Last year we heard the stories of the secret Kanye West and Paul McCartney track, although much about the collaboration was unknown. Now it is finally here and it was well worth the wait. Fans of Kanye tracks like ‘Hey Mama’ and ‘Roses’ will love this one as ‘Only One’ is a beautiful ballad dedicated to West’s daughter North (Nori) and one of the best songs you may ever hear. While Paul McCartney’s exact contributions on the track are unknown at this time, he is there somewhere, and if you can’t remember another time the most famous Beatle had a song with a rapper… its because it has never happened (until now).
Sometimes an MVP is decide almost solely based on how they finish the season. Such is the case for 2014 and our Man of the Year, J. Cole. In what may have otherwise not been possible, thanks to a lackluster year in rap, J. Cole single handed saved rap music from having a disastrous 2014 and he did in just one month’s time and virtually out of nowhere. This is not to say that rappers like Big Sean, Childish Gambino, Run the Jewels and several others didn’t have a great past 12-months, but Hollywood Cole is the real MVP.
A$AP Rocky had an unfortunately quiet 2014. The good news is that this hopefully means we will get a bunch of new music from “the pretty motherf*cker” in the new year, and to give fans a preview, today Rocky ended his 2014 by giving fans the sequel to one of his first big tracks ‘Pretty Flacko’, simply titled ‘Pretty Flacko 2’. Stream the Nez & Rio produced track below.
It is hard to imagine what woman (or man) in music had a better year than our 2014 Woman of the Year, Lana Del Rey. In just a year’s time Lana has continued her way to the top by touring the world, recording tracks for some of your favorite directors, putting out her best and most critically acclaimed album to date and picking up a number of award nominations on the way.
2014 has been G-Eazy’s best year yet, and he is showing no signs of stopping. After a number of mixtapes and EPs, G-Eazy released his debut label studio album These Things Happen, debuting at number three on the Billboard charts. Followed by his From the Bay to the Universe tour (now on it’s second leg), G-Eazy has now given fans another treat to cap off his amazing year, three new songs. The tracks include ‘Show You The World’ ‘I Might’ and ‘Why Thank You’, and contain features from Too Short (among others). Check out all three tracks below.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Nicki Minaj addressed the chocking and death of Eric Garner by a NYPD officer and her opinion on why black artists sometimes choose not to speak out against racial injustices. Specifically Minaj cited the backlash Kanye West received after his famous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” quote, when addressing a televised audience during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
2014 was Rae Sremmurd’s year. In the summer, Rae Sremmurd (rappers Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy) released their first single ‘No Flex Zone’ through EarDrummers Entertainment (producer Mike WiLL Made-It’s Interscope Records imprint), making the track one of the summer’s anthems and an instant favorite on the internet. To kick-off the fall, the Mississippi rappers proved their doubters wrong by the release of their equally successful track ‘No Type’, making the duo two-for-two on making rap hits and quieting any one-hit-wonder predictions. Months later, and in just one week on January 6th, Rae Sremmurd is releasing their debut album SremmLife (available now for streaming), when rap fans did not know their name less than a year ago.
Earlier today, Hot 97‘s “Ebro in the Morning” hosted rapper Macklemore for a great discussion on race and white privilege (specifically in the music world). Among many topics, Macklemore addresses police brutality and whether he believes that his music is embraced by white radio and the Grammys because of his skin color. Macklemore also talks about the new J. Cole album and his text apology to Kendrick Lamar. Watch the hour-long and thought provoking interview below.
Every since the rap world was introduced to the Mississippi-natives Rae Sremmurd, the duo has been hitting the ground running with their very successful tracks ‘No Flex Zone’ and ‘No Type’. Now we have the group’s debut album SremmLife which is 11-tracks and features appearances by Nicki Minaj, Big Sean, and Young Thug and production by Mike Will Made It.
Earlier this week, Wale gave fans his Festivus mixtape in anticipation of his upcoming The Album About Nothing. Today we have the video for the first single from Wale’s new album, titled ‘The Body’ with Jeremih. Check out the video below and catch Wale on tour (kicking off January 1 in Maryland).
The Early Registration 