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therenproj · 2 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 93: RIP Trouble

What’s good y’all?

First things first: RIP to rapper Trouble. The city of Atlanta is really going thorough it lately and we’ll be continuing to pray for them.

June is officially here which means the song of the summer contenders should be showing up soon. Who will get the most hype/play that turns into being overplayed this year?

TL;dr — We’ve got some (expected) BET Awards nominations and TDE is giving us content. (not music)

ANNOUCEMENTS

Congratulations to our founder Juwan on his new job!

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Jokes — Or, a Eulogy for the Award Show by Juwan J. Holmes

Juwan is talking about some of the more popular awards shows here but, the points he’s making still stand.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

The nominees for the BET Awards in the music category have been announced and as with every year, there are some obvious and surprising nominees. To save space (and your time) I’m only going to list two categories, but you can read the full list here.

Best Female Hip Hop Artist Nominees

CARDI B, DOJA CAT, LATTO, MEGAN THEE STALLION, NICKI MINAJ, SAWEETIE

Best Male Hip Hop Artist Nominees

DRAKE, FUTURE, J. COLE, JACK HARLOW, KANYE WEST, KENDRICK LAMAR, LIL BABY

Also, in an effort to give us actual content, TDE has released a video that features its full roster. It’s a fun game of “Who’s Most Likely To…” and we get to hear from everyone as they chose which of their label members is most likely to do various things. It’s not new music, but, it is something that was unexpected and as I said...fun.

MUSIC RELEASES

Logic has dropped the latest in his weekly single series leading up to the release of his album Vinyl Days and this one is called “Bleed It”. Denzel Curry has released a remix of his hit “Walkin” and this version features Key Glock. 070 Shake has dropped her project You Can’t Kill Me and like its predecessor features the spacey ethereal production we’ve come to expect from Mike Dean and Wondagurl.

Remember that Pharrell x 21 Savage collab we mentioned last time? Well it’s been officially announced by P himself. Titled “Cash In Cash Out” the track also features Tyler, The Creator and drops on June 10th. A very unexpected but welcome collab for sure.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Summertime” — DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince —Prod. by Hula, Fingers

“Feels Like Summer” — Childish Gambino — Summer Pack — Prod. by Donald Glover, Ludwig Goransson

“Tints” — Anderson .Paak feat. Kendrick Lamar — Oxnard — Prod. by Om’Mas Keith and Anderson .Paak

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 93: RIP Trouble was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from The Renaissance Project - Medium https://medium.com/the-renaissance/the-renaissance-rundown-heat-93-rip-trouble-749d96b7a02f?source=rss----2e6435b2ff3b---4

#The Renaissance Project #Hip Hop #Medium

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therenproj · 2 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 92— Memorial Day Letter

Hopefully you have the day off.

What’s good y’all?

Being that today is Memorial Day we hope you have today off. Also, now that we’re two weeks post Kendrick dropping, the rest of those who said they’d drop a project in 2022 are back on our radars. Who will be first?

TL;dr — Brandy showed us she can still rap outside of her show Queens, 21 Savage is the latest rapper to link with Pharrell and Chance The Rapper is continuing down the road to restore the status he once had.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Don’t Be A Yes Man by Paul K. Barnes

Because something happened during the making of the Jack Harlow album and the people didn’t like the end result.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

Ye is the latest music artist to collaborate with a fast-food chain and he’s chosen a well-documented favorite of his — McDonald’s. This is their second collab following the Super Bowl commercial from earlier this year. Considering this is Ye, we can assume this latest collab will more than just a “meal” with items that are already on the menu. In fact, based on what we know so far, he has reimagined the packaging for the food with industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa. The next phase in the “beef�� between Brandy and Jack Harlow has happened as she freestyled over the beat for his single “First Class”. This is all in good fun for the two of them, but Brandy’s verse showed that she’s still got it and that her rapping on the now canceled drama series Queens was not just acting.

J. Cole continues to carve his path into taking basketball very seriously as he has signed a contract to play in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) for a team called the Scarborough Shooting Stars.

MUSIC RELEASES

The real King of Summer has dropped the first single from Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2. Calvin Harris’ first single is “Potion” and it continues the theme of unexpected collabs he started on Vol 1 as it features Young Thug and Dua Lipa. Ye’s Donda 2 may actually be on the way for streaming services as a single titled “True Love” dropped Friday and it features XXXTENTACION. According to the caption on the former’s Instagram page, this song will be on (yet another) posthumous album from him titled Look At Me: The Album and Donda 2. Eminem has dropped the 20th anniversary of his album The Eminem Show and it features new tracks as well as instrumental and live versions of some of the biggest songs from the album. Multiple projects from Prodigy’s solo career have landed on streaming services including his Alchemist collab project Albert Einstein. Logic’s latest single in his weekly release plan has dropped and it’s called “Orville” and it features Like, Blu and Exile. Chance The Rapper has released a track + music video called “A Bar About a Bar” which is a short yet creative track in terms of technique and story. The tail end of the video also teases a collab between him and Joey Bada$$ titled “The Highs and the Lows” Lastly, Kendrick’s “The Heart Part 5” has been added to “Disc 3” of Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers — even though it was already on streaming services as a single.

21 Savage is the latest artist to be blessed with a beat from Pharrell and the snippet we got sounds…interesting to say the least. Post Malone has shared the tracklist for his latest album Twelve Carat Toothache which drops June 3rd.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Time is Precious” — SAULT— Air— Prod. by Inflo

“Don’t Break My Heart” — The Weeknd — Dawn FM — Prod. by The Weeknd OPN, Max Martin, Oscar Holter and Matt Cohn

“The Killing Moon” —Echo and the Bunnymen — Ocean Rain

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 92— Memorial Day Letter was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from The Renaissance Project - Medium https://medium.com/the-renaissance/the-renaissance-rundown-heat-92-memorial-day-letter-3d2924e121bb?source=rss----2e6435b2ff3b---4

#The Renaissance Project #Hip Hop #Medium

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therenproj · 2 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 91: Paul’s Back

A variety of releases this time and someone is continuing to make their return to the public eye.

What’s good y’all?

Paul has returned to writing the newsletter and to keep it very short — his recovery is moving smoothly and quickly.

