With the artist formerly known as Kanye West running around in spooky masks weeks before Halloween and pulling other attention-grabbing stunts like renting a room at the stadium in which he held the listening events for his latest album, it’s getting harder and harder to understand where the once-relatable artist is coming from. However, if anyone were to have a shot at coming close, it would be one of the two artists who most recently worked with West to secure a No. 1 hit record.
In a new interview with British GQ, Jack Harlow — who worked with Kanye West and Lil Nas X on the hit single “Industry Baby” — takes a stab at explaining Ye’s oddball behavior of late. “I think he sees himself as Mozart or Beethoven,” he guesses. “I think he’s worried, not about what it looks like now but what it will look like in 100 years. Take what happened with the Taylor Swift situation: at the time it was all pitchforks, but now people treat that as iconic. I am always fascinated to see what he does next. This Donda roll-out, people are going to remember that for years.”
People may remember the rollout, but the music itself received a lukewarm reception from both critics and fans. You can read Uproxx’s review here. Elsewhere in Jack’s interview, he addresses his often fraught relationship with race as a white hip-hop artist. “I think what has worked for me is that my music has never been about the fact that I am white,” he hypothesizes. “I don’t try to lean into the, ‘Hey, I’m the white boy.’ I try not to make it a novelty. I rap from the heart, rather than trying to do a white version of the art form.”
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Over the past year, the pandemic utterly upended any number of artists’ plans, forcing many to push back their projects, change them, or abandon them altogether. The latter almost happened to North Carolinian Dreamville artist Lute, who was in the midst of his rollout for his new album Gold Mouf when quarantines and lockdowns forced the shutdown of most of the music industry.
For Lute, it was also the beginning of a months-long depression that had him questioning his place in the game. Sure, he’s signed to Dreamville, the label project founded by fellow North Carolinian J. Cole and modern equivalent to one of the Big Three rap labels back in the day — you know, Roc-A-Fella, Murder Inc., Ruff Ryders — alongside Top Dawg Entertainment and Quality Control. Dreamville is where emerging superstars like Bas, JID, and Ari Lennox have honed their craft over the past several years.
It’s also where Lute released his own debut album, West1996, back in 2017. But in today’s modern rap landscape, four years is a long time for a new artist to have to wait for a follow-up — even with a standout performance on the Revenge Of The Dreamers III compilation alongside label head J. Cole and another then-burgeoning NC standout, DaBaby. In the meantime, many of his labelmates have released projects and generated buzz for themselves, threatening to turn him into an afterthought of the roster, lost in the wash.
Fortunately, for Lute, Gold Mouf is more than worth it and proves equal to any project from his compatriots, including last year’s Spilligion, which featured Dreamville standouts JID and Earthgang. A vulnerable, confessional, relatable jaunt through the past four years, the project is not just a paean to his personal growth, it’s a beautifully produced, well-sequenced call for us all to check in on our mental health. Songs like “Birdsong” with JID and Chicago rapper Saba unearth lyrical gems from the muck of the past year, while “Changes” featuring BJ The Chicago Kid diagrams survival through myriad struggles.
The secret sauce is sequencing from yet another North Carolina native: Phonte Coleman of Little Brother and Foreign Exchange, who stepped in and offered to help sequence the album and make it the heartstring-pulling affair that it became in preparation of its delayed release. On a Zoom call with Lute, the rapper details the origins of his Gold Mouf< character; discusses the importance of self-care; and reveals his most wild remembrance of the legendary Revenge sessions.
So I guess, what’s been going on with you in those four years? Because you started out in one place, and now you’re in a different place. How have things changed since West1996?
I mean, honestly, it’s just life. Life changed, and life had been the… Just dealing with shit and anxiety and depression, and just everyday life stuff, bro. But at some point, I had to realize that in order for me to move forward with my life, in order for me to move forward with myself just as a man and as a human being, I got to get control of the things that keep me from blocking my blessings, like my anxiety and depression and stuff.
So just trying to figure out what’s the next step. Once I figured out what it was that I was going through and what I was dealing with, it’s like, “What’s the next step to kind of conquer those things?” And I went through all the steps, to be real with you, every last, even the bad steps. So just living and learning, man. That’s all. That’s all this album is really about is living and learning and holding yourself accountable.
