At the bleeding edge of the 2020s’ rage rap movement is the Opium collective—the Atlanta-based cabal of brooding rappers and producers led by Playboi Carti who favor powerful distortion, belligerent energy, Satanic imagery, and gratuitous angst. If the scene’s high-water mark was Carti’s pandemic-era paradigm shift, 2020’s *Whole Lotta Red*, just behind it was Ken Carson’s third album, 2023’s *A Great Chaos*, whose maximalist squall delivered on the title’s promise while fitting into the long lineage of blustery Atlanta rap. “I’m the lord of chaos! I’m the lord of the mosh!” Carson declares to open *More Chaos*, his fourth album and *A Great Chaos*’s feverishly anticipated follow-up. If its predecessor cranked the mayhem and distortion to 11, here the 25-year-old rapper/rock star turns the knobs to 12, running vintage ATL trap through the 2025 deep fryer. Tried-and-true motifs appear by way of abstract singsong blurts and yelps: Rick and Balenci, goth women, rock star shit. Anyway, it’s not about the lyrics—it’s about catharsis.
Is there anything Jane Remover *can’t* do? The 21-year-old rapper, singer, and producer’s surprise-released third album, *Revengeseekerz*, arrives just a few months after their striking and contemplative album *Ghostholding* under their Venturing alias. If that album dove deep into the tangled guitars and complex emotions of Midwestern emo, then *Revengeseekerz* finds Jane Remover fully leaving behind the gauzy anti-rock of 2023’s *Census Designated* and blasting off into the realm of rage music. It’s impossible to hear the bitcrushed synths of “Dreamflasher” and the lurching trap beats of “Experimental Skin” without conjuring images of current rage titans like Yeat and Playboi Carti. But nothing is ever that simple in Jane Remover’s world, as their dizzying and flashy approach to production means that even the catchiest *Revengeseekerz* material is densely packed with sonic bells and whistles. Amid a plethora of sonic gestures tilted towards the neon crags of modern rap, Jane Remover still finds the space to execute a few shocking left turns across these 12 tracks. Danny Brown lends his always elastic voice to the endless-ladder electroclash of “Psychoboost,” while “Professional Vengeance” bounces like a pop-punk Super Mario across a landscape of video-game lasers and pummeling bass. *Revengeseekerz* is the strongest statement yet from a true prodigy at the height of their powers.
From fostering major stars like Kendrick Lamar and SZA to generating rap hitmakers such as Doechii and ScHoolboy Q, Top Dawg Entertainment bears no small responsibility for shaping our current cultural moment in hip-hop and R&B. Given that track record, any TDE signee warrants at least some attention, especially if that artist happens to be from Los Angeles. Long Beach native Ray Vaughn certainly makes as strong a case as possible for his come-up on *The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu*, his substantial debut mixtape for the acclaimed label. On the piano-driven opener “FLOCKER’S remorse,” he sets listeners on a whirlwind tour of his hardscrabble past, one explored in further graphic detail on “XXXL Tee.” Hunger is a well-established lyrical metaphor in rap, for literal and figurative means, but Vaughn makes it as resonant as ever on the shapeshifting “DOLLAR menu.” The troubling reveals of “3PM @ DAIRY’S” will hit like shockwaves for some, while others may find comfort or at least relatability in his contemplative assessments of generational trauma. Yet even when he’s scheming for a way out or at least a way forward, it’s hard not to bounce along when it sounds as danceable as “KLOWN dance” or “LOOK @ GOD.” Skits and segues, including one particularly profane maternal voicemail, somewhat remind of the ones that dotted *good kid, m.A.A.d city*, yet the comparatively looser mixtape feel here allows the rising rapper more flexibility and freedom as he maneuvers through his oft-difficult subject matter. Still, the rather personal nature of songs like “FLAT shasta” and “JANKY moral COMPASS” aligns the rapper with some of his TDE colleagues, past and present. To Vaughn’s credit, though, he avoids relying on flashy features for what amounts to a proper introduction to his boisterous-yet-confessional style. So when labelmate Isaiah Rashad rolls up for “EAST CHATT.” it makes that internal team-up all the more meaningful. By the time the tape wraps up with “SUBURBAN KIDZ,” a thought-provoking summation that touches on themes of addiction and faith, Vaughn’s proverbial star seems well worth ascending.
