New Rap Releases | Isaiah Rashad, Shoreline Mafia, Lelo, Estee Nack, Band Gang Lonnie Bands

This is Friday to Friday, your weekly rap wrap-up going through the releases in rap and hip-hop from Friday, May 1st to Friday, May 8th. My name is Jacob. I'm a mixing and mastering engineer and your host for today. And I have with me producer hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Gav aka Lunar G.

What up? What up?

As well as producer and artist manager hailing from Montreal, Canada, Matt Kerier.

Yo yo, what's up?

Let's get into this week's releases. We got Asake with Money, Awax and CML with SOG, Casper Sage with Patina, DC the Dawn with The Rumors Are True, Jay Worthy with Once Upon a Time, the soundtrack, Kneecap with Fenian, Lil TJ with They Just Ain't You, Lil Tony and Royal Priesthood with Anointed, Isaiah Rashad with It's Been Awful, Skrilla with Z, Edward Skeletrics with Body of Work, Bang Gang Lonnie Bands with Motor City Slicker, Maxos with Finally, Jay Montana with Montana 3, 1K Few with Any Given Sunday, Daddy Fat Snaps with Mission Impossible, Blackboy Max with Crash Dummy, Lucky with Days Before Bad, Drram with Shake Tape, Lelo with A Time to Hurt, A Time to Heal, Jix with Good to See You Volume 2, Skate8 and Yo Dog with No Favors, Lilo with Mastiff, Milo Raora and Choice with The Search of Flowtopia. And lastly, St. Knack and Cook and Soul with All and Dallas.

Long list of releases from this week and also some singles to talk about as well. So, let's get into our picks. I'll kick it off with the big one. Isaiah Rashad. It's Been Awful. I'm a huge fan of his. Only his fourth album. He doesn't just drop all the time. His albums really feel like albums. So, it really feels like a moment when Isaiah drops. Flows super well. Feels like a complete album. It's meant to be listened to A to Z. I really, really loved it. I've been listening to it all week.

First of all, just the contrast of the first, like the intro song being so slow and like Eat the Real, and just like lifting you up, and then the second song is like these super upbeat drums with like these really punchy high hats. It was such like a crazy contrast between the two, but it flowed in very well. It's still like they weren't two separate vibes. It just flowed really well together. The song with SZA too was so just its own vibe. I couldn't really put it in a lane or in a box.

Mhm.

It was really good.

Yeah. I thought this project was dope. I'm the same way. Like I'm always excited when Isaiah Rashad drops. It doesn't happen a lot. And so I was really interested to see like how this was going to sound too, 'cuz his last album was pretty R&B influenced. There were some harder songs on there too. And like his bars are still fire. So it's like it doesn't matter what kind of beat he's on. It just kind of changes the tone of the album, I feel like. But yeah, I really really like this album. I thought Mom was one of my favorite tracks on there. And Do I Look High.

Yeah, that was funny. M. It's acronym for man on a mission. But there's also the vinyl edition for the album has a picture of his mom on it.

That's sick. I didn't even see that.

It's interesting because it does tell a story, but the lyrics are storytelling in sort of an abstract way. You do get a pretty clear picture of his life, but he's saying it in an interesting way.

Yeah.

Lots of singing, definitely lots of hooks, like lots of slow vibey songs. We didn't get anything like the Lil Uzi Vert track that was on the last album. There's nothing like that on here. There wasn't even any featured rappers at all. The only features were non-rappers.

My favorite feature was Dominic Fike with the song Cameras.

Yeah.

I'm a big fan of him. And that was just a perfect. It felt almost more like a Dominic Fike song that

Yeah.

Isaiah was like featured on, but it matched, it fit on the album perfectly.

Yeah, agreed. Dominic Fike's one of my favorite artists and that was definitely on my list as well. But yeah, no, this whole project was really really cool and I feel like there are still songs that could be taken out of context, like played as singles, you know, listened to just kind of

Oh, yeah.

more than others.

Yeah.

Yeah. Same [expletive] was the correct single. I was like okay on it at first, but when I hear the full album, it's the perfect single.

Yeah, absolutely. And also just in general, the album has just grown on me more and more. Like Same [expletive], I liked it, but I didn't love it. Now when that one comes on, when I'm playing the album all the way through, I'm like, "Oh, yes." Like, I'm stoked for it. The whole album literally is just getting better and better every listen. I probably listened to it 10 times this week, and I'm just becoming a bigger and bigger fan of it.

This is one I'm excited to rinse and repeat.

Yeah, this one you can deep dive. Yep.

Oh, yeah. For sure.

