A triad of star-studded occasions dominated the worlds of hip-hop and R&B over the previous week — the fifty fifth NAACP Picture Awards, Rolling Loud California and the ultimate weekend of SXSW. On the NAACP Picture Awards — which was hosted by Grammy-winning Kennedy Heart honoree Queen Latifah — Chris Brown dominated with three wins, together with two trophies for “Sensational,” his hit collaboration with Davido and Lojay. Victoria Monét adopted with two wins — excellent album for Jaguar II and greatest new artist — whereas Usher took house excellent male artist, entertainer of the 12 months and the President’s Award. In fact, The Shade Purple film musical cleaned up with a staggering 12 wins, together with excellent movement image, excellent soundtrack/compilation album and 4 particular person appearing awards.
Outdoors of the awards circuit, hip-hop and R&B had spectacular showings at each of March’s marquee music festivals. At SXSW (March 14), PARTYNETDOOR launched his new single “Actual Lady,” the primary style from his forthcoming LP, PartyNexxtDoor4, whose launch date (April 26) he revealed throughout his headlining efficiency at Billboard’s annual THE STAGE at SXSW live performance collection. A couple of states over in California, Nicki Minaj turned Inglewood into Gag Metropolis, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign carried out some Vultures cuts with out really performing in any respect and Metro Boomin and Future previewed some thrilling new tracks from their two forthcoming joint albums.
With Contemporary Picks, Billboard goals to focus on among the greatest and most attention-grabbing new sounds throughout R&B and hip-hop — from Sexyy Pink‘s newest head-banging anthem to Maxo Kream‘s reflective tribute to his late father. You’ll want to take a look at this week’s Contemporary Picks in our Spotify playlist beneath.
Freshest Discover: Rapsody, “Stand Tall”
As she continues to gear up for the discharge of her forthcoming fourth studio album, Please Don’t Cry, Rapsody is taking a while to handle those that are obsessive about the main points of her private life. “Judgment’s on me, they questioning if I’m a ‘Eat the c—chie’ fan/ All as a result of I select to fashion in sneakers and a few saggy pants/ Used to make me aggy, wanna black out just like the Aggie followers,” she spits over a contemplative Eric G-helmed manufacturing that’s delicately tempered with twinkling piano keys.
The hat trick of “Stand Tall,” nevertheless, is that Rap isn’t giving the messiest folks amongst us the satisfaction of seeing her dedicate a complete music to their hypothesis. As an alternative, she flips the script and makes use of “Stand Tall” to recenter the dialog across the sanctity of household, studying to dwell with anxiousness and a cheeky reminder to learn up on the architects of Black political thought. “Navigating by way of this enterprise, tryna discover some decency/ However you solely surprise if I eat c—chie or like some d—ok in me/ Y’all have to learn Dick Gregory, b—tches,” she rhymes earlier than launching right into a refrain that has the charming high quality of a letter postscript.
Sexyy Pink, “Get It Sexyy”
For many of 2024 to this point, Sexyy has been laying low. Outdoors of some exhibits, she’s been having fun with time together with her new child and the continued success of her smash SZA-assisted Drake collab “Wealthy Child Daddy.” With “Get It Sexyy,” Sexxy Pink SZN is formally in full impact: Over a characteristically rapturous head-knocking beat — courtesy of go-to collaborator Tay Keith and Jake Fridkis — Sexyy delivers a well-known barrage of irresistible catchy couplets (“Booty shorts, c—chie swole/ Thong all up my booty gap”), hilarious background ad-libs (“I’m his favourite hoe!”) and an ingenious interpolation of the “Little Sally Walker” nursery rhyme — “Little miss Sexyy walkin’ down the road/ I don’t know what to do ’trigger the n—as after me/ I’m so f—kin’ attractive, yeah, my pores and skin is bustin’ it/ Diamonds hittin’ arduous, n—as wanna drive my tank.”
