Rod Wave and GloRilla are both rappers, but the similarities mostly end there. The former makes more R&B-influenced music with an emotional edge. The latter makes trap anthems with a Southern flavor. It didn’t look as though one was going to cut into the other’s first week sales, but the numbers are out, and Rod Wave proved to be the victor. He not only outsold GloRilla with his album Last Lap, but he lapped the St. Louis rapper by selling more than double what she pulled in during the same time period.
DJ Akademiks confirmed the numbers on October 15. He announced that Rod Wave managed to sell 130K units first week. GloRilla, meanwhile, was only able to sell 60K first week. This is tied for the second most units sold by Wave during the first week. His 2021 album, SoulFly, pulled an impressive 130K, while his 2023 album, Nostalgia, remains his best-performer with 137K units sold. GloRilla, meanwhile, doesn’t have the discography to be able to compare to previous releases. Glorious is her debut, and her previous EP, Anyways, Life’s Great, sold 28K in its first week.
The numbers are especially intriguing given that GloRilla sparked a feud with Rod Wave in the weeks leading up to their mutual releases. Wave changed his release date to be the same as GloRilla, and the latter voiced her frustration with the decision on Twitter. “Why df would you drop on my day,” she wrote. “I’m finna tweak out.” Rod Wave responded to GloRilla, and confirmed that he wouldn’t be changing his date to accommodate her. “La twin drop same night,” he wrote.
GloRilla has had a lot to say about the album sales about some of her rivals. JT of City Girls previously called out GloRilla for having a “man’s voice,” and then sold 27K units of her mixtape City Cinderella in July. The latter was tickled by the paltry number, and seemingly took to Twitter to celebrate JT’s weak numbers. “No competition,” she wrote. “Dese b*tches stale ho.” Unfortunately, for GloRilla, she didn’t fare much better when it came time to prove herself competitive.
Lil Durk was riding a monstrous way of momentum into October 18. The rapper was dropping a series of stellar buzz singles in the lead up to his new album, Deep Thoughts. Unfortunately, the release date for the anticipated album has been tweaked. An official announcement has yet to be released, but a subtle change was made on the Apple Music page for Deep Thoughts. Instead of reading October 18, the page claims that the album has been delayed by over a month.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that the release date for Lil Durk’s new album now reads: November 22. This is a pretty devastating delay for fans, especially given how long the rapper has been hyping up the release. Lil Durk first announced Deep Thoughts in December 2023. The aforementioned singles have been well received by fans, especially “Turn Up a Notch.” The subsequent buzz songs, “Monitoring Me” and “Late Checkout,” have drawn less attention but maintained an extremely high quality. The former, in particular, is one of Durk’s hardest releases to date.
The Deep Thoughts delay is the latest is a series of rollout controversies. The tracklist for the album was seemingly leaked on October 1. It spread like wildfire on line, with such unexpected names as Kai Cenat, Morgan Wallen and Sabrina Carpenter being listed among the features. A debate surfaced among fans as to whether Lil Durk was selling out and abandoning his traditional sound. Fortunately, the drama was cleared up. The rapper confirmed that the tracklist was fake. A proper one has yet to be released, with the only three confirmed tracks being the singles.
Fans are also hopeful that “Discontinuing Wockhardt” will make the cut. The Drake collab was teased by both Adin Ross and DJ Akademiks. The latter even played a preview of a music video for the song. It was theorized that Drake had been removed from the song, because the 6 God’s name was nowhere on the aforementioned tracklist. Once it was proven fake, however, confidence in the superstar collab was restored. Fingers crossed that Deep Thoughts doesn’t suffer any more delays along the way.
With a breakout hit as massive as “F.N.F.,” it would’ve been easy for GloRilla to just stick to that sound and appeal to get her bag as hip-hop’s most beloved new femcee of that year. To be fair, that’s kind of what she did in the following months, giving us single after single of some dirty Memphis bangers that she earned her fair share of hate for, along with every other woman rapper being just as hedonistic as the guys without that patriarchal benefit of the doubt. However, the Tennessee native clearly didn’t want to rush her studio debut, and now that GLORIOUS is here, we can easily see why.
On this new album, GloRilla amps up the regionality of her artistry with no need for excessive bells and whistles, makes the most out of her various flows and deliveries, and adds compelling flashes of topical focus that put the rest of her discography under a different context. Of course, it’s not all a hit, and there’s still some room for her to grow as an artist, lyricist, and performer. But Big Glo doesn’t just acknowledge this humbly on GLORIOUS. She also adds other sonic influences to emphasize and diversify her perspective in more explicit and consistent ways than many rap stars today tend to champion. Glo’s still the same person she’s always been, but pulling the veil back in this way results in more relatable and captivating affirmations on love, independence, faith, and conscientious identity that still go absurdly hard.
