#when i went back it literally was EXACTLY like what emilio experiences when he returns from rakhat except it was my own family

[emiliosandozsequence]

"yes," emilio said softly, with a smile that left his eyes untouched. "to help find the truth. to make me talk."

i'm going to throw up.

[audiofixationnews]

#OverloadMonday: And it Begins...

#OverloadMonday is back! Check out what happened the first week of 2018, 1/1-1/7.

Singles

Following some big news, you can find below, TDE label mates Kendrick Lamar and SZA have dropped a new track for Marvel’s Black Panther movie titled “All The Stars.” It’s your typical Kung Fu Kenny bars with vocals by SZA - some magic has been made. Check it out above.

Raekwon starts off 2018 with some new music as well. Two tracks, in fact, “The Biz” and “The Sky.” Check them out.

We also have new music from Lloyd Banks, Cozz, Dessy Hinds, Kid Ink, and Lucki. 

Formerly known as Rich Chigga, Rich Brain wants you to see the real him on his newest joint of the year, “See Me,” as it serves as the first track under his new stage name. He also had another announcement outside his name change, check it out below.

Alley Boy makes a big return with “The Interview.” After staying under the radar for years, since footage surfaced of a violent confrontation. The Atlanta rapper continued to make music but took a step back until he could make his big return, and here he is. Also, watch him in an interview talking about that very altercation. Stay plugged for updates. Hopefully, this means he’ll drop more music.

Ronny J teamed up with Lil Pump over a smooth hypnotic beat for their track “TRIXXX.”

These artists also started off 2018 with new music: FLACO, Lil Uzi Vert, K Camp, Ski Mask, and Misogi. 

Jadakiss teams up with Nino Man on “I Hate You.” Jeez, tell me how you really feel. Glad to see them join forces again. Check out their newest joint where they get to flex their lyrical abilities.

Reese LaFlare clearly has been working hard in the studio. After just days from dropping Maybe Later, he joined forces with PartyNextDoor on the London On Da Track-produced single “They Don’t.” The track is a sure fire banger. This collab flows effortlessly, let’s hope they team up again.

We also got releases from Nef The Pharaoh, AD, Mathaius Young and Chloe x Halle. 

Visuals

Apple | Spotify | TIDAL

Cardi B starts off her 2018 making headlines and breaking records. Literally, the second day! Following up the good news - you can find below - with a new record under her belt, she teamed up with Bruno Mars with a remix of his 2016 “Finesse.“ It’s her first track of the year that just might make it on the chart. Check out the “In Living Color” inspired visual above. 

We also have new visual offerings from Justin Timberlake, who just announced new album is dropping February 8th, A Boogie, Chris Orrick, Boosie Badazz.

Quavo and Nicki Minaj release a video for their track “She For Keeps.” After the track was rumored to appear on her upcoming NM4, the single actually appeared on Control The Streets Vol. 1, Quality Control’s compilation project. With no warning, they released the video exclusively on Apple Music.

Spacejam Bo released a video for his “Ashy to Classy.” Watch as he hits the New York streets for the first time, roaming through the city celebrating his rise in the industry. 

London Jae, B.o.B’s signee from his No Genre label, linked up with Tokyo Jets and has released a visual for their joint “Not Locked Down.”   

Projects

Apple | Spotify | SoundCloud

Since his The Vibe Is Heavy 2 that dropped this past summer, Tdot Illdude announces that he will be dropping his stage name for Thomas Jude. Now the Jersey spitter has released his final project under the Dot stage name, perfectly titled The Last Illustration of Tdot Illude by Thomas Jude. Produced by the likes of Charlie Heat, Mando Fresh, Young N Fly, BNYX and more, check it out Tdot’s final project as he transitions into Thomas Jude.

Moneybagg Yo starts off 2018 with a new compilation project, MoneyBagg Yo Presents: NLESS ENT x Bread Gang. Among the features, he’s teamed up with T.I. on the remix of his 2017 track “Silverware." Cop it on iTunes.

A compilation project perfectly titled One Week Notice features the likes of seven artists who put this project together in a matter of seven days. The 13-track project is brought to you by Jarren Benton, Dizzy Wright, Audio Push, Demrick, Emilio Rojas, Reezy, DJ Hoppa, and Kato. Producer Kato had this to say: 

"Where else would you put seven really dope artists and four really dope producers together in the same studio at the same time, and challenge them with creating as much music as possible in a week. That's something that doesn't just happen. So, to give fans something new and fresh that would come out of that experience, I think it's important for hip-hop, period.”

