I have to keep my promise of the monthly article. It for sure keeps me motivated and focused in terms of my content. The spring school semester has recently ended and I’ve been enjoying my two weeks of freedom before my summer classes start on the 24th. There has been a lot of late night drives and shower concerts since my last article so let me give you an exclusive look to what’s been spinning in my rotation.
1. J. Cole – a m a r i
Now of course, like millions of others, I have been tuned in Cole’s new project, “The Off-Season“. Cole has truly never disappointed me and continues to stick to his winning formula. The album is projected to do about 280k-310k in first week sales and is his first project since “Born Sinner” to have any features. The song, the video, and just the whole project in general was an incredible listen and I’m happy that the world has gotten some new Cole. Every album in his discography has reached #1 for a reason. When, “The Off-Season” goes #1, he’ll be the first rapper in history to have his first six studio albums go #1 on the Billboard 200. Cole slander is never accepted.
2. J. Cole – m y . l i f e ft. 21 Savage & Morray
That’s the first time since 2013 we’ve seen the letters “ft.” on a J. Cole album track list. What basically was “A Lot” part 2 delivered another incredible piece of music. Cole and 21 Savage is probably the worlds most unexpected duo, but it somehow just works every time. I knew something was cooking up when I saw Cole and Savage in the documentary before the release of the album. To get fellow Fayetteville resident Morray on this song as well is huge. If you don’t know Morray go listen to his project, “Street Sermons” and watch his Breakfast Club interview. If you haven’t yet go listen to “The Off-Season” it’s very likely you’ll see it in my top 10 when I do my album of the year article in about seven months time.
3. Morray – Big Decisions
The 28 year-old artist out of Fayetteville is starting to gain some real traction in the music industry. Morray came from working at banks as a teller to being featured on J. Cole’s album. I kept seeing Morray pop up on my timeline on twitter since about January this year and I finally went on a drive and let his album play and I love it. Especially this song right here. Morray says his inspiration to start singing originated from him growing up in the church and his wife telling him to change his style from rapping about the “basic” things such as money, cars, & women. And the project title speaks for itself, just teaching and rapping about lessons that need to be heard by the masses. All those sermons he heard as a kid singing in the church have now come full circle to his own discography. Make sure you tune into Morray, he’s definitely next up.
4. Migos – Straightenin
Ain’t nothing but a little bit of straightening. Migos is back again with another fire single after their most recent release of, “Need It” ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again eight months ago. This is a perfect lead single for “Culture III” which has now been confirmed for a June 11th release date. The Migos that we all know and love is coming back. Hookmaster Quavo, shout out to Meami, is back and Takeoff and Offset are always delivering. I’ve been saying this since Culture II dropped. Migos, like several other artists, do the best when their back is up against the wall and a new wave of haters come out of nowhere. We remember the slander after Culture II. Migos going for that #1 album and it’s going to be crazy. Culture III June 11th. Be there.
5. Trippie Redd – Miss The Rage ft. Playboi Carti
Whoever made this beat, I hope your pillow is cold on both sides for the rest of your life. “Miss The Rage” finally dropped after several months of it being leaked and used so much on TikTok. And even with all that it still debuted at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song almost immediately sold over 100,000 units after its release last Friday. Both Trippie and Carti did their thing but I give the most credits to the producer who made this insane beat. To think that a human sat down and did this is just wild to me. Hopefully we get a Genius beat breakdown video for this song because we need that. Also both visualizers for this song are also fire. Trippie is still at the peak of his career with four top five albums and Carti is bigger than ever, with his fans begging for the deluxe of “Whole Lotta Red”. All in all, this is an amazing song and I’m expecting to hear it everywhere this summer.
6. Toosii – red die
Toosii is an artist I have talked about several times on here, and it’s for good reason. His song “red die” is a perfect example of just that, his versatility is always shown on every project he drops. The 21 year-old Raleigh native dropped his album, “Thank You For Believing” on May 7th which had several hits but this song is my favorite so far. Perfect for a late night drive, which as you know is my speciality so it had to slide on to this month’s list. This summer is looking like a summer of nothing but great music and I can’t wait.
7. Don Toliver – What You Need
One of my favorite artists since 2018. Don Toliver. I can’t wait for his next album, “Life of a Don” to drop. Man was out in Colombia with the vibes in the video. I mean there is really no need for further explanation Don Toliver is one of the better artists that are out right now and I expect him to make another incredible appearance on Travis Scott’s next album, “Utopia”. Cactus Jack is just the place to be.
8. NLE Choppa – Final Warning
This is Choppa’s second straight appearance on my songs I’m listening to series and it is well deserved. It seems like even though he is still spiritual, that in terms of music he’s going back to his old sound and it is working. I’m excited to see what we get next from the Memphis rapper. Hopefully he don’t get in any other squabbles because he’s currently out on bail in Broward County, Florida.
9. Tee Grizzley – Grizzley Talk
If there’s one thing Tee Grizzley can do, it’s have a fire intro to a project. I was making the biggest stank face in the car the first time I heard this song and his album, “Built For Whatever” was a solid project. He brought on a lot of features on this project from Quavo, King Von, and Lil Durk. Tee Grizzley is still a solid rapper and has the ability to take over any track he is on simply off his energy. I’m still waiting on part three of the “Robbery” series. Hopefully his brother, Baby Grizzley, gets his case sorted out soon and he’s out of prison with his brother again. Just play this song when you in the gym and go get in the zone. You’ll see the results come in.
10. Lil Tecca – Never Left
Tecca is back like he “Never Left” in this new song right here. After the sound blew up on TikTok, Tecca finally put out the song on May 6th and it has since reached almost four million views. People seem to forget what Tecca has done at only 18 years of age. Man has had two top 10 Billboard 200 projects and a platinum mixtape with no features at 16. And with these new snippets I’ve been hearing, it seems that Tecca is about to takeover the summer once again.
That will do it for May’s edition of “Songs I’m Listening To”. Once again I love doing these and will hopefully be able to keep giving y’all one of these every month. Hope everyone is staying safe and getting vaccinated for a “hopefully” legendary summer. This is YSN, signing out.
