VERYBADMAG’s Top 5 Albums of September, 2019.
September was one hell of a month, and that’s an understatement. In Hip-Hop, we saw new releases from established artists such as Post Malone, DaBaby, Kevin Gates & more. Despite the red-carpet of high-profile drops, it was the underdogs who stepped up this month. Comprised of 5 rising artists — albeit all 5 on different stops of that journey — VERYBADMAG presents to you our Top 5 Albums of September, 2019 featuring Jaye Newton, AzChike, IDK, Franco & Larry June.
AzChike — ‘Rich & Ratchet’
Spearheading Southern California’s most authentic moment since the Jerking Era has been Los Angeles native, AzChike. After amassing a regional buzz off of a solid run of mixtapes & singles, he finally steps out for his big moment on, Rich & Ratchet. Opting to showcase his ever-evolving style individually instead this time, he unleashes some of his best solo work to date with songs like, “Off My Dick” & “Bleedem Joog,” proving his ability to completely carry a record & your attention with an infectious array of ghetto poetry & unapologetic ratchetness. Still, it wouldn’t be a Chike album without the homies, & he recruits a star-studded list of Who’s Who in California including Rucci, 1TakeJay, Rob Vicious & fellow Cult member, AzSwaye, who with his three appearances edges his path to being next up. In short, The Cult has arrived & AzChike makes that clear on Rich & Ratchet.
Listen here & get active.
Jaye Newton — ‘Just Pray For Me’
One of the toughest things to do in music, is to completely be honest & authentic with your art, while still aesthetically pleasing the fans. When it happens, though, it’s a distinctive sound that you recognize every single time. For Atlanta native, Jaye Newton, this happens to be the complete essence of his sophomore project, Just Pray For Me.
Throughout 13-tracks, Atlanta native Jaye Newton turns his sophomore album, Just Pray For Me into his personal therapy session. Speaking of past transgressions, lost love, adolescent mistakes & more, Newton bares every single one of his emotions on tracks like, “Pain In My Eyez” — which features a brilliant hook by Wiley from Atlanta — & provides an outlet for the listener to do the same. It’s not all tears & fears, though, as the Atlanta native channels his southern roots for some of the most smooth and groovy records of the summer including album standout, “2Nite,” which in my humble opinion might be age for age — get it? Pound for pound — the best R&B record out right now.
Be sure to press play on, Just Pray For Me and get to know Jaye Newton while getting your boogie on a little.
Larry June — Out The Trunk
Another one! Larry June is one of the most consistent rappers in the game, blessing us this time with, Out The Trunk, his 6th project in a year’s time. Impressively getting better each time, Larry glides through his newest tape like a sensei teaching class at his own dojo. Starting out strong with songs like, “Let’s Drive to Vegas” & the Cardo-produced, “Organic Fatherhood”, it’s clear he’s one hundred percent confident in the pocket he’s found, & now he’s just having fun with it. The lingo is heavy on this one — a rap about one of his homies trying to, “backdoor him” when he, “knocked some fresh game” could be lost in translation to the newer fans — & June doesn’t care to stop & explain. There’s a certain, “ism” the audience is expected to have when listening to his music that he doesn’t apologize for.
During the project, Larry touches on various topics. From his many escapades with women, to being a full time parent and providing his kid with things he never had. While these themes aren’t new to Larry June’s music, the super-mack MC sounds more sure of himself than ever. On “Organic Smiles” he performs a full on playa-ballad & lets the sample sing for him. He’s
really enjoying the OG plateau he’s risen to, & we don’t see him coming off of it anytime soon.
Check out the project on Spotify.
Franco — Osama Bin Havin’
Whether you’ve acknowledged it or not, the emerging sub-genre of “Scam-rap” is a real thing & these guys are going to be heard. Still, even those hip to this new sound still have a narrow scope of the subject beyond Detroit based MC’s or Moneyman. Osama Bin Havin’, the new studio project from rising rapper Franco (F.K.A. Franco Hundreds), delivers arguably the freshest, most unique takes to the “Scam-rap” cause.
In just nine songs Franco sketches a vivid picture with a codeine soaked paintbrush. He tells a story of a young man finding his place in the world & fighting his demons, only this young man doesn’t know self-doubt. With lyrics about the transition from “serving midget” to “dealing with some scams,” it’s very apparent the kid is focused on the end, no matter the means, as he speaks of his tales of fraud with pride over UliCookUp beats. He’s not afraid of how you perceive him, the only thing he fears is a declined card or an early demise.
The track that resonates the most is the outro, “Margiela Madness.” In his last effort to convey his message, Franco wears his heart on his sleeve & pours pieces of his soul over pianos and 808s. In his own words:
“Ain’t no days off I prayed for times like this,
I done worked really hard so I could shine like this.
Too much shit I still gotta do I can’t die like this,
Hope my seeds do the same and try to grind like this.”
Basically, there’s nothing stopping Franco from reaching his goals. He’s “still doing orders and money gram flips,” but I’ll let you figure out what that means on your own.
Press play right here.
IDK — Is He Real?
I’d like to take this time to thank DMV artist, IDK, for making an album. As dumb as that sounds, I feel like a majority of the, “projects” we get from Hip-Hop these days hardly ever really feel like albums. Everything is a playlist now, essentially a couple of good songs thrown together with no string to thread them together, except maybe the same exact drum pattern on every track.
On Is He Real, IDK gives us the exact opposite, providing a scattered think-piece on many topics, mainly religion & mortality. Rather than just painting one picture, every song is like it’s own installation inside of the museum that is the overall album. He sculpts the music exactly how he wants you to hear it, & isn’t scared to unleash an avant-garde ensemble of guests to help the efforts. Three minutes in, & suddenly I found myself like “Nigga is that DMX?” & just a few tracks later on, “Porno,” I believe I’m hearing Pusha-T, but it wasn’t the Clipse-member. Instead, it was IDK doing a damn near perfect Pusha-T impression with menacing ease. When the real King Push comes in on the second verse the only distinguishing factors are the signature coke lines, (Oh THAAAAAT’S Pusha-T).
Another standout track that’s bound to put a bug in your ear is the Burna Boy-assisted “December”, where IDK and Burna weave thru each other’s vocals, showcasing an impressive
interpolation of the Dancehall classic “Murder She Wrote”. Still, even with all of these features, (including Tyler, the Creator, JID, & GLC) IDK tightly remains the master of his work, using his collaborators & producers as puzzle pieces on his canvas. This project will definitely leave you confused about IDK’s perception of a higher power, & possibly even your own.
Listen to the album here.
Leave your comments below and let us know if we got it right, or who we might’ve missed out on!
