SEARCH FOR: DRAKE PLAYLIST

Canada has grown as a destination for hip-hop music, but there are definitely certain provinces that seem to gain a lot more attention than other areas, but there are some emcees that mean business and want to change this narrative. If we’re looking at the country overall, it isn’t a surprise or shock to say that Toronto has taken the crown as our northern neighbor’s top music city when considering artists like Drake, The Weeknd, NAV, and plenty of others, but this doesn’t mean that people from other regions aren’t deserving of nationwide recognition. Winnipeg, Manitoba is certainly on the rise, and it’s thanks to emcees like YSN Fab, a rapper, singer, and songwriter who has been in the industry since 2018 and making bigger and bigger waves ever since. After gaining additional international attention with his album Made 4 More, he has been on the cover of playlists and was even featured on the official “Beats By Dre” playlist. This led to recognition as one of the top Canadian musicians by Sidedoor Magazine and even one of the top up-and-coming black Canadian artists by Complex. I thoroughly enjoy tapping in with his music as he drops more, and his …

If you’ve been paying attention to the music industry for the past year, it’s very difficult to look anywhere without seeing the name “Yeat” all over the internet. With a name so familiar and recognizable, it was no surprise that he would blow up to be one of hip-hop’s most sought-after acts right now. Originally blowing up from his single “Get Busy”, Yeat’s rise to fame came rather quickly as this song began to trend on Tik Tok. Causing fans to venture backward and check out his other work, it is then that other songs such as “Sorry Bout That”, “Mad Bout That”, and “Money Twerk” began to pick up traction as well, and the Yeat takeover began. Following up his 4L album with Up 2 Më gained Yeat even more notoriety in the game, as more songs from the album began to pick up steam and could be heard on everyone’s playlist from around the world. At this point, this is when fans knew that Yeat was something special. After putting out many snippets, teasing a new album, and the Cole Bennett-directed music video for “Still countin”, Yeat finally dropped his first project of 2022,  2 Alivë. Yeat has managed to take a step …

Every so often, I get enormous bursts of inspiration that I cannot seem to shake. My latest one came in the form of what you’re about to read. With so much great music coming out these days, it’s almost impossible to pick favorites…but today, I’m going to try. For the next 5 minutes of your life, I ask for nothing more than a little piece of your attention as I take you on a trip into my music listening cycle. A lot of great music dropped during the month of September, which is why I decided it would be a blast to highlight some songs that I thought were absolutely exceptional. I often times specialize in covering artists who are just breaking on to the scene, but every once in a while, I love getting to show love to some talent who we already know and love. So, without further ado, keep scrolling down to check out my favorite 16 songs from the month of September; IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: — 1. amphetamine-[boylife] boylife has been one of those artists who never ceases to amaze me with his music. Each time I head to his Spotify page, I’m always elated …

With producers finally starting to get more recognition and respect in the industry, there are still tons of producers out there that have been secretly putting out major hits that the world may not even be hip to. While there’s still more work to be done to give producers and all creators their proper credit, various media outlets, producers themselves, and streaming services have been doing a pretty good job at highlighting all parties involved when it comes to the final product of a song. One of the producers who really has been having an amazing career thus far would be the New Jersey-native Austin Powerz. In recent years, he is known for producing on Meek Mill and Ella Mai’s hit “24/7”, Trippie Redd’s “How You Feel”, and even Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle”. In fact, he just recently obtained another producer credit for contributing to the creation of Drake’s “In The Bible” featuring Lil Durk and Giveon, from his highly anticipated album Certified Lover Boy. I sat down with Austin for his very first interview to speak about his career up until this point, how it feels to be mentored by Boi-1da, the success of his contributions on Certified Lover Boy and …

We recently ran an article talking about the recent “sample drill” phenomenon going on in New York right now that has seen quite a few mainstream hits and underground classics get warped into drill form and skated over by many of the city’s hardest young artists, today one of the undisputed innovators of this new wave Big YAYA is joined by Big Baby for a new Useless Films directed visual “BARACK,” on which perhaps the initial architect of sample-drill, Sparkheem, who alongside artists like Goonew and Xanman, as well as producers like Spizzledoe, Mannyvelli, and Johnny Carvaggio, first began reworking old-school classics with futuristic trap drums, which albeit in Sparkheem’s case was at a more distinctively DMV-rhythym. Sparkheem blew my fucking mind with this one, as he flipped Drake, Rick Ross, and French Montana’s iconic 2012 “Stay Schemin’” at a faster pace with the off-kilter percussion that makes drill-music, in the NYC/UK sense, so instantly recognizable. It’s funny to me that YAYA hopped on such a legendary track that was in many ways dominated by Drake because I was just thinking that it is only a matter of time until The 6 God decides to steal YAYA’s (or really the …

