rap

Slim Jxmmi Used To Rap Like Eminem

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Sometimes, rappers pull inspiration from the most unlikely places, especially long before their careers establish. For example, Slim Jxmmi recently revealed on The Bootleg Kev Podcast, on which he spoke alongside his brother and Rae Sremmurd partner Swae Lee, that he used to try to rap like Eminem. Not only that, but they both expressed being fans of the Detroit legend, despite hailing from Mississippi. During their conversation, they spoke on their recently released album Sremm 4 Life, Internet virality, and many other topics. “That was definitely my favorite rapper [growing up],” Jxmmi remarked. “Man what, I used to do all that ‘Hi, my name is’ [stuff]. I used to like the way he rapped. I [even] used to try and rap like him at one point in time in my life.”

Furthermore, his use of the phrase “used to like” is quite interesting. Is he one of many Stans who think that his music fell off deeper into his career? Regardless, the Marshall Mathers connections to Rae Sremmurd run surprisingly deep. Slim Jxmmi’s rap name is quite similar to that of Em’s alter ego Slim Shady. Also, on Sremm 4 Life, they include an homage to the classic track “Stan” and the Dido song that it samples on the cut “Not So Bad (Leans Gone Cold).” While that track caused a dispute between the rap duo and fellow MC Millyz, it still made for a wild crossover moment.

Slim Jxmmi Wanted To Emulate Slim Shady, Admired Eminem’s Rap Style

However, it’s not the only hip-hop legends that the rap duo is connected to. Moreover, they addressed comparisons to Outkast, specifically a viral 2022 tweet that claimed that Rae Sremmurd was better than the Atlanta icons. “Y’all gotta chill,” they posted on Twitter, and each member actually elaborated on the comparison previously in a 2018 interview with NME. “Shout-out to OutKast man, they’re some originals in the game, so you can never compare us,” Slim Jxmmi stated. “But I think that Rae Sremmurd are doing our own thing, in our own way, in our era of time and music. But OutKast is a great group, and we really like them, you know what I’m saying?”

“I think the game is trying to turn us to some OutKast [comparisons],” Swae Lee added. “And there’s a lot of hate and hating on us going on because we’re doing our own thing and we’re in our own lane. They tried to turn Rae Sremmurd into OutKast and count us out, so we had to come out and remind them that, ‘Look, we’re here to stay.’” Regardless of your take on that, return to HNHH for more on Eminem, and the latest on Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd.

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Hulu’s “RapCaviar Presents” With Tyler, The Creator: Episode 1 Review

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RapCaviar Presents is a new docuseries on Hulu. It extends from the Spotify playlist, RapCaviar, which also has a podcast series hosted by music journalist Jinx. Across the six episodes, various rappers are covered, and their careers are discussed. These artists are chosen based on the central theme of each episode. This ranges from the hyper-masculinity in rap being erased to the continuous rise of women in the genre. The first episode is “Breaking The Mold – Tyler, The Creator.” It features interviews with Tyler’s famous friends Pharrell Williams, Vince Staples, radio host Big Boy, and one of Tyler’s managers, Christian Clancy.

Tyler’s Origins Made Him Unique, But He Wanted To do More

This episode of Hulu’s RapCaviar Presents frames its focus around Tyler’s individuality as an artist. The episode serves as a timeline of his career with the footage it uses. In the opening portions are multiple videos from his time with his collective Odd Future. Longtime supporters will recognize these clips, including popular moments from the infamous “A Day in Ladera” video and other iconic group pictures and footage. And yes, footage from the “Oldie” music video is in it, too. Interviewees spoke about how the group’s style was one thing that set them apart from the rest of the rap world immediately. The footage ends with videos from Tyler’s most recent tour promoting his Call Me If You Get Lost album. Fans will find joy in just seeing how the size of the crowds increased more and more as Tyler’s career progressed.

Tyler’s manager Christian Clancy said he always trusted Tyler’s vision. This goes back to the notoriously controversial video for “Yonkers.” This was released in 2011, long before the RapCaviar playlist was a thing. Tyler was always confident in what he wanted to make. He trusted his ideas and those around him did, too. Those people embraced what he was doing because it was different. However, ‌that’s what was pushing other sources away. Tyler’s music was not getting the coverage he wanted. He later realized people knew him for his antics more than his music career. This caused a shift in his creative output. Rather than just doing shocking things for fun, he changed to making things that showed his talent.