That's, I feel like that with most his projects, too. Like shots for the locals, you know, like that song still pops up in my playlists and [expletive] all the time and I'm like doesn't get skipped, you know?

Yep. I wanted to point out also our main producer Low at Frequency Overflow. He helped me pick out this sample on Ain't Giving Up. He samples White Gloves by Khruangbin. It's an interesting experimental rock trio from Texas. Also one of my favorites on there. And then Act Normal was a standout on there for me as well.

Oh, that's a big band, too. I thought you were going to, it was some like obscure sample, but like that's a, they got like almost 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Yeah, they're pretty big.

Who is this again?

They're called Khruangbin.

Oh, Khruangbin.

Yeah, Khruangbin.

There you go.

I'm following them. What? Hold up. I have Texas Sun, their most popular song, saved, but three songs when released.

Funny.

Chocolate Hills, Texas Sun, and Midnight.

Okay,

interesting. Hey,

I'll check them out.

One more monthly listener tonight.

Yep.

I found it interesting. There was none of the normal TDE producers on this. We didn't see any Soundwave or any of the normal TDE cast, but instead there's a pretty big variety of producers whose names I've never seen. I just wanted to shout out some of them. We got Keem the Cipher, Julian Centonia, Henry was Blake Strauss, Rory Bear amongst some others as well, but I saw those names repeated quite a few times.

Huh.

Production was amazing on this though.

Yeah.

Yeah, the production was, it was no sounds from producers that you would typically hear in hip-hop for the album, like you said, like where, you know, there isn't any TDE producers. It was kind of nice to see that it didn't, like the album wasn't turned political, it wasn't turned into something that could have been something that it's not, because that's not Isaiah, right? Like that's not the kind of, he's not the artist that would have stepped into the world of beef that's going on with, you know, Kendrick, Drake, and all of that. So I'm really, I'm happy that it was his own album standing on its own and I'm happy to hear more. I would have loved, you know, another Lil Uzi type song like the last album, but I'm not mad.

Well, he's been going through a lot of uh crazy [expletive] since his last album.

It's been awful.

It's been awful. But shout out to him for being comfortable with himself and keeping it real with his fans and talking about his sexuality and stuff in the recent interviews. So, shout out to Isaiah Rashad. It's Been Awful. Fantastic album. I'm definitely going to keep this on repeat. Gav, you want to do a pick next?

Did you guys check out the Lilo stuff? Lelo?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. Never heard of him before, but I was interested in it. Yeah. Lilo with Mastiff.

Yeah. I've never, I mean, and then when I looked at the Spotify monthly listeners, I was like, "Okay, apparently I should know about this guy."

He's pretty popular.

Only as of like past year and a half, two years maybe.

Um,

he looks young. That makes sense.

I'm pretty sure he's my age or younger. Like 24 or younger. I thought this project was really really sick. Short and sweet, looking 15 and a half minutes. So

yeah, just six songs.

All six of them too felt pretty in your face, you know? They didn't feel like they were just like laxadaisical or anything. It felt like it was kind of a showcase.

I especially like the first three songs, but

yeah,

dialect was my favorite on this. I playlisted it the first time I ever heard it, which is always like, that's the biggest compliment I could give a song.

Yeah. No, I feel that. That's how I was with Blueprint personally.

Oh, yeah. Blueprint was fire, too. Actually, I didn't know who he was either. And then I just had the Friday to Friday playlist on and then when he came on, I was like, "Oh, that's for sure someone that Gav added." Like I could tell right away from the vibes. I was like, "Okay, yeah. Here. Here we go. This is

another week. Another Detroit release. Here we go.

We got a couple. We got a couple, baby.

It's been 2026. I don't think there's been a week where there hasn't been something from Detroit. Something, well, of that area.

Yeah. Not really.

We stay working. We got to be busy, man. Like, we're, I feel like it's still breaking out, you know, like that sound is still finding its way into the masses, as popular as it's gotten. So, I was just checking quickly his Rap Genius page, and it specifically talks about how he was getting no views at all until one of his random lyric videos that he posted on TikTok just went like skyhigh and it just went like in millions of views and then from there it just like snowballed into one thing into another.

And it's crazy how many people will, you know, be against this idea of posting stuff on TikTok and posting lyric videos, but it's really what you got to do. It's what you got to do to market yourself and clearly it's worked out for him and this is, he's saying this happened in like 2022. So I mean things take time but hey, 'cuz then it's like it's one TikTok and then oh, then all of a sudden you get a call from this producer and then that and then it talks about how he got Lyrical Lemonade publications and it's like it's really just like the pieces moving and it's a beautiful thing.