TL;dr — Travis Scott is continuing to return to the public eye and among all of Friday’s releases one was a very unexpected posthumous one.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Our former writer Kyle Denis has rebranded his platform Black Boy Bulletin as On The Bulletin and we wish him all the success in the world with this latest venture!

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Examining the TikTok Snippet to Hit Single Pipeline by Kyle Denis

Because I was watching/reading something and they were discussing this like it was new information.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

As I’m sure you know, Rihanna gave birth to her and A$AP Rocky’s baby this past Thursday. Hot off the heels of his Billboard Music Awards performance, Travis Scott is continuing to reemerge. His latest Cactus Jack X Nike collab released this past Friday. Also, New York celebrated what would have been Biggie’s 50th birthday with MetroCards with one of the most iconic images of him and the Empire State Building was lit in his honor as well.

MUSIC RELEASES

Boldy James x Real Bad Man have dropped their latest collab project titled Killing Nothing. The First Lady of Griselda, Armani Caesar has dropped a single called “Poker Night Freestyle”. Logic has dropped the latest single for his album Vinyl Days which is the title track. This one features DJ Premier and the Maryland MC has stated he will drop a single every week until the album drops on June 17th. This may seem unwise to some but the project is confirmed to have 30 tracks… Takeoff and Quavo have dropped a track called “Hotel Lobby” but apparently the name of this duo is officially “Unc and Phew” Here’s something I thought I’d never type: A posthumous Biggie track has released and it’s called “G.O.A.T” and it features Ty Dolla $ign and Bella Alubo

Meechy Darko of trio Flatbush ZOMBiES has teased a single titled “Kill Us All” which is the first single for his upcoming album titled Gothic Luxury. In other Beast Coast news, Joey Bada$$ has officially started the promo/hype train for his upcoming album titled 2000. Joey has confirmed (as the title suggests) that it is a followup to his critically acclaimed project 1999. In his words, this project is its “bigger and richer brother” and has (a) “Similar vibe, different perspectives.”

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Momma I’m So Sorry” — Clipse — Hell Hath No Fury — Prod. by The Neptunes

“Daydreaming” — Harry Styles —Harry’s House — Prod. by Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson

“Turn Up The Sunshine” — Diana Ross x Tame Impala —Minions: Rise of Gru Soundtrack

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 91: Paul’s Back was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from The Renaissance Project - Medium https://medium.com/the-renaissance/the-renaissance-rundown-heat-91-pauls-back-fa8717f438aa?source=rss----2e6435b2ff3b---4

#The Renaissance Project #Hip Hop #Medium

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 90 — We Cry Running In the 90s

A festival with old school music acts, rappers hit with RICO charges, and mass violence in America previews the summer.

What’s good y’all?

Once again, Juwan is here subbing in for Paul and bringing another Rundown to you this week. We’re running into the 90s with this edition of the newsletter, and we’re always excited to reach new milestones.

JUST A MOMENT…

There’s plenty of music news to focus on this week, and we will get to it, but trying to focus on anything other than racism, terrorism, and violence this weekend is just wrong. Media writ-large has already done enough to avoid focusing on it for a long time, and that didn’t stop with the murder of at least 10 people in Buffalo, New York, by someone who bought into racism based on memes and carrying a AR with a racial slur written on it. Mentioning it here won’t stop any of that either, but it is more important to do so to exemplify what many others are not: this is not normal.

It may seem like we’re powerless to change any of this, and in the immediacy our abilities are of course limited, but we do not have to accept this at all. Each and every one of us can, and will, be next if we don’t recognize that these murders aren’t random or crazed occurrences.

As researcher and editor Mark Follman said previously, “This is planned violence. There is, in every one of these cases, always a trail of behavioral warning signs… The general public views mass shooters as people who are totally crazy, insane. It fits with the idea of snapping, as if these people are totally detached from reality. But there is actually a very rational thought process in a lot of these cases that goes into developing the idea of planning violence and preparing for it and then carrying it out.”

I won’t preach further, but I’ll put this — dated, yes, but absolutely still relevant — song here to encourage everyone to take a moment and imagine a place, a world without this happening. It is possible.

“Just A Moment” — Nas feat. Quan — Street’s Disciple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_49iKyoQcfs

ANNOUNCEMENTS

In case you missed it… Paul is on the mend following a surgery earlier this month to address a non-life threatening injury he had. He’s okay, but let him know you’re thinking about him and hope he recovers well on his Instagram, Twitter, or website! I (Juwan J. Holmes) am helming The Renaissance Rundown newsletter in the meantime.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

This weekend featured the top premiere offering of hip-hop that music listeners will get before the summer: Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers double album arrived to much-expected fanfare, and there’s plenty people are already unpacking from it. If you haven’t listened or seen Twitter already, prepare for the use (and subsequent denial) of anti-gay slurs, bemoaning of cancel culture, and rejection of celebrity culture. The guest appearances you can expect include Taylour Paige on “We Cry Together,”

Beyond that, most of the week’s news focused on the slew of indictments against several prominent Atlanta rappers and rap figures that were announced on May 9 (right after our last newsletter), which led to the arrest of Young Thug and Gunna. Essentially, authorities accuse the Atlanta-based YSL collective/record label as also doubling as a gang that has not only practiced gang activity for much of the last few years, but is responsible for about 50 shootings — including the attempted murder of YFN Lucci, a rapper currently incarcerated and most prominent member of the “rival” YFN group, as part of an alleged street war.

56 charges were filed against 28 alleged members of YSL in Fulton County, Georgia under the state’s version of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which allows authorities to charge individuals involved or associated with an operation committing criminal acts, even if they did not commit all the alleged criminal actions undertaken throughout the operation. Prosecutors specifically used lyrics by Thug and Gunna as evidence to support their allegations before a grand jury. (You can read the full 88-page indictment via this link.)

Moving on — remember that perfect music festival lineup that came out two years ago that sounded too good to be true because it had nearly every single 90s and 2000s act ever worth knowing? Yeah, it — it being the “Lovers & Friends Festival” — finally happened. After the pandemic and a slew of other issues, the two-day show went ahead in its new host town of Las Vegas —except for a near-stampede on Saturday that left multiple people injured after an alleged active shooter situation (which this weekend also had plenty of) turned into a false alarm. That was just some of the chaos, but most of the rest of it was what you’d expect from a giant open-field fest.

