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It’s customary for rappers to release a “First Day Out” freestyle after getting freed from the justice system. Earlier this week, 18-year-old Memphis rapper NLE Choppa was arrested for burglary, drugs, and guns. He was released on bond and returned home, putting pressure on himself to release a freestyle to show his fans he’s still got his head in the right place. He came through on Thursday with the release of his new music video, freestyling over SpottemGotem’s “Beat Box” and putting his own spin on the record.

The new video is directed by NLE Choppa, showing him goofing around with knives in his kitchen and doing the “Beat Box” challenge in his driveway. His lyrical content deals mostly with sexual themes, describing an encounter with a woman for a few lines before dropping some menacing bars about firing off some rounds at his opps. 

At the end of the video, the teenaged rapper shows off his latest merch offerings: hoodies and t-shirts with his mugshot on them.

NLE Choppa is back home and he’s still doing his thing. Listen to his “First Day Out” freestyle below.

Quotable Lyrics:

Walk him down straight to the ground, we make sure that he don’t get up
Caught a red beam and his mama tell him, “Come and pick him up”
I’ma smack you with this .40, askin’ is my Glizzy tucked
Only like it sloppy, she gon’ beatbox when she suckin’ me
Told her, “Bring a friend” if she ever think about f*ckin’ me
Touchin’ who? Touchin’ me? To God where yo’ ass gon’ be
Leave him stuck and sеnd him up like he f*ckin’ with Cardi B

The running for the 10th spot in the highly-anticipated 2021 XXL Freshman Class is tight. Metro Marrs, Kevo Muney, Yung Bleu, Symba, OMB Peezy, Deante’ Hitchcock, and countless other artists are all in the running for the coveted position, but one artist whose momentum might help them secure the 10th spot is Erica Banks. Known for her viral breakout hit “Buss It” and the equally infectious “Toot That,” the Dallas, Texas-based rapper has been one of the hardest working rising rappers as of late.

At the top of March, Erica Banks unleashed a melodic freestyle over another viral hit, Mooski’s inescapable “Track Star,” and now, the Texas rapper has returned with a freestyle that pays homage to the original Queen of Rap: Lil’ Kim. For her latest E-MIX, Erica Banks bodies the instrumental to Lil’ Kim’s classic 2003 single “The Jump Off,” and you can hear the hunger and passion throughout her two-minute freestyle.

Check it out below, and let us know if you think Erica Banks deserves the 10th spot in the forthcoming XXL Freshman Class.

Quotable Lyrics

First off, checkin’ in, I ain’t never checkin’ out
Every time I eat the beat, they be like: “Who you checkin’ out?”
This is rap, baby, I thought this is what the check about
Been the shit, I been legit, now take a pic to check me out

Prior to the release of 2Pac’s posthumous Loyal To The Game, Eminem asked Afeni Shakur if he could personally executive produce the project. Upon being granted permission, Em went on to produce the entirety of the 2004 album, which ultimately went on to receive mixed reviews upon release. Now, seventeen years removed from its arrival, enough dust has settled to reassess Eminem’s addition to 2Pac Shakur’s musical legacy. And where better to start than with the album’s introductory cut, and one of Em’s only vocal contributions, “Soldier Like Me.”

Over an instrumental that sounds like something Eminem might have laced for himself, Obie Trice, or 50 Cent during their early millennium Shady Records run, 2Pac’s vocals retain the same commanding presence we’ve come to expect from the late legend. “A ni*ga’s got enough knocks, I’m poppin’ at corrupt cops,” raps Pac, over Slim’s creeping keyboards. “Them motherfuckers catch a hot one / You wanted to start a problem, now you coward cops have got one.” 

While the production is certainly different territory for Pac, it’s interesting to hear his music imagined through Eminem’s creative lens — seventeen years removed from the release of Loyal To The Game, how do you feel about Eminem and 2Pac’s collaborative project? 

