heart. The new album is set to be released on April 8th.
Earlier this month, Staples released the video for “Magic.” The video, directed by Prettybird’s KENTEN, comprises a succession of one-take images with camera movement that depict Vince’s day from a surrealist perspective, allowing the audience to perceive everything around him as if they were an observer.
“Magic,” produced by Mustard, is a celebration of how Staples overcame the inner city blues and a system that was supposed to keep him enmeshed in the adversity he grew up in.
“I think it’ll put the listener in a good state of mind,” Staples says. “The mood of it defines the project.”
Ramona Park Broke My Heart is Staples’ follow-up to his critically praised self-titled album from 2021, which introduced fans to his homeland (the Ramona Park neighborhood of Long Beach, CA) as well as intimate friends and family.
On this date in 1996, Busta Rhymes did the inevitable and released his highly anticipated solo album The Coming on Elektra Records.
Even though the Leaders Of The New School were a celebrated group within the culture, it was always suggested that Busta drop a solo project minus LONS. With production form the likes of Easy Mo Bee, DJ Scratch and even Busta Buss himself, The Coming served as a introductory project of what was to come from the one of the greatest lyricists in the game.Appearance from the likes of the late Notorious B.I.G., A Tribe Called Quest(who first introduced Busta on “Scenario”), Heave d and The Boyz and Mary J. Blige.
The 13 track full length studio album was chock full of hits including “Everything Remains Raw”, the Zhane-powered “It’s A Party” and the album’s lead single “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check”. This album also introduces Busta’s own “Flipmode Squad” consisting of Lord Have Mercy, Rampage, Rah Digga and Spliff Star.
Salute to Busta on his premiere project; definitely an important piece of Hip Hop history!
In support of Fashion Icon and recording artist Nigo‘s first release in two decades, Tyler the Creatorand Pharrell Williams drop the official visual for their collaboration with the Bape creator from the upcoming album, titled “Come On, Let’s Go.”
Directed by Tyler Okonma, Pharrell himself produces the new song. Tyler shared the new visual on Thursday morning (March 24) with his 9 million followers on Twitter with the YouTube link. In the visual, Tyler and Pharrell show off their unique designer drips while arguing with a love interest on the phone about going for a tricked-out Ferrari.
“Come On, Let’s Go” is the trendsetting duo’s seventh collaboration, including past hits “Keep Da O’s,” “Are We Still Friends,” and the recent “Juggernaut.” For Nigo, the new single follows a trail of new hit collaborations from Pusha T, A$AP Rocky, and Kid Cudi. And with the all-star features, Nigo’s debut album will see the return of his former rap group, The Teriyaki Boyz.
Outside the upcoming album, Tyler is steamrolling on his Call Me If You Get Lost tour. At the same time, Pharrell just finished executive production on the forthcoming Pusha T album, It’s Almost Dry, which drops April 8 via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam. Nigo’s debut, I Know Nigo, drops this Friday via Republic Records, includes features by A$AP Ferg, Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert, the late-Pop Smoke, and many more.
Rob49 and Lil Baby pull up to Iberville Projects in New Orleans to shoot the official video for “Vulture Island V2.” Rob49 is emerging as one of the hottest acts from the N.O since The Hot Boys era.
The 20-year-old rapper follows up his last album release in 2021, 4God with today’s arrival. 49 has consistently dropped multiple projects with much street acclaim.
Among Lil Baby, “Vulture Island V2” sees cameo appearances from Kevin Gates and Florida native Hotboii.
Check out why there’s exciting buzz surrounding him in the Lil Baby assisted video below.
Summer Walker has revisited her hit single “No Love,” for a video and added Cardi B. “Yall guessed it, my girl @IamcardiB jumped on ‘No Love’ with me & @Sza and we’re going live at 10pmET tonight to celebrate. I can’t wait for y’all to see the video Friday!” Summer Walker said ahead of the release of the extended version.
The original version of “No Love” was released on last year’s Still Over It album. You can see the video below.
DDG has teamed with Gunna for the new video “Elon Musk.” The new release is directed by StripMall and follows the young star as he hops in a rocket and is blasted into space. The video is a preview of what’s to come for the rapper, as he attempts to beat Soulja Boy to a first, and will become the first rapper that is sent to space.
You can check out the new video below and stay tuned to The Source as we bring you more of DDG’s space coverage.
Babyface Ray, a Detroit legend and rising rapper, released his new album FACE earlier this year, and now he’s back with a new video for “Motown Music.”
The album, which was released in January, debuted at #2 on the Independent Charts and reached #31 on the Billboard Top 200. It also charted on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top Rap Albums, and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album features Pusha T, G Herbo, 42 Dugg, Wiz Khalifa, Icewear Vezzo, Yung Lean and Landstrip Chip with production from 808 Mafia, DJ Esco, OG Parker, Romano, ATL Jacob and more.
The return of SxSw, might have taken place during the Spring, but on March 18th, in Austin, Texas it was Holiday season! The legendary Hip Hop DJ helped to capture the essence of what SxSw music festival in Austin is all about with his Hollipalooza stage powered by Kim SoMajor, The Umbrella Firm and The Source Magazine.
