Back In Bidness
Back In Bidness Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Shoreline Mafia , OhGeesy & Fenix Flexin
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OMW2 REXDALE
OMW2 REXDALE Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 NAV The Toronto rapper’s fifth album is finally here .
RENT'S DUE
RENT'S DUE Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Nemzzz Despite a breakthrough mixtape in 2024’s DO NOT DISTURB under his belt, Nemzzz still has to sweat the little things on its follow-up, 2025’s RENT’S DUE . Central Cee and Kyle Richh of 41 both come through for guest verses, but Nemzzz, who’s originally from Manchester, manages to approach the project with a humility that’s infectious: He’s playing big shows and moving tons of units, but he’s still got plenty more to prove. With his signature, UK drill-inspired flow, Nemzzz takes us deep into his psyche. Over stomping percussion, rubbery 808s, and a retro horn melody on “COLD,” he raps, “Apart from bro, when I ain’t have bread, me, I didn’t hear from no one.” He sums it up nicely during the next verse when he adds, “Mumsy didn’t expect this life for me when I was an infant.” On RENT’S DUE , Nemzzz makes it clear he’s still growing into his status as a superstar, but he’s getting a bit more comfortable with each chart-top...
Based on a True Story
Based on a True Story Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Will Smith Will Smith has heard the chatter. So much of it, in fact, that the armchair punditry he apes on his Based on a True Story opener, “Int. Barbershop - Day,” sounds like it could be a field recording from any number of Black American gathering spaces. “Who the fuck Will Smith think he is?/And that boy damn crazy how he raising them kids,” goes a particularly cartoony quip. But that’s the beauty of Smith’s creative practice. Whether as star of television’s groundbreaking The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , hunky lead of rom-coms like Hitch , and even action flicks like the Bad Boys franchise, Smith has never had a problem poking fun at himself. But keep playing…and he’ll get serious quick. Which is exactly what happens on Based on a True Story , Smith’s first body of work following 2022’s infamous Chris Rock/Oscars altercation and his first full-length album since 2005’s Lost and Found . On...
MUSIC
MUSIC Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Playboi Carti Playboi Carti has hardly been absent in the roughly four years since Whole Lotta Red , appearing alongside the likes of Future, Latto, and Trippie Redd in the interim. Still, that didn’t keep his enormous fanbase from persistently clamoring over the prospect of I AM MUSIC , ultimately released with the truncated title of, simply, MUSIC . Its substantial length seems to acknowledge the wait, opening with a flurry of rage-rap tracks like “POP OUT” and “CRUSH” that herald the raconteur’s welcome arrival. Over its 30-track, 77-minute runtime, his sonics shift between the aggressively blown-out, synth-heavy post-trap he became infamous for and something markedly poppier, yet all of it undeniably within his stylistic range. Carti initially kept his choice of guests close to the vest, as has become custom for high-profile album drops. Yet it would be impossible not to recognize Kendrick Lamar spitting on “GOOD CREDIT,” Future emo...
Ms. Salazar
Ms. Salazar Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Deebaby Co-signed by everyone from Kevin Gates to YTB Fatt, rising Mexican American rapper Deebaby traffics in a particularly irresistible blend of soulful and trap-adjacent Texas hip-hop. After indulging in and honoring Houston’s hometown history of double-cup diatribes on prior efforts like Junkie Mode , he carries on with his most complete and consistent album to date with Ms. Salazar , its title a respectful and reverent tribute to the woman who raised him. Accented by the evident sound of swirling ice and dirty soda slurps, his drawl adds to the Southern authenticity behind his lyrics on singles “Half a Ticket” and “Private Planes.” Launching off a novel premise between lovers, “Don’t Go Back” opens up a dialogue about the lure of the streets and its surrounding vices. The catchiness of his hooks and half-sung bars is countered by the gravity of his emotional subject matter on cuts like “Feel Like Givin Up” and “Make Me Feel Better...
