rolling hanging mic song wars 2025

this is the rolling 2025 hip-hop thread

rio da young og - "wydt"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-piVv_VFRio

cortisa star - "fun"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myKH6qlTekk

karrahbooo - "bossy booo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXbqJlvEZbE

el snappo - "chicken"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0exwgzxC2k

fat trel ft. kp skywalka - "hit the brakes"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v59fLdYX6gY

and the year's first viral rap hit, "tweaker" by liangelo ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2MdybKPqfE

digging this from houston's deebaby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnLtVWNV6TY

haha good thread title

was thinking "rolling on/from/in the radar/block/booth 2025" but wasn't sure how the slashes would affect searching

yeah plus "rolling attack of the white clones 2025" might have been too negative of a start

jorjiana ft 1900 rugrat - turn you up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEmBWqg4gfA

(i actually like rugrat a lot, jorjiana otoh...)

i file both under "florida is another planet"

i kinda like the jorjiana song with loe shimmy lol, tho her ad-lib is nails on a chalkboard to me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy4cxG4o17U

ot7quanny & bossman dlow - "bout my money"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS3oJMC1hPU

in which dlow repays my assertion that he's atlanta's e-40 by doing a "yup/nope" bar

*florida, not atlanta, duh

that cortisa star tune is terrific!!

liked wtm scoob and coffeeblack's album from last year, and they're back. they live somewhere in between valee and los & nutty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3SciFHX4II

also been running this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RokSYfF9rY

nino paid album is out and it is goooood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO5FlX5LlHw

this is the first solo track i've heard by frequent 454 collaborator pig the gemini. occupies the same sped-up sonic universe, but more contemplative and emotional than 454's stuff. she's less of a rappin' ass rapper than 454, but reminds me of some of his more laid back songs like "ice age"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPkcJFVdOVI

quickly becoming addicted to bloody!'s new mixtape so wavy luciano. style reminiscent of critical favorite xaviersobased, but with a more traditionally quotable kind of rap charisma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQKAasbYGXg

new mixtape from young dro & zaytoven. dro still has massive charisma and maybe fewer jaw-dropping bars than his prime, but they're still in there
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC1cvCdW6mg

That Bloody! tape is a fun vibe.

yea, it's low stakes but has proven to be addictive

last night before kendrick's performance, apple music used a song by the underground rapper (and acerbic twitter presence) ghais guevara for the "apple music halftime show" introduction, from his album goyard ibn said. i haven't listened to the new one yet, but this song is great. it kind of strikes me as a earl sweatshirt-ified (or zeelooperz-ified) version of lucki?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpvFIxd6lWA

I through on that ghais guevara album the other day (pre-superbowl, I just thought it looked neat) and it didn't fully grab me. But I do plan on giving it less of a commuter listen so clearly I see something there.

getting into the rio da yung og deluxe, this is dope ("coincidence")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tkQcWWYT1s

this too ("we need a pilot")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGjCHlrnTzw

loving this new mixtape by thirteendegrees. he's def a son of thug but most rappers who mimic him these days don't evoke the 1017 thug era, which is sorely missed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOI9biC1oUY

enjoying rappers doing rio da yung OG karaoke songs and rolling out the red carpet for him to rap for the first minute plus. neither can hold a candle to him doing this but the beats are great and overall i find these fun in spirit

vonoff1700 ft rio - turnt in real life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtdWTxTGDRg

ytb fatt ft rio - ghetto fox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSSB_-xFrDc

my fav rap music right now is rroxket -- super fried post-baby voice playboi carti rap but i find him really compelling, love his beat selection and he has some memorable lines, there's fun imagery when you dig into what he's actually saying

"backwards" off his tape from last year is def one that pushes it to the limit but i think the concept really works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMvq9XgZY4A

"kim" is a recent one i really like, fun bouncy song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd2iHiKscXU

and his songs about drugs are unsurprisingly very good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mEnmek3-1Y

"trainwreck" was one of my fav songs of 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pjAZrf2Omc

so funny how rio refuses to rap over anything but those flint beats. i remember a big moochie grape song from last year that just cut and pasted a rio flint song in the middle of moochie's memphis-style song

yeah i dug what i heard from rroxket last year, especially that red ranger tape. "scary" was a favorite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4bhPsNrg6o

pig the gemini's ep is out, it's nice to spend 15 mins in her world
https://soundcloud.com/therealpig/sets/lover-girl

surprised by how much i like this new lil tecca song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjIWsrh2BUQ

nice neptunes vibe

had missed this until recently. great beat, love the shakers. incredible veeze verse but all three sound really good

est gee ft rylo & veeze - "my love"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQUtHDaGXwE

that's one of my fav est gee verses in a while

liking the new tape by uk rapper feng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9V9X0_AsVs

lol i love the thread title

shaudy kash x top$side mixtape is so good
https://soundcloud.com/topsideproductions/new-york-freestyle-on-the

