Today marked the birthday of Grammy nominated rapper Allan Kingdom and the release of his new project, Northern Lights. And the Minnesota native couldn’t have celebrated his day of birth in any better way as the new tape is his first major solo project in years, as well as his first since his 2014 self-titled efforts with his group, thestand4rd. Top to bottom, thestand4rd is one of the most talented emerging collectives in rap music today and Kingdom may be the most talented of the group.
From working with Kanye West (on ‘All Day’) to some of our local favorites like WebsterX, and of course his work with thestand4rd, the rapper/producer definitely knows who to work with and his exciting new project is no exception, as it has features from D.R.A.M. and Gloss Gang and executive production from Plain Pat, known best for his work with Kanye West and Kid Cudi.
Fresh out of South Central, Dreamvilleand J. Cole signee Cozz has released his second mixtape, the follow-up to his 2014 Cozz N Effect project. The new 13-track mixtape, titled Nothin Personal, was widely produced by Cozz’s longtime collaborator Meez, and also features production from T. Lew, D2 and Mikeal Mighty. The tape also contains features from fellow Dreamville artist Bas,Boogie, Correy C + Deborah and Freeackrite.
Coldplay began their comeback last year with the release of their critically acclaimed LP, A Head Full of Dreams. And while the booking didn’t come without some controversy, Coldplay made headlines again in 2015 with the announcement that the group would be headlining the upcoming half-time performance for the Super Bowl. Now, to continue their recent momentum, Coldplay has released their next music video from their latest LP, this time, Marcus Haney directed visuals for their track ‘Birds’.
It’s been a long time since we have been blessed by Lord Yeezus, but just before the end of 2015 Kanye West surprised us all and released a new track. The surprise record, titled ‘Facts’, is rap directed at Nike, over a re-work of Drake and Future’s ‘Jumpman’. While we still are very patiently awaiting Kanye’s forthcoming and highly anticipated album Swish, this should tide us over for awhile (hopefully not too long though).
To say the least, Chaz Bundick had a busy 2015. In addition to his Les Sins project Michael, Chaz (Toro y Moi) released two new albums with What For? in April and Samantha in August. But that wasn’t everything apparently as Chaz upload four new previously unreleased tracks on his Soundcloud. We will say one thing about Chaz’s new track… even the man’s B-sides are better than many artist’s best tracks of 2015, and that says a lot!
Listen to Toro y Moi’s 4 new unreleased tracks below.
Run The Jewels 3, the next installment of Killer Mike and El’P’s “Run The Jewels” series, is still a ways away but that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited for it. While the anticipated project is still in its very early stages, El-P took to his Instagram to give fans an exclusive sneak preview of what the project will sound like. It isn’t much, but the untitled track sounds like it’s on its way to being another classic RTJ banger, and it gets us more than excited!
2015 isn’t quite yet over for Mac Miller, as the rapper gave fans a post-Christmas treat today by releasing a brand new track on his Soundcloud. The new record, titled ‘Vienna’, is a smoothing track from Miller and a great way for the GO:OD AM artist to close our the year. If this is a sample of what Mac’s 2016 will sound like, then we definitely are looking forward to it!
Lil B has made history today by becoming the first artist to cover a song so well that in doing so the song is now his, or at least that’s how he put it. Rapping over O.T. Genasis’ 2014 record ‘CoCo’, the BasedGod’s new track, titled ‘In Love With The BasedGod’ is so based and rare that “WOW COCO HIS SONG NOW”, according to the rapper’s YouTube.
If you’re a fan of the BasedGod, then this is the track for you. It’s the first new music that we’ve heard from Lil B in a bit now, and another record from his forthcoming andhighly anticipated Thugged Out Pissed Off mixtape.
Watch Lil B’s official music video for ‘In Love With The BasedGod’ below.
Today we have the next track and self-directed video from G.O.O.D. Music’s newest signee, HXLT. Kanye’s newest artist, formerly under the name Hollywood Holt, has left us all wondering what his new sound would be like, and he gave us a great sample of that earlier this year with his ‘Live To Death’ record. This time around we have ‘Guitar’, a track centered around HXLT’s guitar playing aspirations. Whether he can play the guitar, the flute, the drums, the triangle or whatever, it doesn’t matter because Holt has one hell of a voice that continues to surprise us!
Watch the official music video for ‘Guitar’ below.
Former SOULECTION artist, Sam Gellaitry, has released a brand new EP under XL Recordings titled Escapism. This 5-track project contains some of the most original ideas to come out of music in a while. Escapism is incredibly diverse, sometimes giving bangers, other times giving movie score-esque music, and even adding some smooth jazz elements. Stand out tracks include “Hyena” and “Dreamscapes”. The project is available for purchase on iTunes.
The Early Registration 