Hiphopheads Best of 2022

Hailing from Sweden—and the crevices of the extremely online—the baby-faced Yung Lean is a modern type of OG. In the early 2010s, he used impressionistic songwriting and vibey, lo-fi instrumentals to pioneer the sound of cloud-rap, and *Stardust*—his first release since 2020\'s *Starz*—is a reminder of that legacy. With their ethereal instrumentals, slurred melodies, and vulnerable lyrics, tracks like \"All the Things\" and \"Waterfall\" scan as quintessential Lean, recalling the free-wheeling, emotional approach of the Sad Boys music collective he helped create in 2012. He’s still trying out new things, too: For “Summertime Blood,” he dives all the way into EDM for an epic Skrillex collab (one of two on the album). Meanwhile, on the FKA twigs-assisted \"Bliss,\" he blends his semi-free-associative bars and indifferent monotone with a fuzzy, New Wave-inflected guitar line to create an unpredictable post-punk anthem, showcasing the type of rewarding experimentation that first propelled him to fame.

Call it naivete if you must, but when all three members of Migos unleashed solo projects over the course of a few months beginning in 2018, the idea of the group disbanding was likely the furthest thing from anyone’s mind—they guested on each other’s projects, for goodness sake. But in the timeless words of one Nasir Jones, “a thug changes, and love changes, and best friends become strangers (word up).” If dissension within a crew of three preternaturally talented Atlanta MCs wasn’t inevitable, it was undeniable by summer 2022, when fans discovered that Offset was suing Migos’ label Quality Control Records for exclusive rights to his solo recordings. This may not have had to affect Migos’ members’ relationships with one another—see the continually muddy comings and goings of artists and producers within the Cash Money Records camp at the turn of the century. But it did, which led to Quavo and Takeoff, real life uncle and nephew, affirming the family ties with *Only Built for Infinity Links*. And those guys seem to be getting along fine. “An infinity link, see, that’s the strongest link in the world,” Quavo explains on album opener “Two Infinity Links.” “By far stronger than a Cuban,” Takeoff adds, setting the table for an attempt to push the vision of Raekwon and Ghostface showcase *Only Built 4 Cuban Linx* an iced-out step further. But who, exactly, are Quavo and Takeoff without Offset? To be VVS-quality clear, they are the same MCs they were with him. Across the album, they’ve commissioned beats from longtime Migos collaborators—DJ Durel, Mustard, and Murda Beatz, among others—to talk big money (“HOTEL LOBBY,” “Hell Yeah”), big drip (“Not Out,” “Integration”), and, of course, big jewels (“Chocolate,” “Look @ This,” “Big Stunna”). Life as two-thirds of hip-hop’s favorite trio for roughly a decade running has clearly been good to Quavo and Takeoff, and they have no plans to stop living it to the fullest, whether Offset is in the studio with them or not. Above all, they sound happy, and especially so in the face of doubters still perplexed by their longevity. “We balling on n\*\*\*as they thought it was gon’ be an upset,” Takeoff says on “Tools.” “They look at us like leprechauns, like, ‘Damn, them n\*\*\*as ain’t run out of luck yet’ (No!).”

LA-based MC Yeat might only be getting his feet wet in the rap game, but he’s already long on confidence. “Everything I’m doing is just better than you,” he sings to doubters on *2 Alivë*’s “Jus bëtter.” *2 Alivë* is the MC’s first project of 2022, after having released three in 2021 alone (*Up 2 Më*, *4L*, *Alivë*). Fans of viral selections like *4L*’s “Sorry Bout That” will recognize Yeat’s penchant for slipping in and out of vintage Young Thug flows, but if the YSL general himself takes no issue with it (Thugger appears on the album’s “Outsidë”), how could we? As a young star on the rise, Yeat chooses mostly to rap about a life full of drugs, money, and mayhem, but what he says is less important than how he says it. The rapping (and singing) here is rarely hurried and mostly delivered over what sounds like 1990s video-game-inspired production. And still, full verses can be difficult to understand, a clear reminder that even as the flagship MC of burgeoning label Field Trip Recordings and maybe the most buzzed-about MC of the post-SoundCloud generation, Yeat is but a medium for the vibes.