*top$ide

new daboii album is #good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucuh2lOy8ak

the 808 cowbell is one of the greatest sounds in music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhDfcVMk-bY

i like the new myaap single ‘fairy’

yeah, i love myaap.

digging this collab between lelo and babyface ray. both from detroit. ray mostly likes glittering, luxurious soundscapes, while lelo plays in the murk. this beat does a good job of inhabiting both worlds. two great verses too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esGpza1UcpM

i like the new myaap single ‘fairy’

― flopson, Thursday, April 10, 2025 12:18 AM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

def don't want to blow past this one. the beat is incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlC-gJQzfAs

idk what to say really, to me this shit is beyond incredible but idk what you'll all think

https://dismissyourself.bandcamp.com/album/cult-subterranea

open to that kind of thing in theory, but i really disliked the instrumentals, to be very honest. the album artwork is also aggressively ugly

imago, you might dig infinity knives & brian ennals, who have a new album out. there was something grating about the style of rapping that put me off the last album (it just felt a touch too...nerdy?), but the beats were noisy and ambitious, and i was close to seeing the vision. i am planning on checking out the new one (linked below).
https://infinityknives666.bandcamp.com/album/a-city-drowned-in-gods-black-tears

really loving the new album by niontay. it's nearly impossible to understand anything he is saying on first listen, but the way he says it makes you want to listen enough to eventually get it lol.

beats are pretty great too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7942T8bTs4

skino & kp skywalka - "doors n wheels"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdhhuJOj4Pk

seiji oda finally coming out with an album this month. "mobby miyazaki" is one of my fav songs of the year so far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HESrstWMTw

nice, love seiji

you guys like vayda?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7LyjNpIC9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hsFu1ukkEE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kETs7-VsFjU

this beat is insane

ebk jayboo - f*ck everybody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clWqcCjxtPA

yeah vayda is dope. similar vibes on the new album by spook (vayda shows up on "eat!" great song.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1vw4JK-5Gs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A9MoM9Xxjw

zukenee album is lots of fun. live this beat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gDOnt43naU

yeah he is great. gives me that old atl rich kidz feeling. i really liked his 'birth of st. slay' tape from last year

seiji oda mixtape is out 😎
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOQzcuRumDg

did i miss his transition to a touch grass hippie or is that something that just happened suddenly with this release?

there has always been a crunchy element to his whole thing. meditation, tai-chi, etc.

new rapper i'm digging a lot is 509 bmg, who is from orlando, i think? tough-talking punchline rap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4inQ7juU8fY

his friend autotweakin is pretty good too

yes agreed, his guest verses popped on the tape i listened to

there has always been a crunchy element to his whole thing. meditation, tai-chi, etc.

― gestures broadly at...everything (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 20 May 2025 11:17 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

ya i guess that’s true.. still kind of thrown that the tape starting with 3 minutes of field recordings and most of the songs being wispy alt-r&b with lots of acoustic ambient samples.. just too much singing. i like ‘mobby Miyazaki’ was hoping for more like that. missing ‘gasbreakdip’ era. stop hiking seiji

i agree tbh, "mobby miyazaki" is one of my favorite songs of the year and besides the song with greedo, there isn't much else on the tape that scratches that itch.

was hoping for a full album of "gentle gigg" type songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyxxSi8-Q-E

a few songs right now vying for the coveted "this year's f.n.f." aka "this year's pound town" award

most notable is "whim whamiee," which is huge on tiktok and just got a sexyy red remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-jCnsJEAFs

bunna b's "bunna summa" is another one. i prefer it to "whim whamiee" by some distance. the beat has some of the pomp of circa "wasted" gucci mane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPxJX9CckqM

bankroll ni's "im so atl" is nipping at both's heels. same director as the "whim whamiee" video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFbXcBN8y5Q

there's def a wave of like mid 00s ATL pride happening that is kinda fun to see -- "bunna summa" sounds like a yung LA homage to me, and then she dropped a song called "atlanta" that has the same sorta thing going for it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf5XVp9PXGA

also had baby kia bringing out yung LA at a show recently even tho there is scarcely a musical link between them, carti's whole album w/ the swamp izzo stuff and rich kidz sample on "like weezy" etc

