M.A. Music / 3D Young M.A cares about bars. Whether you believe it or not, she undoubtedly has one of the sharpest pens in the game regardless of any category you may place her in. Her old-fashioned bar brigade style seems to be something of a lost art these days with the majority of up-and-comers […]
Columbia Records Confidence is an essential trait in hip-hop, where even daring to seek rap supremacy takes a certain level of fortitude. Knowing you’re worthy of sitting atop the throne and actually proving it is an exercise in both courage and skill, which rapper Russ has displayed in spades thus far, bumrushing the show with […]
TDE / Interscope Records When will Kendrick Lamar make his return? That’s the question rap fans and critics alike asked throughout the early part of 2017, until the rapper finally answered with a declaration on March 23 in the form of “The Heart Part 4,” the first song he dropped to break his silence before […]
AWGE / Interscope When Playboi Carti dropped his 2015 track “Broke Boi,” the Atlanta native displayed in a short four minutes exactly where modern day rap was headed. A twinkly trap beat with lots of catchy repetition make up one of Carti’s biggest songs to date. This was a positive way in which Carti contributed […]
Paper Route Empire The year may still be young, but that hasn’t kept Memphis rapper Young Dolph from making his presence felt in a major way, as the budding star continues to keep his foot on the gas, as well as on the necks of his foes. Looking to build on the momentum set with […]
Pro Era / Cinematic As much as it fits perfectly within the parameters that hip-hop was built on, rapping about the current political climate is something fewer and fewer rappers are doing these days. It isn’t necessarily a foregone requirement for artists who operate within the genre to be full-on social justice warriors but the […]
RCA Records For the past three years, GoldLink has been low-key carving his own lane within rap but has yet to reach the level of success he so unequivocally deserves. Since his 2014 debut, The God Complex, he’s been delivering smart rhymes over quickly-paced dance-centered beats—and not in the way Pitbull does either. His ability to combine […]
Dreamville / Interscope Since becoming a household name himself, J. Cole has spent the last few years quietly stockpiling talent for his Dreamville Records roster, helping launch the careers of buzzworthy upstarts Bas and Cozz, both of whom have garnered critical acclaim. However, Atlanta native J.I.D, the most recent addition to the Dreamville family, may […]
ESGN / EMPIRE For many hip-hop classicists living in a world filled with mumble rap and colorful dreadlocks, Freddie Gibbs has steadily become their guardian angel. The 34-year-old Gary, Ind. native has risen to a tremendously high level of underground acclaim because of his continuous efforts in delivering projects with robust beats, compelling lyrics and […]
Atlantic Records There have been quite a few controversial and polarizing figures in rap that have come along and captured the culture’s attention with both their music and their antics. Kodak Black appears to be the latest figure in rap to garner as much chatter for things beyond his music as he does for his […]
