Jan. music releases pave way for 2018 to be hip-hop’s year

Kali Uchis’s “After the Storm” featuring rap artist Tyler, the Creator, is a groovy, feel-good song that never gets old. Her beautiful, melodic voice gracefully floats through the lyrics of self-security and persisting through the storm of life over a funk-inspired beat produced by Bootsy Collins. She sings of becoming your own hero, telling listeners "No one's gonna save you now / So you ...

“King’s Dead” by Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake From the Top Dawg Entertainment produced album for the upcoming Marvel film Black Panther, the bass-heavy track features rap powerhouses Kendrick Lamar, Future and Jay Rock. Lamar takes the lead on the chorus, followed by Jay Rock’s biting verse in which he references Top Dawg’s boss moves and is speculated to take so...

The latest single off of Amen, future debut album of Indonesian come-up artist, Brian Imanuel, also known as Rich Brian, represents the rise of Asian involvement in the rap scene. The track begins with Kris Wu, rapping partly in Chinese and singing the chorus. The Canadian-Chinese artist and actor is followed by the deep and distinct voice of Rich Brian. He spits out his bars on top of a heavy beat mixed wi...

Drake’s recent release of two songs within his new single Scary Hours has brought him back into the spotlight. “God’s Plan” is the more radio-friendly of the two, having a classic Drake-sound in which his flow stays pretty basic and the lyrics are perfect for fake-deep twitter. However, the beat is catchy enough to earn a spot on your party playlist. There’s a few seconds that the Canad...

19-year-old rapper Lil Skies recently released his debut album, titled Life of a Dark Rose. Skies gained popularity after famed music video director Cole Bennett produced a video for his song “Red Roses” featuring Landon Cube. The album kicks off with “Welcome to the Rodeo” in which Skies makes his mission statement -- to make it big in the music industry. Over much of the project, he remini...