Ahead of the release of *Dope Don’t Sell Itself*, the first 2 Chainz release since 2020’s *So Help Me God!*, the MC born Tauheed Epps tweeted somewhat cryptically, “This gone be my last trap album, enjoy.” 2 Chainz has, of course, built a career dating as far back as his membership in the Ludacris-cosigned duo Playaz Circle—Chainz then rapping as Tity Boi—by elevating ATL slick talk into fine art. So if *Dope Don’t Sell Itself* is indeed the final word on the MC’s drug dealer talk, there are much worse ways to go out. “Sold green, sold white, sold lyrics,” he says plainly on “Million Dollars Worth of Game.” The song, like so many others on the project, is both rife with wisdom and sprinkled with random pieces of the 2 Chainz story. He’s admonishing other MCs for talking too much about their own history in the streets on “Vlad TV,” but is willing to tell us about how he once “made a million dollars bootlegging my own mixtape” on “10 Bracelets.” He’ll talk up his sex game on songs like “Neighbors Know My Name” and “If You Want Me To,” but would also like to be acknowledged for all the work he’s put in as an artist on songs like “Bet It Back” and “Lost Kings.” The project’s title is something of a flex as is, and if there’s something to take from it, it’s that 2 Chainz has always been one hell of a salesman.

The first release of 2022 from the Buffalo rap phenom is, one could argue, only nominally a Westside Gunn mixtape. In fact, it’s something like a showcase for two of his up-and-coming Griselda affiliates, Estee Nack and Stove God Cooks, to whom Gunn cedes the spotlight on nearly every track. It’s Gunn’s most off-the-cuff release to date, recorded in a spontaneous two-day studio session upon returning from Paris Fashion Week. Still, *Peace “Fly” God* is unmistakably the work of the gruff but sophisticated MC pushing 40 and thriving, with its impeccably dusty beat selection (best of all from Madlib, who holds down three tracks) and bars that bridge the gap between getting laid at a halfway house to rocking Margiela at the Guggenheim.

The deluxe version of Eminem’s 2005 “greatest hits” album *Curtain Call* contains 24 songs compiled from the previous six years of his catalog. How, then, are we to regard the wealth of hits that came after, songs like Em’s unflappable assertion of elite-tier MCing “Rap God,” the heart-wrenching testament to his vulnerability “Not Afraid,” or even blockbuster collaborations like “Walk on Water” (Beyoncé), “Won’t Back Down” (P!nk), or “The Monster” and “Love the Way You Lie” (Rihanna)? *Curtain Call 2*, anyone? The MC’s output post-*Encore* is all well-represented here, the project’s curators having made sure to include everything from late-career link-ups with the big dogs of his era (Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent) to his work with fans turned formidable MCs in their own right like Joyner Lucas, Juice WRLD, and Yelawolf. At 35 tracks, it’s a heaping helping of Em, and one that’s sure to remind fans why we can’t help but stick around long after he’s left the stage.

“I like to prepare myself and prepare the surroundings to work my music,” Bad Bunny tells Apple Music about his process. “But when I get a good idea that I want to work on in the future, I hold it until that moment.” After he blessed his fans with three projects in 2020, including the forward-thinking fusion effort *EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO*, one could forgive the Latin superstar for taking some time to plan his next moves, musically or otherwise. Somewhere between living out his kayfabe dreams in the WWE and launching his acting career opposite the likes of Brad Pitt, El Conejo Malo found himself on the beach, sipping Moscow Mules and working on his most diverse full-length yet. And though its title and the cover’s emoting heart mascot might suggest a shift into sad-boy mode, *Un Verano Sin Ti* instead reveals a different conceptual aim as his ultimate summer playlist. “It\'s a good vibe,” he says. “I think it\'s the happiest album of my career.” Recorded in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the album features several cuts in the same elevated reggaetón mode that largely defined *YHLQMDLG*. “Efecto” and “Un Ratito” present ideal perreo opportunities, as does the soon-to-be-ubiquitous Rauw Alejandro team-up “Party.” Yet, true to its sunny origins, *Un Verano Sin Ti* departs from this style for unexpected diversions into other Latin sounds, including the bossa nova blend “Yo No Soy Celoso” and the dembow hybrid “Tití Me Preguntó.” He embraces his Santo Domingo surroundings with “Después De La Playa,” an energizing mambo surprise. “We had a whole band of amazing musicians,” he says about making the track with performers who\'d typically play on the streets. “It\'s part of my culture. It\'s part of the Caribbean culture.” With further collaborations from familiars Chencho Corleone and Jhayco, as well as unanticipated picks Bomba Estéreo and The Marías, *Un Verano Sin Ti* embodies a wide range of Latin American talent, with Bad Bunny as its charismatic center.