QUOTABLE LYRICS

A ni**a’s got enough knocks, I’m poppin’ at corrupt cops
Them motherfuckers catch a hot one
You wanted to start a problem
Now you coward cops have got one
And there’s no prison that can hold a
Motherfuckin’ soldier, ready to roll and take control
So now I jack ’em while they sleepin’
Roll to the door, throw a grenade in the precinct

Deante’ Hitchcock initially built his buzz as a rising artist out of Atlanta by frequently dropping videos of him freestyling in his car. After catching the attention of Mark Pitts and RCA, Hitchcock eventually moved away from his characteristic freestyles in favor of crafting his incredible debut album Better, which released last May. As of late, however, the “How TF” artist has been returning to his roots with a weekly freestyle series, aptly titled #NewAtlantaTuesdays. After slaughtering popular beats from Lil Wayne, Drake, SpotemGottem, and OutKast, Deante’ Hitchcok just returned with a freestyle over Spillage Village’s “Baptize,” marking a full month of freestyles from the talented lyricist. 

Following last week’s freestyle over OutKast’s “Roses” in which the rapper demanded his roses, Hitchcock’s “Baptize” freestyle gives his listeners another call of action — to take up arms against police if he’s ever shot down by a cop. Riddled with bars and double entendres that’ll surely have your face scrunched up, Deante’ Hitchcock’s “Baptize” freestyle proves why the Atlanta artist is a worthy competitor for the 10th spot on the forthcoming XXL Freshman list.

Quotable Lyrics

Baby where I stay, we all be sharin’ guns/sharingans like Sasuke
Ted Dibiase, I say Ase to my misses. She call me god, she be trippin’
But I be trippin’ cuz I ain’t see enough god in me then to listen
Now it’s different
But I’m still the same n*gga in some capacities
So please don’t say my name in vain cuz n*ggas swill blasphemy/blast for me

Chicago-based rapper Matt Muse is back in action with a brand new single pack titled, Matt Packs. The rapper’s latest effort includes two new singles including “Rockin’,” a jazzy and passionate record featuring Sheren Olivia and Renzell, as well the moody bar-heavy record, “bridges.” The rapper explained his latest two singles are a product of him finding joy in writing again.

“I found the joy in just writing raps to write them again as opposed to creating toward a set goal,” he said in a statement. “Now, I’m back in my bag. I’ve found joy in making music for the sake of creating something I love and hopefully toward sparking something in the listener as opposed to creating to get on or whatever other reason. I’ve realized that as an artist, I have the power to be a messenger for the times that my people are living in, a voice to cement this time in history and share the stories of those on the ground fighting for what’s right.”

Check the records out below.

Quotable Lyrics
Blowin’ Renee like the scarlet letter
N***as know I’m good for it
If I eat, we eat together
Last summer, praised the Lord

It’s been less than two months since Tiana Major9 released her new album, Major Mantras which has been doing quite well. It’s arguably one of the best projects to drop this year but even with a February release, it seems that she has more in store for her fans. Tiana’s currently gearing up for the release of Sixes And Sevens Remixed. The singer unveiled the remix to “Same Space” ft. SiR just a few weeks ago and now, she’s back with the release of “Real Affair (Remix)” featuring Vince Staples.

“I decided that the songs needed more,” Tiana said of her upcoming effort during an interview with Zane Lowe. “I already loved the songs, but I just wanted to get some of my favorite artists on there.”

Quotable Lyrics
Your scramblin’ thoughts ain’t too good to handle a loss
I can’t even count the candles I bought 
And If I lose, I don’t know what I’d do
I’m a whose who but with you, I’m improved

OnlyFans became a pop-cultural phenomenon last year, just as the pandemic hit. Though the platform already brought in tons of content creators onto their platform, it also became a useful resource for many who were out of work. Despite the criticism, there’s evidently enough people who are bringing in big bucks from the number of subscribers they’re racking in.

On Friday, Princess Nokia delivered a definitive anthem for the platform with her latest single, “It’s Not My Fault.” Accompanied with a Jennifer Lopez-inspired visual, Nokia delivers a bass-heavy record with a chant-like hook to empower all the ladies getting their guap off of the Internet. 

“This video was inspired by jlo breakout video “If you had my love”. Thank you for Jennifer for your endless inspiration, and iconic career. Words could never say how much I love your work and legacy.Thank you Paul Hunter for giving us your blessing to recreate this beautiful piece of art,” she said of the visual. 

