Musiq Soulchild & Hit-Boy Bring Neo-Soul Goodness On ‘Victims & Villains’

Hit-Boy has been on a successful run, and fans hope this continues with his latest Musiq Soulchild collaboration. The two have been teasing their joint album, Victims & Villains, and it finally arrived this Friday (March 10). Musiq is an icon in the industry whose classics remain favorites in R&B circles. As the singer’s name suggests, Musiq’s contributions to Soul are unmatched with songs like “Halfcrazy,” “Love,” “Just Friends,” and “B.U.D.D.Y.” He unites effortlessly with Hit-Boy on this project, and fans are already taking to social media to share their favorite moments from the release.

“The title is designed to address the topic of the challenges we all deal with in relationships,” Musiq recently told Bill Bellamy during a visit to his podcast. “But I’m approaching it from a slightly different angle than I used to. It’s more abstract, at the same time direct. A lot of people don’t realize which one they are; they think they’re one when they’re the other.”

Hit-Boy & Musiq Come Together To Make Magic

He also referred to Hit-Boy as a “GOAT of our time,” a level of praise that isn’t far-fetched. Hit-Boy’s reign hasn’t let up, and his King’s Disease productions with Nas have earned not only respect from his peers, but the awards have also flooded in. In 2022 alone, Hit-Boy released Bulletproof Soul with Pacman da Gunman, Hitgirl with Dreezy. Additionally, his production credits read like a ‘who’s who’ of the industry: Don Toliver, Doechii, Robert Glasper, Big Sean, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Park, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Freddie Gibbs, Offset, Cordae, Blxst, Vic Mensa, A$AP Rocky, and many more.

On Victims & Villains, we find Musiq Soulchild’s Neo-Soul vocals perfectly pairing with Hit-Boy’s captivating productions. This a reunion for the hitmakers as they’ve worked together before, albeit it has been some time since they’ve released anything together. The generations of Hip Hop Soul colliding on this album speak to the ongoing conversations about the state of R&B and the “relevancy” of certain subgenres. Victims & Villains proves that onto only is R&B not dead, but it is thriving. Stream Victims & Villains, and let us know what you think.

Tracklist

  1. will I touch the sky
  2. I remember you my ex
  3. imreallytrynaf*ckwichu
  4. beat of a slow dance
  5. Is it love, is it lies
  6. victims and villains
  7. whit rice deja vu
  8. between love and war
  9. your love is life
  10. we are just binging

[via]

The Roots Picnic 2022 Takes Philly By Storm: Top 5 Roots Picnic Moments

Roots Picnic

After a very long two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual Roots Picnic curated by festival co-founders Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is back and better than ever. This past weekend, The Mann in Philadelphia was filled with beautiful Black people, Black music, Black excellence – a powerful representation in […]

The post The Roots Picnic 2022 Takes Philly By Storm: Top 5 Roots Picnic Moments appeared first on SOHH.com.

Earthgang And Musiq Soulchild Take Us To Church In The Spiritual ‘Amen’ Video

Earlier this year, Atlanta duo Earthgang released their much-anticipated fourth album Ghetto Gods. Representing the new sound of rap from the ATL, the Dreamville signees have a loaded list of guest features on board for Ghetto Gods in Ari Lennox, Musiq Soulchild, CeeLo Green, JID, J. Cole, Future, Nick Cannon, Baby Tate, and Lynae Vanee. When the album dropped, a statement from Earthgang’s Olu and WowGr8 said that the album was intended as, “…a sonic reminder of the godhood present in all of us and a study in how our environments create our reality, which, through dedication, faith and belief can be transmuted into whatever we desire.” On no track on the album is that message felt perhaps quite as much as on “Amen” featuring Philly R&B crooner Musiq Soulchild.

“Baby, say a prayer for me, yeah, put one in the air for me. Show me that you care, you’ll always be there, promise that you’ll never leave,” Musiq sings. And on the new video for the track, a full-on gospel choir and church-style backing band help the trio drive home the spirituality of love wrapped in the duality of faith. It’s the latest in a series of videos from songs off of the album that Earthgang has dropped since the album’s release. They include last week’s heist-themed drop for “Billi” and the heartfelt visual for “Strong Friends” the week before that.

Watch Earthgang’s video for “Amen” featuring Musiq Soulchild above.

Ghetto Gods is out now via Dreamville and Interscope. You can stream it here.

Earthgang Share ‘Amen’ And Confirm The New ‘Ghetto Gods’ Release Date

In late 2021, Earthgang declared their next album, Ghetto Gods, would be released on January 28, 2022. That date has come and gone and Ghetto Gods is not yet out. Now, though, the duo has revealed the album art while also declaring the album is set for this Friday, February 25.

Earthgang also shared a new song, the Musiq Soulchild-featuring “Amen,” which, predictably given its title, has a gospel influence, especially towards the start of the track, before a hip-hop sound comes more directly to the forefront of the song’s focus.

In a new Rolling Stone interview, WowGr8 says the album represents “motherf*cking absolute certainty” and Olu says, “We realized that the energy of these songs is what we want to go towards. Then, once we started listening back to the records, we were seeing this underlying theme about the present moment. We was like, ‘OK, we’re talking about us finding our light in this wild-ass situation.’” Olu also noted, “We’re so creative, and we have so many great ideas and so many great stories to tell. We feel like it would be to our betterment that we put it in forms where people are able to digest it.”

Listen to “Amen” above.

Ghetto Gods is out 2/25 via Dreamville/Interscope. Pre-order it here.