For just about as long as he’s been rapping, Lil Baby has known exactly what fans have wanted to hear. From the rambling and electric non sequitur of breakout single “Freestyle,” to mock-crying on Drake collaboration “Yes Indeed,” to the way his gruff and always to-the-point bar delivery counterbalanced the pain-inspired melody of Lil Durk across their *Voice of the Heroes* project—rare is the Lil Baby miss. On his third official album, *It’s Only Me*, Baby takes great pains to maintain this accuracy. There’s a heap of producers on *It’s Only Me* who’ve yet to really stake their claim as big-ticket collaborators, but the most recognizable (Wheezy, Murda Beatz, Tay Keith, SEVN Thomas) are certified hitmakers. The production across the project is largely skittering and urgent, the exception being the woozy and ominous horror-movielike score beneath Jeremih collaboration “Stop Playin.” Throughout, Baby is rapping like he’s pressed to rid himself of a gaggle of old rhyme books, depositing the best of their contents on record. And the MC is clearly still one of the best slick talkers out there. Though most of the project’s songs veer in and out of any singular topic, couplets like the following from “Waterfall Flow” show Baby’s ability to efficiently and effortlessly embody the two most essential components of rap superstardom—men wanting to be you and women wanting to date you: “You gon’ have to pick a side, come here, let me pick your mind/You can tell me all your flaws, I’ll get someone to fix your body/She love when I thug and like when I get romantic/She wanna be gang, I got her doing our handshake.”

“I want to love unconditionally now.” Read on as Steve Lacy opens up about how he made his sophomore album in this exclusive artist statement. “Someone asked me if I felt pressure to make something that people might like. I felt a disconnect, my eyes squinted as I looked up. As I thought about the question, I realized that we always force a separation between the artist (me) and audience (people). But I am not separate. I am people, I just happen to be an artist. Once I understood this, the album felt very easy and fun to make. *Gemini Rights* is me getting closer to what makes me a part of all things, and that is: feelings. Feelings seem like the only real things sometimes. “I write about my anger, sadness, longing, confusion, happiness, horniness, anger, happiness, confusion, fear, etc., all out of love and all laughable, too. The biggest lesson I learned at the end of this album process was how small we make love. I want to love unconditionally now. I will make love bigger, not smaller. To me, *Gemini Rights* is a step in the right direction. I’m excited for you to have this album as your own as it is no longer mine. Peace.” —Steve Lacy

“We outer space with it!” is the first thing you hear from Young Nudy on his fourth album. It tracks. On *EA Monster*, the rapper’s most refined release to date, the beats sound springy and slimy and totally futuristic, not unlike the gooey visage gobbling guns, cars, and “Welcome to East Atlanta” signs on the album’s cover. Nudy plays it cool, his Gucci Mane-esque drawl sounding aloof as he declares on “Impala,” “I don’t have problems with none of my enemies/They know what’s up with me.” Amid the talk of shootouts and robberies and getting high to deal with it all, there’s something weirdly soothing to the rippling, echoing sounds engulfing Nudy’s calm voice, like a float-therapy tank inside a trap house.

The rapping of LA-based MC Yeat rewards repeated listens. He’s got an accent of mysterious origin, his speech slurred and drawn out in a way that makes it hard to understand the whole of what he’s saying—which is probably the point. The production across *Lyfë*—the follow-up to the MC’s 29-song *2 Alivë (Geëk Pack)* and his second project of 2022—is at once cacophonous and future-leaning (the lion’s share coming courtesy of Working on Dying’s Bnyx). The themes are the same ones that permeate most of Yeat’s music to date—drugs, money, that ever-dependable Tonka truck. But what he’s buried deeper therein are explanations for titles like “Flawlëss” or “Wat it feel lykë.” It’s likely best not to think too hard about them; from the sounds of things, those who do have already gotten left behind. As the MC puts it on “Krank,” “You already know who I am, little bitch/I’m man of the year.”