"like weezy" aside i'm not sure i love any of these songs per se, they're sorta just drafting off the sound w/o having anything really exciting to say about it musically, but i'm glad that there is fondness for this era from the youth

pluto's new song has the soulja boy donk drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNWRReMZ0e0

the latest anycia song/vid is also heavily indebted to that early trap era
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz5R8KBbKus

also meant to mention some of the recent luh tyler music, haven't listened to the new tape yet but "florida boy" is def going for that era of zaytoven beats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH-DUAZH3dQ

if there is one guy in the current "underground" that i'd bet on making a travis scott-style stadium leap it's untiljapan. his new album trompe l'oeil is mostly good, he's got great melodic instincts and an expensive vision. songwriting comes in fits and starts, my favorite one is "yayo (white paris)," embedded below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usu9NIpMuKA

Smitten with this album: Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword by Mary Sue and the Clementi Sound Appreciation Club

the song that alphonse pierre highlighted in his songs of the summer rap list is not my fav lil2posh song. that would be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW-JoLECrqA

"ballin freestyle"

really fun production on both tracks, kind of bubblegum

pfork thread comments p embarrassing tbh

Baltimore writer Lawrence Burney who has been writing about rap for a bit for various magazines and his own True Laurels site has a new book No Sense in Wishing out.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/lawrence-burney-no-sense-in-wishing-book-excerpt-1235363350/

xp ya, 'twas it ever thus.

i've only heard two other songs on that list, looking forward to checking 'em out

(for posterity: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-real-rap-songs-of-the-summer/)

big fan of the new defcee album with production duo parallel thought. one song features the return of mc tree g!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44tMCE_8X2I

this song, "graduation picture," is the big narrative centerpiece and it's a whopper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFYJhfUahw0

those are nice, thank you!

new song by mavi and niontay is so good. i am going crazy trying to figure out where they got this flow from. maybe a ludacris song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68TvjPsW5wU

finally going through the alphonse list people were dragging and really enjoying this one

4thawinn - "vangundy"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCMLgYwNkvI

catching up on the anycia x dj drama mixtape. she's tapping into that same trendy mid-00s atl sound, including this one that has a straight sample of "and then what"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9oczUx9h7Y

i preferred dallas rapper montana 700's take on that song from last fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6cy0v3Mncc

the real highlight of the tape is glorilla's verse on "never need"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Tl2m7Oiy8

“i started rapping with no effort, i think that i started a trend” is a great lyric lol

one of my favorite new rappers is detroit's lelo. i really like spending time in his world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnAF5LexDuI

another fav new rapper, the insanely charismatic mel v chapo. i think she's from texas? she sounds like a cross between rico nasty and denzel curry, with some of the new school rage rap and mixtape waka flocka mixed in.

"jimmy choose"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1g73nUGEbQ

"alien friends"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_7isN_JHQ

"google me tf"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvMeW4dcwV0

don't care about the song, but this thread is called hanging mic and this is an instant classic of the genre lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmXnuUWQU6c

That’s a crazy looking video

Billy Woods + Gabe Nandez + Preservation production, catnip for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk0aQybnmoo

has ilx ever talked about the fact that there's an LA rap duo called 'OTM'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWs0JJ7vSI

ha yes i am pretty sure i brought them up a couple years ago when they first emerged

used to be a guy named otm frenchyy too, not sure what happened to him

listening to that woods song above…incredible production, sheesh. one of preservation’s best ever

babyface ray album is very good, as usual. particularly like his two collabs with samuel shabazz

"sine aire"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvjwyHe2zSQ

"1 on 1 talk w/ god"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5orAbbupAqE

fuck me the new Earl Sweatshirt is wild good

Gave a proper listen to Bandana yesterday and was yawning (was a fan of Piñata when it came out). Today I'm listening to Alfredo 2 and am surprised to be enjoying it. Putting the two sequels side to side, the collab works better than with Madlib dare I say. I actually haven't listened to the first Alfredo, will play catch up.

ya new earl is one of his best ever

i like freddie’s collabs with madlib a more than with alchemist cause freddie has a tendency to get a little too smooth, to the point that it just goes in one ear and out the other, and madlib’s idiosyncratic rhythms fight against that tendency

mavi has quietly become a top tier guest verse killer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iCpVJ7G_F8

this beat is insane lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1Wk9ERL9g

new thirteendegrees album, sounding pretty great. good substitute for a disappointing young thug effort

"rooftopz"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7xfQ9MNYDQ

"chiraq child" w/ lil2posh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg1MxK2BRKc

i really like the best on the new rroxket song ‘massage’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_53PVnxM8Bk

I just posted to a group chat that I think the thirteendegrees album makes up for the young thug album haha

yeah he has enough chicago bop in him to not be a full stylistic clone, and he has a lot of the playful energy that thug has lost over the years

really love the new kp skywalka album. this one ("still bangin") features paco panama and shares a sample with "you're nobody til somebody kills you"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRicYiVIT8Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUZyn_w6Y1Q