Starting with the beats, the most obvious auditory arsenal within GLORIOUS is two-fold: some orchestral and gospel-inspired instrumentals on one hand, and hard-hitting Memphis trap rhythms on the other. Mash them together and you have GloRilla’s catchy and to-the-point debut, at least holistically. The “INTRO” outlines this quite well with faint organs, warm bass, homages to T.I., and sharp snares. Overall, the drama and gravitas behind both of these styles inform and reinforce each other, so even string hits on singles like “HOLLON” come off as grand musical performances despite them landing on a club-ready track. GloRilla doesn’t consistently pick the most original beats, but even mild instrumentals on records like “STEP” with BossMan Dlow contain some interesting embellishments. In this case, it’s a slinky bassline and some stankface-inducing stomps.
The most consistently impressive production element here, though, is the brass. You already knew that thanks to GloRilla’s explosive lead single, “TGIF,” but there are plenty of examples of simple but effective uses of these timbres throughout GLORIOUS. One standout song is “LET HER COOK” and its contrast with light pianos, and “I AIN’T GOING” mixes those horns with an abundance of atmosphere and a more simple trap beat to create an almost rage-like feel. Still, almost everything on this album is distinctly Memphis despite its other employed styles. A lot of that is thanks to the 25-year-old’s delivery and lingo, but the percussion also carries heavily even in more poppy cuts like “I LUV HER” with T-Pain. Some choruses don’t ring as intoxicatingly as others, but with beats as impactful and larger-than-life as these, pretty much any refrain can become an anthem.
As for GloRilla herself on GLORIOUS, she remains as charismatic and confident as ever throughout almost every verse here. But the most interesting elements are when she deviates from that bravado, at least in part. Throughout this album, there are two main thematic focuses: the Memphis artist’s newfound fame and massive success in the hip-hop industry and her issues with toxic relationships with other men. “STOP PLAYING” switches things up with a soft drill tune, but more importantly, it assures her self-confidence regarding her journey to success and her self-respect regarding relationships. On “DON’T DESERVE,” Glo and Muni Long explicitly speak on wanting to see a friend leave an abusive relationship, an angle that you won’t find as directly in today’s rap landscape. But songs like “GLO’S PRAYER” show more vulnerability by admitting that she can’t bring herself to fall out of love with a problematic partner.
As such, many songs on here might share similar subject matter. Yet GloRilla is almost always diving into a particular aspect between these themes in a way that makes GLORIOUS feel more cohesive, carefully structured, and thematically progressive. By the time we reach more triumphant fare, such as the Megan Thee Stallion-assisted anti-drama anthem “HOW I LOOK” or the closer “QUEEN OF MEMPHIS” with Fridayy, we have a better understanding of her desires and what the next step in this journey is for her. What’s more, is that Glo relays this through a relatively small but, nonetheless, well-delivered set of flows. She sometimes sounds menacing, often fiery, occasionally conflicted, but always sharp and focused. Even though the album can feel like she’s spinning her pen’s wheels in place sometimes, these retreads don’t take away from the overall album experience.
Furthermore, you will still laugh at lines like “I’m half celibate, you can’t f**k, but you can eat this p***y” and be moved by confessions like “Got me feeling like a dummy when I know I’m smarter / The only man that showed me love correctly was my father.” GloRilla balances these moods out with grace, and if you need proof of that, listen to how passionately the album’s centerpiece, “RAIN DOWN ON ME,” with Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music, Kierra Sheard, and Chandler Moore turned out. Speaking of guests, Latto and Sexyy Red both bring boisterous chemistry to “PROCEDURE” and “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME,” respectively. However, the featured artists never overshadow or outshine Glo’s vision on GLORIOUS, and she’s the one that links all its disparate elements together for a thematically well-realized experience.
Still, there are a few notes for improvement here and there, such as some generic instrumentals, non-rhymes, similar tempos and song structures, and some deja vu here and there. Fortunately, all that becomes moot by the time you finish GLORIOUS, as you have a hefty collection of grimy, bombastic, and raw trunk-knockers that don’t overstay their welcome, plus plenty of direct and fearless food for thought. With all this in mind, it’s not hard to see why GloRilla wanted to take her time with her debut album, both to mull over her own romantic struggles and to respond to the behavioral and industry-set expectations that her fame pinned onto her. It doesn’t feel forced, desperate, haphazard, or like it could’ve come from anyone else other than her. The Queen of Memphis now has her throne, and we hope that her next effort doubles down on her ideas here.