Then, there were the Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) last night, hosted by the one and only Diddy. It may not shock you, but the billionaire music mogul used the opportunity to “un-canceling the canceled,” because that’s what society needs right now. So viewers were made to ‘welcome back’ the supposedly-cancelled Travis Scott in his first TV appearance post-Astroworld disaster TV appearance, and supposedly-redeemed Morgan Wallen in his first, post-racial slur use scandal.

Amongst the actual, y’know, awards to be given out: Drake took home “Top Artist,” “Top Male Artist,” and “Top Rap Artist,” and “Top Male Rap Artist” honors, among others — and his album Certified Lover Boy received “Top Rap Album.” Doja Cat took home multiple R&B BBMAs, and Kanye West won “Best Gospel Artist” and “Top Gospel Song” honors as ‘Ye.’ Janet Jackson presented Mary J. Blige with the Billboard Music Icon Award, only the eleventh artist to receive the honor. See the night’s full awards results in HipHopDX.

In other news:

Whilst most of the Young Slime Life/YSL life is still reeling from being the target of a federal RICO investigation, they lost one of their music and family members. Lil Keed, the brother of rapper Lil GotIt, died sometime in the last week at the age of 24. The XXL Freshman Class of 2020 alum’s cause of death has not been publicly announced (note: he was not named in the RICO investigation either, although speculation that the two events were related are abound.)

A 20th year anniversary celebration was held at the Apollo Theatre in honor of Cam’ron’s 2002 album Come Home With Me.

If you loved (or hated) the notion of the Roc Nation Brunch, you’ll love (or hate) JAY Z’s newest politically-slanted version of it.

Remy Ma was inducted into the Bronx Hall of Fame on Saturday. She also celebrated 14 years of marriage to Papoose on Friday.

Roddy Ricch appeared with Post Malone during his stint as musical guest on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by Selena Gomez. Ricch was supposed to be a musical guest earlier this year, a stint he missed due to testing positive for coronavirus.

Apparently R. Kelly has a friend in at least one mass murderer. For now.

Apple officially killed off the iPod. Sync your devices while you still can.

Ukraine won the Eurovision 2022 Song Contest with their entry “Stefania,” crafted by the “folk-rap collective” Kalush Orchestra.

MUSIC RELEASES

This past week: In addition to Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, Leikeli47’s Shape Up, and Lil Eazzyy’s Too Eazzyy also came out on May 13. Blac Youngsta’s 4Life and A$AP Ant’s Lil Black Jean Jacket 3 dropped on May 12.

Coming up, Dreezy & Hit-Boy’s Hit-Girl is now expected to drop this weekend on May 20, along with M Huncho’s debut album Chasing Euphoria, lil Gnar’s die bout it, Ravyn Lenae’s Hypnos, and YNW BSlime’s Goat. Sean Paul’s Scorcha is still expected on May 27, while Trippie Redd‘s album is still slated for a May release, according to HipHopDX.

RELAY

Here, we relay from a portion of an article written recently regarding hip hop.

This week, we’re relaying from Rolling Stone contributing editor Rob Sheffield’s article “RIP, iPod: A Tribute to the Device That Revolutionized the Art of Music Fandom”:

People talk about this device in terms of how it started the digital-music era, or even how it paved the way for the smartphone. But in retrospect, now it looks like the last format designed for old-school pre-streaming trends, where music is something you “have,” rather than something you lease.

Listening to the iPod, you’re off the grid. You are not being tracked, measured, counted, rated, studied, data-mined, or researched. It’s nobody’s business, just you and the tunes. It keeps track of play counts, but that’s just for your personal stat-crunching amusement — it doesn’t judge you.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Running in the 90s” — Max Coveri — Golden Age (If you somehow didn’t understand the title reference.)

“Just A Moment” — Nas feat. Quan — Street’s Disciple (see above)

Thanks for reading, for somewhere between the first and ninetieth time, The Renaissance Rundown. If you didn’t know, you can find me on every social at @/JuwantheCurator (in addition to @JuwantheWriter on Twitter), my latest work and links at linktr.ee/JuwantheCurator, and my own site, juwanthecurator.wordpress.com.

As always, follow The Renaissance Project (@TheRenProj) via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr.

See y’all next week.

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 90 — We Cry Running In the 90s was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from The Renaissance Project - Medium https://medium.com/the-renaissance/the-renaissance-rundown-heat-90-we-cry-running-in-the-90s-6871a38d0599?source=rss----2e6435b2ff3b---4

#The Renaissance Project #Hip Hop #Medium

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 89 — Getting Real Fake Deep

Several music videos, a ton of social media antics, and a supposed sovereign caught in jail is just some of the deep fake stuff going on this week.

What’s good y’all?

This is still Juwan, subbing in for your usual newsletter presenter Paul once again this week. It’s time for another Rundown!

TL;dr — Paul’s sitting out on newsletter duties for the next few weeks (he’s alright, but feel free to let him know you’re thinking about him!), so it’s gonna be… May (corny beginning-of-May joke made: check…) telling you about Megan the Stallion’s latest honor, Sean Paul’s latest temperature check, and… (checks notes) who the kids are apparently missing?

ANNOUNCEMENTS

As a personal aside, I’m hosting my first audio chat on Twitter Spaces TODAY discussing my latest article regarding the rise and fall of the Black News Channel. Read more and tune in on my Twitter, @juwanthewriter.

ARTICLES

Here’s some recent articles from us that may be of interest:

Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show: A Recap — Paul K. Barnes

While Paul’s out of writing commission for a little, there’s still plenty of words of his to read around here. Take his recap on the Super Bowl Halftime Show, for example.

Jacob Ezra Walks the Dividing Line — Paul K. Barnes

Paul’s profile of music artist and journalist Jacob Ezra is a complete banger: “Walking the line between music journalist and artist is a very rare position. For Jacob, he started as a music artist before he was a music journalist, so naturally, his perspective is both unique and considerate… The conversation over who has the right to review music, and what type of music they review, has reached a new level of polarization. It’s all very interesting, to say the least.”

Reentering the World of Underground Rap — Paul K. Barnes

Paul’s thinking exercise on what constitutes “underground” will make you think, if you like doing that sometimes.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

Last week’s Met Gala had a decent crew of hip-hop figures, including Cardi B, Kid Cudi, Future, Jack Harlow, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and Questlove. The headline performer of the night, though, was veteran rocker Lenny Kravitz — who followed country hitmaker Kacey Musgraves on the stage.

