SEARCH FOR: TOP 50

I have tons of people hitting me up daily in order to send me music to check out, and while I love this usually, it can definitely get overwhelming at times. Due to this, I can’t always get to everything, but there are a few friends that have never sent me bad music even slightly, so when they send something through, I know it’s essential that I tune in. Well, the homie has sent through countless songs from Staten Island rapper/producer Wolfacejoeyy, and while I was impressed at first, I feel like I get more and more into his music with each additional record that comes across my radar. And let me tell you, plenty of music comes across both my phone and laptop screens because he seems to never leave the studio considering he drops so often, and he seems to only get better each time. Most recently, I was put onto his latest song “Scars”, an incredible track produced by Rio Leyva and ThankYouWill, and I am definitely not the only one who thinks this due to the fact that it landed in the top 50 on SoundCloud’s New & Hot chart which is right where it deserves …

There’s no shortage of statistically giant NYC artists right now as many of which bask in their mainstream moments, fully taking the drill sound in the mainstream and replacing much of the grit that made the sound so compelling to New Yorkers with a Top-40 luster that amounts to millions of plays. However the city’s underground was left itching not only for more but also something new. Shawny Binladen, alongside his frequent collaborators Big YAYA, Big Gltaow, Big Baby, Four50, and MellyMigo, managed to produce a sound that was familiar enough to ring true for those who have grown to love New York’s new de-facto style but also pushed the boundaries of it enough to create something even more potent than before, and of course that was before they even ever began to sample mainstream and cult-classics left-and-right. Most recently Shawny Binladen headed to L.A. to link with acclaimed director DotComNirvan for a quite visually captivating new release titled “Hercules/Paradise,”  pitting Shawny alongside a violin-player to match the regal string portion found in the instrumental. The beat was created by the duo of Michigan’s Carlo and Massachusetts’ ZT who both have been steadily stockpiling underground and mainstream artsits alike over …

It’s 9:40 PM in Chicago Illinois – May 6th, 2022   I am in the living room of the Lyrical Lemonade office with Ausar, OG Stevo, Chris Patrick, and Justin Alvarez. I just got back from two weeks of touring with femdot on the ‘Back Home’ tour, and one question that arose in the green room multiple times was: What’s the best cookie of all time? We had plenty of passionate and spirited debates about this on the road: Frsh Waters loves butter cookies, femdot is a fan of snickerdoodle, and Amindi is a fan of the frosted animal crackers. After many days of thinking about this in my head, I bought this question up to Ausar, OG Stevo, and Chris Patrick. So here we are – now 9:50 on a Friday night at the Lyrical Lemonade office, ranking our top 5 cookies. _____   First things first – Chris Patrick is the WILDCARD of this debate. For starters, he started his list from 5 to 1, which I think we can all agree is weird. He was extremely passionate about these things called Vienna cookies, must be a New Jersey thing because none of us from the midwest has …

“Get Refreshed” is a monthly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here. On Sidia… and Dolly’s Midas Touch I’d like to introduce everyone to the world’s best A&R. You’ve probably never heard her name before, just hear me out. It’s d0llywood1. Yes, this obscure, unheard-of A&R doesn’t work for a major label, nor is she even working in this little thing called the “music industry” whatsoever. She’s actually just like all of you out there – an admirer of modern underground music; a proponent of the future; a real music listener, if you will. Many of your favorite artists working today were originally discovered by her, and just because you’ve never heard her name before, doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate her for this very fact alone. In all seriousness, Dolly is not just the best damn rapper and all-around performer for her age. She’s truly the best A&R who’s not really an A&R. From Lei, to Kyenn, to pretty much everyone in SillyTeam who wasn’t popping before the collective started, she’s co-signed some of the most talented acts in the grander Internet music landscape before practically anyone else did before. Much like being a “Paul …

Coi Leray is one of those artists that I love hearing when she’s featured on songs and I always play some of her massive singles on repeat once I first hear them, but I have slept on her solo albums and projects for quite some time, and I really have no reason as to why I do this. I know she is so dexterous, talented, and compelling, but I guess I have no excuse as to why I haven’t listened up, and after finding out about and listening to her brand-new album Trendsetter, I realized that I was completely sleeping on her, and I need to wake the hell up because she honestly can do it all. Luckily, the homie hit me up and told me that it’s an essential listen because it’s such an insane album, and that was the push I needed to tap in, and I was blown away by the 20 songs that spanned just over 50 minutes long. With features like Nicki Minaj, Fivio Foreign, G Herbo, NAV, Lil Durk, Polo G, Lil Tecca, and many more, she has a star-studded lineup of diverse emcees which allows her to flex her versatility as well which …