As much as his Griselda affiliation connects him with a Buffalo, NY state of mind, Boldy James remains a Detroit rapper through and through. Coming amid a fast-and-furious run of new releases from the prodigious spitter, *Hommage* rightfully centers him in his hometown both physically and sonically. With the help of Antt Beatz, producer behind favorites by 42 Dugg and Icewear Vezzo, he shares his astutely local vision of the city on cuts like “Concrete Connie” and “Super Mario.” Even the track titles themselves reflect the rapper’s clever brand of lyricism, as cuts like the exultant “Brick James” and “Himothy Mcveigh” contain his all-but-patented blend of narco knowledge drops and street king statements. As expected, the guest list is rightfully restricted to residents, with Baby Money giving nothing but straight talk on the booming “Off the Richter” and BandGang Lonnie Bands trading tight verses off with Boldy on the melancholic “Met Me.”
Will Smith has heard the chatter. So much of it, in fact, that the armchair punditry he apes on his *Based on a True Story* opener, “Int. Barbershop - Day,” sounds like it could be a field recording from any number of Black American gathering spaces. “Who the fuck Will Smith think he is?/And that boy damn crazy how he raising them kids,” goes a particularly cartoony quip. But that’s the beauty of Smith’s creative practice. Whether as star of television’s groundbreaking *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air*, hunky lead of rom-coms like *Hitch*, and even action flicks like the *Bad Boys* franchise, Smith has never had a problem poking fun at himself. But keep playing…and he’ll get serious quick. Which is exactly what happens on *Based on a True Story*, Smith’s first body of work following 2022’s infamous Chris Rock/Oscars altercation and his first full-length album since 2005’s *Lost and Found*. Once he gets the jokes out of the way, Smith is out to remind us that he can still rap, and maybe more importantly, that he’s one of the greatest entertainers of all time. The album is Smith doing him to the fullest extent of his abilities, reveling in a storied legacy of acting and rapping (“You Lookin’ For Me?,” “Bulletproof,” “Tantrum”), while affirming his faith and the respect he has for his status as a role model (“Beautiful Scars,” “Make It Look Easy,” “You Can Make It”). It’s no light lift, but as he states on “Work of Art,” he’s built for it: “Ima king no denying this/Every limit, I’m defying it/Everybody wanna be a lion/Until it’s time to do lion shit,” he raps. Say what you want about Will Smith—you probably already have—but if you let him tell the story, there’s gonna be a little bit of boasting and a whole of gratitude. And that’s as close to the truth as we’re gonna get.**
The cover of Jessie Reyez’s third album features a questionnaire she answered as an eighth grader, and in a section titled favorite hobbies, she writes, “Rapping/singing/dancing.” In a sense, *PAID IN MEMORIES* makes good on those interests. She recruits hip-hop icons like Lil Wayne and Big Sean, alongside peers such as Lil Yachty, to help formulate some of these rap-leaning ideas. Despite the prevalence of these moments, though, she still offers up plenty of alt-pop songs for fans of her first two efforts: 2020’s *BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILLS US* and 2022’s *YESSIE*. “PSILOCYBIN & DAISIES” flips the guitar riff from The Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” and turns it into a hard-charging pop cut. Elsewhere, she displays her versatility with the downtempo neo-soul of “TORONTO SHORDIE” and the reggaetón-inspired groove of “PALO SANTO,” creating an album that pays tribute to all her passions.