It was a big week for music videos, too. Out of the releases from this weekend (more on that below), Friday’s single/surprise video from Kendrick Lamar easily stood out amongst the rest. The rapper’s first single from his upcoming album is “The Heart Part 5,” and the (Dave Free co-directed) video for it features the rapper performing the song while his face is digitally morphed into “deepfakes” of six different Black entertainers with well-known public scandals: OJ Simpson, Will Smith, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant, Kanye West, and Nipsey Hussle. We’ll leave speculative interpretation of its meaning or intended message to the halls of music Twitter.

In the meantime, Drake spent the week making an ordinary couple instantly viral after he followed the wife of a man who made comments on Instagram about Drake’s son Adonis… then drunkingly giggling with Jack Harlow at the Kentucky Derby as the two filmed a new music video… whilst a music video featuring him as a medieval knight on a horse was making the rounds online.

This weekend also saw a Kanye West release as well — the mogul released a music video for his 2021 song “Life of the Party,” part of which was turned into a television advertisement for his “Yeezy Gap” Balenciaga collection which debuted on FOX last night.

Lastly, but not least of all, A$AP Rocky includes his beau Rihanna as his love interest in the music video for his new single “D.M.B. (Dat’s My Bitch).” The nostalgic-like visual features the former proposing to the latter… through his teeth, at least.

In other news:

Post Malone will be the musical guest for next week’s episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by current star of the Hulu series Only Murders In the Building (and successful musician in her own right), Selena Gomez.

ABC cancelled the network musical drama Queens — which starred Eve, Brandy, and Naturi Naughton as members of a popular 90s girl group — after one season.

Kidd Creole, an original member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, was sent to prison for fatally stabbing a homeless man in 2017. He’s slated to serve 16 years behind bars on first-degree manslaughter.

As if there’s totally not better uses of money right now, a GoFundMe offering to pay for Asian Doll to leave New York and return to Texas raised over $10,000 before being apparently shut down.

42Dugg was arrested by ATF agents while getting off a private airplane in Detroit, after failing to surrender himself in April after violating his parole agreement stemming from gun charges. Apparently, the rapper’s claims he’s a sovereign immune from the laws of the United States didn’t fly with the TSA agents.

Ludacris received an honorary degree in music management from Georgia State University, a school he used to attend before propelling to rap stardom, on May 4.

On Mother’s Day, Stevie J became the latest hip hop “real man” figure pleading for his wife (Faith Evans) to take him back.

Missed last week: A Rolling Stone report exclusively publishes “never-before-seen footage [that] raises doubts” about DaBaby’s claims that his shooting of 19 year-old Jaylin Craig in 2018 was done in self-defense. Craig’s family have maintained that the shooting only occurred because DaBaby was uncomfortable with being recognized by Craig and a friend of his who were both early fans of the embattled rapper. “Nobody ever asked us what was Jaylin like. Nobody,” his mother LaWanda Horsley told the magazine.

Jewell Caples, a popular R&B artist formerly signed to Death Row Records, passed away from undisclosed causes, but following multiple hospital stays in recent years. She was 53.

MUSIC RELEASES

This past week: Doja Cat’s song “Vegas,” the lead single from the Elvis Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, dropped via RCA Records. Future released his album I Never Liked You last week, followed by a music video for “Wait for U,” a song with Drake included in the album. If you’ve ever fantasized about Drake donned in armor riding in on horseback, your dreams are fulfilled in the Director X-directed video.

IDK’s Simple, YNW BSlime’s Goat and Jack Harlow’s Come Home The Kids Miss You were other albums released as scheduled this weekend. Bad Bunny’s album Un Verano Sin Ti was also released, along with the single and accompanying video “Moscow Mule.”

Coming up this weekend, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers Leikeli47’s Shape Up and Dreezy & Hit-Boy’s Hit-Girl are slated to come out on May 13. Sean Paul’s new album Scorcha is slated for May 27, while Blackstar (the moniker for duo Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey) and Trippie Redd both have releases expected this month, according to HipHopDX.

RELAY

Here, we relay from a portion of an article written recently regarding hip hop.

This week, we’re relaying from Complex staff writer Jessica McKinney’s article “‘Fake’ Rappers Are Taking Over the Internet (and Making Lots of Money)”:

Although the attention these rap clones have received from social media and interviews brings them notoriety (and potential clients), it seems money is the top priority. When Complex reached out to Lil Durk’s doppelganger Perkioo and asked about an interview for this story, he responded, “Will Complex be compensating for the interview?”

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Moscow Mule” — Bad Bunny — Un Verano Sin Ti

“Memories” — YUNGBLUD and Willow Smith — (Something new with double the dose of queerness, for the price of one.)

“Don’t Wait Up” — Taylor Bennett feat. Mr Hudson — Coming of Age (Mr Hudson hasn’t appeared on a bad song yet, and this is not an exception.)

Thanks for reading, for somewhere between the first and eighty-ninth time, The Renaissance Rundown. If you didn’t know, you can find me on every social at @/JuwantheCurator (in addition to @JuwantheWriter on Twitter), my latest work and links at linktr.ee/JuwantheCurator, and my own site, juwanthecurator.wordpress.com.

As always, follow The Renaissance Project (@TheRenProj) via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr.

See y’all next week.

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 89 — Getting Real Fake Deep was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from The Renaissance Project - Medium https://medium.com/the-renaissance/the-renaissance-rundown-heat-89-getting-real-fake-deep-4678e9bafea4?source=rss----2e6435b2ff3b---4

#The Renaissance Project #Hip Hop #Medium

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 88 — Coming Off the Bench

We’re one man down, a couple of crypto cringe croons in, and a few MLK comparisons closer to hell — but we’re never gonna give you up. Happy Megan the Stallion Day!

What’s good y’all?

We‘re doing a little remix on the programming here at The Renaissance for the next few weeks. Paul is out on injured reserve, so I (Juwan J. Holmes) am hopping in to bring you your regularly scheduled newsletter.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Renaissance Rundown Newsletter is being helmed by Juwan while Paul is on the mend from a surgery last week to address a non-life threatening injury he had. He’s okay, but let him know you’re thinking about him and hope he recovers well on his Instagram, Twitter, or website!

