As the first day of summer arrives, a handful of talented rappers are dropping major heat with their new projects. This week, a Brooklyn rapper returns with a new mixtape, a Bay Area rhymer releases his long-awaited album, an underground rap hero presents a cinematic project and more.
22Gz Releases Brooklyn’s Most Wanted Mixtape
Despite his legal troubles, 22Gz hasn’t stopped grinding in the rap game. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn drill music leader released Growth & Development 2, a follow-up to his 2020 album.
Now the 26-year-old rhymer is back with a new mixtape titled Brooklyn’s Most Wanted. The nine-track collection features 22Gz’s delivering hardcore rhymes that vividly depict the turbulent realities of street life. The set’s first single is the eerie “Homicide,” which can be viewed below.
Read More: NYPD Has Rappers Sha Ek, 22Gz, Ron Suno Removed From Rolling Loud
G-Eazy Delivers His Freak Show Album
It’s been three years since rap fans have heard any new music from G-Eazy. Since the release of his 2021 album, These Things Happen Too (Deluxe), the Oakland, Calif. native has gone through several changes in his life.
For starters, G-Eazy, born Gerald Gillum, moved to New York City about a 1.5 years ago. Prior to his big move, he had begun working on his seventh studio album titled Freak Show. Living in New York City has proven to be a fulfilling experience for the 35-year-old rhymer.
“In L.A. I would have my house up in the (Hollywood) Hills and I’d be cooped up in my room at the top of that house and order Postmates,” he told USA Today. “Whereas (in New York), you have to go out and connect. I’m walking through SoHo, like Lower East Side, East Village and running into friends all the time. It is a good thing.”
During this time, G-Eazy also lost his mother, Suzanne Olmsted. The 36-year-old rhymer pays tribute to her on his project with the elegiac song, “Love You Forever.”
“Doing that record, it was both the toughest and the biggest breakthrough, because it was cathartic,” he recalled to the publication.
The first single and video from Freak Show is called “Anxiety,” which can be viewed below.
Read More: Bebe Rexha Calls G-Eazy an Ungrateful Loser
Your Old Droog Drops Movie
Your Old Droog is back with his new music project called Movie. As the title of his project suggests, the New York wordsmith is delivering cinematic rhymes over boom-bap beats.
The 18-track collection boasts guest appearances from Yasiin Bey, Method Man, Denzel Curry and production from Conductor Williams, Harry Fraud, Just Blaze and more.
“I won’t give away the plot but this ALBUM means a whole lot to me,” Droog wrote in an Instagram post back in May of 2024. “It took almost two years to complete and it’s finally here. One day it just came to me…”
“When I was a young child, I used to sit around the living room with my parents and whenever something defied reality in a film they would simply say ‘Kino,'” he continued. “When something was too good or too impossible… they just said. ‘Movie.’ This album is Movie.”
Your Old Droog dropped a video for his rap ballad, “I Think I Love Her.” In the clip, which can be viewed below, YOD is surrounded by a bevy of beautiful models as he sends a special shout out to all the beautiful women that catches his eyes.
Check out more new projects this week from Kehlani, Da Beatminerz, Esham and more below.
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Brooklyn’s Most Wanted
22Gz
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Freak Show
G-Eazy
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Movie
Your Old Droog
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Amuse Bouche
Esham
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Crash
Kehlani
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The Giant
Big Yavo
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Leaks, Vol. 2
OT7 Quanny
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Yellow Tape Road
Nyck Caution
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Chasing the Devil: Chapter 2 – Salvation
Krayzie Bone
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Stifled Creativity
Da Beatminerz
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Jacinto’s Prayng Mantis
Vinnie Paz