Have you ever been in the kind of relationship that makes you want to sing? By the sounds of *Digital Roses Don’t Die*, revered Mississippi MC and producer Big K.R.I.T. has. And if he’s not in that relationship at the moment, he’s done his best to immortalize it across a 17-track follow-up to 2019’s *K.R.I.T. IZ HERE*. Save for maybe “It’s Over Now,” the whole of the project is about how special K.R.I.T. thinks a particular someone is. Love is the message, and he’s pushed his voice to the outer reaches of funky R&B crooning to deliver it. We don’t actually get a name for the object of his affection, but he details the phases of his infatuation, including crushing (“Just 4 You,” “Cum Out to Play”), courtship (“Southside of the Moon,” “Show U Right”), and full-blown lovesickness (“So Cool,” “Boring,” “More Than Roses”). Moments of actual rapping are few and far between here, but bars reveal themselves in the interludes, each of which contain spoken-word poetry.

For superstitious types, 13 can be a profoundly unlucky number. Thankfully, DJ Khaled is taking no chances with his 13th album, assembling yet another star-studded effort marked by epic blockbuster rap collabs. His pull in the game may be stronger than ever, gathering hip-hop heavyweights and contemporary hitmakers in ways that make his projects feel like events. JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross unite for the title track, a triumphant victory lap with a John Legend coda. Unlike 2021’s *KHALED KHALED*, which courted greater pop clout via features from Justins Bieber and Timberlake, *GOD DID* finds the We the Best boss more focused on hip-hop and his unofficial role as the genre’s mainstream curatorial maestro, reliably orchestrating seemingly impossible crowd-pleasing outcomes through his behind-the-scenes machinations and industry handshake connections. We the Best familiars Drake and Future make multiple appearances—the former disco-strutting over “STAYING ALIVE” with Lil Baby and the latter in a throwback state of mind for “BEAUTIFUL” with SZA. The lines between drill and trap blur into darkness when Lil Durk, 21 Savage, and Roddy Ricch get aggressive for “KEEP GOING.” In a Khaled first, he secures a long-coveted Eminem feature on a remix of Kanye West’s *JESUS IS KING* standout “Use This Gospel,” effectively reuniting the two GOAT contenders on a track for the first time since 2009’s “Forever.”

The award for “strangest boy band of the pandemic era” goes to Drain Gang, the collective of Swedish misfits who’ve attained cult status for their transcendent mix of cloud rap and hyperpop. To record *Crest*, vocalists Bladee and Ecco2k and producer Whitearmor holed up in a remote Swedish beach cabin, near where Ingmar Bergman filmed his 1957 classic *The Seventh Seal*; 60-some years later, the Gang poses similar questions about life, death, and the existence of God, with choruses that feel like prayers and lyrics like “We think we exist, that’s we why suffer, do we not?/Give it to me raw, death is beautiful” (on the nine-minute epic “5 Star Crest \[4 Vattenrum\]”). Slather these existential koans in Auto-Tune, add the ecstatic sounds of a Y2K rave, and you’ve almost got the Drain Gang recipe. But there’s something else there, too: a sweet, sincere yearning for something bigger than themselves.