With everything going on… *gestures at humanity* things have slowed down around here as of late, but don’t worry, we are still cooking things up. We may have brainstormed for some campaigns in the immediate future… 👀

ARTICLES

Here’s some recent articles from us that may be of interest:

Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show: A Recap — Paul K. Barnes

While Paul’s out of writing commission for a little, there’s still plenty of words of his to read around here. Take his recap on the Super Bowl Halftime Show, for example.

Jacob Ezra Walks the Dividing Line — Paul K. Barnes

Reentering the World of Underground Rap — Paul K. Barnes

Paul’s thinking exercise on what constitutes “underground” will make you think, if you like doing that sometimes.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

Today, May 2nd, has been declared Megan Thee Stallion Day in her hometown of Houston, Texas. Mayor Sylvester Turner issued the proclamation, and presented Megan with a key to the city at a ceremony held yesterday.

Later today, fashion’s premiere event — the Met Gala — is being held for the 38th time at the Metropolitan Museum of New York. This will be the first Met Gala held in May since 2019–2020’s was cancelled (pandemic) and 2021’s was held in September (just eight months ago — which is probably why it feels like it already happened.) This year’s theme, based on an exhibit of the same title, is “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” I can’t wait to see how badly that goes.

The Met Gala chair’s this year are Regina King (this would mark one of her first public appearances since her son’s death), Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Performers have not been formerly announced, but you can still expect a heavy crew of musicians to show up. Vogue’s livestream coverage, which is co-hosted by Vanessa Hudgens and La La Anthony, will start at 6pm EST.

In other news:

Music journalist Ivie Ani launched a new live radio show “In Full Effect” on Amazon Music’s AMP application this week. Download the AMP app and use the code “IVIE” to access the show and several other talk radio and licensed songs.

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— @ivieani

In an interview on Twitch for Rolling Stone, Sean Paul liked comedian Jay Pharoah’s impression of him so much that he committed to signing the SNL alum. During the interview, Paul also shared what’s the right temperature for your girl and (once again) what he says at the beginning of the song.

The Rolling Stone Twitch also interviewed the rapper IDK last week, his first sit-down since announcing his upcoming KAYTRANADA-produced album, Simple. They broadcast on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 4pm EST at www.twitch.tv/rollingstone.

Drake is (allegedly) a fan (or more?) of Abby Shapiro, the influencer sister to right-wing conspiracist Ben Shapiro.

Joe Budden is holding a grudge against Earl Sweatshirt over a sketch mocking him from a 2014 episode of Loiter Squad, the former Odd Future rapper said as a guest on the Showtime show Desus & Mero.

In the second season premiere of her self-titled, weekly variety Showtime series Ziwe, Ziwe asked Breakfast Club host Charlamagne da God why he always “beefs” with Black women, as well as inquiring further about his self-comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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— @ziwe

MUSIC RELEASES

This past week: Kehlani’s BLUE WATER ROAD and Future’s I Never Liked You came out. Additionally, Wale’s More About Nothing, the Seinfeld-inspired mixtape sequel to The Mixtape About Nothing (2008) and prequel to the album The Album About Nothing (2015), is now available on streaming services 12 years after its release. Amongst singles released: Tink and 2 Chainz have a single called “Cater” and Jvck James released the EP ON THE ROCKS featuring the song “Hennessy Tears.”

This upcoming week: there’s not a heavy amount of hip-hop drops as of now slated for the month of May, but IDK’s album Simple, YNW BSlime’s Goat and Jack Harlow’s album Come Home The Kids Miss You (further comment on the title withheld… for now) are set to come out on Friday, May 6. (Non-rap artists releasing music also include Simple Plan and Arcade Fire — this weekend’s musical guest for Saturday Night Live.) Before that, Lil Gotit’s album The Cheater, which leaked in January according to Genius.com, gets officially dropped on May 4 (may the four-ce of record sales be on his side.)

Later in the month, though: there will be plenty of new hip-hop for fans to ingest. Of course, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers comes out May 13, as does Leikeli47’s album Shape Up and Dreezy & Hit-Boy’s Hit-Girl. Sean Paul’s new album Scorcha is slated for May 27, while Blackstar (the moniker for duo Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey) and Trippie Redd both have releases expected this month, according to HipHopDX.

Randomly, Rick Astley’s Whenever You Need Somebody (featuring the viral sensation “Never Gonna Give You Up”) is getting a remastered release this week too, in case you were wondering.

RELAY

Here, we relay from a portion of an article written recently regarding hip hop.

This week, we’re relaying from Pitchfork staff writer & rap columnist Alphonse Pierre, and their column “Crypto Is the Most Uncool Thing You Could Possibly Rap About”:

The track, by Rich the Kid and Takeoff, is called “Crypto,” and it’s the most embarrassing rap song I’ve come across in a minute.

Just look at this chorus: “She want the info/I want to talk about crypto.” Is anyone even sure what that means?! Either it’s about Takeoff being so singularly business-minded that he just wants to talk to his girlfriend about investing, or it has absolutely no meaning and is the sort of line that will get him paid a shit ton of money to perform at an angel investor’s birthday party.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Hit My Phone” — Megan Thee Stallion feat. Kehlani — SUGA (Happy Meg Day!)

“Maybach Music” — Rick Ross feat. Jay-Z — Trilla (A good throwback to start May with, minus that same old Justin Timberlake meme.)

“Get TF Out My Face” — Saucy Santana [prod. by Bankroll Got It & Diego Ave] (Familiarize yourself with RCA Records’ newest talent.)

Thanks for reading, for somewhere between the first and eighty-eighth time, The Renaissance Rundown. If you didn’t know, you can find me on every social at @/JuwantheCurator (in addition to @JuwantheWriter on Twitter), my latest work and links at linktr.ee/JuwantheCurator, and my own site, juwanthecurator.wordpress.com.

As always, follow The Renaissance Project (@TheRenProj) via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr.

See y’all next week.

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 88 — Coming Off the Bench was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 87: A Packed Friday

What’s good y’all?

I don’t know about y’all but this past Friday was truly the first stacked New Music Friday in a while, at least for me. Also, the warm temperatures look (feel?) like they’re finally here to stay.

TL;dr — Kendrick Lamar gave us an album release date and I’m not even going to attempt to follow that with anything.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Meg Thee Stallion is Human — We All Are by Paul K. Barnes

In lieu of her interview on CBS Mornings.