That's about when I started to connect with him, was the Lyrical Lemonade stuff. And then Yenheimer really really solidified him for me.

No contempt. You can tell he's proud 'cuz like he just lists like every, like 2022 I was at 100K streams. 2020, November 2022 I was at 500K and then 2025 is when he passed a million.

Nice, man. Good for this young kid.

Yeah.

[expletive] So that was Lilo with Mastiff. Was there another Detroit project?

Yeah, we got another Bang Gang Lonnie Bands drop.

That's right. Let's talk about that.

Yeah, we got um

Motor City Slicker.

That's it. Yeah. And my god,

clever, funny title, too, because for those that don't know, Motor City is another name for Detroit. And then you're also combining it with the term city.

I did not know that. Home of Ford. Motor City. That's why the Red Wings are the winged wheel. Anyway,

I also never thought of that.

And I watch hockey.

Same reason the basketball team, the Pistons, car part.

Oh, engine part.

One just clicked.

I'm not sleeping tonight. Like I have to know everything.

Holy [expletive]. Um yeah, so this, man, this project was another one that I was just really really happy to get, especially 'cuz we just covered Bang Gang Lonnie Bands and I did not expect to get another drop this quickly.

All right.

I feel like we've seen quite a few guys that are just like on a roll.

Yep. A lot of them are Flint and Detroit artists to be honest.

Yeah. Again, yeah, I don't know. And it's the grind is real. Detroit Blues, super fancy. Charge It to the Game. There were a couple songs, man, that were really fire. I thought the song with Key was probably one of my favorites. Key's a really sick artist. I don't know if you guys are familiar with him or not. He's another one that sings a bit more, but also, you know, raps too, but they just complimented each other really, really well. And I think Bang Gang Lonnie Bands, again being the producer on this whole thing, too. And then this one just being a solo project that had what, like one, maybe two features on it or whatever, just gave him a chance to showcase himself.

Right.

This is one of my favorite releases this week personally.

Nice.

Yeah. No, I'm enjoying this a lot.

That is Bang Gang Lonnie Bands with Motor City Slicker. Matt, you want to get into a pick?

Yeah. Shoreline Mafia, Business Is Booming. Goodness, Booming to me was just the perfect house party album, which I feel like we don't really get that kind of vibe anymore, or maybe it's because I don't go to house parties anymore, but it really felt like, you know, like red cup and like a disgusting sweet drink and that vibe of just being somewhere and like there's that upbeat music in the background. I liked it. It was very very West Coast, but it wasn't confined to like, not every song was only West Coast. Like there was, you know, the Kelly vibe, but then also some different sounding tracks. But overall just fit the upbeat like party kind of vibe, which it was nice to hear, you know. I don't always want dark trap, you know? So, this was a breath of fresh air.

There are a couple different like sounds to it, I guess. Like, you can't totally typecast it as one, like, oh yeah, there's that Cali bounce the whole time or whatever, you know? Like there are some different beats on there that are kind of like, what, where'd this come from? But I'm just so happy to see Shoreline Mafia back together and doing stuff. Um I love OhGeesy, saw him live at a festival, or actually Summer Smash, Lyrical Lemonade's festival, and that was one of the best performances there in my opinion. Like he's just got such classic songs that are going back to almost 10 years now which is kind of crazy to think about.

Yeah, the middle of the album changes up with the beat styles, but for me, my favorite tracks were those most classically Shoreline Mafia style. I did appreciate that they use some different beats, but the standout ones for me were the first and the last song, Planet of the Apes and Playball. And those were both the songs produced by Diego Ave. Honestly, I think I'm just a bigger fan of Diego Ave than I really am of Shoreline Mafia. I think they use him a lot. Their vocal style just fits over his production so perfectly.

Mhm. I mean, I think about Shoreline Mafia going back to like Party Pack and like that was high school for me and so, man, I know I'm a little spring chicken over here, but talk about house party music. It is the perfect house party music.

Still a recent memory for you.

Like to me, not every album needs a standout track. Like to me, this one, there are obviously some that I enjoy more than other, but I can listen to the whole thing and it's all like it's a very nice vibe from A to Z. Like I don't have one that I need to go back to. I can just play the whole thing. I will say Woodwire Buffs was probably like one of my favorites. That and I do like We Like to Party, but

yeah. Right on. So that was Shoreline Mafia with Business Is Booming. Next I want to talk about St. Knack and Cook and Soul with Al and Dallas. I have no idea if I'm saying that right. Estee Nack. He's a dope rapper from Massachusetts. He's a Dominican American, so he goes back and forth between English and Spanish a lot in his rhymes, which I love. And I first heard about him from Westside Gunn. And if you [expletive] with Westside Gunn, you're definitely going to [expletive] with St. Knack. Just grimy ass boom bap. I love it. The producer Cook and Soul I was actually not familiar with, but dude has an insane amount of projects out and I really like the beats. That's a crazy catalog.