Maxo Kream, “No Then You a Hoe”
“No Then You a Hoe” is one more sturdy addition to Maxo’s current stream of standalone singles, but it surely’s additionally utilizing that place to masks it being a loving tribute to his late father. “Papa Maxo was a soldier and thru me eternally livin’,” he proclaims within the music’s last line, however not earlier than a pair of harrowing verses that recount the cyclical nature of the dynamic between household and mortality. Throughout an extremely sparse Nascent-produced beat, Maxo spits, “Acquired a name the opposite day large brother identified with Lupus / He advised me he would possibly die quickly, I advised him, ‘B—ch, you silly’/ Trigger actual gangsters dwell eternally.” Maxo’s supply is caked in grief, the sort that bubbles underneath the floor whereas the particular person it resides in tries their greatest to carry themselves collectively. Equal elements reflective and therapeutic, “No Then You a Hoe” is a house run for Maxo.
MaKenzie & TA Thomas, “Perhaps”
For her first official launch underneath Warner Data, MaKenzie faucets TA Thomas for a rousing duet that embodies the hallmarks of ’90s and ’00s R&B vocal collaborations with out feeling trapped in a corny pastiche of these eras. “Why can’t you have a look at me in my eyes?/ Consider me, swear that I’m by no means gon’ make you cry/ Recently, you keepin’ me up at night time/ Runnin’, runnin’ by way of my thoughts,” they croon harmoniously within the second verse. Their joint affinity for dizzying descending riffs pairs effectively with the Rob Knox- and Darryl Pearson-crafted beat, which incorporate warped strings and refined, grounding percussion.
Elmiene, “Crystal Tears”
Marking his first new single of 2024, Elmiene’s “Crystal Tears” is a successful collaboration with Grammy-winning R&B savant D’Mile. “I apologize for leaving, and I do know that/ If I curse my methods/ Gained’t imply you would possibly keep,” he croons in his trademark honeyed tone. The British R&B breakout artist’s voice sounds proper at house over D’Mile’s sultry guitar-centric association; he dips into his delicate falsetto to convey essentially the most painful elements of his introspection earlier than bringing in his immersive background harmonies to pair with the introduction of twinkling synths and earthy drums. “My goals are dragged on/ Dеspite of my house/ I could be alonе,” he sings.
Chief Keef & Mike WiLL Made-It Feat. 2 Chainz, “PULL UP GHOST-CLAN”
The Entice-A-Holics tags pack Chief Keef and Mike WiLL Made-It’s Soiled Nachos with a dose of 2000s mixtape nostalgia that’s missing in at the moment’s rap panorama. Sosa pours up and slithers in for a syrupy verse on standout observe “PULL-UP GHOST-CLAN” earlier than including a lean PSA for listeners. “N—as ingesting brown lean, actin’ like a sipper/ Watch out, ’trigger that s–t will most likely f–king kill you,” he contests. 2 Chainz invades the celebration as the proper visitor star, using elementary rhymes that simply wouldn’t work in the event that they had been spit by nearly some other rapper outdoors of the Drench God. “Don’t attempt to examine, I’m in an entire ‘nother class/ Everyone know, my movement is nastier than a rest room/ I’m straight out the laboratory,” he boasts. Soiled Nachos units the stage for what must be a banner 12 months for each Mike Will and Sosa.
Don Toliver, “Deep within the Water”
Constructing off the success of “Bandit,” Don Toliver delivered the woozy “Deep within the Water” in the course of the week to face out from the muddle of New Music Friday. The Cactus Jack artist dives headfirst into an emotional kaleidoscope on “Deep within the Water,” which finds him getting candid about his intimacy with girlfriend Kali Uchis as he makes an attempt to curb the vices throwing hurdles into their relationship. “You mentioned you wanna take management of me however I obtained all of the solutions/ You need me executed with the strip membership, you already know I’m executed with them dancers,” he croons. An accompanying blue-tinted music video offers followers a primary glimpse at Toliver in dad mode; Uchis gave beginning to the couple’s first youngster – a child boy – earlier this 12 months.
