Some new singles for your viewing and listening pleasure:

1.) Mobb Deep ft. Nas & Jorja Smith – Down For You

With something of a posthumous album as part of Mass Appeal’s “Legend Has It” marketing campaign, “Infinite” shows that the duo of Havoc and Prodigy (R.I.P.) can still produce the gritty atmospheric music that put them on the map 30 years ago. Havoc produced the album’s most recent single, “Down For You”, flipping a sample of the “Platoon” movie theme. Lyrically, Hav and Bandana P, with a show-stealing assist from Nas, spit about the complex Catch-22’s of love while Jorja Smith’s hook drives it all home.

 

2.) Sadistik ft. Cage – Kiss the Ring

Produced by NOWHERE2RUN, “Kiss the Ring” reunites Seattle emcee Sadistik with Cage for the first time since 2013’s “Russian Roulette” from the former’s “Flowers For My Father”. Though featuring dark overtones, NOWHERE2RUN’s boom-bap backdrop is a different sound for Sad Vicious, though Cage is certainly no stranger to it. Lyrically, it’s a welcome departure from Sadistik’s usual poetic introspection. It’s him and Cage engaging in the hip-hop tradition of boasting and talking shit: “I don’t have peers /  Disappear, you’re anonymous / Here’s where you grovel when I pierce through your armor quick.”

 

3.) Danger Mouse x Black Thought – UP

It’s been three years since their 2022 album “Cheat Codes”, but the chemistry between Black Thought and producer/DJ Danger Mouse remains intact without erosion. The first single from their upcoming album, “UP” is a soulful track filled with social commentary. With Rag’n’Bone Man on the hook and Danger Mouse manipulating piano keys and cowbell snares, the Roots emcee raps on how with everything in decline, the sole glimmer of optimism is that there’s only one remaining direction by which to escape.

 

4.) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ft. Lil’ Eazy E – Eazy

Probably the most melodic single included here, that’s no surprise considering the Cleveland rap quintet of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have always melded melody with their fast-paced, double-time chopper flows. For “Eazy”, producer Mike Smoov both flips a sample from and interpolates “Easy” by the Commodores. Paying tribute to their late mentor, N.W.A. founder Eazy E, the group also did so 30 years ago with their mega-hit “Tha Crossroads”. Only here, their joined by their mentor’s son, Lil’ Eazy E, in paying homage to Eric Wright.

 

5.) Big Daddy Kane – Open Ya Eyes

Given Big Daddy Kane’s legendary and pioneering status in the rap game, you’d think a new album by him would’ve been included in the “Legend Has It…” series, but alas no. However, BDK has teamed up with Wu-Tang’s RZA for “Open Ya Eyes”. Filled with DJ scratches and piano samples, Kane unmercifully hits the listeners with back-to-back multis and wordplay. Though the accompanying video is purely A.I., that doesn’t detract from the fact that rap’s OG punchline emcee is back.

 

6.) Marc 2Ray – Just Kids

Though released on his 2020 album “Fresh Air”, DMV emcee Marc 2Ray took actual life events and translated them into “Just Kids”. Mental health has always been a cornerstone of his work outside of hip-hop, and “Just Kids” is a harrowing storytelling track concerning that very subject. The music video is actually a short film, bringing the cinematic facets of his lyrics to life. In releasing the song, Marc’s partnered with Calm Bomb Collective, a non-profit record label providing mental health support for families.

 

7.) Kurious – Birds Fly

Having career spanning 30 years in the music industry is quite a feat. With “Birds Fly”, the first single from his recently released “God’s Time” album, Kurious puts down his wisdom for listeners. Produced by DJ KRec, the music video is a walk through his native New York City. KRec’s soundscape is one comprised of soulful strings and a vocal sample as Kurious makes use of caged bird imagery and multi-laden wordplay: “Ain’t no minimizin’ the passion of a first round pick / First flop, I hit your head like a four-pound brick / Weaponize the pain, step aside the game / for so many years, for real, kept inside the flames.”