Yes, sir. No, I certainly do hear that all over the album, especially on the joint with BJ and the joint with JID and Saba. Those were very beautiful songs. I want to talk about where this Gold Mouf character comes from because I don’t think that I’ve really been able to find a lot about the origin of it, why this was your-
Well, for me, I’ll put it to you like this. How can I explain it? Have you ever seen Nutty Professor?
Yes, sir.
So Gold Mouf is, to me, what Buddy Love is to Professor Klump. I deal with anxiety and depression and shit like that. So for me, Gold Mouf is like my highest level of confidence. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a mask, but another persona of myself that’s like top tier. And then on Instagram, I’ll be messing around sometimes. I call myself “Big Ugly.” So Big Ugly is like my low self-esteem type sh*t, and Gold Mouf is like me at my highest. So when I feel like my best, I feel like I take on the role of Gold Mouf, kind of like how Clark goes in the booth, and he turns into Superman.
Absolutely. One of the things that, I guess, struck me was this album had a very interesting release, right? Because you started the rollout in March last year (with “Getting Every Dollar“), and I was gearing up. I was like, “Yo.” I was talking to the people like, “Yo, let me get on the phone with Lute.” And then just, nothing happened, because everything shut down.
And that was also the beginning of me going through my depression, so that kind of slowed everything down. The pandemic hit, then I went through my depression. So everything really slowed down for me. And I realized that I was so used to moving that by the time the pandemic hit and it slowed everything down, all my traumas and everything that I was running from, or everything that I didn’t heal from, caught up to me.
It was easy to go through something and be like, “Well, I ain’t got to worry about it right now, because I got to go on tour.” Or, “I ain’t got to worry about that, because I got this show.” Or, “I ain’t going to worry about that, because I got to be at the studio.” But when all that shit shut down and you ain’t got nothing to do, now, you got to figure all that out. And then I lost my cousin during the pandemic, not to COVID though, due to gun violence. And I lost a childhood friend of mine. I almost lost my dad as well.
So a couple of other things happened that kind of set me down in a little spiral, and I just had to pick myself back up. I had to find a way to get back in the game. But for a minute, I was kind of tapped out. I didn’t think I was even going to finish the project. I thought that was just about to be the end for me. “I think I’m done. I think I did what I could. I did the best I could. And now, I think I’m just going to gracefully bow out.” But I felt like that was like me being defeated talking, and I kind of had to get that out of my head and just get my ass back up. I had to get back up. I had to get back in the game.
Well, I’m glad you’re still here, man. I’m glad you stood up because it was worth the wait. One of my parts of the early rollout was when you were doing the “Gold Mouf Chronicles” videos, which I thought were hilarious and very on point with the Wish Sandwich and the Lute Ross ones. What was the origin of this funny thing? In the process of doing it, did it reveal anything about your creative process to you?
I’m a very introverted person. But when you get to know me, I can be a super funny guy. I’m easy to talk to when I’m comfortable and I’m around people that I’m comfortable being around. So the “Gold Mouf Chronicles” was a way just to show my personality outside of my anxiety and me being or seeming very introverted. We felt like that was a good way to showcase my personality.
As far as the actual album is concerned, I know that as a North Carolina native, it meant a lot to you that it was executive produced and sequenced by members of Little Brother.
Oh no, for sure. Well, see Pooh is my manager.
I didn’t know that.
Yeah. Pooh’s my manager, and it was just a blessing for them to put a verse on. Because I chopped it up with Phonte a few times but when it came to album time, it was a blessing that they were able to put a verse on there for me. And the fact that Phonte wanted to sequence it, … If Phonte asks to sequence some shit, hell yeah. I’m not going to say no to that.
It definitely passed the car test.
You know, when Phonte passed it to Pooh, and Pooh gave it to me to listen to, to see what I liked or didn’t like about it, man, I almost shed a tear, because I worked on most of the project out here in LA. But I finished the rest of the half of it back home in Carolina. So when I was out here in LA, we were working in a studio almost every day. I had no idea what I had. I was just going into the studio, venting about the sh*t that I was going through and what I was dealing with. But when Phonte sequenced it, I had no idea. I didn’t even realize that I was building a story the whole time.
