Beloved Portland MC Aesop Rock has announced a new album called Spirit World Field Guide, due out November 13th. The forthcoming project marks Aesop Rock’s first solo LP since 2016’s The Impossible Kid, and follows his 2019 collaborative record with Tobacco as Malibu Ken. Notably, Spirit World Field Guide has no listed featured rappers among its 21 tracks, meaning this is an entirely independent affair. Fans of the famously wordy hip-hop artist, rejoice! According to a statement, Spirit World Field Guide is meant to be something of a concept album, “a guide to an upside-down world illustrated across 21 insightful chapters.” It promises to offer “firsthand know-how of the terrain, wildlife, and social customs of our parallel universe, rife with hallucinatory images of ki...
Travis Scott’s McDonald’s value meal may have left much to be desired, but the same cannot be said for the companion merch capsule. Scott is offering 60 (!) different pieces of McDonald’s themed memorabilia, including custom t-shirts, hoodies, and hats. The real good stuff, however, can be found toward the bottom of the page; there’s two types of McDonald’s throw rugs, a vintage lunch box and lunch tray, a burger tie, and a Happy Meal-inspired clutch. But the true star of the show is the 36″ body pillow made to look like a giant chicken McNugget. The merch retails between $25 and $300 and begins shipping in four to six weeks. As for Scott’s McDonald’s value meal, that’s available at select locations from now through October 8th. The $5.79 menu item includes a quarter pounder with cheese an...
Queens rapper Homeboy Sandman has announced a new album, Don’t Feed the Monster, produced entirely by Detroit’s own Quelle Chris. The collaborative effort is expected to arrive October 16th via Mello Music Group. The upcoming hip-hop project consists of 15 tracks, and features one lone vocal contribution from Quelle Chris himself. According to a statement, the full-length represents a “turning point” for the two artists, who used this new music to help process and better understand their own personal struggles and complex emotions. “I was having a hard time and this record saved me,” Homeboy Sandman remarked in a statement. “Thank Quelle and thank God and shout to Gabor Maté.” Praising his friend and colleague, Quelle Chris said that Homeboy Sandman “finds balance in using his words t...
H1GHR MUSIC, the independent record label founded by South Korean-American pop rapper Jay Park, has released RED TAPE, the first installment of their new two-part compilation album The New Chapter. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Park originally founded H1GHR MUSIC in 2017 to shine a light on the undiscovered artists from his hometowns of Seattle and Seoul. While he was busy collaborating with Charli XCX and getting signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Park was simultaneously spending his time inking deals with K-pop and hip-hop artists for his own label. He’s amassed quite a roster since then and the proof is in The New Chapter, which combines various singles and collaborative tracks by members of H1GHR MUSIC to surprisingly cohesive results. The New Chapter is split into two parts, ...
Dual threat rapper/singer Saint Bodhi pops off on a cheating partner in the new song “Gold Revolver”. A former ghostwriter, the 27-year-old SoCal native earned her stripes collaborating with Beyoncé, Kevin Gates, Erykah Badu, A$AP Rocky, and more. Now a solo artist signed to Def Jam, she first made waves in August of 2019 with the hard-luck R&B of “FlowerChild”, and then returned in the spring of this year with the balls-to-the-wall banger “Bad Mood”. “Gold Revolver” is her most exciting release yet. Over haunting pipes and head-nodding drums, Saint Bodhi raps a tale of violent madness worthy of early Eminem. “Yo, I have a n—- hogtied to the furnace/ Bitch should’ve watched his words/ I’m slipping in my mental/ I’m whispering to the birds.” The narrator’s unfaithful partner is in for a...
Kanye West has spent nearly $6 million since entering the presidential race on July 4th, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday. Kanye has largely self-funded his run thus far, loaning approximately $6.7 million to his campaign between July and August. In fact, to date, he’s received only eight outside donations totaling a little over $3800. As for his expenditures, most have gone to consulting firms who’ve been working to get his name on states’ ballots. In particular, Fortified Consulting, which shares the same address as Lincoln Strategy Group, a Republican consulting firm, has received $1.5 million. So far, Kanye hasn’t seen much of a return on his investment; he’s been kicked off more states’ ballots than he’s actually gotten o...