Tyler’s Grammy Loss Pushed Him To A Different Level

Tyler was nominated for Best Rap Album for Flower Boy in 2018 but lost. The episode focuses on how Tyler did not care what others thought of his music and expression. Yet, he still wanted validation from something on a grand scale. He knew he deserved it. This loss pushed him even more, and his following album IGOR won the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2020. This win was ironic because the album is even less traditional in terms of “rap” than Flower Boy. Hulu’s RapCaviar Presents inserted footage of Tyler’s face on that night, showing his genuine shock at the win. 

Tyler won the Grammy for Best Rap Album again in 2022 for Call Me If You Get Lost. The episode ends around this point with footage of fans speaking about how he impacted their lives. This is fitting because the RapCaviar Presents episode has been about how he has inspired people to embrace their uniqueness. By showcasing his own, he directly inspired them. Many viewers may find this inspiring because they remember when Tyler had the same effect on them years ago. It shows that no matter when someone gets into his music, the same result can come from it. Christian Clancy’s closing quote from the Hulu series is perhaps the best way to frame the entirety of Tyler’s effect on the music world: “If you don’t allow for change, you stay stuck.”

Tyler’s Episode Is For Two Audiences

This debut episode of RapCaviar Presents serves as a decent overview of Tyler’s career. However, longtime supporters may not learn anything new from it. At less than an hour, there is only a limited amount of time to get all the information in. Additionally, the documentary jumps from multiple eras quickly to allow time to include them, with some getting much more time than others. The focus is primarily on how people perceived the music—not how Tyler made it. The documentary echoes something many listeners already know about Tyler: he will do what he wants no matter what. For those unfamiliar with him, this will serve as a good introduction. For those already familiar, this will serve as more of a trip down memory lane and a chance to reflect on Tyler’s growth as an artist.

RapCaviar Presents is available to stream on Hulu now.

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Yung Miami Laughs Off People Hating On Her Rap Style

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The City Girl hasn’t caught much of a break these days, but she continues to move forward with confidence. Yung Miami recently responded to people on Twitter criticizing her rap performance on the remix of Lola Brooke’s “Don’t Play With It.” Moreover, she hopped on Brooke’s track alongside Latto and delivered what many fans considered to be either heat or a heap of mediocrity. For example, one user tweeted at her with, “Don’t even say that you literally TOP 10 best female rappers out rn.” For this, and a few other comments, the 29-year-old had some confident and unfazed responses.

“Don’t know bout the best and all that but I be popping my s**t,” she replied to the comment above. Furthermore, she actually held back on talking placements and lists and focused on what she really cares about: giving her best performance possible and making something she’s proud of. In fact, that was the underlying sentiment of a lot of her tweets. “I know it’s popular to say I can’t rap but I ate that verse,” she said in a separate tweet with heart-surrounded smiley face emojis. “DONT PLAY WITH IT REMIX OUT NOW!!!”

Yung Miami Unfazed By People Dissing Her Rap Style

Also, she continued her responses, even to people that had some slight praise and undercut it with a jab. “I love the confidence,” one tweeter began, “but it sound like you be having a lot of spit in your mouth. Either that or your tongue just BIG AF.” To that, Caresha responded with, “That’s my sound get used to it b***h.” Unfortunately, the “Act Up” collaborator also faced a lot of clowning for her performance on BMF. While it certainly isn’t a mind-blowing performance by any means, it’s still great to see someone primarily dedicated to music venture into other lanes. The nicest sentiment online was along the lines of “at least she tried,” which undercuts how much fun she clearly had with it.

However, her confidence clearly wasn’t enough to lessen the blow, as she went at people online and launched a lot of frustrated statements in response to hate. Still, all that said, she did get a notable defense from Method Man, who encouraged Miami to keep her head up. With that in mind, a word of encouragement can drown out thousands of naysayers, and it helps that he’s also a rap vet venturing into TV. Regardless, check out her responses and a clip of the remix above and return to HNHH for the latest on Yung Miami.

