The Weekly Dip 1/28/22

Due to the weather, we can’t really consider these dips for a while, don’t need anyone freezing to death trying to get a quick splash. However, have you ever dropped a nice chunk a rock into a body of water with a sheet of ice frozen over it? If you do this experiment, you’ll find that once the stone hits the water, it makes a sort of reverberating noise & that’s how I want you to think of each of these songs, as they all are worthy of causing ripple waves in the music scene.

Eastside Fish - California Shit (Video)

Ever since I heard this man so gracefully execute that opening verse to Reek & Sage’s “Budget”, I’ve been dying to hear more. I immediately had to look him up to find anything I could from him & I found a good amount of some killer ass music with this single being one of them. Although the single came out like, at the halfway point of last year, it’s still all too powerful a single to not come back nearly a year later to remind anybody who may have forgotten how hard this record is. Although from Texas, he’s drawing those correlations between here & Cali with his undeniable presence on a track, it just demands your ear & that has a lot to do with his voice & delivery, never mind the rhymes, which are impeccable but I shouldn’t have said it though I hope anyone read this can surmise that I only say that cause it would take me too long to break down his incredible rhymes. With an EP coming this Monday, courtesy of The Tree Team, I am thrilled to learn my wish is coming to fruition soon! Eastside Fish is gonna be making ripple effects all throughout the scene this year, bet that!

Benny the Butcher, J. Cole - Johnny P’s Caddy (Video)

Last night was quite the surprise for me, on multiple accounts. Griselda has just been dominating the game, ever since I came across them back in 2016, courtesy of Royce Da 5’9”. It’s been amazing to see the growth since & just how that same growth refuses to cease. Benny, aka the silent assassin has been catching as many bodies, if not more than his Griselda brethren & sisters & now he’s ready to capitalize once more on his infamous “Tana Talk” series with the 4th installment now underway. Here we get the surprising first dose of the album with a very surprising collab between him & Cole. I think it’s time I really sit with Cole’s music at this point cause his feature game is just too impeccable. It’s just that classic gritty sound, coupled with Cole’s intelligence on the mic, it’s a beautiful juxtaposition in style but works so beautifully & you can never go wrong with Uncle Al. I also love how Griselda is always shouting out their people & landmarks from their city, it just emphasizes how real they are & the fact that, they’re as real as they come.

boyband - SURE!

Loving this change of pace for boyband, especially considering how different it is from everything else I’ve heard from him. What’s impressive is how this is all self produced, if I’m not mistaken but the way he captures that teenage angst in this record is impeccable. The lyrics in & of themselves just scream the wildest things imaginable. He seems fed up with all the fake humble shit & is demanding his respect, while simultaneously calling out the hypocrisy he’s been seeing maneuvering this game. I sure do hope the visual treatment for this song is on the way cause the background to the single on Spotify indicates that to be true. A real concise banger if I do say so myself.

xoDEADHOMIE - Black Out

Staying true to his prolific nature, it should be no surprise that our dead homie has recrawled out of the grave the opposition may have thought they finally entombed him in. What they don’t know is he’s pushing through all the dirt & muck to come back on them with a vengeance. You don’t wanna put the thought in his head cause it has enough power to cause an outage & then you really ain’t gonna see him coming. It’s nice hearing him talk his shit in drippy fashion, I mean this record is just bonafide swag, leaving the lames staggering out of the room. He’s not concerned with being anything others wish him to be & remains an outlier beating the insiders at their own game, one that they actually haven’t really lived like that dad opposed to him. He’s another one who’s as real as they come, never no fugaziness with him.

AZ - This Is Mine (Video)

Can we just take a second to admire our OG here, who only seems to get more & more flyer every year he ages, like the finest of wines. AZ is back now to capitalize on the momentum that was his sequel to his classic “Doe or Die” with 4 more extra tracks for the deluxe edition. We covered the 2 Chainz assisted “Motorola Era” last time so it’s an honor & a privilege to have him on for another week. On “This Is Mine”, AZ is on his king stature, not sitting on his throne waiting for the respect he deserves, they simply bow at his feet whenever he’s speaking. His voice & flow, the delivery, just demands your attention & his ear for production as well just continues to grow impeccably. Make sure y’all cop that deluxe & bask in more of his elegance.

ONLY 3REE, JC Tranquility - With You (Video)

As we await JC’s upcoming “No Love Lost” project, JC has relinked with 3REE for another one of them ones & although concise, it’s still one of those records that’ll get you right in the feels. Those acoustics alone will surely yank at your heartstrings, maybe even snip them if you’re not careful. A nice little number, dedicated to quality time with your significant other. JC to me just has that voice, it’s so delicate, like rose petals falling at your feet & even more so if you know her cause if you do then you’re very much aware of the energy she exudes, so much so that even on record, you can still feel her spirit coursing through you. Let’s hope for more collabs from these two in the near future cause the chemistry is undeniable.

Quentin Heartz feat Lil Bootycall - Love Is Blind (Video)

At the start of the new year, Texas crooner Quentin Heartz released a 4-track EP titled “Heart & Mind.” The project was full of angst & mystery rolled together nicely with the sensational vocals of Quentin. During the next couple of weeks, one of the singles got the visual treatment which happened to be the Lil Bootycall-assisted record “Love Is Blind. Provided with some reputable raps by Lil Bootycall & Quentin doing a fantastic job of baring out his heart & soul in the record, the directorial work by BXR Films helped bring this R&B ballad to life. Proceeding to walk through this new journey with you with his eye closed shut, Quentin is uncertain one where the path ends with you. He’s in a place he’s not familiar with & is uneasy with moving forward. It’s exotic for him and one he’s attempted to travel before, but he made mistakes that lead to heartache. He dishes this melancholy tale while showcasing some of the most stunning looks and shot, becoming one of my favorite videos to kick-off 2022. I’m hoping to see Quentin Heartz appear more on our timeline in the year, and if you're still sleeping on his art, wake up and enjoy the roses that are his music

Natë Joel - Smile On My Face (Video)

I recently got introduced to Natë Joel by way of our photographer, That Kid Carter, who had shared a few visuals and his latest EP, “KIDS AT HEART,” with me that instantly made me a new fan. You enter a vibe once you place your attention on one of his videos & it’s always captivating with creativity from beginning to end. His raps are devised with precision and soul; you can sense that seconds in his latest video release titled “Smile On My Face.” He enjoys the moments where he can express emotions in such a vivid way, using subtitles to paint the background of the videos & you can sense his artistry distancing itself from his peers, making him a one-of-a-kind artist that deserves to be cherished and heard. I’m excited to see what the future hold for this elite emcee and will make sure to support everything he does