I do know Cook and Soul.

Okay.

Only off of Come on, Baby, which is a song he actually did with Mac Miller. I thought this project was dope, too. But yeah, the production is just like, the dude knows what he's doing. There's no other way to put it. And I don't think he gets enough attention. But yeah, that Cook and Soul production, man. The whole album, the production is good, but the Inbound beat, man, it just felt like just floating in space. Like I don't even know how to describe it. It was crazy. Like, I mean, we've heard a lot of those types of samples this year, like from Harry Fraud and stuff like that, but that one really like just crazy. It was just a beautiful thing to listen to on headphones. You got to listen to it on headphones, not just on one earbud. Like that's like a full like immersive experience.

Yeah. It hands, and that's what I like about boom bap, is the elements of it are, not to simplify or anything, but they're really basic at the end of the day. Like your instrument list is not usually that in-depth.

Yeah.

You know, you've got like a couple sounds and then you might have some like ambiance or one shots here and there compared to like some trap beats that you have a lot of layering and stuff like that. And so I feel like you have so much more room and time to like really shape and design the sound and like the final production of it. The sample to me is just a really simple jazz piano, like jazz piano chords that kind of remind me of like Charlie Brown Christmas in a weird way. Like just melancholic and easy and then just that like string hold throughout the whole song. It creates a lot of space and ambiance.

Yeah, there was also the More or Less song too. That beat, I just, I heard Action Bronson on it the entire time. The entire time I was like, I need to hear Action on this. That beat specifically just, it felt like it was made for him.

Action's going to devour Cook and Soul beats. There's a lot of food references here. Like it's very unburn.

I know. I'm like, come on, guys.

There you go.

I'm just saying.

Yeah, this project really heated up in the middle for me.

Mhm.

Right. Starting at Touch and Bass and then there was just four in a row. Touch and Bass, TX Free, Trap More or Less and Bread and Wine right in the middle. They was just like boom, let's go.

Yeah. I just love that whole sequence.

Yeah.

All right. So, that was St. Knack and Cook and Soul with Al and Dallas. Next, I want to talk about Skate8 and Yo Dog with their project, No Favors. I heard Yo Dog on his projects with Cardo Got Wings from the last couple years. I've just kind of been on him since then. And this project delivers. Even though he's not using as big of a name as Cardo Got Wings, the beats are still great on this. Flows are great. Skate8 I had never heard of, but killed it. I was just like, "This guy's amazing." Atlanta. And the standout tracks for me were Art of War, Against the Grain, and No Sleep. But man, I was really pleasantly surprised with this.

I like this one a lot. And like you said, Jacob, it all delivers. Like all the beats are like unique in their own way, but they're still like on theme. There's definitely a commonality or common thread throughout the album. There's some sampling in it. There's some just like classic Atlanta trap, like heavy [expletive]. Roll Them Up, like first track, kind of gave me like a New York vibe almost, which was interesting. But I hadn't heard of, well, I said I hadn't heard of either of them. I guess I knew Yo Dog. I had him saved from a song actually talking about Detroit and Flint artists with All-Star Jr. and Louis Ray. So Detroit and Flint, but yeah. No, I thought this whole thing was [expletive] sweet.

Yeah, definitely worth checking out for some just dope Atlanta trap type [expletive]. Skate8 and Yo Dog with No Favors. Let's see. Do you have another pick, Matt?

We could bring up the DC the Dawn album if you want. Might as well. It's different.

Sure. Yeah.

So, yeah, the DC the Dawn album.

The Rumors Are True.

Yes, The Rumors Are True. I had first checked him out when he had been announced to be on the double XXL back in 2023, the XXL freshman. So, kind of kept up a little bit. So, I knew to expect something weird and different, and it was just that. It gave me this crazy PTSD, or not PTSD, sorry, this nostalgia. This nostalgic feeling of just like the early 2000s. And I mean, it's a bit of both, but really, it was such like weird vibes it gave me. I listened to the whole thing. It was hard in some ways because it reminded me a lot of like the kind of music that we grew around with, like the more emo kind of sense. So it was hard not to feel like I was like really back in that time. But then as I listen to it once, twice, like I like the effort that he put in. I like doing this in 2026 is a scary thing. It's a scary sound to want to get into. Very risky to do it. And throughout, some moments that maybe gave me cringe again because of the time and the era that it brought back, I do feel like the songwriting was good in the sense where it didn't feel forced. It didn't feel like let me try and do this just for the hell of it. Like it did sound like he crafted this and sat down and actually went for that vibe and set his mind to do it. So, as much of a weird review as that was, it was a nice album. It was a nice album.

