The Week in Hip Hop - 7/18/21

I’ve never crossed my fingers harder. Rumors are once again swirling around that Kanye West, one of the most talented yet always controversial pop culture figures of this century, will finally be releasing his long awaited album, Donda, this coming Friday. The album, named after his late mother, was first anticipated to be released around this time last year, but, in typical Kanye fashion, what was supposed to be the release date came and went with no album. It joined nearly ten other Kanye projects over the years that have been teased but never amounted to anything. It has seemed, however, that this album rollout is much more serious in comparison to others in past years that have fizzled out. During Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, a Beats commercial aired starring the fastest woman in the United States, Sha’Carri Richardson. The soundtrack to the minute long ad is an abbreviated version of a new song from the Donda project, “No Child Left Behind”. Following the airing of the preview, Def Jam Recordings, who Ye is signed to, released a statement confirming the release of his tenth studio album on Friday, July 23rd. Four hours before its release to the public on Thursday, there is set to be another listening event for the album in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium which will also live stream via Apple. Once again, Mr. West has myself and many millions of others cautiously optimistic about Donda’s release. Kanye - don’t go breaking my heart this time around; please feel free to bless us with another classic.

In other Hip Hop related news, Tyler, The Creator, who just released his second number one album on June 25th, Call Me If You Get Lost, has a short film being released tomorrow that he wrote and directed in collaboration with Converse. The man truly never stops creating, whether it’s music, the Golf Wang streetwear brand, or even his acting.

The second posthumous album from the late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke, Faith, was released this past Friday, and while I did enjoy the majority of songs on the project, I’m hoping this was the last extended release from his estate. I say this because most of the tracks started to sound like Pop Smoke was a featured artist on his own songs, which just puts a sour taste in my mouth. I don’t think anyone wants another XXXTentacion situation, where his estate put out just about everything he recorded, even when it was obvious the songs were extremely partially complete at the time of his death.

I also wanted to mention the new music coming on Friday from popstar and marketing genius Lil Nas X of “Old Town Road” fame. Following the release of his song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” in March, he faced intense criticism regarding shoes that were being sold in collaboration with the song which contained drops of human blood. Over the past week on Twitter, he had been making it seem like he was facing jail time for this stunt. In reality, his tweets were promoting a new song and video, “Industry Baby,” featuring Jack Harlow. I would not be surprised if at this time next week that song is number one in the country.

Ending things on a somber note, Biz Markie, known for his timeless classic “Just a Friend,” passed away on July 16th at the age of 57 after battling several health problems in recent years. The universally loved OG is going to be greatly missed, as was evident by the outpouring of love by fans and fellow artists alike following the breaking of the news.