Rod Wave might have another number one album incoming with Last Lap. The St. Petersburg, Florida rapper and singer dropped of his sixth studio effort this past weekend after a tandem of singles and a tour announcement. The formula hasn’t really changed for the 26-year-old on this project, but it contains some real quality and some slight improvements on his method to some degree. Take for example “25,” which sees Rod Wave grapple with a relatable issue that a lot of people his age deal with today. If you are single in today’s current dating climate, you may be able to resonate with his message.
Wave deals with feelings of depressing solitude and crippling social anxiety. Those stem from how he’s tired of how this generation handles relationships. For those who are unaware, a lot of people in this age range tend to not treat them with as much care as they probably should. Social media is a major factor because it gives everyone the illusion that there could be something better out there. It seems that Rod is having those same problems, as he comes across as a hopeless romantic on “25.” He yearns for that true love given where he’s at in his life, and he also wonders to himself whether or not he’s ever going to find that. The relatability on this one makes it a standout, but it’s also his pained vocals and ear-grabbing melody that contribute to us revisiting this one more and more.
Twenty-two, many things to see and do Twenty-three, lookin’ forward to twenty-four Is it just me or it ain’t no love no more? Twenty-five, what a time to be alive Am I getting old? Why do I feel tired? All the same old things, the same old games
One of the reasons why GloRilla is GloRilla is because of her gritty and scrappy nature. She’s unapologetic when it comes to her behavior, and if you don’t like, you know where the door is. Her turnt party cuts and self-empowering big girl anthems are why she’s been able to grow her audience every year. The Memphis native has an identity and it’s bolstered by her booming delivery. You are getting plenty of tracks like that on her debut album GLORIOUS, but she’s also showing that she has a tender side. One of those instances in which GloRilla displaying that is on her T-Pain collaboration, “I LUV HER.”
Here, she is expressing her willingness to let her guard down, even though it can be hard at times. “I know I can get a lil’ crazy (I know it) / But I love that you know how to deal with it / I need you to bare with me, baby (For real) / I ain’t really used to no real n****.” The worries carry into her second verse, as hopes she isn’t falling too quickly. But overall, Big Glo seems to have some optimism that this can work out and its cuter moment on the record for sure. Spin “I LUV HER” with the audio link below.
Know he love Big Glo’, for sure (Damn, facts) His favorite redbone He got motion and I got it too, the sex be so cometic Voodooin’ with the p***y (Woo), I ain’t have to make no spaghetti Fell in love so fast (Damn), my friends say I’m pathetic (F***) Pray he don’t play with my feelings (Why?), this s*** gon’ get domestic
Late last week, Rod Wave unveiled his anxiously awaited sixth studio album, Last Lap. The 23-track project boasts just a few guest appearances from Rylo Rodriguez, Lil Baby, and Lil Yachty. The latter two rappers join the Florida-born artist for the song “F*ck Fame,” which sees them delve into the trials and tribulations that can come along with fame.
The track is grounded by a mellow beat and features candid bars about fake friends, losing loved ones, and more. Overall, the song puts each artist’s talent on full display, and fans are here for the collab. “Ion expect a lil yachty and rod wave feature but ts hard,” one YouTube commenter notes. “Damn this combo fire,” another says.
Last Lap arrives just in time for Rod Wave’s tour in support of the project, which is scheduled to begin later this week. Moneybagg Yo and Toosii will accompany him on the North American leg of the tour. They’ll begin with a performance in Phoenix before hitting cities like Oakland, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, and more. The North American leg of the “Last Lap” tour will wrap up in December with a show in Ft. Lauderdale. What do you think of Rod Wave’s new track featuring Lil Yachty and Lil Baby? Will you be adding “F*ck Fame” to your fall playlist or not? What about his new album, Last Lap? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Rumors about Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming album have been swirling for some time. Following his explosive viral beef with Drake, legendary Pop Out show, and record-breaking “Not Like Us” music video, there are more eyes on him than ever waiting to see what he’ll do next. Fortunately for fans, his collaborators continue to drop hints that the project could be in the works and that they might get to hear it sooner rather than later.
Last week, for example, TDE affiliate Devin Malik took to X with an interesting message. “Mood cause new k dot album otwwww,” he captioned a clip of himself performing alongside Kendrick at the Pop Out. For obvious reasons, this got his followers’ hopes up.
Today, SZA added fuel to the fire by reposting Malik’s Tweet on her Instagram Story. Of course, this prompted big reactions from fans. “Another Kendrick and Sza collab would save generations,” one responded in RapTV‘s Instagram comments section. “Might be AOTY already,” another writes. Terrace Martin also teased Kendrick’s new project earlier this year on Instagram Live, revealing that he’s looking forward to it.