See, I think it's interesting 'cuz this sound is coming back.

Mhm.

The reason I say that, especially, like I don't know if you remember how the beat for Selena and the Weeknd sounds.

Yes, I do.

It's that real like Clams Casino, ASAP Rocky kind of chopped like levels. Like I've been hearing [expletive] like that popping up, um, whether it's on my feed and [expletive] Instagram or TikTok, which is just super weird, people singing and like recording themselves and chopping their own songs and then saying like sample this, and like a lot of, I feel like this generation that's kind of like under me, like the Two Hollis, mom jeans memes, like the like new underground or whatever, I think that we kind of talked about previously. This is kind of the sound that I feel like they're using in a sense or at least like elements of it. Whereas DC the Dawn took that and then kind of put like his own brand on it, which is kind of like emo pop, is, put it like Midwest emo pop, but he can also rap too. So like I thought it was really on brand for him. I haven't listened to him for some time. Since I think like 2023 or four, one of the albums that came out then. Funeral, if I'm not mistaken, was like the one that I was really getting into. So, I was excited to see this. And I do agree that some of it was kind of like, okay, like not my favorite thing in the world. But a lot of it, too, just felt like, yeah, no, this sounds like 2016 to me, with some of this new.

This feels like 2005, like 2006,

right? This feels, yeah. It's just weird. And that's what I kind of like, is that like everyone can relate something different, but this one feels like it blends a lot of elements from different genres and decades.

Yeah, absolutely. And the whole time I was listening to it 'cuz I'm just, I love music. So for me, I was like I know that I'm not going to give him that many plays. But I really hope that this is appreciated. I hope that there is a generation that is messing with this sound 'cuz it is a good sound. It's just that for me it is like something where it's like it's too associated to other sounds. If the younger generation enjoys this, I really hope they do and I really hope that he gets his, you know, his streams and his flowers thanks to that because he did put in time and effort like and it did show.

Hell yeah.

DC the Dawn with The Rumors Are True.

My last pick for full-length projects is Awax and CML with their project SOG. Awax is from Pittsburgh. CML is from Sacramento, kind of near me. This is like Cali type gangster rap. Kind of Nipsey Hussle adjacent maybe is one way to describe it. Not that either of them sound like Nip. It's just like if you like Nip, you'd probably [expletive] with this project. Standout tracks for me: Type [expletive], Louis Jeans, and Headshot. I like those three the best. And also just wanted to shout out CML has a dope YouTube channel you can check out for real ass just opinions on rap and rap culture. Check that out as well.

I had heard of CML before, but I hadn't heard of Awax before, and I saw you added them, so I was like, "Hey, I'll take a look." And yeah, you really described that vibe perfectly. It's specifically that like the Nipsey kind of gangster rap vibe, but without sounding like him. And then there's a Tech N9ne verse, which just comes out of nowhere. But I love to see Tech N9ne still doing it.

Yeah, I'll take a Tech N9ne verse anywhere. Sure, why not?

That's it. It just, it feels random, but I'm never mad about it.

Yeah. Interesting to get that Tech N9ne feature for sure. But cool project. That's Awax and CML with SOG. Gav, do you have another pick?

Yes. I'm really excited about the Lucky album that's coming, Days Before Bad. Man, the Bad Influence freestyle for the love. I don't know if you guys checked this project out, but my god, the production on this was just really good. Lucky, except for one. There's one song.

What you, what you described the entire album sounded amazing,

and then there is the Cappo Two Times beat that came on, and actually I was hoping, Jacob, you listened to it 'cuz I need an engineer's perspective on this.

Oh shoot. No.

Because the beat is so, what's the word, flat.

Like 2D, mono.

I think that's probably the best way to put it. There, it sounds like someone recorded something in the background and then turned it up like a lot louder and cleaned it up enough to where it doesn't sound like super distorted, but it does still kind of sound muffled and like it's coming through like little little like alleyway through the headphones. And the vocals sound perfect. These vocals are like 3D and perfect and I can hear them, but then the beat is just like it's just like a wall like in the back. I will say there is this horrible part where the beat switches a little bit and it gets like higher pitched and it kind of sounds like a dog whistle.