As life started to return to a state of relative normality last spring, so did the state of live music. Tours were announced and re-announced, fans were ravenous for tickets, and together it seems like live music experienced its own isolated roaring 20’s – albeit briefly. Though there’s no telling what is bound to happen in the future, the covid case spikes seem to be fewer and far between these days – so below you’ll find a brief list of some of our favorite shows from 2021, as well as a few tours worth keeping your eyes on as spring turns to summer. Whether you love festival crowds or despise their hectic energy – we can all agree that there’s nothing better than listening to music with those we love. With luck, this list will guide you (and your friends) to a memory waiting to be made.  Our Favorite Shows of 2021 — IDK: Fresh from the release of his sophomore LP USEE4YOURSELF – IDK’s shows were the perfect portrayal of his recent hot streak. At his Los Angeles show, the venue was packed with diehard fans waiting on his every word. If he played a cut from an older …

“Get Refreshed” is a monthly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here. I Don’t Have The Stamina For This Blogging Shit Billy Bugara Hi. I’m back, and this time I brought my friends. So… I feel like this column could use a lot less Me every once in a while. I don’t treat blogging like a sport; I barely even blog at all. But even still, I know damn well that blogging isn’t really where I strive compared to others, and that’s okay! I have to write research papers every day… we are simply not the same. In all seriousness, I do want to explain what’s going on here before we jump into things. I am a person of platforming, a platforming person, if you will (it is my job for SoundCloud, after all). I just really enjoy turning the spotlight towards those who deserve it most. Most of the time – all of the time, really – I’m featuring musicians. But what about turning this spotlight towards other people who like to… spotlight musicians as well? Is this really ever done? Not often! Can it be done? Should it be done? Yes and yes! …

Jx.Zero is someone I first got familiar with a few months ago when my homie suggested I check out his song “Playboy”, which had roughly 250,000 streams on Spotify at the time. Soon after that, I extended Zero an invite to the Lyrical Lemonade office for an interview, and today I am very excited to bring you guys the final product. I spoke with Jx.Zero about many topics including the impact Tik-Tok has had on his career, the moment “Playboy” blew up, growing up in Georgia, his family, the meaning of Jx and Zero, artists he wants to work with and we talked about some of his childhood memories. This was an awesome conversation, hopefully we get to connect more with Jx.Zero in the future, but for now, watch this new interview below!

Ever since I got a Spotify account, I have gotten further away from SoundCloud than I ever wanted to. I just remember a time just a couple of years ago when I would spend hours on end every single day perusing through the different sections of SoundCloud, and that’s how I found out about so many underground artists that I have had the pleasure of watching blow up. Whether it was a recommendation from my brother or a friend, or a suggestion from the streaming platform itself, I have my music taste today because of the foundation that SoundCloud set for me years ago. Although I haven’t been nearly as tapped in with the platform as I once was, I love when artists drop SoundCloud exclusive singles because it brings me back to the time when I would stop in my tracks to head to SC to listen to a new record, so when I found out that TheHxliday dropped a new loosie entitled “Murder She Wrote” the other day, I had to tune in. Produced by Ransom, Wavy, and Conor Fitz, we are greeted by soothing guitar strums to start things off on a very Hxliday-esque vibe before kicking …

“Get Refreshed” is a monthly column by Billy Bugara covering all things digital in the music world. Refresh yourself here. Sorry I was too busy this past month and I forgot to ask someone to guest write for the column. Go read this really good essay on Yeat by the bestie Mano Sundaresan over at No Bells to make up for it. Bells & Whistles, Vol. 8: Yeat is everywhere and nowhere chase t: “These Bones is Weary” I was had… I was played. I admit it. After the launch of my new “Web Tempo” playlist for SoundCloud last month, I felt so overjoyed watching all of the kind and celebratory responses come through from everyone. It was a good day on Twitter – those DO NOT happen frequently, believe it or not. But like a cough drop in a pile of sweet candy, I noticed this one measly “negative” response. I put that in quotes because… I mean it wasn’t the meanest thing someone has said to me in response to my curation. I get tons of worse things said about me every day (thanks!!!!!!). This response in particular, however, simply went as follows: “snubbed.”  I saw this and …