Lil Durk has shared a surprise new single called “The Voice”, as well as a corresponding music video. The track finds the Chicago MC ruminating on the rough times he’s going through. “Money ran low right, felons can’t vote, right?/ I can’t even vote for who I believe in, shit ain’t goin’ right,” Lil Durk spits over a wistful yet clacking beat from TurnmeupJosh. “I just dropped a tear inside the funeral, ain’t more right?” Even if it’s hard to connect with some of the finer details, the overall feeling is still something to which we can all likely relate. “The Voice” is accompanied by a simple visual that depicts Lil Durk rapping in front of a fleet of white cars and on a private jet. Take a look below. Editors’ Picks Lil Durk’s latest solo offering comes amidst a summer season filled...
Tekashi 6ix9ine has released his new album TattleTales. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. This studio effort follows his 2018 debut Dummy Boy, which charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. TattleTales features his No. 1 single “TROLLZ”, as well as other singles “GOOBA”, “YAYA”, and “PUNANI”. Notably, it’s the first album 6ix9ine has dropped since his early release from prison back in April. Everything about this record, and his career for that matter, is a radical shift in the way rappers earn credibility. Back in 2019, the rainbow-haired MC born Daniel Hernandez pleaded guilty to racketeering, firearm possession, and drug trafficking charges that stemmed from his involvement with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. In a bewildering contradiction to the age-old street code of...
Big Sean has returned with his new album Detroit 2. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. Today’s release is the G.O.O.D. Music rapper’s first record since 2017’s I Decided and the direct sequel to his 2012 mixtape Detroit. The 21-track project features loads of high-profile features from the likes of Post Malone, Eminem, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Ty Dolla $ign and, Nipsey Hussle. Anderson .Paak, Jhené Aiko, and Hit-Boy, also guest on the album, as do Tee Grizzley, Kash Doll, Wale, and Boldy James. Additionally, Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, and Dave Chappelle appear on three different versions of a track called “Story”; Big Sean used a similar track format on Detroit with Common, Snoop Dogg, and Jeezy. The guest list is a positively monumental merging of veterans and ...
SZA has returned with little forewarning to deliver a new song called “Hit Different”. Produced by The Neptunes and featuring Ty Dolla $ign singing the hook, the track marks SZA’s first single as a lead artist since dropping Ctrl in 2017. The smooth R&B tune sounds like a love song, but the thing that “hits different” is the heartbreak. “You’re a wild one/ And I’m wading in you like it’s cool water/ Like it’s cool when you pull up boo’d up with a new and it’s not me,” SZA sings. The cut is also something of a two-fer, as the back third feels like an entirely separate movement with its own lyrical flow and slower beat. The track comes equipped with a music video that happens to mark SZA’s directorial debut. Check it out below. “Hit Different” is the latest in a string of 2020 colla...
By its own admission, McDonald’s has been struggling to reach consumers 34 and younger. Rather than engaging with issues that young people care about — nutrition and environmental sustainability come to mind — the Golden Arches have instead tried the “How do you do, fellow kids?” approach, and partnered with Travis Scott to offer the same shit that was already on the menu. The last time that Ronald and friends linked up with a celebrity sponsor was thirty years ago with Michael Jordan. That endorsement-free era has ended, as McDonald’s announced the Travis Scott Meal in a news release earlier today. It comes with a quarter pounder with cheese (add bacon), plus french fries, barbecue sauce, and a Sprite. Growing up, we called that a #3, but for a limited time it’s the Cactus Jack speci...
Beastie Boys diehards can keep their “Body Movin’” for decades to come thanks to a forthcoming compilation album collecting all of the legendary rap group’s greatest hits. Simply titled Beastie Boys Music, it’s due out next month via UMe. Spanning a generous 20 songs, the compilation features a handful of cuts off their Licensed to Ill debut album, including “Fight For Your Right”, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”, “Brass Monkey”, and “Paul Revere”. 1989’s Paul’s Boutique is represented with “Shake Your Rump” and “Hey Ladies”, alongside “So What’Cha Want” and “Pass the Mic” from the 1992 record Check Your Head. A few singles from 1994’s Ill Communication appear (“Sure Shot” and “Sabotage”), as do 1998 Hello Nasty selections “Body Movin’” and “Intergalactic”. The hip...