A slight monthly update on what I’ve been listening to. As the world keeps on moving along I sit and ponder, what is really keeping this whole thing in motion. What if there is one thing that the whole world relies on to keep it pushing? What if we are all just assigned routines every day and just complete the tasks assigned? These are the thoughts that go through my head at 12:33 a.m. on a Tuesday. Like I’ve said so many times, no matter what is going on in the outside world there is always one constant. Music. And that right there is the one of the things that keeps Ioannis Kouiroukidis pushing.
1. Boys To Men – Lil Poppa
This right here is a shout out to my bro Terrell. I started listening to Lil Poppa late last year with songs, “Eternal Living” featuring Polo G and “All The Money In The World” featuring Lil Durk. The Jacksonville native has been slowly climbing up the ranks in the rap game and his talent speaks for itself. This song specifically I first heard in my friend Terrell’s car on the way to play some basketball. I originally thought it was Yungeen Ace, another Jacksonville rapper, but quickly found out it was Lil Poppa and I’ve been playing it every time I get in the car since. The song, just released last month, is currently sitting at almost 1.8 million views on YouTube.
2. Changing – Rod Wave
Technically speaking, I could just put the whole Rod Wave album on here but I don’t want the article to be too repetitive. In, “Changing” the St. Petersburg native dives into a whole new perspective of his newfound fame and riches. Opposing to going on about the typical flex or abundance of money, he starts to question his own existence in the world with lines like, “Is Heaven real? If so then why he kept us here?”. On the very next line he starts to get dark and sad about his current mindset saying, “smiling but dying inside, what if I said I was tired? Would you blame me?” Rod Wave has always given his fans a first person look into the every day issues and problems he has to deal with in terms of his own pain. However this song, despite how amazing it is, sounds to me like a call for help. The pressures of fame seem to be slowly getting to him and I hope that he can get the help that he certainly needs and desires. Before being artists these people are humans first. Make sure to let your favorite artist take significant time off to heal or re-charge, don’t just use them for their talent. “SoulFly” went #1 on the Billboard 200 charts but that doesn’t mean his problems instantly go away. I just hope he’s doing okay because I don’t want to lose another one of my favorite artists.
3. Diamonds Dancing – Young Thug & Gunna ft. Travis Scott
Young Thug and his label YSL (Young Stoner Life) dropped their highly anticipated project, “Slime Language 2” this past Friday. The feature list was stacked with features from Drake, Skepta, Kid Cudi, Rowdy Rebel, & Lil Baby all making appearances. The album is going to be one of Young Thug’s most successful releases commercially, as it is predicted to debut at #1 with 125-140k units sold first week. My favorite song so far is, “Diamonds Dancing” with the triple threat of Young Thug, Gunna, & Travis Scott. These three together have collaborated before with the well-known “Hot” remix and clearly they don’t seem to miss as they got together again to make this hit. All three of them have been working on their upcoming respective albums so I can’t wait.
4. Can’t Feel My Legs – Don Toliver
This man never misses. And since 2018 when I first heard Don Toliver, he has constantly been in my rotation. “Can’t Feel My Legs” dropped in late 2019 and it still can be heard through either my AirPods or my car speakers at full volume. The Houston, Texas native is the superstar of Travis Scott’s “Cactus Jack” label as fans await for his upcoming album, “L.O.A.D” (Life Of A Don) to drop. After his last album, “Heaven or Hell” was recently certified gold and surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify, the only way for Toliver is up. You think his fans are the only ones hype for L.O.A.D? Don’t just take my word for it…
5. Hard To Choose One – Future
One of the longest runs in music, Future still can grab the attention of a listener within the first 10 seconds. “Hard To Choose One” is an example of just that, as it came on shuffle on my playlist not to long ago and now it’s a must listen every time I’m either in the car or at the gym. The song comes off his last solo album, “High Off Life” which debuted at #1 last May selling 153k units in its first week. There isn’t much to say about this song then just, “high-priced fashion, Italian Milan”. Interested to see what Future does in 2021. We all know that we’ll be tuning in.
6. Beat Box “First Day Out” – NLE Choppa
After being arrested in Florida last month on both weapons and drug charges, NLE Choppa got out of jail and dropped one of (if not) the best “Beat Box” remixes. Since the video’s release on April 1st, the song has amassed a whopping 21.7 million views on YouTube. Many fans are questioning the legitimacy of Choppa’s spiritual awakening after his arrest, but my perspective is just why can’t he just have some fun while simultaneously being awoken spiritually. Regardless of what Choppa wants to do with his personal life, this remix is fire and I haven’t been able to stop playing since it dropped.
7. RAPSTAR – Polo G
The #1 song in America now belongs to Polo G. The 22 year-old Chicago native dropped his highly anticipated single, “RAPSTAR” after the snippet received insane amounts of attention. The snippet especially gained traction on TikTok being used in multiple edits and all type of videos. After the success of his past two studio albums, “Die a Legend” and “The GOAT”, Polo is rumored to drop his highly anticipated third album, “Hall of Fame” in May. No matter when he drops, his fanbase will definitely get his album to #1 as well, unless he goes up against a mega-star like Drake or Kendrick.
8. Titanium – Dave
Dave took a well-deserved break after his BRIT-winning album, “Pyschodrama”. He ended his hiatus with two-track EP “Titanium & Mercury”. He teased “Titanium” on an Instagram snippet just weeks before he eventually dropped it. According to his socials, Dave has been in Los Angeles locked in album mode for about the past two months. If his next album is anything like, “Psychodrama” it’ll be a smash-hit. Can’t wait to see what he has in the vault.
9. Callaíta – Bad Bunny & Tainy
Here’s an artist who has grown woman crying on TikTok about not being able to get his pre-sale tour tickets. Arguably one of the biggest artists in the world, Bad Bunny has amassed a huge following in just over 5 years. With 45.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, I also understand that some of his fans may be heartbroken over not getting tickets to his highly anticipated tour, “El Ultimo Tour del Mundo”. Now if you know me, you know that I am not a Spanish speaker. However, if you know me you know that going on late night drives with the music blasting is an essential to my life. And the last thirty seconds of this song, where Bad Bunny lets the sample (Alocate by Zion) just fade away with the instrumental in the background is my favorite part of the song. Besides being a WWE superstar, this guy is an incredible artist and I’m excited to see the concert videos of sold-out arenas.
10. Don’t Get Too High – Bryson Tiller
Top 5 favorite artist of all time right here. Bryson Tiller is that guy. And this song has been engraved in my brain since the day it dropped in May 2017. The Travis Scott, “Backyard“, the Vocals, and just the lyrics in general are just exquisite. One of the most frustrating things I’ve ever dealt with in covering music is the disrespectful slander that “True to Self” got in the music community. Imagine an album with, “Don’t Get Too High”, “In Check”, & “Set It Off” getting slandered??? Couldn’t be me. This song right here is incredible and Tiller’s upcoming album, “Serenity” is on the way. Now I don’t know when, but I know with the release of Anniversary I can hold on for maximum a year and a half until I will start to need, “Serenity”. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
I don’t know why, but a lot of my article inspiration comes right before I’m about to sleep. I’ll just sit down at my desk and immediately have an idea and just the words flow off my keyboard. I will try to continue these song updates at least once a month. 2021 has been, and will continue to be, a very busy year for myself and I’m both thankful and stressed. In the meantime… this is YSN, signing out.