Logic’s Most Streamed Songs

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Logic’s songs have done very big streaming numbers. He has almost 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Many people have differing opinions on his music. Still, he continues to achieve more and more success. Besides doing music, he has also written two books. Listeners of his music are used to his creative writing passion coming through in his music. Several of his albums have a narrative theme running through them. There are skits on the albums that weave the story together, The covers also have given listeners visual components to go with the story. Additionally, he also produces many of his own songs. This is a testament to his skill set expanding as he took his commitment to this to the next level. His discography has multiple types of songs in it for different audiences. In this list, we’ve ranked his top streaming songs.

10. Shimmy – Logic (feat. Joey Bada$$)

Logic listeners have been waiting for this song for years. This is a collaboration that has been a long time coming. The two of them did a freestyle while on tour together in 2017. Listeners had to go to YouTube if they wanted to hear the freestyle. This is their first official collab and it dropped in 2023. The freestyle was over a 90s-esque boom bap beat and fans expected an official song from them to sound similar. However, Logic and Joey decided to go the opposite route. In this song, the two of them rap over a spacey trap beat. For listeners, this was a pleasant surprise because they still enjoyed the song. Logic and Joey have confident yet chill flows on it. The song’s title, hook and verses pay homage to ODB from Wu-Tang Clan. 

#9. Lightsabers – Logic (feat. C Dot Castro)

This song from Logic has a very motivational feeling to it. There are horns all over the song’s hook that sound triumphant and the hook is very positive. This is a special song because it features a brief intro from Juicy J. Hearing a legend on a song with Logic is a testament to the level he’s reached as an artist. The song’s opening moments also have one of his older name tags he used on his mixtapes. After the triumphant opening moments, there’s a beat switch and a piano replaces the horns. The triumphant tone dials down and things change to a more tranquil atmosphere. Still, Logic tells of how things have changed from the past to now as we get a glimpse inside his mind. Feature C Dot Castro continues the reminiscent theme established by Logic.

#8. Wake Up – Logic (feat. Lucy Rose)

This song was the first single for Logic’s latest album College Park. This album is a concept album and it gave listeners a taste of what they could look forward to. In this track, Logic speaks about the things he has been through in his past. In another reference to his past, he uses an ad-lib that longtime listeners instantly will recognize. He also speaks on other situations that listeners with a background like his could relate to. This runs throughout the entire verse. He also speaks on how he overcame these things. He reflected the reminiscing concept in the song’s hook which reinforces how often he dealt with these things. At the song’s conclusion, Lucy Rose offers listeners an explanation of the album’s concept.

#7. Self Medication – Logic (feat. Seth MacFarlane, Redman and Statik Selektah)

This is one of Logic’s most surprising songs. The surprise comes from the amount of people on the song. It also comes from who these people are. Statik Selektah is known for his boom bap production and soulful samples. He’s also known for his scratching which is what he did on this song. Seth MacFarlane of course is know for his shows and voice acting. However, in this situation he uses his singing skills – which are sometimes showcased on his shows. He does a Frank Sinatra impression as he sings on this song and gives the song a very classy feeling. Lucy Rose follows him with vocalizations. Redman of course is a rap legend and it’s surprising and cool that he worked with Logic. Their rap verses have an old school hip-hop feeling to them that matches well with the atmosphere of the whole song.

#6. Perfect – Logic

This is the shortest Logic song on this list. It also is one of the most energetic ones. In this song, there is no hook. The song title comes from the sample in the song. The sample is from the Street Fighter video game series that exclaims “Perfect!”. This happens if a player wins round without getting hit. Logic jumps from flow to flow on this one with high energy as the drums skitter around his words. There’s a distinct bell like noise in the song that carries its melody. For many people, the energy in the song made it a quick addition to their gym playlist. Logic also released a remix to this song that features Lil Wayne and A$AP Ferg.

