AZ Chike & Yeat

This is Friday to Friday, your weekly rap wrap-up going through our favorite releases in rap and hip-hop from Friday, September 18th to Friday, September 25th. My name is Jacob. I'm a mixing and mastering engineer from California and your host for today. And I have with me producer and artist manager hailing from Montreal, Canada, Matt Carriker. >> Yo, what's good? >> As well as producer hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Gav aka Lunar G. >> What it do? >> Before we get into our picks for this week, here's the full list of artists that dropped projects. We got Ankle John, AZ Chike, BigBabyGucci and Better Temperatures, Cowboy, Derez De'shon, Duke Deuce, Fetti P Franklin and Bandplay, Huncho, Lucy Bedrock, Rakim, Kurupt and Masta Killa, Risky, Trifling and Steeles, Yeat, YS, Lakeyah and RJ Payne. All right, we can kick it off with AZ Chike No Rest for the Wicked. This is Chike's debut major label release. He had a really crazy run in 2024 being on both Schoolboy Q's Blue Lips earlier in the year and then of course Kendrick's GNX on the song Peekaboo, as well as being at the Pop Out, which was kind of like a big stamp of approval from Kendrick's team that year as well. >> Mhm. >> Kendrick gave a lot of West Coast rappers big looks on GNX and not all of them really took advantage of it, but I would say AZ definitely took full advantage and is going up up right now. >> Man, he had a bar about it, too. He's like, "How's it feel to know that I was the best on GNX?" or something like that. Like >> Yeah. >> I respect it. And I like the project. I I found I was surprised it felt very short to me. Like I was surprised to see that it was oh, it was only 40 minutes cuz I feel like most 14-song albums are like over an hour. But like every song was like what? Like about 2 minutes? Even some of them were under 2 minutes. There was Are You Tired Yet? which ends by the time that you kind of start feeling the groove and I think it's like a 30-second little kind of song. But yeah, that's that's a good sign that I wanted more for sure. >> Yeah, I liked that little spot. There were quite a few standouts on here for me. I felt like this was a good mix of like party, club, outside music with also some like some real [ __ ] Like even within the first five songs we have like Skyrocket, God's Favorite, Need Your Love. Like they're kind of sandwiched in between these like big banger songs like Lamb Truck Keys, Look Like My Mama. He had enough content to kind of bring both sides. >> Yeah, I heard him talking about that in an interview. He was saying that people already know that he can make bangers and he wanted to actually show people who he is more, tell a story more. So, you get way more of that than you might have expected from this album. But it's cool. He writes good songs about that kind of stuff. Like I really liked Uncomfortable Conversations, which was just an interesting song about having to give money to your family and friends or all your family and friends asking for money. >> And the production stays fun. Like even the the more serious songs cuz the production never gets like stale and serious. Like it always kind of keeps a little aspect to keep it interesting. >> Mhm. Yeah. >> And his songwriting ability is really impressive, too. Like the bars, the rhyme schemes, a lot of the stuff is just it doesn't get boring. It doesn't feel repetitive to me. If you listen to it back to back, it doesn't get stale. It doesn't feel like, oh yeah, I already heard this. It's like you can play it forward or backwards and it still hits. >> Mhm. And to me, Lamb Truck Keys has been the one I can relisten to that one a hundred times. >> Yeah. >> The way that there is a kind of like Latin drum sample that only hits at the end of the bar. So, it's like regular drums, then sample. However they did it, amazing. Ten out of ten. I I love the production on that song. >> He stops his lyrics right when the that sample comes in. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> It's very like conscientious of the beat, you know? Like that's what I think I was kind of getting at with like his songwriting ability. He's not just rapping over beats. It felt like he was very involved with the creation of this whole project. Skyrocket >> is where like on my first listen I actually was like sold on the project, which I liked the beat a lot with Lamb Truck Keys. These are like classic West Coast bangers. I was like, is that all this is going to be? You know, I was like, I hope that's not all this is going to be. And then by Sky Rockets I was like, yo, what is this? >> So you were the perfect fan for this project then because that's exactly what he's trying to do right now is show that he can grab people without just stuff they're going to play like in the whip or in the club. Like >> Yeah. >> Sky Rockets is a perfect example of like where he slows down and just tells a story. >> Mhm. >> Man, and then >> dips back in, right? Like God's Favorite is back on that kind of more >> Like I was saying, he goes, he kind of goes back and forth in a way where that's what makes the track list so easy to listen to on repeat. >> palatable and repeatable. Yeah, I was going to say and like on second listen Mercy I really really liked a lot more. I wasn't jaded. I didn't have any preconception going into it. But it was just like on second listen that beat is so [ __ ] cool to me. And it's just like the ba ba ba. Like just the way that it all starts off. Like this project was really cool. >> The consistency is really high. He has done something with this album that every artist should strive to do, which is make me care about even the songs that I don't love as much because they help tell the story. And we actually get to learn who he is on this project. That's like the ultimate thing that takes me from caring about an artist to caring about songs from an artist is like if you make me care about your story, I'm going to listen to the whole album even if there's a beat comes on that I'm not that into, a vibe that I'm not that into. I want to know what you're saying on it. And a lot artists don't manage to get there, but he got there on this. And part of that was because he has co-signs from, in my opinion, the two biggest people on the West Coast. You can't have better co-signs than Kendrick and Tyler. So with Tyler he's got two features on here, but AZ said to him like the project was done like as far along as him and his team could get it, and then they brought it to PG Lang and got Dot involved in that whole team to finalize it. And he said Dot was getting on him about nailing down his hooks and melodies, which was crazy to just get this insight in an interview that we're getting this like first-person advice from Kendrick. Kendrick was like, "You got your verses down, but now push for those hooks and melodies better." Which which is great advice cuz I think Kendrick was there at a certain point, too. If you think about like Section.80 Kendrick, it's like, yeah, he can already rap, but then when you get that jump where Dre gets involved giving him this advice about hooks and melodies, that's when you get good kid, m.A.A.d city. So, I almost feel like this is a torch-passing moment of Kendrick showing AZ Chike the ropes the way Dre showed TDE the ropes back in the day. >> And it's interesting that you bring that up or that this comes up cuz we were just talking about like Russ and Amala's album last week and how we feel like that's like what's missing. I feel like there's a lot of artists like that. Not that rap is getting boring, but I feel like we've heard a lot of rap at this point. You know, where it's like if all you're going to do is rap, you have to have some sort of like uniqueness to it. And I feel like that's kind of where the hooks and melodies kind of come in. >> And also just the relatability. I think hooks just makes it so that you have a broader audience cuz more people like >> Yeah. >> singing, I think, than like rapping. >> Yeah. Mass appeal. It's really cool that we got to kind of hear that through an interview cuz I feel like Kendrick is someone that's very guarded, doesn't do a ton of interviews. >> Right. So, that's like a crazy tidbit. >> Yeah. >> Cuz I think that's good advice for not just AZ, but for a lot of artists. >> Yeah, I was going to say, yeah, like anyone. >> Yeah. >> Did you hear anything about how Tyler got involved or was it just like features and production? >> It sounded like they were campaigning for a Tyler feature. They met a couple times, and then he said he started going to like every Tyler show he could. They worked for that. They worked for that connect. At some point, Tyler called him on the phone and was like, "Yo, I got something for you." Said he was just being crazy and was like talking about how good his skin looks and his his chin line looks and [ __ ] He's just being [music] being crazy Tyler. Tyler. >> [laughter] >> Those used to be my favorite [ __ ] YouTube compilations of just like the absolute wildest [ __ ] that Tyler the Creator would do. Yeah. He's such a character that I feel like he brings a different kind of energy to anything that he gets on. >> Yeah, and then on Don't Touch the Glass like obviously he's coming with a much different energy. You kind of get a little bit of that energy on here, especially on Look Like My Mama, which is by the way has an amazing music video. If you guys haven't seen the music video for Look Like My Mama, they reenacted famous scenes from five different films. Between like funny ones and serious ones and it's it's amazing. It's like Napoleon Dynamite and Paid in Full then Men in Black. Like it's all over the place. >> Even Mercy, the beat like there was kind of like a Tyler-ish fun to the kind of like production I found. So I don't know if maybe like I mean, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of inspiration too like from Tyler and stuff like that, but I don't know if maybe he had some like notes maybe on certain songs afterwards or how that