Meg Thee Stallion was interviewed on CBS Mornings by Gayle King and discussed the (still) ongoing situation with the shooting and Tory Lanez.

MUSIC RELEASES

Indie Releases: 757 artists Dino Smokes and Smooth3 have dropped a track called “GAMEPLAYER”.

Pusha T dropped his album It’s Almost Dry which was produced by Ye and Pharrell. He then re-released it Sunday with the title It’s Almost Dry: Ye vs. Pharrell with the tracks each producer produced spilt evenly for a formal “two side” format. Ab-Soul dropped his first formal single in ages titled “Hollandaise”. Meg Thee Stallion dropped a single called “Plan B” that sees her fully back in the bag of her Tina Snow persona. Logic dropped a two pack of singles; “Tetris” and “Decades” Producer Southside dropped a single with Future and Travis Scott called “Hold That Heat”. Wiz Khalifa celebrated the 10th anniversary of his classic mixtape Taylor Allderdice on 4/20 by releasing it on streaming services. Drumwork artist 7xvethegenius dropped her project Self Lxve 2.

Kendrick Lamar announced his new album Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers drops May 13th. Logic announced his long teased project Vinyl Days is dropping in June.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Fly Love Song” — Uyama Hiroto feat. Pase Rock — a son of the sun

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 87: A Packed Friday was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 86: Is it Fall Again??

The cold front leaves in a few days but it was unwelcome in the first place.

What’s good y’all?

As usual, Twitter is running its mouth and declared “nobody” cared about Coachella this year but the livestream chat I saw was pretty active. Weekend 1 is done and weekend 2 is still happening as far as I know. Also, it's been 60 degrees again lately which is not Spring weather.

TL;dr — Lizzo hosted and performed on SNL and two big things happened at Coachella.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Can we keep betting on the BET Awards? by Kyle Denis

I know these are typically associated with the middle of the summer but it’s honestly a timeless discussion.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

I don’t think we need to do a full Coachella “recap” so we’ll just keep it down to the two major things: Megan Thee Stallion performed a new song and let’s just say it’s literally the exact type of sound that put her on the radar for many people years ago. Also, Isaiah Rashad’s set opened with multiple soundbites about what happened with him this year in a message that states he’s not letting that event stop him.

Lizzo did double duty on SNL this weekend, both hosting and performing on the sketch comedy show. This is not unheard of but it’s still special whenever someone choose to do it. She performed her newly released track “About Damn Time” as well as the unreleased title track from her upcoming album Special.

MUSIC RELEASES

NCognita has released her debut EP titled The Playbook. Cardi B has tried her hand in the drill genre appearing on a track called “Shake It” with artists Kay Flock, Dougie B and Bory300.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Kendrick Lamar’s Interlude” — Ab-Soul feat. Kendrick Lamar — These Days — Prod. by Terrance Martin

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 86: Is it Fall Again?? was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 85: The Allergies have Arrived

What’s good y’all?

Spring was showing out as it should then we got a random 60 degree day and my body was not ready for that and responded accordingly. Thankfully, it appears this will not be an ongoing issue.

TL;dr — We got two debut albums this weekend and also someone else is officially making their return to music.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Reentering the World of Underground Rap by Paul K. Barnes

I saw a tweet that talked about “underground rappers” that can’t truly be categorized that way so I have to bring this piece back up.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

As previously confirmed by many 757 news sources — Pusha T has officially stated that Pharrell’s Something in the Water music festival has moved to Washington, D.C. Billboards for new music from Travis Scott have begun appearing which means his project Utopia (or Dystopia???) is officially on the way.

MUSIC RELEASES

Fivio Foreign has dropped his debut album titled B.I.B.L.E and Coi has dropped hers which is titled Trendsetter. BIA and J.Cole have dropped a collab track titled “LONDON” and ScHoolboy Q has dropped his first single in a very long time titled “Soccer Dad”. Pusha T and Jay-Z have collaborated for the second time ever on a track called Neck & Wrist which was produced by Pharrell. Jack Harlow has dropped a new single called “First Class” whose sample is actually iconic. Doechii has dropped her latest single titled “Crazy”.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

The jazzy rap continues…

“Vision Eyes” — Uyama Hiroto feat. Golden Boy — A Son of the Sun

“Piece of Mind” — Joey Bada$$ — B4.DA.$$

“Free Kutter” — Westside Gunn feat. Jay Electronica — Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B — Prod. by Jay Versace

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 85: The Allergies have Arrived was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 84: Post GRAMMY Day

Guess what category wasn’t broadcasted live this year?

What’s good y’all?

The GRAMMYs were last night which you probably already knew and fortunately nothing that the entire TL can discuss happened. But your entire TL is likely music fans so…perhaps nothing is different lol.

TL;dr — We have the GRAMMY winners from the rap category and we also got some good music Friday night.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Paul’s got another piece over at Plethora of Pop and it’s a very interesting prompt: He talked about 16 of his favorite songs that released the year he turned 16.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

The GRAMMYs are only willing to award Black artists if they’re making ‘Protest Music’ by Kyle Denis

Kyle echoes something that will be relevant each and every year.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

Unfortunately, the award for Best Rap album nor Best Rap Song nor Best Melodic Rap Performance was broadcasted live this year. But, are we surprised? (No.)

GRAMMYs Recap Rap Category Winners:

Best Rap Performance: “family ties” by Baby Keem feat. Kendrick Lamar

Best Melodic Rap Performance: “Hurricane” by Ye feat. The Weeknd and Lil Baby

Best Rap Song: “Jail” by Ye feat. Jay-Z

Best Rap Album: “Call Me If You Get Lost” by Tyler, The Creator

MUSIC RELEASES

Indie Releases: Ricki Monique has dropped her next single called “CEREAL” that features MMYYKK. 757 artist Sayeless has dropped a two song EP with producer Jefe called SAYE X JEFE.

Dreamville dropped a surprise mixtape hosted by DJ Drama officially titled D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape. One can assume this title is to dispel any confusion about what the project really is. A$AP Ant X A$AP Rocky have dropped a collab track called “The God Hour”. Wiz Khalifa has dropped a track called “Iced Out Necklace” and Freddie Gibbs has dropped a track called “Ice Cream” that features Rick Ross. Nyck Caution has dropped a track with Boldy James called “Vengeance” that has Charlie Heat on production.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

After a quick Google search I learned April was National Jazz Appreciation Month so we’ll be sharing jazzy rap all month.