And the way he sequenced it, it’s like, “Man, this sh*t is beautiful as hell.” Because the way it’s sequenced is the way my life went. It’s like, I started off very optimistic about shit. Then you go through life, and you start dealing with shit. And then towards the end and coming out of my depression and shit, I realized that I love who I am. I love the person that I am. I love what I’m doing, and I love the direction that I’m going.
People don’t really realize how important sequencing is to how good albums are.
But that’s why I was very, very appreciative that Phonte wanted to sequence the album, because me, I’m the type of person when I drop bodies of work or projects, they tell a story, and that’s on purpose. I don’t want to have an album where you go through, and you’re just shuffling through this sh*t. I want you to listen to it from top to bottom. And sometimes, granted, you just still do, but at least you get the storyline. I want you to feel some sh*t after you listen to my album. I want you to experience something. I want you to have an experience. That’s why I love Kendrick’s albums, because they gave you a little story, and it just makes you experience sh*t.
What’s crazy to me is you have Cozz, you have Saba, you have JID, you have Boogie. On Dreamville you rapped alongside J. Cole and DaBaby. You’re surrounded by massive, massive lyricists. Do you find yourself challenging yourself to push harder when you are around these guys?
I don’t feel pressured at all. Only because I write from experience and being myself. I’m not an artist that writes every day or goes to the studio every day. And I sharpen my pen, but I sharpen my pen by living and experiencing and being present in my life. My inspiration comes from my day-to-day life. I was telling somebody the other day, even when I’m having a bad day, that sh*t sucks, but at the same time, when I really look at it, it’s going to make for a good song later.
I feel like at the end of the day, the only person I’m trying to be better than is myself. I’m trying to grow, I’m trying to learn and figure out all my quirks and stuff like that. So, as far as pressure… It’s definitely a friendly competition.
I think I’ve actually asked everybody, whoever was at the Dreamville Sessions if they have one good story to tell about the Dreamville sessions.
So much sh*t happened in that span. It’s not a blur, but everything is all jumbled in one. But I will say that the most shocking thing that I’ve seen… coming around the corner, looking over, and Chris Bosh is in the corner making beats and they were f*cking fire. The beats were hard.
So, I like to ask everybody, what’s the ideal outcome of your album rollout because I know everybody’s got different expectations and everybody has different gauges for success.
Just everybody being more self-aware about their mental health and taking more self-care and taking more time for themselves to grow and learn and hold themselves accountable so that we can progress and we can move forward. That’s literally all I wanted out of this album.
I was actually nervous to put this album out because I felt so vulnerable and exposed. But I realized when I was making these songs if I could be more vulnerable and more transparent or myself, then if that could help somebody else and also help me, then everything else out of it is just a blessing. That’s my goal, is just to help people be more aware of mental health.
I’ve made mistakes and I’ve held myself accountable on those things too. I’ve done things the wrong way and I also done things the right way. So, just holding myself accountable and just trying to move forward and grow. That’s really the whole synopsis of everything, man, just trying to f*cking grow and progress.
Gold Mouf is out now via Dreamville and Interscope Records. Get it here.
Inglewood-bred Dreamville rapper Cozz returns with a moody video for his new single, “Fortunate,” after having a relatively quiet couple of years since his last album. The video finds Cozz sitting in a wrecked car, having apparently survived a harrowing front-end collision. Throughout the video, Cozz expresses his gratitude and grapples with his vices, a struggle represented by haunting religious imagery and his pained crooning on the song’s confessional chorus.
More recently, Cozz could be heard assisting his Dreamville compatriot Lute on his new album Gold Mouf and Uproxx regulars may recognize him making a few appearances in our music video show React Like You Know, joining our panel of 20-somethings to give his impressions on videos like Fabolous’ “So Into You.”
Watch Cozz’s “Fortunate” video above and stay tuned.