was done, but I almost like felt Tyler's presence throughout the album if if that makes sense. >> Yeah, totally. >> I'd love to hear what they sound like before PJ Lang got involved cuz I mean, what would be the PJ Lang polishing sound, right? We might never know, but whatever it is it it works. >> Yeah, I don't think it's like a style. I think it's like they actually know how to give that artist the best thing that that artist needs. So it's going to look different for every artist. And I think that's the right approach. >> Yeah, like I was noticing mixed by Ali is got his hands all over this too and I just feel like anytime you run across him, you are getting something quality. >> Yeah, no doubt. He's one of my favorites for sure. Yeah, man. Well, he got some incredible features and some great advice on this album and I feel like it took it to the next level. Like I don't know what this album would have looked like without that stuff, but I would still have checked it out. I still expected to be good, but I do love that he went from everyone knows Easy Ty can make a banger to I want to tell my story and let you guys know who I really am. Yep, well, that's Easy Ty with No Rest for the Wicked. Next, let's talk about Yeat with Cocoon. This was an EP. It's kind of a long EP though, pretty generous EP I would say. What is it? Yeah, 16 minutes, seven songs. >> there's meaning behind it being generous. So, he does this, or at least he has been recently, dropping EPs to tease the next album. So, his seventh studio album Reborn is coming out. >> Oh, okay. >> Probably like 2027. The whole idea is that ADL was not well received by his fan base. >> Really? >> very much considered Grammy bait. It was a step away from who he is. >> Damn right it was. The best Grammy bait. >> He's one of the biggest underground artists. And like if you go back to like what blew him up in 2021, and you pay attention to like his sound, ADL is nothing like that. And so, a lot of his hardcore fan base was like, "Yo, what the [ __ ] is going on? Like this is The vocals were like a lot cleaner, the lyrics were kind of like generic." There was one bar that like a lot of people called him for. It was like, >> [music] >> "Let me [ __ ] you till you holler." Or something on Naked. >> That's too vanilla for his underground fans. >> It's just too predictable. So, it was just like highly divisive. >> Mhm. >> Personally, I liked it, but that's not at all to say that I don't recognize as well. Cuz I think I even said it when we covered it. I was like, "This is like a step in a different direction for him." >> Yeah. >> And a lot of people really did not like that. So, this is like a direct musical and conceptual prelude to Reborn. Which is [music] like if you look at and listen to producers that are on this, compared to like the producers that were on his first couple projects, like it's very apparent that he's moving back to an underground sound, like what kind of made him popular. And so, the whole idea is Reborn is kind of like a self-aware nod to the fact that ADL was not his strongest work by his fan base's standards. And like the whole idea is it's kind of like a metamorphosis back to like those darker, grittier, underground sounds. And so like >> Mhm. >> he got people like Trgc and Synthetic back, which were producers of some of the biggest songs like that he's done. >> Mhm. >> Like Trgc did Get Busy, Money So Big. Like that run from like '21 to '22 that he dropped like four projects that just catapulted him to the top of the underground scene. Trgc was huge with that, Synthetic, Basetown Khah, so there were a couple of those producers coming back for this project. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> But then [music] even the whole like I don't know if you guys saw it like he completely changed all of his covers on Spotify. So when ADL dropped and people started going like, "Yo, what is this? Yeat's done. What's going on?" People kept calling him washed over and over and over. They're like, "Yo, Yeat's washed. He's done." And so he was it was kind of like a [ __ ] you. Like he he washed out all of his albums. His marketing schemes and like marketing prep for albums and stuff like that are pretty in-depth. And so a lot of people were pissed with ADL because if you listen to Dangerous Summer, which was essentially Cocoon for ADL, it was like a seven or eight song EP. >> Mhm. >> Dude, it was nutty. The production was crazy. The And then you got ADL and it was like ADL was anticipated and like hyped up to be kind of like a step up and it was not for a lot of people. They were like, "Yo, he just kind of went mainstream." And that's not who he is. That's not where he came from or like what his fan base is. So >> Wow. That's crazy. I did not know that context. >> Yeah. >> I liked Dangerous Summer, but like to me ADL was was a better project. >> ADL is for me probably the only Yeat album I really like. >> And that is like a perfect way to sum up like what happened with it. Cuz it got kind of