“Aye, let me tell y’all the records I’m excited for. I’m excited for YG’s album, I’m excited for Mustard’s album. I’m excited for a lot of people, but there’s two albums, I’m going cr*zy, I can’t wait ’til they drop,” he explained at the time. “Roddy Ricch album and whenever Kendrick drops his album, I’m excited for those two. Those two Compton artists is like, I’m excited. So much sh*t bubbling, you know?” What do you think of SZA reposting a Tweet about Kendrick Lamar’s new album being on the way? Do you think this is confirmation that it’ll drop soon? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
We haven’t uncovered all the lyrical details in GloRilla’s new album GLORIOUS, but one hint in particular really stuck out to fans on first listen. The bar in question lies in the track “RAIN DOWN ON ME” alongside Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music, Kierra Sheard, and Chandler Moore. “Watch over my family, Lord, and watch over all of my partners / And even though he hate me, Lord, watch over my baby father,” she rapped on the cut. As such, fans wondered whether this means that the Memphis femcee had a child or if she’s currently pregnant. But it turns out that there’s another possible interpretation that actually sounds more plausible.
That’s because this isn’t the first time that GloRilla alluded to her being pregnant. “Found out I was pregnant, got it gone, and I ain’t f**k since,” she rapped on “Nut Quick.” Some fans think that the “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME” artist suggested that she aborted the baby, something that she addressed again in January of 2023. “Y’all slow as f**k,” she responded to a fan who was talking about a resurfaced picture of Glo seemingly caressing her baby bump. “I was just playing on that picture. Nobody knew when I actually was pregnant until it was gone.”
With all this in mind, fans believe that the “baby father” that GloRilla rapped about on “RAIN DOWN ON ME” was the father of her child before she got an abortion. However, this is all just speculative theory and based on some lyrical interpretations and connections, so take them with a grain of salt. As far as other GLORIOUS lyrics of note, another fan theory is that Latto dissed Ice Spice on the track “PROCEDURE.” “But b***hes ain’t got s**t to steal, like, f**k I want from you? / Talking about taking spots, Caresha please,” the Atlanta lyricist rapped on the cut.
As far as GloRilla’s own shots, some fans theorized that she dissed JT on her Sexyy Red-assisted GLORIOUS cut, “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME.” “You won’t never catch me slipping, I ain’t no f***ing Cinderella, stupid b***h,” she said on there, possibly alluding to the former City Girl’s City Cinderella mixtape. We’ll see what else these verses allegedly hold…
ELUCID may turn some casual listeners off with his new album REVELATOR due to his wordy bars and chaotic production. But for those that want to stay and here what the underground New Yorker has to say, you are going to be rewarded. This is his third studio LP and its out under Fat Possum Records. ELUCID teased it back in August with a pair of singles, “INSTANT TRANSFER” and “SLUM OF A DISREGARD.” The former features his Armand Hammer co-star billy woods, who has another feature on the 15-song set. On REVELATOR, ELUCID is presenting pressing topics that relate to oppression, racism, violence, and more. One thing that all of these issues have in common is that all require a sense urgency to quell these societal dilemmas that plague everyone.
The frenetic and industrial production across REVELATOR exudes that tenfold, as does ELUCID’s delivery. It’s loud still in the midst all of the raucous happening around him so his messages don’t get lost. It’s really a perfect balance and it’s got us thinking it’s going to be an album of the year candidate when it’s all said and done. There’s still about two and a half months left, but it’s certainly cemented in our top 10 if not top five at the moment. You owe it to yourself to hear what ELUCID has to say and offer in terms of sounds. So, check it out with the links below.
South Bend, Indiana singer and songwriter is bringing one sultry R&B cut after another on his latest album, October Nights. This is actually the Death Row Records signee’s sophomore effort, and it comes just over a year after his debut, The Rebirth of Marvin. London has been doing his thing in this genre for several years now, and he’s known for his throwback sound that embodies the greats of the 90’s decade. He was able to lend his abilities to the latest NxWorries project Why Lawd? and he honestly was a perfect fit on “FromHere.”
Now, Ocotber London is bringing that tenfold on October Nights. Across this project, you are going to genuinely hear some of the most show-stopping solo performances all year. One of them is on the power ballad “Don’t Go,” as he calls out to a girl to never leave his side. The instrumentals are spacey and have that vintage tinge, and they highlight what London is able to do best. That being those captivating vocals and funky grooves. In talking with Rated R&B, London tells the publication what his goals were for this tape. “Just having fun. Nighttime is the best time for me… October Nights represents having a good time in the nighttime and letting loose.” He accomplished that and then some, so check it out below.
