This week birthed tons of cool new stuff in the rap/R&B/hip hop/etc world. I highly recommend the new album from crunk revivalist Duke Deuce (which I wrote about in Notable Releases), plus we got worthy singles from Noname, Denzel Curry, Freddie Gibbs, Pop Smoke, JID, Drakeo The Ruler/Drake, Shelley FKA DRAM, and more, and projects from MAVI, Rome Streetz/DJ Muggs, Elcamino, Stunna Girl, Curren$y, Payroll Giovanni/Cardo, Fred The Godson, and more. Read on for all that and more…

NONAME – “RAINFOREST”

Over a swinging jazz backdrop, “Rainforest” finds Noname dishing out lyricism as sharp, incisive, and uncompromising as she ever has. Read more about it here.

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MAVI – END OF THE EARTH EP

MAVI continues to be one of the brightest new(ish) voices in underground, experimental rap, and he returned this week with a great new five-song EP that you can read more about here.

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ROME STREETZ & DJ MUGGS – DEATH & THE MAGICIAN

Not only is DJ Muggs releasing an instrumental album on Sacred Bones this March, he also just entirely produced the new album by up and coming Brooklyn rapper Rome Streetz. Muggs’ sinister production style is perfect for Rome Streetz, who recalls the heyday of gritty ’90s New York rap and frequently collaborates with the Griselda crew.

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ELCAMINO – ON THE 3RD DAY

Speaking of frequent Griselda collaborators, Buffalo rapper Elcamino also just returned with a new nine-song project, entirely produced by Trickytrippz.

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STUNNA GIRL – STUNNA THIS STUNNA THAT

Sacramento rapper Stunna Girl follows up her viral-on-TikTok single “Runway” with a new album, STUNNA THIS STUNNA THAT. She’s part of a new wave of rappers bringing back the brash, in-your-face shout-rap style that blew up in the early 2000s, but this isn’t just nostalgia; she’s putting a fresh spin on it.

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CURREN$Y – COLLECTION AGENCY

Curren$y’s perma-stoned jazz-rap never gets old, and this new project offers up 10 new jams (and a feature from Larry June) that hit the spot.

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PAYROLL GIOVANNI & CARDO – ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DOLLAR

Rapper Payroll Giovanni is from Detroit and producer Cardo was born in Minneosta before relocating to Dallas, but together they’ve been making high-quality West Coast-style for the past few years. Their latest collab, Another Day Another Dollar, is no exception.

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FRED THE GODSON – ASCENSION

Last year, we sadly lost South Bronx rapper Fred The Godson to coronavirus at just 35 years old, but this week his first posthumous album was released, Ascension. It’s a classic New York sounding record that reminds you he still had so much more to say.

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DENZEL CURRY – “COSMIC.M4A” (THE ALCHEMIST VERSION ft. JOEY BADA$$)

Here’s the second single off Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats’ UNLOCKED remix album. This one gets a psychedelic rework by The Alchemist and a killer new verse from Joey Bada$$.

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FREDDIE GIBBS – “WINTER IN AMERICA” (GIL SCOTT-HERON COVER)

Soul singer and poet Gil Scott-Heron is one of the godfathers of rap, so it makes sense that rapper Freddie Gibbs would chose to cover one of his classic songs, but Gibbs doesn’t rap at all on this cover; he shows off his singing voice.

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JOYCE WRICE – “ON ONE” (ft. FREDDIE GIBBS)

More Gibbs: R&B singer Joyce Wrice releases her debut album Overgrown on March 19 via Sony Music’s The Orchard, and this syrupy new single features a verse from Gibbs.

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POP SMOKE – “AP”

Another new posthumous Pop Smoke song has been released, this one from the soundtrack to Eddie Huang’s movie Boogie that Pop stars in. Of all the posthumous Pop Smoke stuff to surface, this one really has the vibe of his early drill mixtapes.

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JID – “SKEGEE”

Atlanta rapper JID has a new album on the way, and while most details are TBA, he did release this powerful new song, which, according to a press release, is “set in, and inspired by Tuskegee, Alabama, the song touches on the atrocious Syphilis Experiments that took place in the Southern city in the 1930s.”

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DUKE DEUCE – “FELL UP IN THE CLUB” (ft. A$AP FERG)

Crunk revivalist Duke Deuce roped in some big name guests for his new album DUKE NUKEM, including A$AP Ferg who shows up on one of the album’s best songs, “Fell Up In The Club.” It’s the perfect middle ground of their sounds.

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DRAKEO THE RULER – “TALK TO ME” (ft. DRAKE)

Drakeo The Ruler has shared a new single off his upcoming album The Truth Hurts, and this one features the similarly named Drake. Talking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music about it, he said:

When I was in jail, I was supposed to do something already. Everybody was telling me, but I had got my privileges taken. They was telling me he had something for me, but I’m like, “Whatever, bro.” I got out of jail and my engineer was like, “Why you don’t follow Drake?” I’m like, “He don’t follow me, bro.” Then I looked, and I’m like, “Oh yeah.” So I hit him up, I’m like, “Let’s do something.” And then he’s like, “What’s your number? I got this song I did for you.” And then it kind of clicked in my head what they was talking about before. I’m like, “Dang.” At first, I was like, “That’s kind of different, but I’m like, nah. This Drake. I’m finna do whatever.” But at first, I’m like I don’t usually really do something like that. But then when I got on it, I’m like, “Oh yeah, this hard.” I’m just like “Drake bro!” Like all right.

So I was like, yo, this is crazy, right? It’s really an accomplishment for me, because I never thought none of this stuff would happen, just doing the tape. I’m like, dang. It just reminded me of me being in jail when I was like, dang, I’m really here doing this tape. I’ve got Drake on here. It was kind of crazy to me. I never thought none of this stuff would happen. So I was kind of happy when I finished the tape. I was like, all right. There ain’t no going back from here.

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SHELLEY FKA DRAM – “EXPOSURE”

DRAM now goes by Shelley FKA DRAM, and the first new single under his new moniker is the lush, smooth soul of “Exposure.”

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YG – “GO BIG” (ft. BIG SEAN)

YG and Big Sean team up for “Go Big” off Eddie Murphy’s upcoming Coming To America sequel (Coming 2 America), and this song finds the pair trading bars over a triumphant brass section.

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BRONZE NAZARETH & RECOGNIZE ALI – “SEASON OF THE SE7EN”

Ghana MC Recognize Ali and Detroit producer (and Wu-Tang affiliate) Bronze Nazareth have temaed up for a collaborative album, Season of the Se7en, due April 16 via Mello Music Group. The lead single/title track finds them offering up psychedelic soul-infused boom bap.

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BECKY G & BURNA BOY – “ROTATE”

Reggaeton-pop star Becky G and Afro-fusionist Burna Boy put their heads together for a triumphant new song for Pepsi’s global football campaign “Music Keeps Us Fizzing.” Becky G says, “Rotate” to me is a celebration. I think it’s evident that futbol holds a special place in my heart and having Burna Boy join me on this made sense because ultimately I wanted to embody the perfect pre-game song that gets the blood flowing, makes you want to dance and enjoy the sport.”

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NEEK BUCKS – NEIGHBORHOOD HOV

Speaking of classic New York, Harlem rapper Neek Bucks has tapped Benny the Butcher, Tsu Surf, G Herbo, and others for the Jay-Z-homage-paying album he put out last week.

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For even more new songs, browse our daily ‘New Songs’ lists. For more hip hop news, browse our ‘Hip Hop News’ category.

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10 Best Rap Albums of 2020

See the full top 50 here.