Check the song out below.

Quotable Lyrics
Now I’m posing for the camera
Thats designer on pajamas
Big luted I got the hammer
My poster is in the slammer

Miami’s Bizzy Crook has been rising the ranks of the rap game over the past decade. The rapper’s ’84 and No Hard Feelings became early fan favorites and he’s kept the momentum up with at least one new project each year since 2018. The rapper’s prolific output extended throughout the pandemic with records like “Rich & Damages” and “Dios Mio” that both landed on his latest body of work, From Me, to you.

“Dios Mio” has been an undeniable club smash so who better than French Montana to assist on the remix? Bizzy Crook taps French Montana to breathe new life into the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced record. Arriving just in time for the summer, don’t be surprised if you hear this song everywhere over the next few months.

Check the song out below.

Quotable Lyrics
She ah ah for the shmoney
Calme, she don’t want the ones, she want the hunnids
Agua, money filled up to her stomach
We run it, throw the doors up then we punt it

Six years ago today, on March 31, 2015, Wale released his highly-anticipated fourth studio album The Album About Nothing. Inspired by his fan-favorite mixtape The Mixtape About Nothing, the MMG artist returned to his Seinfeld-inspired mixtape seven years later with a proper full-length studio album. Rather than sampling Seinfeld episodes, Wale enlisted Jerry Seinfeld himself to narrate the album, and in addition to debuting atop the Billboard 200, the album boasted hits like “The Matrimony” with Usher and the Jeremih-assisted “The Body.” 

One of the album’s most slept-on gems, however, is its eleventh track, “The Glass Egg.” For nearly five minutes straight, Wale tackles the stress and emotional turmoil that comes from balancing all of one’s conflicting interests, especially as a platinum-selling rapper. Comparing both life and his music career to a glass egg, Wale waxes lyrical about his struggles with the seemingly impossible balancing act, warning listeners that “the line is this thin.” 

Pleasing everyone is a feat that most people say is impossible, but “The Glass Egg” exemplifies how Wale was able to get as close to it as possible with the release of The Album About Nothing. The chart-topping album treated listeners with a collection of records that showcased what fans admire most about the DMV emcee, and to this day, it remains a shining spot in his extensive discography.  

Six years following the release of Wale’s fourth studio album, what is your favorite song off of The Album About Nothing?

Quotable Lyrics

Mmm, the bond was thick, now just the plot is
And isn’t it ironic, getting a name can make you anonymous
My newest of hobbies, collecting calls from the lock-ups
Tell em I know he’s so sick of the walls, when he get home, he going shopping

This Friday, Mello Music Group is set to drop off their new compilation album Bushido, a project that features contributions from Quelle Chris, Open Mike Eagle, Solemn Brigham, Oddisee, Homeboy Sandman, Zackey Force Funk, Skyzoo, Namir Blade, Oddisee, James Shahan, Joell Ortiz, Stalley, Dueling Experts, RJ Payne, Murs, Cambatta, Kool Keith, B-Real, and The Perceptionists.

While we’ve already had the chance to catch the previous single “Black Rock,” a lyrically-sharp posse cut featuring Joell Ortiz, Stalley, Namir Blade, and Solemn Brigham; peep that one right here. Now, we’re looking at the introductory cut “Iron Steel Samurai,” a duet between Quelle Chris and The Alchemist, who has been on a truly incredible tear of late. For the occasion, Alc blesses the set with a fuzz-soaked guitar riff, over which Quelle Chris lets fly a reference-laden dose of potent lyricism. “Zombies get shut down, persona like Harmabe, we end up everywhere like hair on blondies,” he spits. “I’m bugging out cause I know who the fuck I be.”

Check out “Iron Steel Samurai” now, and stay tuned for Mello Music Group’s upcoming Bushido project to drop in full on Friday, April 2nd. 

QUOTABLE LYRICS

Zombies get shut down, persona like Harmabe,
We end up everywhere like hair on blondies
And I’m bugging out cause I know who the fuck I be
The son of King Joffery, J back in the U.S.A, royal penis shiny