#5. Ballin – Logic

This is the oldest Logic song on this list. The song originally released in 2013 and was on his mixtape Welcome to Forever. However, on that version there was a feature from C Dot Castro. This version, which comes from the Uncle Drew soundtrack, does not contain his verse. This is another energetic song from Logic that features him speaking highly of himself. The hook is motivational and speaks of Logic attaining the financial goals he wants. For those who are familiar with some of Logic’s other grounded music, this may be surprising. This is a testament to the growth he’s made as well as his range as an artist. The song has claps throughout it which loosely connects to the basketball theme of Uncle Drew. The drums and bass on this one are very high energy too and encourage listeners to rap along with the hook.

#4. 44 More – Logic

This song is actually part two of a different Logic song. “44 Bars” is a song from his project Bobby Tarantino. This sequel is on his project Bobby Tarantino II. The original song contrasted the rest of the songs on the project because of its emotional context. Meanwhile, on this song, Logic abandons this feeling for high energy. However, several of his bars still relate to the overarching subject matter from the original. His delivery of them is what makes them sound different. This song also features one of his fastest verses. It also features a beat switch right before Logic goes into it. Logic adapts to beat switches all over the song as he changes his flow accordingly. Listeners actually got a glimpse of the recording process for this song. In it, they saw how many times it took Logic to get the fast portion of the verse right. 

#3. Homicide – Logic (feat. Eminem)

When this song was announced, many Logic fans were very excited. Logic has had a few very fast rap verses in his career. Eminem is known for his fast-paced verses. This song showcases this skill from both artists. Logic’s hook is just as fast as his verses. He goes through a group of flow switches and also uses some humor within the verse. The hook also pays homage to Eminem – one of Eminem’s biggest songs specifically. Eminem’s verse is even faster than Logic’s and is a little different from his too. It doesn’t have the hook from the song during it at all. Eminem’s verse also has many more punchlines than Logic’s. Logic has discussed his admiration for him so it’s safe to say he didn’t mind.

#2. Everyday – Logic (feat. Marshmallow)

This is a Logic song where he tried something new. Before this released, Logic had mostly only worked with his in-house producer 6ix. The two of them have been working together for his whole career. But, on this one 6ix does not have any production credits at all. This is because on this one Marshmello is the sole producer. Marshmello is instantly recognizable because of the large marshmallow head he wears that covers his face. People know him for his electronic music production. However, for Logic he produced something that still lined up well with the rap based production Logic was used to. The song combines trap drums and melodies that are more electronic and pop centric. Logic also sings on the song which is something he did more in his later career. 

#1. 1-800-273-8255 – Logic (feat. Alessia Cara and Khalid)

This Logic song has over one billion streams. It without a doubt is the song that took him to an entirely new level of popularity. This track was a large departure from the type of music had previously done. This song also had two surprising features on it. These came from Alessia Cara and Khalid who are pop artists. Previously, Logic had not worked with any artists from that world or even made a pop oriented song. The message behind this song is why it took off in popularity. The song discusses not giving up on life and letting it consume you. The phone number is the Suicide Prevention Hotline. After Logic performed the song on the MTV VMAs in 2017,they received an immense amount of calls. No matter what you think of him, the fact remains that this song literally saved lives.

Is your favorite Logic song on this list? Let us know in the comments section.

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Juice WRLD’s Albums, Ranked

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A generational talent gone way too soon, Juice Wrld was one of the most influential artists to this day. Born December 2, 1998, Jarad Anthony Higgins, better known as Juice Wrld, was a rising star from the Soundcloud era. Starting his musical career in high school, many of his peers persuaded him to rap and freestyle. 

Releasing his first song, “Forever,” on SoundCloud in 2014, Juice Wrld knew he had the talent to continue forward. Furthermore, dropping his first EP, “999,” on June 15, 2017, which included his most streamed song today, “Lucid Dreams.”

Album Rankings

Juice Wrld performs onstage during Made In America – Day 1. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)

According to Spotify’s Twitter on April 4, 2022, these would be the rankings based on streams. “Goodbye & Good Riddance” (6.4 B+), “Legends Never Die” (4.2B+), “Death Race For Love” (4.2B+), “Fighting Demons” (1.4B+), and”WRLD ON DRUGS” (1.1B+).

With the news/leaks of his final album, “The Party Never Ends,” potentially dropping this year. Let’s take a look at Juice Wrld’s album catalog and rank them. 