It can be unwise to play favorites in the music biz, but maybe nobody told that to The Alchemist. “I really made an album with my favorite rapper and it drops tonight at midnight,” the producer tweeted ahead of the release of his and Roc Marciano’s *The Elephant Man’s Bones*. “I’m tripping.” Hempstead, Long Island-originating Marciano is no stranger to peer adulation, however. His time as a recording artist dates at least as far back as a stint with Busta Rhymes’ late-’90s Flipmode Squad collective, but the name he has today was made from the string of gritty and impressive solo projects he released across the 2010s. You do need a specific kind of ear to fully appreciate the MC. Roc Marciano raps in the kind of street code that reveals itself to be genius to those who can grasp its nuances. Take this couplet from *The Elephant Man’s Bones*’ “Daddy Kane”: “I been getting off that soft white long before shorties was rocking Off-White/Water-colored ice, I call it Walter White/Walk with me like a dog might, I got 44 bulldogs, you ain’t got a dog in the fight.” The bars themselves are less complex than they are both slimy and razor-sharp. These are raps to be heeded and, maybe more importantly, enjoyed at a safe distance. Unless, of course, you’re The Alchemist—or album guests Action Bronson, Boldy James, Ice-T, or Knowledge the Pirate—in which case you can’t wait to add some of your own ingredients to Marciano’s cauldron.

Questions of value, respect, and legacy preoccupy the Detroit-raised rapper and producer Quelle Chris on his seventh solo album, *Deathfame*. The underground mainstay has been called everyone’s favorite rapper’s favorite rapper’s favorite rapper; here he wrestles with what that reputation entails, unpacking the satisfactions and sacrifices of quiet integrity. There’s skeptical indignation (“King in Black”) and smirking pride (“Feed the Heads”), but Chris leads with humility and grace on the gorgeous bluesy number “Alive Ain’t Always Living,” on which he makes clear, “You can keep the feast and wine. I just want my peace of mind.” That song extends a fruitful running partnership with the Oakland-based producer and pianist Chris Keys, although Quelle handles most of the album’s production himself, stretching his elastic flows with obtuse basslines and dusty drums. It’s bittersweet work, wry and wise, and destined for the longevity Chris ultimately claims as his goal.

When an artist consistently creates at the forward edge, there are no guardrails. Quelle Chris has been comfortable at the boundaries, leading Hip-Hop since he started.     Quelle’s vision extends beyond genre or format. He continued broadening his creative ambitions even beyond his own legendary four album run (BYIG, Everything's Fine, Guns, Innocent Country 2) and worked with Chris Keys to compose part of the score for the Oscar-winning film “Judas and The Black Messiah” with director Shaka King. The new album, “DEATHFAME,” is a sonic treatment produced by Quelle himself, along with Chris Keys and Knxwledge. The record carries on like an incredible lost tape found at a flea market. It explores, unflinchingly, every moment of the trials the early 2020s has brought to all of us. Guests Navy Blue and Pink Siifu lend brilliance to the dynamic and unexpected new album coming May 13th on Mello Music Group.

The Maryland rapper/producer dropped *learn 2 swim* on his 18th birthday, which explains the preoccupation with the bittersweetness of growing up: “Sit and watch my youth wash away/Wish that I could say that I know things will be okay,” goes the hazy hook on “shoulder.” But redveil thrives in the liminal space of teenage uncertainty, translating it through searching bars and dreamy homemade sample collages. His sound feels fully realized already—not quite a throwback, but warm and rich and lived in (probably because he’s been doing this since he was 11, banging out Fruity Loops beats and studying the craft of fellow old soul Earl Sweatshirt). redveil doesn’t pretend he’s got all the answers just yet; like he suggests on the jazzy, breezy “diving board,” the best way to figure it out is to jump in headfirst.

For hip-hop fans hearing $NOT’s “Doja” for the first time—a song that features the notoriously collaboration-picky A$AP Rocky—there were likely two reactions. Either they recognized $NOT from his appearance on fellow Floridian Cochise’s underground hit “Tell Em,” or they wondered who $NOT was and how he got A$AP Rocky on a track. Across the 14 tracks of *Ethereal*, $NOT’s third proper project, the South Florida MC attempts to answer the first question as completely as he can, and as for the second? Well, that’s probably as simple as Rocky having been a fan. And he’s hardly the only one. *Ethereal* features none other than Kevin Abstract, Trippie Redd, Juicy J, and Joey Bada\$$ in addition to Rocky—artists likewise known to have their fingers on the pulse of new music. “Tell Em,” even, was a reintroduction of sorts, $NOT having first broke with “Gosha” in 2018 and also having scored a spot in the pilot episode of HBO’s *Euphoria* with “Billy Boy.” On *Ethereal*, though, the $NOT universe expands, the MC opening up about his demons (“My World \[Intro\],” “5AM”), women who’ve stolen his heart (“ALONE,” “Halle Berry,” “Fighting Me”), and even friends he’s lost (“How U Feel”). Vocally, he goes from the raw aggression we associate with SoundCloud rap 1.0 (“Go,” “BENZO”) to a vulnerability that allows him to sing softly over acoustic guitar (“BLUE MOON”), indicative together that whatever your particular flavor is, you’ll know exactly who he is at next listen.