DREJ is an artist out of Sarasota, Florida that I first got familiar with about six months ago through my older brother, Eric. His track “On Everything” was the first song of his that I heard, and I instantly found a liking for his sound, which led me to the rest of his catalog that is impressive, to say the least. I spoke to Drej about plenty of subjects including growing up in Barbados, moving to Florida, his songs “On Everything” + “Bad Advice”, landing on the New Music Friday Spotify playlist, artists he wants to work with in the future, getting scammed out of some money, being inspired by people such as Drake + Chris Brown and more. Drej is a super talented artist that I am very excited about, get familiar with him by watching this new interview below!

In the midst of the pandemic that began early last year, it forced a lot of us to find other means of entertainment as we were all stuck inside the house on lockdown. One of the best things to come from this pandemic from an entertainment standpoint, would be the Head-to-Head music battle platform “Verzuz”–founded and created by Hip-Hop legends Timbaland and Swizz Beats. What once started as just a one-off Instagram Live battle between the two moguls to see who had the better production catalog has now turned into a worldwide phenomenon–bringing the group chat/barbershop conversation into fruition as to who is the better artist. Two legends take turns playing hits after hits and a winner is declared just shortly after the battle is over once Timbaland and Swizz Beatz go Live and talk it out. The platform has since then grown to produce live in-person battles–accompanied with live DJ’s, amazing stage settings, and commentary from both artists in between songs. Some of the battles we have seen come from this would be DMX vs. Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys vs. John Legend, Rick Ross vs. 2 Chainz, Nelly vs. Ludacris, and even the controversial battle with Jeezy vs. Gucci …

Jaxon Free is a familiar face to the Lyrical Lemonade pages if you remember our coverage on the Raleighwood Hills record in which landed in former President Obama’s playlist last year. Today the Raleigh, North Carolina vocalist returns with a brand new single and video for “Fly.” The 20-year old’s sound is influenced by artists ranging from Drake, Khalid, and 6lack. You can see all of these inspirations in Jaxson’s music as he includes melodic sounds of r&b, pop, and hip-hop cadences. This is an upbeat single in which Free claims derives from a conversation he had with a friend. The record provides a message in which everyone can apply in some aspect in life and that message is letting go. Free states via email “When working on this record I started with the loop made by the homies xynothing, anselynl, and michaelcollinsprice. I just punched in and let it all flow out after having a conversation with a friend of mine about other anxieties and struggles.” Stream Jaxson Free’s new single “Fly” after the break.

FOREWORD In the history of the hip-hop industry, there has never been a more dominant artist than Aubrey “Drake” Graham. The 33 year-old superstar has undergone several re-inventions over the years, much to the delight of his ever-growing fanbase. As much as we have seen him progress, however, the substance in his music carries one glaring constant – heartbreak. It’s no secret that Drake is the master of the introspective love song, and as much as it probably pains him to have to go through experiences that inspire these records, the music has continued to serve as salvation for distraught fans everywhere.  At this point, we owe Drake for giving us all this incredible music at the expense of his own emotional distress. My first thought in paying homage was to curate a carefully-selected 100-song playlist of all his best music. Quickly, I realized that: 1) it’s an impossibly subjective task to narrow down his 100 “best” records, and 2) a playlist that deep is sure to oversaturate the respect we’re trying to pay in this instance. So I took a different approach. I thought to myself, ‘what would Drake appreciate the most from the perspective of a long-time fan? …

There are several different ways to describe someone on a hot streak. Comparable to a LeBron James triple double, or a thirty kill-streak on Call of Duty, Lil Baby is undeniably one of, if not the hottest rapper in the game right now. The Atlanta, Georgia native and Quality Control member turned heads when he released his second studio album My Turn in February, with guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, 42 Dugg, Young Thug, Gunna, Rylo Rodriguez, and Moneybagg Yo. The chemistry shared between Lil Baby and his chosen features is magnificent like a Lamar Jackson juke. Lil Uzi Vert arguably delivered the most memorable guest verse of the year on “Commercial,” with Lil Baby somehow not being overshadowed on his own part. From “Drip Too Hard,” “Sold Out Dates,” Life Goes On,” and more, it is no secret that Lil Baby and Gunna are a formidable brotherly duo, linking up once more on “Heatin Up.” According to Billboard, in its first week alone, My Turn debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 charts, with a staggering 197,000 album-equivalent units (including just under 10,000 legitimate album sales). Lil Baby is a fascinating artist because he completely understands what he’s best …