Yes,

it's not.

No, I skipped it.

I really think that the album is still going to be fire. Especially like Sex Moola Pete with Lil Yachty. I want them to know I'll keep it honest. At the end of the day, it was great. I loved it all, but not that one. That one song is garbage.

So, I'm confused. I thought this was an EP. Is this actually like a waterfall leading up to an album?

Yeah, they're probably throwaway songs from the album. We've got Drugs Are Bad coming in a week. I assume the EP will probably be like in the middle somewhere.

The album. Yeah. Just, you know, we actually, looking at the track list, there are some bonus songs that have been released. Free Mr. Banks, Overthinking, Diamond Stitching, I Don't Care, another Lil Yachty feature, Not So Virgo of You. That's the only thing that's confirmed on there. So, they might sneak the EP in there, but I would personally be kind of surprised. I feel like they would have, since they included some by name and like put them as bonus songs. I feel like they would have maybe put that. That's just my two cents.

Okay. So, it's possibly separate material. We'll have to see. He also uploaded the EP is like there twice, but one of them has the two freestyles and one of them doesn't.

Yeah.

Well,

Lucky, you're confusing us. Just

confusing us. Welcome. Welcome to the world of Lucky. That's all I'm going to say. This, I think he just drinks a ton of lean and then kind of forgets what's coming out in what order. And it's not terrible because sometimes we get duplicates and like alternate versions. Yeah, I'm a big Lucky fan.

I'll relisten to the Cappo Two Times beat. Maybe it was done on purpose. Maybe I wasn't in the right influence headspace. I'll try it out 'cuz I mean, you, me, I'm not saying I'm going to drink lean, but what I'm saying is I don't know. You know, I need to be, maybe it needs to be later at night. But I don't know. Like maybe there was a mixing error or

I feel like they definitely had like

left in mono

mastered or like demo and like accidentally uploaded it.

Yeah.

And then it was hard to get over because everything sounded so good. So I was like how could we go from this to that? Doesn't it end on that song too if I'm not mistaken? It's a life song that is literally, you are just like in like amazingness and then

imagine the full album actually just has the exact same song but like clearly not in mono.

That would be

we'll find out in 8 days coming next time.

Awesome. I just have one single I want to talk about. The JPEGMAFIA Baby Girl single. It's the first single from the upcoming album Experimental Rap dropping May 21st. A lot of funny controversy going on right now with the title of the album and Peggy claiming his dominance over the experimental rap space. It's creating a lot of funny hype online right now. But the single is good. It's getting me hyped for the project. I'm a huge Peggy fan. The album All My Heroes Are Cornballs is one of my all-time favorite albums. I'll always listen to anything that comes out, even when he's beefing with Earl, who is also one of my other favorites. And I know this is going to be on the next episode, but he also dropped another single I think yesterday.

Oh, okay. Great. Yeah, I'm stoked to hear that.

More for you.

But yeah, I enjoy him, but I'm loving this whole beef. I do think the title for the album, like I don't know. I can't get mad at him for it because I mean he does, he doesn't not make experimental, right? So it's like,

oh, I think it's like so experimental that, being a big fan, sometimes I'm a little like, oh man, my head hurts and I got to come back to this one in a little bit.

That was one of the jokes that Earl made was that like the music is rough. Like nobody, I think he said something like nobody likes your rough music.

Scaring the Hoes is one of my favorite albums of all time 'cuz Danny Brown, another shout out Detroit. Um, Danny Brown's another like OG Detroit rapper. And that's a whole collab album between the two. Fentanyl Testers, one of my favorite [expletive] just like, talk about controlled chaos. The sample, like the whole song is just this insane sped up vocal loop and like three or four of them layered and chopped.

And I will say too, what's impressive is no matter what anyone will say about JPEG, like it's, for an artist to drop a single and it within the same week become the most streamed song on your Spotify. That's a really good thing numbers wise. That is amazing. I mean, there's some artists that drop singles that you don't even see the single show up in the top 10.

No.

So, I mean, no matter what comes out of the beef, JPEG is not a guy that, you know, drops on deaf ears. There are people that want to hear what he has to put out. I mean, I'm sure on the album I expect to love half, hate half. That's how I usually feel about it. But I'm happy with that. That's what I expect from

Sure.

experimentation, right?

Like sometimes I'll obsess over those like really rough songs for a bit, you know,

like punk music.

Yeah, that's it.