When you have a voice as pure as Cleo Sol’s, you can sing about nearly anything and have it sound otherworldly. Sol, however, doesn’t take lightly the responsibility of her instrument, treating each opportunity—both in and outside of her role as lead vocalist for Sault—as an opportunity to spread joy, foster hope, and offer up praise to the most high. Sault’s mission across *10*—actually their 12th full-length project—lies squarely inside those ramparts, with Sol working alongside the group’s production engine, Inflo, alongside a slew of other collaborators (dancehall singjay Chronixx, legendary bassist Pino Palladino, rising pianist NIJE) to offer a balm for increasingly trying times. The titles alone—“The Healing,” “Know That You Will Survive,” “We Are Living”—telegraph their psalmic intention. So does Sol’s voice, which sails over Ohio funk in “Power,” recalls the radiance of disco queen Donna Summer on “Real Love,” and anchors uptempo jazz on “The Sound of Healing,” breathing life into relentless optimism. Sault has been nothing if not celebrated over the course of their elusive career, but that adulation notwithstanding, *10* reminds us there’s still hope for us all.
New York may currently be dominated by any number of sexy drillers, but a real and abiding love for rap’s prior native iterations runs citywide. Listening to Lord Sko, a young MC eagerly updating a classic sound, one can’t help but hear how his *PIFF* could reverberate well beyond the five boroughs. With material support and on-record co-signs by the likes of Statik Selektah, he tackles topics and themes as integral to his home’s hip-hop traditions as any, from sporting Polo and smoking blunts to chatting up shorties and betting on the Knicks. Lest anyone think this is some purely nostalgic play, Sko’s lexicon goes considerably beyond what the boom-bap glory days contained. Over beats by the highly contemporary likes of Tony Seltzer, Mike Shabb, and Wino Willy, he sounds like the underground that nurtures him, shouting out local spots like The Astor Club on the woozy “Problem Child” and casually flexing over the dreamlike vibes of “Robinhood.” This explains how he can move in the same rooms as Conway the Machine and Grand Puba on “Camel Eyes” and “Girbaud Talk,” respectively.
After a prodigious 2024 run, which included a late-in-the-year joint project with Kalan.FrFr, Sacramento rap star Mozzy took only a few short months before putting out his next full-length. Not unlike his reflective 2022 album *Survivor’s Guilt*, the 18-track *INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS* doesn’t shy away from the trials and tribulations that drive some of his most memorable recordings. On cuts like the unfiltered “UNDER OATH,” he doles out truths on his own terms, laying waste to those who fail to live by the hood code or, perhaps worse, flaunt it without regard. He dismisses pocket watchers and cautions the opps on the ominous “KATTA CLIPS,” proudly standing on his principles for the existentially broader “KEEP CALLIN MY NAME.” That clear commitment to street-level ethics extends to some of his invited guests too, namely EST Gee on “DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR” and Polo G on “WHO WANT WAR.” As locked in with his contemporaries as he is, Mozzy also recognizes the Californian hip-hop lineage that precedes him on “PAC PROUD” and “HELLA HYPHY.”
Canadian rapper Raz Fresco has often drawn upon fashion for inspiration, evidenced by projects like *Deluxe Hilfiger Regalia* and *Gorgeous Polo Sportsmen*. A sequel to the latter of those albums, *Stadium Lo Champions* nods to the coveted Polo Ralph Lauren collection from 1992 as it properly reunites him with Toronto producer Futurewave. Together, they make a sonically stylish pair, lacing rugged yet lush boom-bap-indebted instrumentals with intricately layered and dexterously delivered rhymes. While Fresco’s catalog includes solid work with the likes of DJ Muggs and Nicholas Craven, he sounds particularly on point when locked in with this kindred hip-hop spirit for tracks like “Mind Light” and the sublimely beat-free “Tesla Tower Power.” Another of the rapper’s repeat collaborators, Daniel Son, steps into the ring for “Steve Austin,” while grimy Massachusetts spitters Estee Nack and al.divino take pride in the hustle on the international exchange “Alpaca.”
