Bay Area rapper Allblack released his debut album TY4FWM in May, spawning videos for singles “Ego” featuring Drakeo The Ruler and “War Stories” with Mozzy. Today, he added another to the growing collection, bringing in yet another of his West Coast homies, Vince Staples, to complete the video for “We Straight.” The greyscale video sees the two California rappers hanging out on the block with flashes of still photos breaking up the action.
TY4FWM (short for “Thank You For F*cking With Me”) arrived after a string of releases from Allblack, who’s been quietly building his catalog since 2017, including No Shame 3 in 2020. The debut album is the culmination of these releases, with features from both high-profile Bay Area icons like E-40 and G-Eazy, as well as rising stars like Guapdad 4000, Rexx Life Raj, and ShooterGang Kony.
Meanwhile, Vince Staples has been teasing the release of his own new music, with two albums set for release in 2021, starting with his comeback single “Law Of Averages,” dropping this week. In the meantime though, he’s put in his fair share of appearances as a feature artist on tracks like “In My Stussy’s” by Lil Yachty.
Watch Allblack’s “We Straight” video featuring Vince Staples above.
Young Dolph epitomizes the independent grind. He might not be selling six figures in his first week or dominating the Billboard charts but he is caking it. Not only that, but he’s bringing other artists into the fold, as well, through the Paper Route Empire imprint. This week, the Memphis-born rapper returned with a brand new single spotlighting the new talent on the label’s roster. Paper Route Woo and Snupe Bandz team up with Dolph on the new single, “Nothing To Me.” Playful piano keys and rattling 808s carry the production as the three rappers celebrate independence and autonomy.
Dolph’s new single comes shortly after the release of his latest collaborative album with Key Glock, Dum And Dummer 2. Check his latest single with Snupe Bandz and Paper Route Woo below.
Quotable Lyrics Call me John Cena ’cause these n***as can’t see me None like these n***as, I’m alien, E.T. Ice on my neck poppin’ out like 3D
Many fans wondered whether Tyler would continue down the experimental and melodic road he appeared to be laying. Evidently, a swerve appeared on the horizon with the release of his brand new single “LUMBERJACK,” a blistering assault of vintage Tyler lyricism evocative of his early Odd Future days. That’s not to say the entirety of his next endeavor will follow suit, but it certainly appears as if the rapper is eying a return to his roots, albeit with the tools and tricks he’s since picked up; a New Game+ of sorts.
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Upon having released the new single into the world, many fans were quick to note an interesting observation on his Instagram page. In the caption of his latest announcement, Tyler sparked tracklist speculation by writing “5. LUMBERJACK (out now everywhere).” One of his other recent posts featured a similar style, revealing another potential title with “10. SWEET.”
It’s not the first time Tyler has employed such captions, as a gander through his IG feed shows his penchant for associating existing song titles like Westside Gunn’s “No Vacancy” and Lupe Fiasco’s “Paris, Tokyo” with his pictures. Still, the fact that he placed a five beside “LUMBERJACK” may very well mean he’s in the midst of slowly assembling a larger puzzle, and fans would be wise to keep an eye out for his next update.
In the meantime, be sure to give Tyler’s latest a spin, especially if you’ve been keen on seeing the Grammy winner get back to spitting bars.
Last year, Belly penned an open letter detailing personal struggles he’s endured that have prevented him from delivering music. The rapper has since recovered and is back in action, as seen with recent singles like “Zero Love” ft. Moneybagg Yo and “Money On The Table” ft. Benny The Butcher. The XO signee’s latest string of singles has been a promising look into what he has in store on his upcoming album, See You Next Wednesday.
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The rapper’s forthcoming effort doesn’t have a release date set but the rollout appears to be in motion. This week, the rapper returned to the fold with his latest freestyle on L.A. Leakers. Hosted by DJ Sour Milk and Justin Credible, the Canadian rapper unloads with a barrage of bars over Nas’ “If I Ruled The World.”
“Tell ’em roll up the windows We can smell the murder in the air when the wind blows I got 10 toes in the mud like a Flinstone We sold packs back when Soulja Boy sold ringtones”
The latest freestyle from Belly is proof that, even with a bit of time away from the game, he hasn’t lost his touch. His recent appearance on The Liftoff is the third freestyle he’s delivered and each time, he hasn’t missed.
Check out Belly’s L.A. Leakers freestyle below and keep your eyes peeled for See You Next Wednesday.
A video has been going viral over the past few days following an odd robbery at a Walgreens in San Francisco. A man was seen riding through a Walgreens on his bicycle as he dumped store merchandise into a black garbage bag. The man did not care that he was being filmed but made sure that he cleared the shelf of their goods. The video was first posted by KGO-TV reported Lyanne Melendez who stated that the robbery occurred at the Gough and Fell streets location.