Now that Migos have gotten their Culture III rollout out of the way, it appears the Atlanta trio is again working on solo albums. At least, Quavo is, and today, he released the high-energy lead single, “Strub Tha Ground” featuring City Girls’ Yung Miami. Built on a sample of Miami bass trio Splack Pack’s 1993 single “Scrub Da Ground,” the song encourages the ladies at the club to drop it down low for both entertainment and profit. The video concept finds the pair resurrecting the legendary Atlanta street party Freaknik, with Quavo walking around filming the festivities.
Quavo announced his upcoming solo album on Complex‘s Hiking With Rappers series earlier this week, explaining that he’s aiming for release in 2022. “Probably like next year, the Huncho solo project will come back out,” he said. That’ll make it around four years since his 2018 solo debut, Quavo Huncho, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, sold gold within a year of its release, and contained the singles “How Bout That” and “Workin Me.”
Yung Miami, who delivers a standout verse on the new track, was recently linked romantically to Diddy. Meanwhile, she’s not the only member of her Miami duo to fly solo lately; JT popped up with a verse on Summer Walker’s new single “Ex For A Reason.”
Watch Quavo’s “Strub Tha Ground” video featuring Yung Miami above.
The grind never stops for Lil Tjay. The New York rapper is just a few months removed from sharing his second album, Destined 2 Win, with the world. The project debuted at No. 5 on the album charts, which tied a personal record for the highest position. Destined 2 Win also gave him his highest-charting song thanks to “Calling My Phone” with 6lack. After basking in the success of the album for some time, Lil Tjay is back in action with new music and it comes in the form of his new single “Not In The Mood” featuring Fivio Foreign and Kay Flock.
The new track finds the trio of rappers pushing as hard as they can to overcome life’s obstacles. “I almost gave up every other day / We made a way,” Tjay raps on the song. “We never relate, it’s big food for the plate / It’s time to go drill, I never do dates.” The tunnel-visioned approach to consistent success is emulated by Fivio Foreign and Kay Flock, who provide verses of their own on “Not In The Mood.”
Lil Tjay drops off the new song after teaming up with Joyner Lucas for a raunchy video to their collaboration, “Untold Stories.” Prior to that, he teamed with Bas and J. Cole for “The Jackie” and appeared on G Herbo’s fourth album, 25, on a track titled “Cry No More” that also featured Polo G.
Pink Sweats is slowly making a return to the spotlight just months after he released his debut album, Pink Planet. It’s a project that delivered 18 songs, with a lone guest appearance from Kehlani, to fans. It’s also an effort that arrived after three EPs: Volume 1, Volume 2, and The Prelude. Fast-forward to the present and the Philly singer is back with his second song in as many weeks with “Nothing Feels Better.” The singer’s near-acoustic sound serves as the landscape for a romantic message to a partner he’s head over heels for as their love helped him “realize I’m right where I should be.”
Prior to “Nothing Feels Better,” Pink Sweats touched down with “I Feel Good,” a track that found him appreciating the world around him and how great life is to him nowadays. It all comes amid a spike in activity for him. He recently made an appearance on The Eye, a new series that allows up-and-coming artists to their breakout songs in beautiful and minimalistic environments. There he performed “At My Worst,” “Heaven,” and “Paradise” and also spoke about his debut Pink Planet.
He described the project as “an album about one of the most timeless emotions… love. I wanted to express my love about someone I truly love and document that.”
Listen to “Nothing Feels Better” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Just like a lot of artists around the world in a number of genres, Elton John spent his time in quarantine working on a plethora of new music. As a result, the legendary singer decided to create a project out of the songs he made during that time, one he titled The Lockdown Sessions. He announced the project at the beginning of September, and today, it’s available for fans to listen to. Across the project’s sixteen songs, a highlight appears on “Always Love You” with Young Thug and Nicki Minaj. The track sees the trio committing to a lifelong partnership with individuals they’ve deemed perfect to spend a lifetime with.
Prior to releasing The Lockdown Sessions, Elton John shared a number of singles to build up anticipation for the project. They include “Finish Line, “After All,” and a remix of “Cold Heart.” Altogether, the project also sees appearances from Dua Lipa, Surfaces, Charlie Puth, Rina Sawayama, Gorillaz, 6lack, Miley Cyrus, SG Lewis, Brandi Carlile, Jimmie Allen, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, and more.
