The first days of March are leading off with an assortment of new vibes to tap into.
In this week’s edition of HipHopDX’s New Music Friday Albums coverage, a gap has been bridged between North Carolina and Baton Rouge in light of the collaborative project from rap bad boys DaBaby and NBA YoungBoy. Purists also have something to look forward to via the joint-effort offering from New York Hip Hop legends the RZA and DJ Scratch.
Additional highlights include a posthumous album from deceased Chicago MC King Von and new releases from artists such as The Cool Kids, BabyTron, BlueBucksClan and more.
Check out the full group of albums released on Friday (March 4), below.
DaBaby & NBA YoungBoy – Better Than You
Since last January, when DaBaby first teased an unreleased snippet of “Bestie/Hit” featuring NBA YoungBoy, which the internet was convinced sounded a lot like Playboi Carti, a conversation has been buzzing about their rumored collaborative project.
Baby and Top made things official last month upon the release of their “Neighborhood Superstar” single in addition to the cover art for their Better Than You project.
Now, DaBaby and NBA YoungBoy share the full 11-song album capping off a short, whirlwind collaborative history for the pair which started out in 2020 with their Baby On Baby banger “Jump.”
King Von – What It Means To Be King
It is still hard to believe it has been nearly two years since the death of OTF rapper King Von, who was shot and killed outside an Atlanta hookah lounge on November 6, 2020.
The Chicago native’s estate has maintained a healthy string of posthumous releases, including the animated visual single for “Don’t Play That” featuring 21 Savage, which dropped last month. King Von’s estate continued the honor the legacy of the Welcome To O’Block lyricist by initiating the rollout of his first posthumous album via the militant “War” single.
Serving as the follow-up to King Von’s 2020 debut album, What It Means To Be King arrives intact with 19-tracks and features from Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, Moneybagg Yo, Tee Grizzley and more.
The Cool Kids – Before Shit Got Weird
Last month during their augmented reality metaverse performance for the Kid Cudi-backed live music streaming app Encore, Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids referenced Outkast’s beloved Stankonia and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below albums to help explain the structure of their triple-disc Before Shit Got Weird album.
In addition to The Cool Kids collaborative project, Before Shit Got Weird also includes full-length solo albums from both Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish.
For part one of their musical trifecta, The Cool Kids deliver 21-tracks featuring an assortment of guest verses from rappers such as JID, Larry June, Guapdad 4000, Chance The Rapper and more.
RZA & DJ Scratch – Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater
It has been somewhat of a long road to the release of the RZA and DJ Scratch’s Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater collab project.
After announcing the album last June in light of his new partnership with Cadillac, RZA had the intention to deliver the DJ Scratch-helmed musical masterclass before the end of summer 2021, however, the project seemed to fall to the background.
All delays aside, RZA and DJ Scratch’s Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater finally arrives in short form, with a digestible seven-sing tracklist.
BabyTron – Megatron
Detroit rapper BabyTron only initiated the rollout of his Megatron album just days ago by bridging the gap between The Motor City and South Florida with Daboii for their methodical “Chess Players” single.
However, when you have co-signs from Jack Harlow and Kevin Durant, moving to the beat of your own drum is standard, and something that the Shitty Boyz head honcho has become accustomed to.
Coming through with an effortless flex of his unique lyrical skillset, BabyTron drops off his 23-song Megatron album — the follow-up to his 2021 Bin Reaper 2 project.
BlueBucksClan – See The Difference
Los Angeles rap duo BlueBucksClan is off to an impressive start to 2022.
Following the release of their 2021 Clan Virus 2 project, BlueBucksClan has maintained a feverish pace via a string of releases such as their “Valentines Day” offering in addition to their assistance on 03 Greedo’s “Pourin” single.
Continuing to carry the torch for L.A. reality rap, BlueBucksClan drop off a quick four-piece special in the form of their See The Difference release.
New Music Friday - New Singles From Joey Bada$$, Pusha T + Nigo, Khalid, Dave + More
The Honorable Mentions list also features a fresh bundle of new offerings from artists such as Smoke DZA, Machine Gun Kelly, Tinashe, Woppa Wit Da Choppa, Your Old Droog, R&B vocalist Kiana Lede, Atlantic Records artist Sueco, LB199x and more.
Also, peep this week’s New Music Friday Singles list featuring new releases from Pusha T and NIGO, Morray and Cordae, Joey Bada$$, Tee Grizzley and more.
Stay up-to-date with the latest music releases here.
RZA never could spit to me, some good nostalgic beats tho. Cool Kids album is slick. I assume the other stuff is just that I’m too old to get it. Gonna check that Von, bro was nice.
Tone Spliff and Vic Monroe dropped a banger if you like that type of boom bap hiop hop come vheck my instagram therealjuri.
There is this new Onyx album called 1993…
another friday another huge letdown of releases. God rap sucks now
and each friday this lamento by a brother called j, GET A LIFE!
ELCAMINO x CHASE FETTI Bethlehem EP
NEXUS Z Mindstone EP
KHALI AHKTANE Love My Style EP
STINKIN SLUMROK Stink-O-Vision
BODEGA BAMZ Vivir EP
What a pile of trash.
wym von good
Kinda disappointed with the length of that RZA album, waited so long for only 7 tracks. They better be good. I always enioyed RZAs solo stuff so far, sure he is not to most gifted rapper out of the clan when it comes to pure rapping skills. Still, always liked his rawness and unique style, lyrically he is also able to spit some “outer worlds” shit.
Some other interesting projects are Your Old Droog&Nicholas Craven, then the new Eddie Kaine project, The Cool Kids, Vic Monroe&Tone Spliff and an album called Strange Planets by Tom Caruana.
I love the RZA, but this ep was disappointing for the 1st listen. Maybe it will grow on me. The Cool Kids is just not my cup of tea. The rest of the list are pure bs. Idk how they don’t mention the new Onyx, nor the new Stik Figa. Of course if Hov or Ye farts they post 3 articles on it.
How does anyone get through a song with that nba dude? No lyrics, no flow, annoying voice, i cant believe dababy made a full album with him. Not that i like dababy much either, but its clear he has some talent. I listened about 10 seconds of the first song on their album and immediately knew the whole album was trash.
Anyway, gonna listen to that rza shit later today, i bet it won’t dissapoint.