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As the man dumps the goods into the bag, the store security did not attempt to prevent it from happening but instead, pulled out his phone, along with an employee, and began filming. Once the culprit sped off in the aisle with the bicycle, the security guard made a lackluster attempt at taking the bag. Essentially, there wasn’t an attempt to stop him.
“It’s hard for me as a journalist to say ‘I won’t be involved, I can’t get involved,’ I have to be sort of neutral, but this is also my city. I live in this city and I see this constantly. Not only Walgreens, but cars, and my garage door has been broken into twice,” Melendez said, according to KGO-TV.
A rep for Walgreens said that the company told the Board of Supervisors that theft at their SF locations is 4x higher than the other stores in the country.
Filipino-American rapper Guapdad 4000 is helping us revitalize our Snack Review video series by adding a new twist. It’s been a few months since the last time we did one of these — shout out to the pandemic — but we’re officially back and rolling on one of your favorite food-meets-rap content series around. The Bay Area-based recording artist reviewed a bunch of his favorite Asian snacks, giving his honest thoughts on each one as we diversify our palettes.
Munching on mostly Filipino snacks, Guapdad 4000 started off with a few foods that he wasn’t necessarily vibing with, giving them mid-range scores. Once he got to the spicy prawn crackers and fruit daifuku though, he was instantly in heaven. Some of the snacks, like Boy Bawang, brought him back to simpler times. Others, like Irvins Spicy Salted Egg Chips were deemed lowkey “nasty” from the rapper… before the spice hit. Once he caught the heat, his opinion changed. “That’s gonna make me like them,” he complained.
Check out the Snack Review revival above and let us know if you’ll be picking up one of these snacks for your next munchies session. Personally, I’m curious about the ube pandesal, which Guapdad rated a 9/10.
One of the victims was Biles-Thomas’ own 23-year-old cousin. The other victims were 19-years-old and 21-years-old.
Tevin Biles-Thomas’ mugshot
When the verdict was announced, one of the victim’s mother’s lashed out in frustration, making a scene in the court. She jumped up and ran towards Biles-Thomas screaming out, “You have to be f***ing kidding me. I’m going to kill you.” The mother had to be restrained by officers but will not face charges.
Joseph Patituce, Biles-Thomas’ attorney told TMZ, “We get it, she’s angry. She was led to believe Mr. Biles was guilty when he wasn’t, and she reacted like a mother. We don’t fault her for that.”
Simone Biles has yet to comment on the recent ruling but spoke on the incident stating, “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families” back in 2019.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
In the lead-up to releasing his new album, Hall Of Fame, Polo G gave an interview with Complex in which he restricted the possibility of collaboration with elite rappers like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar to one crucial condition: his own improvement as a straightforward, bars-first spitter. Now, having heard Hall Of Fame in its entirety, I can confidently say that he was being way too modest and he’s not as far away from that upper echelon as he seems to think. In fact, the best moments on the album come when he operates in that mode more than any other.
That isn’t to say that he should shrink his focus or his drive for more mainstream, playlist-friendly hits. If anything, he shows that he has the versatility to tackle a wide range of subjects and styles — or at least, he will, with a tad bit more practice. For now, songs like “For The Love Of New York” feel out of his reach and out of place with an album that sticks mostly to Polo’s established talents: Painting pictures of his tormented, Windy City upbringing and the dreams of excavating something of value from the scenes of carnage.
That’s the rather literal note on which the album opens. “Painting Pictures” might be on the nose as a song title, but it’s also fitting, as Polo fleshes out the characters that have populated his world as a former resident of Old Town Chicago, where the infamous Cabrini-Green high-rise projects used to tower. “Lil Wooski ain’t your average teen, he see the opps, gon’ bang it out,” he rhapsodizes somberly. “They killed Lamp, he took three with him, they all know what your name about.”
But it’s not all melancholy. Polo’s circumstances are in a state of transition, which is reflected in the project’s cover. As opposed to the dark, moody cover images for Die A Legend and GOAT, the cover for Hall Of Fame is brighter, echoing the sentiments expressed on songs like “Rapstar” and “Fame & Riches” featuring Roddy Ricch. Polo is literally and figuratively moving out of a dark place in his life, trying to maintain his optimism for the future as he acknowledges the trauma and turmoil in his past (see: “No Return” with Lil Durk). But in doing so, he’s faced with a dilemma — an enviable one, to be sure, but a dilemma nonetheless.