Death Race For Love

A bit of a controversial pick between this album and “Goodbye & Good Riddance,” but in terms of versatility and pure talent, this album is number one. Released on March 8, 2019, this was Juice’s second studio album and the last album to be released during his lifetime.

Freestyling the album in just five days is a skill that not many can achieve. In this album, Juice Wrld speaks about taking drugs and his addictions, as well as talking about relationships and his love and lust. 

An accomplishment in his career as this album was his first to score a No. 1 on the Billboard 200. As well as producing hit songs like “Robbery,” “Empty,” “Fast,” “Make Believe,” etc. The album feels like a journey into the life of Juice Wrld, as the songs reference his lifestyle and his love for his recent girlfriend, Alli Lotti. 

Goodbye & Good Riddance

Arguably one of Juice Wrld’s best albums to many of his fans was also the first album that many of his fans came across. This was Juice’s first studio album, released on May 23, 2018. Featuring 17 songs with just one feature (Lil Uzi Vert), this album is a roller coaster of a journey. Including the use of skits in the album; if you listened to the songs in a specific order, you could see his journey.

In this album, the songs varied between the drug use and addiction he faced, as well as referencing his past relationships and achieving success over time. 

Some of Juice Wrlds most popular songs came off this album, like “All Girls Are The Same,” “Lucid Dreams,” “Lean Wit Me,” “Armed And Dangerous,” and many more. To this day, many will believe this is the number one album to date and is a staple to his music career. 

Fighting Demons

His most recent album to date, “Fighting Demons“ comes in at number three. Released on December 10, 2021, just two days after the two-year anniversary of his death. The album initially had 18 songs, but after reaching specific goals put out by Grade A, like getting a certain amount of views on YouTube and the community begging for more songs. So on March 18, 2022, five more songs were added to the album. 

Again Juice Wrld referenced his battle with drug addiction and added Eminem and Justin Bieber to the album to talk about their struggles as well. The album also spoke about what the name implies, and that’s the battling of his demons. The album was mainly a catalog of leaks many fans had heard before and where the names or beats were changed but still used the original lyrics.

This album is still new to the list, but it holds a lot of fans’ favorite unreleased songs at the time. Examples would be “Burn,” “Cigarettes,” “Rockstar In His Prime,” “You Wouldn’t Understand,” and probably one of the most favorite songs in the community, “Sometimes.” 

Legends Never Die

This was Juice Wrld’s first posthumous album after his death in December 2019. The album consisted of 22 songs and was realized seven months after his death on July 10, 2020. This album felt like a different vibe from the usual music he created. The album gave more of a poetic side to Juice as well as a melodic side as this album consisted of a lot of vocalizing and singing in a way. 

The album came with a response of positive views, and according to Metacritic, they rated this album a 75/100 based on ten reviews. The difference with this album was that it was also released with many singles. Additionally, that meant we heard a decent amount of songs before the release. 

This album did have some songs played on the radio and made big success on the music charts. Songs like “Righteous,” “Come & Go,” “Tell Me U Luv Me,” and “Smile” made significant impacts. But “Wishing Well” was probably the most influential song on this album as it spoke about his hardships with drugs and needing help. 

Future & Juice Wrld Present… Wrld on Drugs

Not much of an album, but more of a mixtape; this was Juice Wrld’s only published collab “album.” This mixtape was a joint effort between Juice Wrld and Future. Releasing on October 19, 2018, this mixtape can be considered underrated. 

Even though this is a mixtape, this deserves a spot on the list, even if it’s last. The style and charisma Juice had on this album were insane. Mixed with a legend like Future, with his well-known voice and vocals, making this a special mixtape. The chemistry these two had with each other was incredible.

This mixtape barely gets spoken about, but it has made some bangers and has had some decent success. Some songs to look at for would be “Jet Lag,” “Fine China,” “Realer N Realer,” and “7 Am Freestyle.“

End Note

Even after the death of Juice Wrld, he continues to push insane numbers and has a very loyal fanbase. Arguably when he features on an album, he puts in some maximum effort and helps push that song to popularity.

We will never know how his full potential, but he will always have a special place in the rap community.