Kendrick Lamar, Baby Keem & Tyler, the Creator Just Want to Have Fun on "The Hillbillies"

Hopefully, you enjoyed Memorial Day as much as this TikTok dad enjoys rapping Drake’s verse from Future’s “I’m On One” song. Drake’s response? “Need at the tour big guy” posting the video on his IG stories 😂 Slightly shorter edition due to yesterday’s holiday but in other news today: 👀 

• Billboard Hot 100 chart & Lil Durk’s projected sales 📈 

• Kendrick Lamar & Baby Keem are having fun on “The Hillbillies” 🤠 

• Metro Boomin reveals star-studded cast for Spider-Man soundtrack 🦸 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• Industry Insights

@raiderm24

Shoutout Drake!!! #drake #imononeremix #future #fyp #radiersnation🏈 #nf #pacifico #summervibes #raptok

Hot 100 Chart & Streams

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking, as of today, and the corresponding song streams for the week of May 19th to 25th as reported by Hits Double Daily. Hot 100 ranks songs based on a combination of streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

The full Hot 100 chart isn’t being revealed until tomorrow because of the holiday on Monday but the top 10 shows Toosii stays winning moving up to #5 as “Favorite Song” continues to be his biggest hit yet.

Lil Durk Album Sales & Projections

In light of the partial Hot 100 chart, take a look at Lil Durk’s projected sales for his new album, Almost Healed, compared to his last 2 releases. If he hits the 150K mark or beyond, he will tie the sales for his collaborative album with Lil Baby in 2021.

Durk’s headed for a #2 debut with the #1 spot likely going to Morgan Wallen whose been dominating the Billboard 200 chart and is featured on “Stand By Me” from Durk’s new album. It’s still 2 spots higher than rival NBA YoungBoy whose Richest Opp project debuted at #4.

Kendrick Lamar, Baby Keem & Tyler, the Creator are Having Fun in “The Hillbillies” Music Video

K Dot and Baby Keem are back, smokin’ on your top five, with another collaborative track titled “The Hillbillies” 🤠 The song was dropped as a surprise this morning, posting the VHS-inspired music video on YouTube and isn’t currently available on streaming platforms.

The jet set visuals, directed by Neal Farmer, appear to have been shot while Kendrick and Keem were traveling for The Big Steppers tour last year and feature locations in London, a private jet, hotels, and outside Dodger Stadium.

Tyler, the Creator makes an appearance towards the end and holds a Camp Flog Gnaw 2023 pin up to the camera, pointing to Dodger Stadium after. He’s announcing his festival’s return since its last edition in 2019 and suggesting it will be held at the LA baseball stadium…potentially with Keem and Kendrick as headliners?

Produced by Surf Gang’s Evilgiane, the beat samples Bon Iver’s 2020 track “PDLIF” in the same vein as Kanye’s 2010 Bon Iver sample on “Lost In The Woods”. Baby Keem raps, “Messi, get them girls off the stage, ‘cause somebody’s gonna get taken,” which interpolates the lyrics “Ayo Eric, bring them girls to the stage / ‘Cause somebody’s gettin’ paid,” from Drake’s “Sticky” song.

Throughout the song, Kendrick and Keem refer to themselves as Messi and Neymar, two professional soccer players on the Paris Saint-Germain team. They liken themselves to the athletes by both physical height and status—the rap duo equivalent of star players at the top of their game. “They gon think that you rep me, girl, 5’7”, I’m Messi, girl,” Kendrick raps in the chorus.

Context for those of you out touching grass

Kendrick and Keem have previously linked up for multiple songs like the Grammy-winning “Family Ties” and “Range Brothers”. Both song titles fittingly reflect their familial relationship as cousins and Keem is one of the few artists signed to Kendrick’s pgLang company. Since leaving TDE last year, Kendrick’s gone full steam ahead with his media/service company for creators, pgLang, alongside his business partner Dave Free.

If you’re a Kendrick fan you know he does everything with intention and the surprise drop is likely part of a larger plan. Manifesting a full-length album from Kendrick and Keem in the near future.