“The Hollipalooza event was everything you could ask for,” said the Atlanta artist Atmore VI, who debuted an unreleased song he has featuring Bad Bunny called “Passport.” Atmore VI shared, “Hot artists from the past, present, and future all showing love and performing some great music.”
Hollipalooza not only provided the entertainment with big named artists like Trae The Truth, Sally Sossa, Domani, K Shiday, Rob49 and Beat King, it also gave independent artists a time to shine.
“I don’t think they understand,” said Holiday as he introduced his special guest. “I brought some very important people here.”
Along with himself, The Source, and other media outlets in the building, Kim SoMajor and Holiday also brought out Josh “J1” Raiford to help new artist set up their own unique stations as a way to reach those larger audiences. Raiford is the VP of music programming at Pandora.
Attendees felt that the Hollipalooza stage powered by Kim SoMajor and The Umbrella Firm was a great opportunity for them to grow as an artist.
“My Hollipalooza experience was mad lit and definitely one to remember,” said the Georgia native Big Legend who performed” Money Habits.”
He continued to speak on how he took advantage of the mass amount of people present for the event, “I networked with a lot of artists and industry executives, along with making a lot of new fans.”
Rising artist out of South Memphis, Tripstar, loved the enthusiasm of the attendees. Being the next big thing out of Memphis, Trip wanted to know how others felt about his music and said he received a great response.
“I really like how everybody was very supportive and had great energy in the crowd,” said Tripstar, the latest signee to Moneybagg Yo.
Currently, Tripstar’s “Favorite App” song featuring Lil Migo is running on all music platforms.
PGF Shawt, another artist from Atlanta, said The Source was his favorite magazine growing up and loved the fact that he got a chance to perform with them in the building.
“Just being able to be a part of The Source is big,” said Shawt. “It’s a pleasure and honor truly appreciated. Right now, fans can check out PGF Shawt’s new single “Confessions” on all music platforms.
A lot of the performing acts recognized the prominence of DJ Holiday and they all felt honored for the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of him on a big stage.
Atmore VI added, “DJ Holiday is an OG we all grew up listening to, and his down-to-earth demeanor shows you he really does this for the love.”
The Hip Hop duo from St. Petersburg, Florida, Yo Simi, and Dredlock Esoc second that thought when it comes to the persona of DJ Holiday.
“DJ Holiday was a solid dude I got a chance to meet him at the show and after I performed, we chopped it up,” said Dredloc Esco, half of the duo who performed “Vegas.”
FeVaOG also loved the fact that DJ Holiday was down to earth.
“DJ Holiday showed me love and was laid back, so I look forward to working with him,” said the Jersey artist who got the crowd lit with his hit “Casamigos”.
Hollipalooza wasn’t your basic open mic showcase. Along with great networking, The Umbrella Firm offered a single record distribution deal via Beatroot Music to one of the nights top performers. Congratulations are in order to PGF Shawt who won the distribution deal.
Woodrow, CEO of The Umbrella Firm, shared that Shawt’s performance stood out as the “total package.” He said, “Shawt showed he has great music with substance and flow patterns which is rare. Artists usually are one or the other. He’s invested in his career and he has a track record of already having collaborations with other artists and uploading to major platforms.”
“Overall, he has a heavy promotional campaign so he came correct and participated while other artists were performing. That showed humility but he was one of the most dominant independents we had. Looking forward to working with him,” Woodrow shared.
The event also featured a live activation with Atlanta’s own Scotty Atl. Scotty ATL showed some major fan appreciation. Being the new King of Grillz, Scotty gifted out two 6-piece grills to the audience, just for attending the Hollipalooza event. Scotty’s grill company, Grillz By Scotty, provided the grills exclusively done onsite.
“We just wanted to show love, said Scotty ATL, who didn’t perform but brought his artist Just Call Me Veto to the music event.
Under the Cool Club label, Just Call Me Veto introduced himself with his new single “One Of Them Ones.” This was his first Austin performance and the New Orleans-born, but Atlanta-raised artist didn’t take it lightly.
“This is major,” said Veto. “In 2014 I was just walking around. I always wanted to do a show here and now I had three. Shout out to DJ Holiday, Scotty, Kim SoMajor, and The Source. This is major.”
There was a ton of fresh faces in the building for Hollipalooza. Check out a list of some of the new faces of Hip Hop to keep on your radar.
Nas digs back into his Magic bag to release the video for “Wave Gods,” featuring ASAP Rocky and DJ Premier. ASAP pulls double duty for the release, as he co-directed the visual alongside Hidji and Spike Jordan.
In the video, Nas wears the same iconic white Avirex jacket that was worn in the 1998 classic film Belly. The “Icon Jacket” was re-released with Avirex’s Fall 21 collection and sold out within weeks nationwide. Fans can get their hands on the jacket now as it is back in stock in its four core colors (white, black, red and blue) and two new releases for spring (berry and limeade).
