HIPHOPDX

New Music Friday is back — and with a whole new look.

What hasn’t changed, however, is our mission to feed you the best new music and help you sift through the endless (if not slightly intimidating) stream of fresh rap and R&B that floods your favorite streaming service each week.

AD

AD LOADING...

On the albums front, this week sees a mix of new projects from Southern stalwart Killer Mike, the genre-mashing, speaker-thrashing JPEGMAFIA and blog rap darling Wiz Khalifa, among others.

So whether you’re looking to get stoned, spiritual or scare the hoes, we’ve got you covered. (Sidebar: No, Vultures 2 didn’t drop today. Shocker.)

Check out the full list below and peep this week’s best new singles here.

AD

AD LOADING...

Killer Mike — Songs For Sinners & Saints

Features: Offset, Project Pat, Key Glock, Blxst, Anthony Hamilton

Producers: DJ Paul, Cutmaster Swiff, Tec Beatz, Cuz Lightyear, Tanner “Treedot” Ott

Label: VLNS / Loma Vista

A collaboration with his band the Mighty Midnight Miracle, Songs For Sinners & Saints serves as a 10-track epilogue to Killer Mike’s Grammy-winning opus MICHAEL. As he explained in a press release, “I realized I had more I wanted to do with this sound before moving on.”

AD

AD LOADING...

JPEGMAFIA — I Lay Down My Life For You

Features: Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, Buzzy Lee

Producers: JPEGMAFIA, Kenny Beats, Flume, Nick Lee, Alec Goldblatt

Label: PEGGY / AWAL

After scaring the hoes alongside Danny Brown, JPEGMAFIA returns to strike fear in speakers everywhere with his latest solo effort — complete with assists from Vince Staples and Denzel Curry, and some choice bars for Kendrick Lamar’s best friend.

Wiz Khalifa — Wiz Owens

Features: Sosamann, 24hrs, Young Deji

Producers: Harry Fraud, Sledgren, Chris Dreamer, Daniel Sarto, Diamond

Label: Taylor Gang

Even welcoming another kid isn’t slowing Wiz Khalifa’s roll. Fashioning himself after the renowned designer Rick Owens, the Taylor Gang chief serves up 13 new joints to blaze to — or better yet, “get in your car and do something cool wit tha homies.”

AD

AD LOADING...

Vybz Kartel — First Week Out

Features: Squash

Producers: Aiko Pon Di Beat, Vybz Kartel Muzik, Adidjahiem Records, Hemton Music, Dunwell Productions

Label: 21st Hapilos Compilations

The World Boss is wasting no time getting back to business. Fresh off his release from prison after spending 13 years behind bars, the Jamaican dancehall legend celebrates his newfound freedom by dropping this new 12-track project.

Navy Blue — Memoirs In Armour

Features: N/A

Producers: Budgie, Chuck Strangers, Nicholas Craven, Child Actor, Navy Blue

Label: Freedom Sounds

If you prefer your raps introspective over lo-fi soul loops, few do it better right now than Navy Blue. Backed by some of the underground’s best beatmakers, the multi-talented Sage Elsesser continues his streak of poigant self-reflection with Memoirs In Armour.

AD

AD LOADING...

Soulja Boy — Swag Season

Taking time out from tearing into everyone from Drake and DaBaby to Metro Boomin and B. Simone on social media, Soulja Boy follows up February’s Swag 6 with the similarly drippy Swag Season.

Features: N/A

Producers: Credits unavailable

Label: SODMG

Khalid — Sincere

Features: Arlo Parks

Producers: Chrome Sparks, Nate Mingo, Denis Kosiak, Jason Kellner, Digi

Label: RCA / Right Hand Music Group

Now in his mid-20s, the American teen ends his five-year hiatus and showcases his growth with his third album Sincere. “I needed to take that break,” Khalid told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe prior to its release. “When I come back, I’ll come back with more claritty, more maturity, more knowledge.”