And that's, I grew up listening to punk rock. Dad was a punk rocker. So it's like that's why to me I'm like no, I really enjoy that 'cuz there's punk music that like I have to turn off sometimes where I'm like, whoa, this is just straight up [expletive], like I need a second, you know, but it's like I understand that's the point and I really enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is. I'm really really excited for this. I loved the last album he put out too. I Lay Down My Life for You. That album was sick. The director's cut was really really good. I'm excited. 2026, man, may about to be crazy.

This has been one of my favorite weeks so far personally. Just a lot that I was thoroughly interested in and did not know was coming.

Yeah. Super interesting week. Yeah. So, that was JPEGMAFIA Baby Girl single. We should talk about the Kenny Mason single 'cuz that's another upcoming album. Kenny Mason, Bounce with Me single off the upcoming Bulldog dropping May 12th very soon. It's a cool single. It starts off with kind of an odd, I don't know if you can call it sample, but like the production feels like odd and it feels a little hard to understand and then the drums drop and then it starts to just all click all of a sudden.

That was cool. I really like that about it.

Kenny Mason is just one of the artists that like I pay attention to a lot. And Angelic Hoodrat was one of my favorite albums. I liked Angel Eyes. It wasn't like my favorite out of all of his releases personally. I think the stuff that's been coming out since then, like all the Pup Pack stuff, all these like EPs and different [expletive] has been really, really hard. All of it's kind of been like, is there another one? Like I'll just scroll through a Spotify and try and see like, dang, no, still not yet. So, I'm really looking forward to this album.

Yeah, definitely looking forward to Bulldog coming up May 12th. So, I think that we'll be covering that next episode, I believe.

Yes, sir.

Any other singles you guys want to cover?

There was the Big K.R.I.T. single. Big K.R.I.T. is just one of the most consistent people ever. It's called Sunset Vet. Sunset Vet, I mean, I get excited every time there's a new Big K.R.I.T. single. It's always just more of the same but in the best way possible. It's just Big K.R.I.T. rapping his ass off on a Big K.R.I.T. sounding beat. I would really recommend checking out, especially if you've never heard Big K.R.I.T. I think that's a catalog that's really really fun to get into. But yeah, I like the single. I don't know if he's working towards an album or anything. I would love a Big K.R.I.T. album. I just love that southern quick fast-paced like rapping. It was a good single. It's just unfortunately it's one of those guys that's like he doesn't drop anything that's bad. So it's like there's not much to say on it, right? It's just good.

Yeah, it's just a good single. If you like Big K.R.I.T., you're probably going to like this.

Yeah.

I forgot I wanted to talk about the Jerick album.

Yeah. Let's talk about Jerick or is it Jax? But it's Good to See You Volume 2.

I think, I want to say it's Jerick. Yeah, this kid's young as [expletive], dude. He's 20.

Oh, wow.

Produced all of this. Doesn't have a huge following. Like 9,400, 9,500 monthly listeners on his own. Man, this whole album is just, he's so impressive in my opinion. Like Butterflies, the last album that he put out with White Rose Moxy, another Detroit rapper, just super super unique. Like I think experimental. It's kind of different. And it sounds like EDM kind of, like in a weird way, like Radiohead. Some song like Bloodline sounds like a Radiohead beat with hip-hop drums over it and like claps and [expletive].

Dude, Bloodline was my favorite. That was my standout track on this whole project. Bloodline blew me away.

And Moxy just spits the entire time and it just, in a weird way makes me think of like Kid A, Radiohead, like just that same kind of, maybe it's the tone or the key that it's in, like that synth. But this whole album is sick. A lot of it's kind of like EDM dance music rage [expletive] but then you get these random like vibe switch-ups that are just like, "Hey, are you still paying attention?" Like that's the only way I can think of it. It's like, "Hey, wake up." You know, it's only 40 minutes long, but it's just there's a lot going on in those 40 minutes. So, Paloma was really cool, with Tame Tiger and Westside. Westside's another artist that I've heard because of Jerick that I really enjoy. But

yeah, Westside was spitting on this thing. He had a few good verses on it.

Yeah, the features are impressive, you know, like J3 Mob, Idk Shai. I felt like all the artists that he featured and kind of showcased held their own on his production in my opinion. None of it was like, "Oh god, that one shouldn't have been on here."

Yeah. I mean, really cool fusion of rap and EDM. And I think it's like an easy way to stand out. And I think more rappers should be taking note of this because I hear all the time and I see all the time artists and rappers saying, "I'm looking for unique beats." Like they're striving for something unique. Hit up DJs. They're not.

Start talking to DJs.

Hit up EDM. Yeah. Hit up DJs and EDM artists and see what kind of stuff you make by blending and fusing genres.