Melody of the Free — The Underachievers — The Lords of Flatbush — Prod. by Lex Luger

“untitled 05| 09.21.2014” — Kendrick Lamar feat. Anna Wise, Punch and Jay Rock— untitled unmastered. Prod. by Sounwave and Terrance Martin

“CALLIGRAPHY” — Saba — CARE FOR ME — Prod. by daedaePIVOT, Daoud and Saba

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 84: Post GRAMMY Day was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 83: [Insert Will Smith Reference Here]

I’ll just let social media do what it does best and not attempt to be clever.

What’s good y’all?

Being this is a music publication don’t expect anything extensive about what happened at the Oscars last night. But just know we all saw it. And we saw Meg Thee Stallion’s performance too!

TL;dr — Some highly anticipated projects dropped and that’s enough in itself.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Jokes — Or, a Eulogy for an Award Show by Juwan J. Holmes

This piece was technically not on OUR platform but it fits and Juwan has it on his main page.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

Megan Thee Stallion made a surprise appearance at the Oscars dropping a verse on the viral hit from Disney’s Encanto, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”.

MUSIC RELEASES

Nigo dropped his album I Know NIGO! which boasts features from heavy hitters Tyler, The Creator, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, A$AP Rocky, Gunna, Pop Smoke and more as well as Pharrell on verses and production. There’s even a CLIPSE feature with The Neptunes on production — truly an iconic and surprising moment to have in 2022. Denzel Curry dropped his album Melt My Eyez See Your Future and Latto dropped her album 777. Jay Worthy, Larry June and LNDN DRGS dropped their collab project 2 P’z In a Pod. The next single from Girl Talk’s collab album with Wiz Khalifa, Smoke DZA and Big K.R.I.T has dropped and this one is called “How The Story Goes” and features just Wiz and K.R.I.T on this one. Buddy has dropped his album Superghetto and Kid Cudi has dropped his song for Sonic The Hedgehog 2 called “Stars In The Sky”

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

Women’s History Month is coming to a close but obviously they should celebrated all year.

“Ladies First” — Queen Latifah feat. Monie Love — All Hail The Queen — Prod. by DJ Mark The 45 King

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 83: [Insert Will Smith Reference Here] was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 82: No More InstaYe…for a little.

What’s good y’all?

Atlanta returns this March 24th and this isn’t in the news section because it’s not “music news” but it is music related…somewhat?

TL;dr — Ye is in trouble for his recent behavior and we got a good mix of new releases.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Jacob Ezra Walks the Dividing Line by Paul K. Barnes

Paul talks with Jacob about being on both sides of opposing forces.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

You may or may not have noticed but Ye has officially been suspended from Instagram temporarily for “violating policies on hate speech, bullying, and harassment”. This is exactly what he has been doing so this time we can’t chalk it up to “them being against him”. Many thought he would jump to Twitter in light of this but it seems he hasn’t — yet? Either way once he’s back he will have a lot to say about it. He also was originally scheduled to perform at the GRAMMYs this year but this is also no longer happening. We all remember what he did to one of his GRAMMYs so it will be interesting to see what he has to say about their decision.

TDE has signed their first woman rapper and her name is Doechii. Hopefully they actually releases music from her consistently…

MUSIC RELEASES

Indie Releases: Darren G has dropped a single called “SWRVE”

Coi Leray has dropped her highly anticipated Nicki Minaj featuring single “Blick Blick”. The last single from NIGO’s album I Know NIGO has dropped and this one has Lil Uzi Vert on a track called “Heavy”. Zillakami has dropped a solo single titled “Seventeen” Col3trane has dropped a single with Erick the Architect called “Plus Minus” Denzel has dropped the next single from his upcoming album and this one is called “Troubles” and it features T-Pain.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Persuasive” — Doechii — Prod. by Kal Banx

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 82: No More InstaYe…for a little. was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 81: NFTs are Ruining Everything

What’s good y’all?

I don’t know about y’all but it snowed where I live this weekend. Just flurries but still…snow. And it’ll be 74 degrees here Friday.

TL;dr — We got a variety of music drops and Snoop Dogg took a (another) huge step forward then took a huge one back.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Paul did a piece over on The Riff about something non rap related and you can check that out here!

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Watch Out for the Wild, Wild West by Juwan J. Holmes

Can’t lie, I didn’t keep up with the latest thing that happened this weekend. I just know I kept getting the post notifications.

COMING UP

Here’s what’s coming up from The Renaissance:

We know we said we wouldn’t talk about Tr*vis Sc*tt anymore but there’s something we can discuss from a business perspective…

HAVE YOU HEARD…

As we know Snoop Dogg is now the head of Death Row Records which from a historical perspective is still a huge deal. However, it appears he is attempting to shift the label into the world of NFTs with many albums from the label disappearing from streaming services — and we know he’s on of the people promoting NFTs.

MUSIC RELEASES

Benny The Butcher dropped his project Tana Talk 4 that features production from Alchemist, Daringer and Beat Butcha. Jay Worthy and Larry June have dropped a single called “Leave It Up To Me”. Wiz Khalifa, Smoke DZA and Big K.R.I. T have linked with Girl Talk for a track called “Put You On” which comes from the collab project with all of them on it. AKTHESAVIOR and Chevy Woods have linked for a track called “Tesla” 21 Savage is continuing his feature run, this time hopping on Latto’s new single “Wheelie” Lil Durk dropped 7220 which of course didn’t drop the “same day as Ye” because Ye did not drop. Takeoff and Rich The Kid have linked for a track called “Crypto”

Billy Woods is dropping a solo project titled Aethiopes, which is produced by Preservation, dropping April 8th.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

Women’s History Month continues…

“Ladies Brunch” — Che Noir feat. 7xvethegenius and Armani Caesar (i— Food for Thought — Prod. by Che Noir

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 81: NFTs are Ruining Everything was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 80— March is Here

What’s good y’all?

March has arrived and, at least for me, brought a few glimpses of spring with it already. Also, Happy Women’s History Month!

TL;dr — Pusha T has dropped the song everyone was waiting for and Ye has made the music video for a song he’s a feature on all about him.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

In our last newsletter we alluded to Paul giving us a recap of the Tyler, The Creator concert from March 6th, 2022. The concert was cancelled so the piece will not be appearing until/if a makeup date is announced.