As with many young stars on the precipice of greatness — he’s certainly set the bar high enough, with his album titles telling us exactly how he wants to be seen when all is said and done — he’s got a decision to make about how best to get there. On the one hand, if he sticks with what got him here, he can appease longtime, day-one fans, and build on their goodwill with increasingly polished craftsmanship a la heroes like Cole, Kendrick, and Lil Wayne, who Polo goes bar-for-bar with on “Gang Gang.” Like Cole and Kendrick, though, this means struggle: Struggle with meeting fans’ admittedly hazy standards for greatness; struggle with mental health and anxiety as he dwells on such traumatic material and the pressure to live up to his and fans’ expectations; struggle to connect on a commercial level.
Both Cole and Kendrick were well into the second decades of their respective careers before achieving their first No.1s. Polo already has, so there’s going to be added pressure to continue to perform, and proportional ridicule should he be perceived to decline or stall out. Fans will demand growth but will reject it if it doesn’t come on their terms. Polo’s insistence that he needs to get better at the craft before attempting to work with these elders suggests that he understands this.
However, pursuing playlist exposure and radio hits has its own dangers. As with some of the sunnier songs in this set, such pop reaches can clash with his already established image as a survivor of Chicago’s trenches. He’s managed to balance commercial viability with that image so far thanks to his breakout hit “Pop Out” and songs like “Rapstar,” but should popular trends shift even a little, he may be out of luck. He already faces criticism of his beat choices, which find him more often than not rapping in a torn legato cadence over moody pianos, but stepping out of his comfort zone means risking the ire of day-ones. Remaining in it means competing with similar acts like Rod Wave, with whom he’s wisely collaborated twice (once on Wave’s SoulFly and once here on “Heart Of A Giant”) to provide a contrast test for their respective sounds, but the lane is still rapidly filling up, and we’ve seen how quickly tastes can change within hip-hop.
Hall Of Fame positions Polo to make either of these choices well enough while also highlighting the potential danger in choosing either. It also shows that they are not mutually exclusive. He shows mastery of the pen on the upbeat tracks and mostly good instincts on the pop reaches (the Nicki Minaj feature notwithstanding). Now, I think, the important thing for him to do is put some distance between his projects — three lengthy releases in back-to-back years leave him with little life experience to speak on and expand his range of topics, which is something he’ll want to do to achieve the sort of longevity that will lead to him fulfilling his dream of making it to the hallowed halls of rap’s greatest of all time.
Hall Of Fame is out now via Columbia Records. Get it here.
Remember Kanye West’s “Lift Yourself“? The first two minutes of the 2018 song are carried by a vintage soul sample, which is a pretty typically West move. Then, (in)famously, West starts rapping nonsense lyrics that play off the words “poop” and “scoop.” For example, here’s a passage: “Poopy-di scoop / Scoop-diddy-whoop / Whoop-di-scoop-di-poop / Poop-di-scoopty / Scoopty-whoop.”
Well, today brings good news for “Lift Yourself” fans: The spirit of the song is alive and well here in 2021. Yesterday, West’s daughter North celebrated her eighth birthday and she did so by having a poop-themed birthday party. Kim Kardashian shared some photos of the proceedings on Instagram, including a group shot of North and her friends all wearing brown full-body pajamas made to look like a poop emoji. She captioned the image with a nod to “Lift Yourself,” writing, “Poop Diddy Scoop kinda slumber party [poop emojis].”
@kimkardashian/Instagram
Kardashian also shared an Instagram post about North’s special day, writing, “My 1st born baby North is 8 years old today! North, one day you will see these messages all printed out for you in the books I am making for you and so hope you feel the love because you bring so much love and joy into all of our lives! You are the silliest, most stylish, most creative person who knows exactly what they want in life! I’ve never met anyone like you! I picked these BTS to post of North and I from this Steven Klein Jackie O shoot bc it just reminded me of the bond North and I share and he always captures the emotion so well!”
Back in April of last year, Wale teased an upcoming track. At the very end of the year, EarthGang and Wale finally unleashed the collab “Options,” which is set to appear on their forthcoming project Ghetto Gods. They followed up the hit with a remix featuring newly-crowned XXL Freshman Coi Leray in late May.
EarthGang has released an official visual for the collaboration alongside Coi and Wale. In the video, the four rappers turn up together in a house party thrown by the Dreamville artists. Speaking about their forthcoming release Ghetto Gods, the duo explained on Twitter, “Ghetto Gods Is about finding the God in you. It doesn’t matter if your from the Ghetto or not. We all have the light in us. Elevate and let it shine.”
“[It] is some of our best work so far and we’re going to give it to you the right way,” they added. While they originally wanted to drop the same day Dreamville head honcho J. Cole unleashed his project The Off-Season, they ultimately chose not to. The move, which was inspired by Cole dropping the same day as Kanye back in 2013, would likely have overshadowed the upcoming project.
Watch EarthGang’s video for “Options Remix” featuring Coi Leray and Wale above and let us know your thoughts down below.