LA-based MC Yeat might only be getting his feet wet in the rap game, but he’s already long on confidence. “Everything I’m doing is just better than you,” he sings to doubters on *2 Alivë*’s “Jus bëtter.” *2 Alivë* is the MC’s first project of 2022, after having released three in 2021 alone (*Up 2 Më*, *4L*, *Alivë*). Fans of viral selections like *4L*’s “Sorry Bout That” will recognize Yeat’s penchant for slipping in and out of vintage Young Thug flows, but if the YSL general himself takes no issue with it (Thugger appears on the album’s “Outsidë”), how could we? As a young star on the rise, Yeat chooses mostly to rap about a life full of drugs, money, and mayhem, but what he says is less important than how he says it. The rapping (and singing) here is rarely hurried and mostly delivered over what sounds like 1990s video-game-inspired production. And still, full verses can be difficult to understand, a clear reminder that even as the flagship MC of burgeoning label Field Trip Recordings and maybe the most buzzed-about MC of the post-SoundCloud generation, Yeat is but a medium for the vibes.

Megan Thee Stallion wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter on *Traumazine*, the long-awaited follow-up to the Houston MC’s 2020 album, *Good News*. “I ain’t perfect/But anything I did to any of you n\*\*\*\*s, y’all deserved it!” she raps at the outset of album opener “NDA.” Indeed, Thee Stallion, who’s unwittingly made more headlines over the past two years for her role as a victim of a high-profile shooting than she has for the hits she continues to deliver, is not here to apologize. In fact, she’s here to remind both well-wishers and detractors alike that she’s going to win regardless, because that’s just how she’s built. “Fuck it, bitch, I’m not nice/I’m the shit/I’m done with being humble/’Cause I know that I’m that bitch,” she declares on “Not Nice.” Now, that’s “real hot girl shit.” And you’ll find it in abundance across *Traumazine*, Meg making time to address “fake-ass, snake-ass, backstabbing, hating-ass, no-money-getting-ass bitches” (“Ungrateful”), fair-weather friends (“Flip Flop”), and even her own mental health struggles (“Anxiety”). She’s having plenty of fun here, too, mostly in describing what sounds like really amazing sex (“Ms. Nasty,” “Who Me,” “Red Wine”), but also on a four-on-the-floor house jam (“Her”), a high-energy duet with Future (“Pressurelicious”), and an ode to her H-Town roots (“Southside Royalty Freestyle”). Thee Stallion draws power here from surviving fame as she knows it, basking in her own greatness on “Star” as she proclaims, “I’m a motherfuckin’ superstar.”

Veteran New Orleans rapper Curren$y brags different. It’s maybe the singular thing that protects him from an inadvertently dismissive label like “everyman MC.” When he talks about about how well he’s doing—as he does early and often across *Continuance*, his collaborative album with producer The Alchemist—he does so in a way that bypasses leaving a listener feeling inadequate. Curren$y’s raps are a celebration of taste—in automobiles, clothing, jewelry, weed, women—and you can hear, in that signature laidback flow set to expertly chopped jazz loops, an implied invitation for you to join him. The guests here don’t necessarily have the same reputation for affability (Boldy James, Havoc, Styles P, Babyface Ray, to name a few), but they sound just as happy as Curren$y to be rapping over The Alchemist’s production.

