Blog

As we’ve been stuck in the house for at least 80% of the year, we as people have been forced to turn to activities that keep us either entertained/happy. Speaking for myself, most of my quarantine was full of Madden 20 or just staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning listening to slowed & reverb music (shout out Chovies, Slerb, and Streliz). While the year has came and gone like nothing, I have discovered some artists that are now a crucial part of my playlists/catalog. Let’s get into it.

J.I. The Prince of N.Y

Justin Rivera, aka J.I. The Prince of N.Y or just J.I., is one of rap’s young stars. Hailing from the rap capital of the world of New York City, J.I. originally got his fame from the rap reality show/competition, “The Rap Game“, appearing on season 2 at 15 years old. My friend & roommate Walter Reyes put me on to JI around June with his song, “Hood Scars 2” featuring Lil Tjay. J.I has accumulated just over a million subscribers on his YouTube channel and his most viewed video is his song, “Need Me” with just about 78 million views. He just dropped his new project, “Hood Krisis, Vol. 3” last night with A Boogie wit da Hoodie being the lone feature. He’s just recently got into the rap game and has already secured collabs with Lil Durk, Nav, and A Boogie. With him also getting into his Spanish bag remixing Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez song “Dakiti” & his song “Suficiente” off his new project, he can reach an even bigger audience. Expect J.I. to go even crazier in 2021.

Favorite Song: 20K (Intro)

Vory

Technically speaking I’ve been listening to Vory since 2014. However, I had no idea it was him at the time. If you go deep into my SoundCloud likes there is this song by Bryson Tiller called, “Break Bread“. And the song is featuring an artist by the name of “King Vory”. Vory also co-wrote and was featured on (arguably) Tiller’s biggest hit, “Don’t“. For a long time Vory was behind the scenes in the music industry, writing for the biggest names in the world in Drake and Beyonce. Fast forward six years later, Vory is getting millions of views on his YouTube channel and is getting recognized by big superstars like Lil Baby and James Harden quoting his lyrics in captions. I was brought back to Vory in the summer with the combined efforts of my friend Walter and through Meek promoting him on his Instagram. I listened to his EP, “SAY” which had some very good songs in “You Got It” and “Misunderstood” and I instantly followed his Instagram after listening. Since then, he’s been featured twice on Meek’s recent EP with the songs, “Middle of It” & “Think It’s A Game” (both my favorite tracks on the project). He also dropped his first album which is self-titled, “Vory” on December 9th. The album was extremely solid in my opinion with standout tracks like, “CC Interlude” and “Ain’t It Funny” ft. Meek Mill. You guys will definitely see it in the top 20 of my favorite albums of the year article that’s on the way. Bottom line is that if Vory keeps making songs like these, while having the support of Meek and the industry, there’s no telling how big he can become.

Favorite Song: CC Interlude

Toosii

On the lowest of keys, Walter be the main one supplying me with a lot of new artists. I guess that’s what living with someone does. Another artist that he put me on to this year was Toosii. Toosii, real name Nau’Jour Grainger, is a 20 year-old rapper from Raleigh, North Carolina. He’s currently at 561K YouTube subscribers and has several videos over a million views. I was introduced to him with his song, “Reminiscing” which is a story about his experience of losing two of his closest friends. I remember when I first heard the song I wouldn’t stop listening to it for at least three days. Then his project, “Poetic Pain” dropped in September and since then he’s been unleashing heat on to his YouTube channel. He has collaborated with big names such as fellow North Carolina native DaBaby, Lil Durk, and R&B superstar Summer Walker recently so he’s not a small artist by any means. I have a very strong feeling his next project is going to be his biggest. I’m very excited to see what’s in store for him in 2021.

Favorite Song: Met In LA

Brent Faiyaz

I got to shout out my mans Jose for this one. I remember him telling me about Brent, real name Christopher Brent Wood, back when we were seniors in high school in 2017 but I never went and listened to him until this year. Obviously we all recognize his voice on GoldLink song, “Crew” (aka the DMV anthem) as the best part of the song, but a lot of people haven’t listened to his discography. When he dropped his most recent project, “F*ck the World” in February of this year, I knew that I had found a new favorite artist. After that I took a deeper dive into his discography with songs like, Trust, Running On E, & Gang Over Luv. As the year has gone on, Brent has seemed to have almost reached super stardom, amassing over 1.3 million Instagram followers and developing a die-hard fanbase that I see daily on apps like Twitter and TikTok. Sonder Son dropped in October of 2017 and it’s still recognized as an important album in the recent history of R&B. When he releases his next project I already know it’s going to end up in Billboard top 10. Can’t wait for new music from Brent.

Favorite Song: Sonder Son (Interlude)

The Kid Laroi

The Kid Laroi is a 17 year-old rapper from Sydney, Australia who has completely taken over this year. This one is from my bro Terrell who put me on to Laroi in January with his song, “Let Her Go” and I’ve been listening ever since. I swear a music video from Cole Bennett is a serious kick starter to a lot of careers recently in music. Laroi is signed by Grade A Productions, a label run by Lil Bibby and his brother G Money, who also signed Juice Wrld. He has over a million followers on both Instagram and YouTube and has been moving up in the ranks recently with collaborations with Youngboy Never Broke Again, Lil Mosey, and two songs with Juice Wrld. His song with Juice, “Go” peaked at #30 on the Billboard 100 charts, which is major for a 16 year-old (at the time). Laroi has released two projects in 2020, “F*ck Love” in July and the deluxe version titled, “Savage” in November. “Savage” peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 selling 52,000 units in its first week. His newest hit, “Without You” has taken over TikTok bringing Laroi to a whole other level in the industry. So far, he hasn’t missed so I’m very excited for whatever is next in his career.

Favorite Song: Tell Me Why

Giveon

This is my MVP of 2020 right here. This man’s music pushed me through this horrendous year at times when I needed it the most. Giveon is a 25 year-old singer from Long Beach, California who I was introduced to by the one and only Drake on the song, “When To Say When/Chicago Freestyle” in February. The next month, Giveon dropped his debut project, “Take Time” on March 27th, which was the same day the PartyNextDoor dropped his long-awaited album, “PARTYMOBILE”. After I listened to PnD a couple times through just out of spite and curiosity I downloaded Take Time to listen to at a later time. I’ll never forget this, I was doing sociology homework in my kitchen and I pressed play on the album to let it be background music while I was working. After hearing the first twenty seconds of, “THE BEACH” I immediately stopped what I was doing and went downstairs to my room to lock myself in and give the project my full attention. I spent the next 24 minutes being completely amazed by every track I listened to and immediately going to social media to follow him so I could be ready for what was next. Since then he dropped a four song EP called, “When It’s All Said And Done” with Snoh Aalegra being the lone feature and has amassed over 600K followers on Instagram. Giveon’s music offers an escape for anyone going through a heartbreak or hard times. The lyrics push a failed love story while also giving a sort of therapy or lesson based off his own experiences. What makes him so unique is that he is a baritone singer, which is very rare nowadays in the music industry. While he is being recognized by seemingly everyone in the music world, the only way is up from here for Giveon. A new album cannot come soon enough.

Favorite Song: HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY

And that wraps this one up. I will be back very soon with my favorite albums of the year article, which I am extremely excited to reveal to y’all. I’m very excited and optimistic to see what year brings for me both in terms of music and just life in general. Who knows, maybe I’ll discover someone better then everyone that I included on here next year. Until next time, it’s YSN, signing out.