While “Always Love You” marks the first song between Elton and Minaj, it’s the second record between him and Young Thug following their 2018 track “High,” which sampled the singer’s hit song “Rocket Man.”
Watch the “Always Love You” video above.
The Lockdown Sessions is out now via Mercury Records Limited/EMI. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Khalid is set to release his upcoming third album Everything Is Changing at some point in the future. Fans are still awaiting a release date for the project, but so far the singer has given them a decent amount of singles to enjoy as they wait. They include “New Normal,” “Eleven,” and “Know Your Worth.” The singer now adds “Present” to the mix thanks to his latest release. The track captures an honest conversation between the singer and a special individual in his life that sees asking for a moment to collect himself and be “present” with them.
The track arrives after Khalid opened up about the completion of Everything Is Changing in a string of tweets. “I’m really sorry to keep you guys waiting for this album because I want it to be out more than anyone, so much that finishing it has became overwhelming and I need to find that joy again,” he wrote. “I started this album and I felt free, like creativity was pouring out of me. I have some songs on here I know will change my life. I need to get back to making music how I want to make.” Towards the end of his message, he added. “I’m gonna refocus, finish this album without stress, and put out something that I truthfully believe in. I’ma be me at the end of the day, that’s all I can be.”
You can listen to the new single in the video above.
Big Sean returned to the music world with a chip on his shoulder and his spike in activity continues with his latest single, “What A Life.” The track is produced by Hit-Boy and it finds the Detroit rapper reflecting on his best moments and the hardships he got through over a quick-paced beat supplied by Hit-Boy. It marks the latest collaboration between the two as they last connected on the rapper’s fifth album, Detroit 2, which was released towards the end of last year and was executive produced by Hit-Boy himself.
The track also seems to be a sequel to the rapper’s 2015 track, “What A Year” which features appearances from Pharrell and Detail with the latter responsible for the song’s production. Big Sean released the song two days after stopping by Power 106’s LA Leakers to deliver a sharp freestyle over five songs that include Kanye West’s “Hurricane,” which he originally had a verse on, Drake and Jay-Z’s “Love All,” Nardo Wick’s “Who Wants Smoke??” and more. A day after it was released, Big Sean took to Twitter to explain his intention behind the freestyle.
I’ll do a hype song, a conscious song, a love song or strip club song and will hop on a song with anybody and hold my own. That’s why I rapped on 4 different styles of beats on the LA Leakers cause I embrace being versatile, love to everybody who listened as well and sharing
“I’ll do a hype song, a conscious song, a love song or strip club song and will hop on a song with anybody and hold my own,” he wrote. “That’s why I rapped on 4 different styles of beats on the LA Leakers cause I embrace being versatile, love to everybody who listened as well and sharing.”
At last month’s VMAs, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia teased that they would be sharing a collaboration with the world in the near future. A preview of the presumed song was revealed a the end of Swedish House Mafia’s performance at the show. Earlier this week, both artists confirmed that their collaboration was not only a song, but revealed that the track would be made available to fans in just a matter of days. At long last, the duo’s track, titled “Moth To A Flame,” is here and it comes with a music video for fans to enjoy as well. The visual is laced with a plethora of nude bodies sharing intimate moments on top of each other while The Weeknd sings about being a better partner for someone who is currently in a relationship with another man that the singer views as inadequate.
The track arrives following two singes from Swedish House Mafia this year in what’s turned out to be a comeback year for the group. Their first release was “It Gets Better” while the second was “Lifetime” with Ty Dolla Sign and 070 Shake. As for The Weeknd, the song arrives as the singer places the finishing touches on his upcoming sixth album, which he’s been referring to as “dawn.”
“Album is complete,” he said during an October 4 episode of his Apple Music show Memento Mori. “Only thing missing is a couple characters that are key to the narrative. Some people that are near and dear to me, some people that inspired my life as a child, and some that inspire me now. More to come in the following months.”
You can press play on the track in the video above.
Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