One Week Notice is available on iTunes, but of course, it’s available on Apple Music and Spotify.

The first week of January also saw releases from Mila J and cupcakKe.

Coming Soon...

While Marvel’s Black Panther movie will hit theaters February 16th, it was announced that Kendrick Lamar and Top Dawg Entertainment will entirely produce the movie’s soundtrack. Black Excellence, indeed. Check out its leading single “All The Stars” starring Kenny and SZA above. Black Panther the album is available for pre-order via iTunes, and is set to release February 9th a week before the movie. 

Not exactly announced this past week but it’s worth a mention. Nipsey Hussle announced last month that his long-awaited debut, Victory Lap, will drop February 16th.

After just releasing his debut album Luv Is Rage 2 this past summer, Lil Uzi Vert teamed up with producer Wheezy and finished a new project in a whole 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours. No release date revealed or even a name, but once they figure out the logistics I’m sure the project will be released soon. Stay plugged.

Jeremih linked up with Ty Dolla $ign for a collab project, MihTy, that’s slated to drop February 18th. The 21-track project will feature the likes of Chris Brown and PARTYNEXTDOOR, all which was confirmed when Joe Budden called Yung Berg on his podcast. He also went on to say that he and A1 produced the entire project for Jeremih and Ty Dolla Sign. Stay plugged for updates. Also, check out Ty Dolla $ign’s interview with Pigeons & Planes, super dope.

Maxo Dream has been pretty consistent all of 2017. To start off the new year, he as just announced his new album Punken, is set to release Friday, January 12th. Let’s hope this gets him the recognition he deserves. The Houston rapper went on to reveal the album’s artwork, and some of the album’s producers which consists the likes of Tommy Kruise, The Wilderness, Beatboy, Teddy Walton, Sonny Digital (who also had news of his own), and more. It is now available for pre-order via Apple Music, go cop that!

Producer TM88 has been very chatty this week. He began the week, actually the year with revealing that a collaborative project was in the works, teaming up with Young Thug and fellow producer Southside. It seems as if the project is done, so watch out for that.

The year of dropping stage names it seems. Rich Brain, born Brain Imanuel, started off 2018 with a name change he’s been wanting to make for the last two years. Previously known as Rich Chigga, he’s stated in interviews and via Twitter that he hated the name, wasn’t sure why he chose it and felt like he was stuck with it with his recent notoriety. The 18 year old had a great 2017 with a collab with 21 Savage, a viral moment with Post Malone, and more. He went from internet sensation to a legitimate artist, and now he wants people to take him serious as Brain. Shedding his old stage name, he dropped his first single as Brain (above) and announced his new project, Amen, which is set to release February 2nd.  

Sonny Digital, who first made a name as a producer, has announced his new project, Woke You UP, is set to release January 26th. Early last year, he noted that as a producer he wasn’t getting any credit for the work he put in: “They wasn’t giving me credit for this shit. Now with me rapping, I got my own voice and shit.” He’s dropped a couple singles here and there, but stay tuned for the release of his debut EP. 

No release date in sight, but Joyner Lucas and Chris Brown certainly have a lot of “heat in the oven.” Making my list of “Recapping 2017: Standout Debuts,”  Joyner had one hell of a year, especially with his controversial visual for “Im Not Racist” that flooded social media. He recently tweeted, “You ever heard Michael Jackson rap? Lol well Me and @chrisbrown got a lot of heat in the oven. No bullshit tho, breezy mite be my new favorite rapper.” And with Chris Brown fresh off a 45-track album release, who knows what they came up with. Stay plugged for more updates.

After the release his critically acclaimed second album, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, last year, it looks like Joey Badass has a lot more in store for his fans in 2018. First, when not previously available, he will take his debut tape 1999 on Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL: “I’ve heard the prayers.” While it’s still in the process of getting on these streaming services, you can find it on SoundCloud. Then he went on to announce via Twitter that we should be seeing more music from his Pro Era label this year. The label consists of CJ Fly, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Aaron Rose, and more. The first release will be from Dessy Hinds, who Joey Badass tweeted: “Been getting a lot of request lately.”

Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg has announced that he will be releasing a full-length project. In 2013, he dropped New York Renaissance that featured the likes of ASAP Rocky, Troy Ave, Joey Badass, Smoke DZA and more. Currently the host of the Ebro in the Morning, and shows for WWE and ESPN radio, Rosenberg is now working his debut album. No actual release date in sight but it should drop sometime this year. Listen to the rest of his announcement here.