Why this matters

For once, we’re seeing Kendrick have fun and be carefree without thinking too deeply about an overarching meaning or message. Keem seems to bring that side out of him and the duo’s dynamic is reminiscent of A$AP Rocky and Tyler in their “Potato Salad” era.

As mentioned last week with the news of Offset and Quavo’s solo albums, there’s a lack of groups and/or duos in rap right now. Kendrick and Keem are in a unique position because they’ve already defined their individuality and success as separate artists.

If they did a whole project together, they could experiment with different sounds and styles of rap leveraging their individual strengths to create something unique. It’s like when the 2 smart kids in class work together on a project, what they achieve couldn’t be done alone and no one else can compete.

Metro Boomin Confirms Uzi, A$AP Rocky, J.I.D & More for ‘Spiderverse’ Soundtrack

Metro Boomin hasn’t slowed down since the release of his third #1 album, Heroes & Villains. Keeping the superhero theme going, he’s executive producing the soundtrack for the upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie, and finally announced the highly anticipated features.

Don Toliver, James Blake, Future, Nav, Coi Leray, J.I.D, Swae Lee, Lil Uzi Vert, BEAM, Offset, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Wizkid, A$AP Rocky, and 21 Savage have all been confirmed for the soundtrack. Similar to the rollout for Heroes & Villains, Metro made the announcement by posting cartoon illustrations of each artist as their Spider-Man alter ego.

The cast for the soundtrack is fire and it’ll be interesting to hear Metro’s take on scoring a Marvel feature film for a PG audience. Given the genre of the featured artists, you’ll likely hear a range of styles curated by Metro from melodic hip-hop and southern trap to Afrobeats and pop rap. It’s releasing this Friday, June 2nd.

Context for those of you out touching grass

Metro’s been teasing multiple collaborations since the beginning of the year, J.I.D, Future, and A$AP Rocky—to name a few—who all appear on the soundtrack. He’s confirmed a joint album with Future and Rocky revealed Metro produced so much of his new album it’s basically a collab.

The featured artists for Heroes and Villains were lean, with only a handful of Metro’s regular collaborators. He’s expanded his reach for Spider-Man and there may be more surprise announcements. Unconfirmed song snippets and previews suggest Rema, Ice Spice, and Dominic Fike will also be on the soundtrack.

Why this matters

Creating a soundtrack for a film franchise is more challenging than a solo album. Metro needs to strike a balance between innovation, his own signature style, and the pre-established theme of the Marvel Spider-Man movies.

It’s like being the CEO of a publicly traded company versus a privately owned company. There are more shareholders at stake who need to be considered and appeased for a soundtrack (directors, writers, editors, producers) than for a studio album that’s solely for the success of an individual artist.

Metro’s already solidified his place as a tastemaker and top-tier producer. If he lives up to the challenge of scoring a major feature film, he’ll continue to build a legacy that’ll be remembered and studied in hip-hop history.

The Rap Index ft. Yeat, Young Thug, Lil Durk, Kodak Black & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories, describing subgenres of rap, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

1. “Lick Or Sum” by GloRilla (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Pistolz & Pearlz” by Kodak Black (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Turn The Streets Up” by EST Gee (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “Ocean Spray” by Moneybagg Yo (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “Bottle Girl” by Dom Corleo (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “My wrist” by Yeat & Young Thug (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “Cross The Globe” by Lil Durk ft. Juice WRLD (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Super Villain” by Cochise (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

• Kanye vs. adidas: judge overturns court ruling on $75M Yeezy asset freeze claiming adidas “deprived” the label of a fair chance to challenge the freeze amid their high-profile separation.

• Kid Cudi previews new song dropping this Friday from his upcoming album. The track is produced by frequent Yeat collaborator, BNYX, leaning into a rage rap sound.

• Hit-Boy announces new album with single, “Reckless & Ratchet”, featuring his father Big Hit. The raunchy lyrics call out Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande, and Cardi B.

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