The multi-faceted Maryland rapper’s been pumping out mixtapes since she was in high school. Since then, it’s been a thrill to watch her self-proclaimed “sugar trap” evolve into a sound that’s hard to describe in a nutshell; sometimes she’s a nu-metal scream queen, sometimes a hyperpop raver, and other times she’s straight-up spitting. On *Las Ruinas*, she’s all of those things at once—plus a grunge wallflower (on “Easy”), an East Coast boom-bapper (on “Gotsta Get Paid,” whose production credits include 100 gecs), and a London junglist circa 1994 (“Intrusive”). There’s a bit of contention over whether it’s her second album or her umpteenth mixtape, but *Las Ruinas* might make even more sense considered as a DJ set of Rico’s new material—an uncontainable, indefinable, throw-it-at-the-wall mix of aggression and vulnerability like only Rico can do it, preferably played in a dank basement with a fog machine.

The New Yorker has finally gotten his flowers as one of the finest MCs in the contemporary underground after a cool couple decades grinding it out with his label, Backwoodz Studioz; 2021’s *Haram*, from Woods’ Armand Hammer duo with E L U C I D, felt like a high watermark for a new NY scene. On *Aethiopes*, Woods’ first solo album since 2019, he recruits producer Preservation, a fellow NY scene veteran known for his work with Yasiin Bey and Ka; his haunted beats set an unsettling scene for Woods’ evocative stories, which span childhood bedrooms and Egyptian deserts. The guest list doubles as a who’s who of underground rap—EL-P, Boldy James, E L U C I D—but Woods holds his own at the center of it all. As he spits on the stunningly skeletal “Remorseless”: “Anything you want on this cursed earth/Probably better off getting it yourself, see what it’s worth.”

DIGITAL VERSION OF THE ALBUM DROPS ON APRIL 8, 2022. Aethiopes is billy woods’ first album since 2019’s double feature of Hiding Places and Terror Management. The project is fully produced by Preservation (Dr Yen Lo, Yasiin Bey), who delivered a suite of tracks on Terror Management, including the riveting single “Blood Thinner”. The two collaborated again on Preservation’s 2020’s LP Eastern Medicine, Western Illness, which featured a memorable billy woods appearance on the song “Lemon Rinds”, as well as the B-side “Snow Globe”.

“I literally don’t take breaks,” ROSALÍA tells Apple Music. “I feel like, to work at a certain level, to get a certain result, you really need to sacrifice.” Judging by *MOTOMAMI*, her long-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s award-winning and critically acclaimed *EL MAL QUERER*, the mononymous Spanish singer clearly put in the work. “I almost feel like I disappear because I needed to,” she says of maintaining her process in the face of increased popularity and attention. “I needed to focus and put all my energy and get to the center to create.” At the same time, she found herself drawing energy from bustling locales like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, all of which she credits with influencing the new album. Beyond any particular source of inspiration that may have driven the creation of *MOTOMAMI*, ROSALÍA’s come-up has been nothing short of inspiring. Her transition from critically acclaimed flamenco upstart to internationally renowned star—marked by creative collaborations with global tastemakers like Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, and Oneohtrix Point Never, to name a few—has prompted an artistic metamorphosis. Her ability to navigate and dominate such a wide array of musical styles only raised expectations for her third full-length, but she resisted the idea of rushing things. “I didn’t want to make an album just because now it’s time to make an album,” she says, citing that several months were spent on mixing and visuals alone. “I don’t work like that.” Some three years after *EL MAL QUERER*, ROSALÍA’s return feels even more revolutionary than that radical breakout release. From the noisy-yet-referential leftfield reggaetón of “SAOKO” to the austere and *Yeezus*-reminiscent thump of “CHICKEN TERIYAKI,” *MOTOMAMI* makes the artist’s femme-forward modus operandi all the more clear. The point of view presented is sharp and political, but also permissive of playfulness and wit, a humanizing mix that makes the album her most personal yet. “I was like, I really want to find a way to allow my sense of humor to be present,” she says. “It’s almost like you try to do, like, a self-portrait of a moment of who you are, how you feel, the way you think.\" Things get deeper and more unexpected with the devilish-yet-austere electronic punk funk of the title track and the feverish “BIZCOCHITO.” But there are even more twists and turns within, like “HENTAI,” a bilingual torch song that charms and enraptures before giving way to machine-gun percussion. Add to that “LA FAMA,” her mystifying team-up with The Weeknd that fuses tropical Latin rhythms with avant-garde minimalism, and you end up with one of the most unique artistic statements of the decade so far.