A lot of music to look forward to this year, including PLENTY of lesser known artists about to drop some attention bringing heat. Here's a few I'm looking forward to:
Earthgang
Dreamville's duo from Atlanta have already had two full albums and a few EP's but their new album Mirrorland is set to drop this month. They might not be for everyone cause of their 'wacky' style but they have had a lot of comparisons to OutKast based off their high energy performances, the instrumental choices, the dynamic between the Big Boi like Doctur Dot and the song stealing Johnny Venus, similarly to 3Stacks, and the fact that they are both Atlanta natives. I saw them live in 2016 as the warm up act for Cole's 4 Your Eyez Only Tour and they do not disappoint. They have an eerie af song with another Dreamville artist, JID, called Meditate that is well worth a listen. They also were responsible for shitting me up late last year by hacking J. Cole's Twitter threatening to post the supposed Cole x Kendrick collab album (got my hopes up YET again).
If you want to see where the OutKast vibe comes from then it's essential to watch their performance on YouTube's Colours Show. It'll be on repeat. A lot. EarthGang - Up | A COLORS SHOW
YBN Cordae
Next up is YBN Cordae, who caught my attention when replying to J. Cole's 1985 track from KOD. It was a Worldstar video so my expectations were very low. Saw his name and immediately realised he was part of the YBN crew with members Nahmir and Almighty Jay and he though Cordae was going to be a carbon copy of their shit repetitive lyrics about money, watches and chains blah blah but against ALL odds he came out with three minutes of actual bars. The guy can actually spit. He received a cosign from Dr Dre last month and I can't wait to hear what they've been cooking up. (He also was the only person ever to return shoes on Complex's Sneaker Shopping lmao). Yet to release his first album but hopeful it will drop this year.
Watch his music video for song Fighting Temptations here:YBN Cordae - Fighting Temptations
Isaiah Rashad
I LOVE this man. He has been signed to TDE for six years now and has only put out two projects; Cilvia Demo in 2014 and The Sun's Tirade in 2016. The Sun's Tirade is one of my fav albums to come out of TDE which is saying something. 17 tracks that go through Zay's personal drug abuse with the album acting a journey through him becoming more and more addicted and the damage it was doing to his body (some songs would have a beat switch half way through with his delivery becoming a lot more quiet and slurred to show the impact of the drugs). Despite the critical acclaim both projects received, he is still yet to fully break out and reach the success that other TDE members have reached. A new album was teased and confirmed to be coming out for the last two years but still nothing. Snippets of what he has recorded are on YouTube (The intro snippet is possibly the most beautiful shit I've ever heard if it gets cut from the album i'll cry smh) He is a must listen so check out his single Shot You Down - Remix ft, Jay Rock and Schoolboy Q please and thank you.
Or the original, whatever, both are good - Isaiah Rashad - Shot You Down
Childish Gambino
OBVIOUSLY, everyone knows Donald started out his rap days years ago (where the fuck have you been if not) but it has now been three years since his last album, which was very not rap. At all. Awaken, My Love! was a very good album for that style of music, but it is not the Gambino rap album that we wanted. That means it has been FIVE years since Because the Internet blessed us with his last set of bars.
Go back and listen to his early mixtapes and other albums to get a taste of ridiculously underrated and underappreciated wordplay -
"Uncool but lyrically I’m a stone cold killer; So it’s 400 blows to you Trufaux (true foe) niggas"
"My dick is like an accent mark it's all about the over E's (ovaries"
"never kiss in public but at home i am affectionate. fucking bitches left and right my dick is ambidextrous"
"I made the beat retarded so I'm calling it a slow jam"
"Take the G out your waffle all you got left is ego"
How the fuck did he even think of some of this lmao.
But he has now seemingly got more and more famous each year since Awaken, My Love! To the point that his rap is the last thing people associate him with now. But Young Thugg confirmed in an interview last summer that he has heard the next Gambino album, Donald himself said that he is doing one more then retiring the persona, he made a rare feature appearance on 21 Savage's I AM > I WAS at the end of last year and his most active project Atlanta has been confirmed to have it's next season delayed until at least next year. Plenty of free time to get this album done and ready for release.
And if you've not seen Atlanta, then do that ASAP. Season 2 episode 6 is one of the best episodes of television ever, no lies told.
Pro Era
Not a new artist(s), but a long awaited Pro Era album from the members Joey Bada$$, Capital Steez and CJ Fly has been teased for around five years now. The suicide of member Capital Steez has been the main cause of no follow up to their 2012 project. Since then, Joey has gone onto become a massive figure in the new generation of artists and has promised that not only the Pro Era album is on the way this year, but Steez's posthumous album will also be released at some point this year. The collective stay true to rugged boom-bap beats of the East Coast, very Wu Tang-esque.
And if you have never heard Survival Tactics by Joey and Steez, feast your ears on this track that was written by Joey at just 17 years old. Seventeen. 1. 7. Mega. Survival Tactics - Joey Bada$$ ft. Capital Steez
There is literally a shit ton of new music on the way this year, both confirmed and unconfirmed but here's a few potential lesser known ones to treat your eardrums with. Enjoy listening xx
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