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

The Impact of Album Features by Paul K. Barnes

A throwback piece on a topic that will always be relevant in the world of rap.

MUSIC RELEASES

Nigo and Pusha T have finally dropped their highly anticipated single “Hear Me Clearly” whose snippet that was played during Nigo’s fashion show has been circulating the TLs since it was first heard. This is the third single from his upcoming album I Know NIGO. Joey Bada$$ has dropped his latest single titled “Head High” which was produced by Statik Selektah. King Von’s posthumous album titled What it Mean to be King dropped as well. Ye and The Game have dropped the music video for “Eazy” which was created with claymation and features Ye holding Pete Davidson’s severed head as well as burying him alive and planting roses around his head. And yes — in the video these are the roses he gave to Kim in the back of the pickup truck. *sigh*

RZA x DJ Scratch have dropped their collab project Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater. The Cool Kids (Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish) have dropped the first part of their plan for a triple album with this one being called Before Shit Got Weird (Episode 1). Your Old Droog x Nicholas Craven have dropped their collab project titled YOD Wave and Elcamino x Chase Fetti have dropped their collab project titled Bethlehem.

Megan Thee Stallion, who’s been booked and busy as usual, is back with new music. Her single with Dua Lipa is dropping March 11th.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

For Women’s History we’ll be showcasing women all month.

“Nothing At All” — NCognita

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 80— March is Here was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 79: We Got DONDA 2…kinda.

Just know we’re continuing to live history in real time.

What’s good y’all?

We’ve reached the end of February but that doesn’t mean you have to stop supporting black people in anyway possible.

TL;dr — Ye has given us a version of DONDA 2…kinda. And again — how could I follow that with other news?

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Jacob Ezra Walks the Dividing Line by Paul K. Barnes

Jacob was talking about his new EP in this piece from December 2021…he’s got another one out now.

COMING UP

Paul is going to see Tyler, The Creator and his friends on the CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST Tour this Friday…maybe he’ll do an IN PERSON Recap…

HAVE YOU HEARD…

The first listening party for DONDA 2 was this past Friday and the result was..certainly something. Cuts from DONDA 2 were played first with standouts from DONDA in the show’s second half. The second half is where many of the issues happened including the viral moment of Ye throwing his microphone in frustration. We’ve seen the standard of quality they are capable of with the other listening parties for DONDA so let’s hope they can recover and bring that standard back next time — if there is one.

MUSIC RELEASES

Indie Releases: Jacob Ezra has released his EP titled Lost Days.

Conway The Machine has dropped his latest project God Don’t Make Mistakes which has his usual Drumwork signees Jae Skeese and 7xvethegenius as features and of course his Griselda brothers. Interestingly enough, this project is contractually his Shady records debut — but he’s also no longer on there or Griselda records. (again — contractually) Mach-Hommy has dropped an EP titled Dump Gawd: Triz Nathaniel. This one is only his website for $222 (which is nothing new for him) however — it can be streamed on the same website for free. Based on the past few months we may get in on standard streaming services…in a few years.

DONDA 2 IS OUT…kinda. The “Miami Version” has released on the Stem Player website which means this is the version of the album that was heard at the Miami listening party. Like its predecessor, this leads us to believe the album will be played in various cities with changes of all kinds made between each of these listening sessions.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“They Don’t Care About Us” — Michael Jackson — HIStory- PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE — Prod. by Michael Jackson

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 79: We Got DONDA 2…kinda. was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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therenproj · 3 years ago

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The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 78: Donda 2 Incoming…

Maybe?

What’s good y’all?

It’s 2/21/22 which means 2/22/22 is tomorrow and depending on what you’re into, you’re hype about this occurrence for one reason or another. The fact it’s happening is cool in itself regardless of anything connected to it though.

TL;dr —Pusha T is continuing to promote his album by sharing little information on it and Ye’s new album Donda 2 won’t be on streaming services…yet?

ARTICLES

Here’s what we published recently:

Don’t Be a Yes Man by Paul K. Barnes

An always relevant topic.

HAVE YOU HEARD…

You already knew we had to talk about Ye’s Stem Player first. He announced Donda 2 would ONLY be available to listen to on that platform/device and would not be on any streaming services. In short, he did this so artists could get their fair share of profit from the album which makes sense — however the customer must pay $200 to obtain the Stem Player so 90% of people understandably have an issue with the method. We all remember when he said The Life of Pablo would only be on Tidal which birthed the now meme-esque and extremely relevant bar from “Saint Pablo”: “A million illegally downloaded my truth over the drums” History will repeat itself with this album if he sticks by his word. We’ll see what happens tomorrow at the listening event. At the time of this writing, it has not been announced that it will be streaming live on any platform. Also, part 1 of the documentary jeen-yuhs which chronicles his life has been released on Netflix. I guess they opened up the editing room.

TDE’s President, Punch, has shared Kendrick leaving TDE is not due to issues of any kind, essentially confirming the departure is due to Kendrick being at the level where he can do his own thing. In the words of a Kate McKinnon SNL character — “Weknowdis.”

MUSIC RELEASES

Curren$y and The Alchemist have dropped their latest project titled Continuance. Features include the expected like Wiz Khalifa and Larry June as well as the unexpected like Styles P and Havoc. Nigo has released his second single from his upcoming album I Know Nigo titled “I Want It Bad” which has Kid Cudi on vocals and Pharrell on production. Jack Harlow is back with a new single called “Nail Tech” and it got a co-sign from Ye whom he pays homage to in the music video for the track.

Pusha T has confirmed his upcoming album still is exclusively Neptunes and Ye produced but considering its first single “DIET COKE” was produced by 88 Keys with additional production from Ye it may not be as straightforward as we thought. Push and Steven Victor have also confirmed Jay-Z is on the album.

RECOMMENDED SONGS …for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons

“Lockdown (Remix)” — Anderson .Paak feat. JID, Noname and Jay Rock— Prod. by Anderson .Paak and J.LBS

The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 78: Donda 2 Incoming… was originally published in The Renaissance Project on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from The Renaissance Project - Medium https://medium.com/the-renaissance/the-renaissance-rundown-heat-78-donda-2-incoming-aec2e2b85175?source=rss----2e6435b2ff3b---4

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