Rich the Kid made an announcement via Twitter about his upcoming project Rich Forever 4. No release date, but he revealed the cover art. Stay plugged for the release date.

After dropping two albums back to back early last year, and both landing high the charts, Future seems to be ready for another release. Before the release of FUTURE and HNDRXX, Future wiped his Instagram clean and he’s back at it again. It is highly possible that he has new music on the way. Future does has a thing for surprise projects, so keep your eyes wide open.

Check This

"The Breakfast Club” hosts Charlamagne The God, DJ Envy and Angela Yes grace the cover of The Source to celebrate their success at being No.1 in The Source Power 30. Let’s not bypass that they have been holding their position for five consecutive years - damn. Not only are they the most syndicated, but they have nearly 4 Million listeners weekly in 150 countries. The three celebrate their accomplishments by recreating a very iconic cover from 1997 of The Firm (Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ). Yes, The Firm - talk about a throwback. Check it out!

Names have been dropped, some of our most notable music festivals are announnced their lineups. So far we have Coachella, Governors Ball, and Boston Calling. You may see some familiar names across the board, check it out.

As if 2017 wasn’t enough, Cardi B continues to take over 2018. At the start of the year, Cardi makes history with being the third artist, following The Beatles and Ashanti, to have three singles simultaneously chart the Hot 100. And if you didn’t notice it, she is the first rapper to do it: No. 4 “No Limit,” No. 7 “Motorsport,” and No. 10 “Bodak Yellow.” She followed up the news with a new release, check it out above in visuals.

Joey Badass had a busy first week making all types of announcements. Joey recently announced that he will be joining the TIDAL team with his own podcast titled 47 minutes. Joining the likes of Elliott Wilson and B dot Miller, the Pro Era frontman tweeted: I have a podcast called ’47 Minutes’ coming to @TIDAL real soon. RT if you’ll tune in to hear me talk about shit from hip hop, politics, spirituality and whatever the fuck else I want.” Stay plugged for more updates on 47 minutes.

Spotify is among the top streaming services with over 140 million active users and about 70 million subscribers, which has squashed Apple’s 30 million, but it looks like they are starting 2018 on the wrong foot. According to the Hollywood Reporter, they were sued for roughly $1.6 Billion for using tens of thousands of songs without the proper licenses. Ouch! Right before New Years, Wixen Music Publishing filed the lawsuit, stating that they were not properly compensated. Spotify argued back that Wixen’s contract does not let them speak on their artists' or songwritters’ behalf, therefore they cannot take such legal actions. Let’s see how this plays out.

Thus begin the shit show for other streaming services. News came out that Jimmy Iovine is leaving Apple Music. According to unnamed sources, the mogul will be ending his high profile run with Apple sometime this summer, specifically August. In an interview with Complex, Iovine hinted at his departure, revealing that he promised the Apple executives that he would work hard:

“I would do everything I could to make Apple Music successful. And I’m going to do that. But at some point…I’m not young anymore. I’m 64 years old. You know, I’ll see what happens.”

What will Apple Music be like post-Jimmy Iovine? Who will replace him? Stay plugged.

And the shit show continues. Claims were made that SoundCloud had reduced the audio quality by 50 percent. It began when someone on Twitter had pointed out that the quality wasn’t clear and it usually is. SoundCloud reached out to several publications to clear the claim. Their spokesperson explain to HotNewHipHop, for one, that SoundCloud in no way had altered the audio quality and the claim made against them was completely “inaccurate.” They went on to say that they are always testing the streaming quality as well as encoding: "we're committed to offering listeners a quality audio experience and are investing money and resources on streaming, exploring a variety of ways to improve audio quality."

Lupe Fiasco went on a rant that um…well, let HotNewHipHop tell you. It evolved into a back and forth between TDE President Dave Free who had some choice words: “kick & push yourself into a tree.” Um, well I certainly have no words.

Atlantic Records are being scolded for not paying their properly producers. Supposedly, Atlantic was filing albums under the mixtapes, compilation albums, or even street albums in order to avoid paying the producers based off their regular rates. Sonny Digital went on to tweet: "If you gonna call out Atlantic then you might as well call out the labels because they all doing the same thing.” J.U.S.T.I.C.E League followed up with, “Been said this, but all labels do it…What angers me is the black executives that let it happen.” It sounds crazy, but it actually has been happening for years. It makes sense, record labels are always over up to something. They drain their creatives and milk their artists as much and as cheap as they can. Pigeons and Planes go more in depth into this controversy, check it out.

Stay Plugged

That about wraps it up for the first week of 2018. Stay plugged for the next #OverloadMonday.