like Easy Tyke, it got a ton of people that would never listen to Yeat interested in Yeat. >> Right. >> And then it took all of his fans that were like, "This is the king of the underground." And they were like, "What the [ __ ] happened? You've got Elton John and Kylie Jenner on your album?" >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> And then there's people like me in the middle that are just like, "I like music." And I was like, "This is [ __ ] dope." >> Yeah. >> I was at Yeat concert in 2023. So like right at the tail end of that run, and when I tell you he had one of the biggest crowds, like one of the most insane sets, I'm not kidding. And so like it's knowing the underground, it's not surprising to hear that that's how a lot of people felt. >> Mhm. >> I feel like if he stuck only to his like alive 4L like up to me like the 21 sound, and let's say he only stuck to that, people would say he was washed. Yeah. All he does is the same sound, he's not leveling up. He's making millions per album, and he's not changing his sound, you know? So to me like that's how I took 80L and and dangerous summer. I was like, "Okay, he's got some money now. He can pay these big features." >> Yeah. >> Y'all brought him here, you know, like he made he made the money not cuz of Kylie Jenner. >> [laughter] >> That. And then so like what I really really love about Cocoon is it kind of is taking that concept of, "Okay, let's level this up." But also hearkening back to what made him who he is. There's a lot of like chime heavy [ __ ] There's that kind of like alien like glitch sound going on the whole throughout the whole project. And so it's very much so familiar in that sense. But then tracks like Holy Water is one of my favorites. Tennis I thought was a [ __ ] crazy outro. They're all kind of like this idea that he's ditching the polished pop aesthetic, you know, like he's like, "Nope, we're going back to what it was." And then just casually putting Drake last minute on the project. >> Great way to escape the pop sound. >> Right. It's like tried to escape pop sound, still put Drake on it. >> Yep. >> I think in in a lot of I respect it cuz it's like, okay, let's say he was doing all that for the fans. He's also doing what he wants, which is his right to. He's rich, he's famous. He wants to hang out with Drake, make songs. Like, Elton John, and I know I know people are pissed all that, but like at the end of the day it's it's Elton John. So, I mean like >> sick. >> Dude, hey, if I was rich and I had access to Elton John, you best believe I'm putting him out on my album. >> Young Thug already vetted Elton John as a hip-hop fan. >> There you go. >> Like >> That's why the underground kind of bugs me. Like, I'm in like the Yeat subreddits and [ __ ] and like I'll pay attention to what people say, and it's genuinely just like rage bait. >> Yeah. >> A lot of it is gatekeeping, too. A lot of it is like they want to be able to say, "Oh, I listen to this guy that no one else knows about." Now he's popping, and yeah, everyone knows him. >> Yeah, and so I think it's just kind of interesting. More or less, [ __ ] up all of the visuals on his old catalog. >> That's crazy. That part blew my mind looking through his catalog. I had no idea. >> Yeah. I'll say Uzi did that first, though. >> It was like direct response to people calling him washed. He was like, "All right, watch this." You know, it was like And that's what I've always kind of liked about him. He's very much like, "Fuck you, I'm going to do what I want." And so, that's why I liked ADL. That's why I like the direction they're just going with this. He wrote this in 60 days, recorded it, wrote it, everything while he was touring ADL. >> Mhm. >> His work ethic is just [ __ ] insane. Like, he'd sit in the studio for hours and hours and hours and just record, record, record. Like, he could more or less drop five albums a year, and it would be no problem. >> I remember when we covered ADL, he was saying around that time, and I think for the EP before it as well, that he started going back to songs for the first time. The stuff that the fans like the most was done like really quickly. Just open the session, make the song, bounce it out, close the session, and then that's it. So, what I'm wondering with this next one coming up is is it going to be return to the old sound, but still have that polished songwriting of going back in or is he going to return to that style of recording? >> I would say he's probably going to take what he learned from ADL recording processes, people's critiques on it, and then all the feedback that he got on it as well, like the reflection, all that kind of time cuz if you listen to even like the way he's rapping, like he has a different flow than he's had before. It's like this very kind of like machine gun fast [ __ ] flow, especially on Miss My Dog. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. >> He sounds hungrier, you know, like this kind of feels like a comeback album, which I don't feel like he has anything to come back from, but [music] I'm not going to complain. I'm excited. I'm excited to see how it happens, but it is interesting to see what everyone has to say about it. >> Yeah. I just really hope that this next album he does what he wants to do in the way that he wants to do it. You know, like I hope he's confident and he's he's happy doing what he's doing, you know? >> I think he always has been and that's kind of the thing that I like about him a lot is that like he dropped ADL cuz he wanted to, you know, like not cuz anyone was saying like, "Oh, you need to switch up your sound." Like people didn't love it, so he's like, "All right, cool. I'm going to do what I do best." And so I'm interested to see like how has it evolved from his 2021 22 [ __ ] and how does he kind of like take what he learned from ADL? >> Right. >> 100% I am. >> I got no complaints with this catalog all the way around personally. So that's why I'm like I I've always been a fan of his. When ADL dropped, I was like, "This is different. This is cool." I got no complaints going back. >> Well, that is Yeat with the Cocoon EP. We just have some honorable mentions left this week. I wanted to shout out the Raekwon, Corrupt, and Masta Killa project, The Good Boy LP. Some really classic rappers. My favorite track on there was Still Ill. Also, an RJ Payne EP, Anybody Can Get It. I liked So Be It and No Man Above the Crew. Those two songs were checking out. Some cool singles this week, Pay Gallons Hold Me was fun. Had this fire electric guitar riff carrying the trap drums >> Yes. >> as well as the first couple songs off the upcoming GTA soundtrack. So, one from Travis Scott and one from Young Lean produced by Metro Boomin. >> Which Young Lean with Metro Boomin, I that I love that. I mean, Young Lean is like Godfather of the the cloud rap sound. It's so crazy to see Future and Young Lean on a song together on the GTA 6 soundtrack. It's just naughty to me. >> And then uh Rhino with Travis Scott is pretty dope as well. >> Yeah, it's a cool beat. >> Yeah. Did you guys have any honorable mentions? >> I listened to I quit rap. I thought that that was a fun project. Honcho with I quit rap. >> Nice. >> Yeah, it's about all I really got into. I wish I would have listened to the Fetty P Franklin. >> Yeah. But anyways, that's all our releases for this week. Before we get into releases for next week, let's do plugs. For me this week we released a song with Lucius P. Thundercat called Hard Times. You can check that out on Spotify, stream that now. It's a great single produced and engineered by us and vocals by Matt's main and only >> [laughter] >> artist Lucius P. Thundercat. And um really happy with how that came out. But you can also always check out our beats at frequencyoverflow.com. Yeah, that's all for me. What do you want to plug, Matt? Who could Who could possibly know what you have to plug? >> Yes, of course. Well, I'm going to copy your plug copy paste. We me and my my artist Lucius P. Thundercat, we dropped a brand new song that is fully produced, mixed, engineered, mastered by frequencyoverflow. So, that dropped last Friday. You can check that out everywhere. It's called Hard Times. Um that's pretty much my only plug. That's the only thing I want you guys to check out. So, do that. >> It's worth checking out. >> What about you, Gabe? What do you want to plug? >> You can follow me everywhere, every platform at prodbylooner.g. I think like I said last week, still just kind of working on sharpening up my image and putting together some beat packs for artists and stuff. So, just planning on doing some outreach and getting a little more active on my socials. So, stay tuned for that. I'll be putting out more beat snippets, uploading some stuff to BeatStars soon here. So, it's about all I got going on. >> Dope. All right, well, that's plugs. Releases coming up next week. We have Apollo Brown and Skyzoo. We got BandGang Lonnie Bands, Big Moochie Grape and Zaytoven. That's a pretty awesome link-up [clears throat] there for Big Moochie Grape. That's dope. >> Yes. >> We also got Kiefer, as well as Mooch and Real Bad Man. I really like the Boldy James project with Real Bad Man, so I'm looking forward to that. We got Raz Fresco and Nicholas Craven dropping. This is going to be a boom-bap heater week. >> That's a crazy week. >> And then Tee Grizzley and lastly Your Old Droog. So, that's everything coming up next week. And that's our show. You can check us out on our website at f2fpod.com. That's the number two. You can follow the podcast on Instagram @fridaytofridaypodcast. You can follow us on TikTok @fridaytofridaypod. You can save the official Spotify playlist to hear the best releases from each week before the episodes come out. That link is in the description. Our intro and outro music by Lunar G. Find him at prod.bylunar.g. Thank you, listeners. It's the show about Fridays that comes out on a Monday. Join us every Monday to stay in tune with hip-hop releases from Friday to Friday. Peace. >> See you.