With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily roundup of the best new rap tracks you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.
ALLBLACK - “Heat Check”
When ALLBLACK raps everyone listens. The Oakland rapper really hasn’t missed with any of his releases this year and he knows it, which is why his latest single is titled “Heat Check.” There are plenty of spitters in the Bay Area rapping over funk beats with trunk-rattling bass, but nobody can take control of the production with the effortlessness of ALLBLACK. The track is a showcase for his smooth flow on which he explains that you can’t talk to him the same since he has blown up: “I’m acting funny since I got iTunes money.”
Rocky Badd - “Studio Flow”
When it comes to bars in Detroit few are more adept than Rocky Badd. In the video for “Studio Flow” the pint-sized rapper prances around with a gun that’s damn near the same height she is. On the track she talks her shit and lets everyone know that she’s about her business: “And my little pretty body make him run his pockets.”
Leikeli47 - “Girl Blunt”
New York’s masked rapper Leikeli47 jumps on a beat that’ll make the city think DJ Webstar has returned for her catchy track “Girl Blunt.” The track which was premiered on an episode of HBO’s “Insecure” features the distinct get lite drum pattern that sounds like it was made in the lunchroom of a New York City high school. It’s why it should be another song that finds itself soundtracking the New York fall.
ANKHLEJOHN - “First Class”
D.C.’s ANKHLEJOHN brings his grimy flow to production from Jersey beat maker Grimm Doza. The beat reciprocates the ruthless energy present in ANKHLEJOHN’s raps as he lets the grungy bars fly: “Don’t let me beat you like your father do/You got your style from me, so in that case, I fathered you.”
Big Kahuna OG - “Information Hygiene”
Richmond, Va. wordsmith Big Kahuna OG has been putting on for the Mutant Academy collective. On “Information Hygiene” the surgical spitter grabs a beat from producer Sadhu Gold for a calm journey into his mind where he creates all of his tongue twisting bars: “The yoppa under maintenance/The mutant gene depressed/My wings getting feathers, DNA getting settled.”
Check out yesterday’s Ones, and listen to new rap from ALLBLACK, Leikeli47, Rocky Badd, and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.