Most of them are inspired by hip-hop at the end of the day, too, in a weird way. Like, especially the rhythm and like rhythm, uh, rhythm like drum and bass. Like a lot of the [expletive] is sped up hip-hop beats.

One thing I'll say, though, to give these guys credit, as much as people want those weird beats, not everyone is capable of hopping on something like that.

No.

Oh, and you have to have the engineer for it in my opinion.

That too. Yeah.

And this sounded clean, really good, well engineered. And White Rose Moxy and Westside, their vocals totally match and keep up with these crazy EDM beats. So, super cool. And there's some other vocalists on there, too. But they just, those two got like a lot of features.

A lot of standouts on this one in my opinion just 'cuz it was so different track to track. But like Same Soul, I really liked Love Is a Sin part one and two. Part two was cooler in my opinion just production-wise. No, come on. What's up? Where you at? Like Bloodline, like I said, Purge is this crazy just like in-your-face kind of screamo rage. I was like, "Oh, hello." And then Same Soul, Westside, and Bane just spit. Homeland is a cool way to wrap it up, too. It kind of reminds me of like Bloodline where it's just like real beefy 808 synth bases, like saw bases, and kept me interested.

Yeah, good [expletive]. Super unique, cool project. Probably the most different thing from this week. That is Jerick with Good to See You Volume 2. I think we should cover this last single here. DJ Premier and the Alchemist with For the Gig.

Save the best for last.

Premier, I assume. I don't know. I assume they collaborated on the beat, I'm guessing. But Premier on the, Al on the, versus, crazy beat. This was just like just a treat. This was just a pleasure.

Like just the production is immediately, I'm like, "Oh, yep. That's both of them." Like there you go. And Alc is starting to get a little collection of performable songs where, as the artist, that he can perform. I'd like to see that be performed as like him, the artist. That'd be cool.

His first mentor was like Cypress Hill. Like he was rolling around with like rappers. Yeah.

And if I'm not mistaken, he said when he was a kid he wanted to rap.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure he's been rapping as long as he's been producing.

Whichever thing brings more the money, right? Like as good as Al can rap, that will only get him so far. The beats are what are in demand. The people want them. Like if this guy opened a beat store that would be open to public, I'm sure everyone would try and buy a lease, but right now he's just got a pipeline of people who are just buying his beats by the dozens. It's crazy. This guy is just like so productive. I respect it. I like his flows. I think they're fun. He's good.

He sounds like a classic New York vet, which is so weird 'cuz he's not from New York, but it just sounds like New York rap. This stuff just sits right in the '90s beautifully in my opinion.

I really thought he was from New York. I just now Googled, I was like, "Oh, he's from LA."

That's what I was going to say. Like you got, I always have to remind myself, I'm like, "Oh yeah, Cypress Hill is California. That's LA. That's where he grew up." Most of his collaborators are from the east coast. Like this [expletive] is

'cuz to me, Alc, Alchemist is like as New York as it gets. Like

seems like a New Yorker, man.

So New York. So New York.

But yeah, from now on I will remember the Alchemist's from LA. And check out that single. It's good energy. Good LA energy apparently.

Absolutely. We couldn't end this week's episode without talking about that single.

So let's get into plugs. I'll just say follow me at Frequency Overflow everywhere. We got a lot cooking in the background right now that we're excited about. More coming soon for sure. What do you want to plug, Matt?

Check me out at Silk Velvet Records. Check out my artist Lucius Punderat, Matt Kerier. And other than that, check out the podcast.

Yeah. What about you, G?

Yeah, feel free to check me out on pretty much everything. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, SoundCloud, BeatStars at Prod by Lunar.g. And yeah, that's pretty much it. I mean, I've got some beats that are going to be coming out soon, some tracks that I've been working on with some friends of mine. So yeah, I'm excited to kind of show that stuff off soon.

Heck yeah, we are cooking. Releases coming up next week. We have Black Milk with Ceremonial, Chris Brown with Brown, Jwords with Sound Therapy, Little Simz with Sugar Girl, Thaiboy Digital and Swedom with Paradise, and Kenny Mason with Bulldog. Thank you listeners. Like and subscribe on YouTube. Rate us five stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. You can follow the podcast on Instagram now at Friday to Friday podcast. You can save the Friday to Friday Spotify playlist to follow along with what we're listening to throughout the week. It's what we use to listen to the weekly releases and you should too. You can find that link in the description. Our intro and outro music by Lunar G, podcast edited by me, Jacob from Frequency Overflow. Join us every week to stay in tune with hip-hop releases from Friday to Friday. Peace.

Peace.

Peace.