I like I think it’s YKNiece saying “take me through dere” on this Metro Boomin track that gets a lot of airplay on my local dc commercial hiphop & r& b station

i need to listen to the metro album again. haven't listened since giving it a cursory spin when it came out but all the songs have popped when i've heard them out in the wild

Also have heard "take through dere" several times on a Sirius Xm hiphop station. I like it better than some of the other songs getting repeat play on such stations

new monaleo tape (who did the body) is a well-crafted product of the modern retro trap thing that's going on in texas and atlanta. she has a huge personality. i've been interested in her since "beating down the block" and it seems like she's fully put it together

"putting ya dine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgPj14GtKJc

one of the producers on "putting ya dine" also did this new lil karrahbooo freestyle track that i love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47DOIXkWixE

she's legit one of my fav rappers but whenever i tell people this they think i'm joking haha

i love her too, hope she's working on a comeback. she was the best of the concrete "boys"

like Monaleo but this Lizzo guest verse is just horrible lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U354-i6AqsY

yea it is pretty bad. rest of the album is much better.

"we do it til the room stank like Fritos" jfc

after danny brown said "stank pussy smellin like cool ranch doritos" i'm not sure any rapper can come up w/ a food related stench comparison that will gross me out anymore

yeah listening to chow lee and flint raps and dmv crank have completely overwhelmed my sensitivity to that sort of thing

interesting that they both landed on such a similar comparison. makes you think

Karrahboo said yachty is preventing her from releasing music since their beef...

Yeah Frito breath. Your breath smells like fritos.

new mike shabb tape is pretty good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p8Wf7ayW_c

love the new ep by mexikodro, just head down working-class trap music. he's also a genius producer, which is a bonus.

"aware" is my fav new song on the tape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M9tK9q-Xm0

"no date" evolved into a decent-sized hit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9xqpkNN2iI

"no date" is one of my fav rap traxx of the year

just for the record, i don't think he produces a single beat on this tape.

really? that’s interesting, i mostly knew him as the guy behind all the plugg beats so i assumed he did his own stuff

it's mostly produced by bapebrazy and ziggymadeit

so much interesting stuff this year. feel like loe shimmy has the best album, but i might change my mind as i revisit stuff

yeah i like him a lot. feel like the album was kind of a data dump, but it was pretty strong on a song-to-song level

oh and pink siifu. but that's on a different planet. really disappointed it doesn't get more love.

i respect him but have never actually enjoyed his music ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

same. but BLACK'!ANTIQUE got to me. i feel he has the least oldhead, or just most southern, taste of all the "abstract" artists.

missed that zeelooperz dropped an album earlier this year. like this one a lot, has some bay area retro funk vibes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQItUpgsjcA

oh, that song is called "bebe kids"

and the album is called dali ain't dead

alphonse pierre's rap list is interesting as always. lots of stuff i haven't heard. he shares my love for kp skywalka and lelo

https://pitchfork.com/features/list-and-guides/best-rap-albums-2025/

some of my fav rap projects of the year (leaving out some of the more obvious ones by billy woods, earl, carti, etc.)

rio da yung og - f.l.i.n.t. (feelin' like i'm not through)
lelo - new detroit
zelooperz - dali ain't dead
mexiko dro - still goin the ep
monaleo - who did the body
de la soul - cabin in the sky
keiyaa - hooke's law
nino paid - love me as i am
1100 himself - janky k
niontay - fada<3of$
kp skywalka - i tried to tell you
saba & no i.d. - from the private collection of saba & no i.d. vol. 1
zukenee - slaytanic
defcee & parallel thought - other blues
lunchbox - l.b. cooper
mike & tony seltzer - pinball ii
fly anakin - (the) forever dream
thirteendegrees - clique city vol. 2
bloody! - so wavy luciano
daboii - heart of a lion

also really like the new conway the machine project, and i've been somewhat lukewarm on him in the past

thanks voodo

f.l.i.n.t is one of my most listened to records of the year. so great

rio free and the deluxe are nearly as good. i prob linked "coincidence" earlier this year, but absolutely love that one

ya i have a giant rio spotify playlist i just throw it all into. i can listen to that stuff forever

planning to start a new thread sometime next week, open to suggestions on titles haha

rolling on stream 2026
rolling snap revival 2026
rolling astroturfed underground 2026

haven’t understood any of the thread names in years but it sure would be fun if there were a snap revival in 2026

if there are no objections within 24 hours, the new thread will be going up tomorrow with this title (lol)

rolling 6 7 all-star cypher 2026

rolling around in kai cenat's living room

rolling plaqueboymax twitch stream

duly noted but i feel like 6 7 needs to be in there

nu thred for 2026: rolling 6 7 all-star streamathon 2026

Nobody was listening to Lil M.U. "Top of Cars" in 2025 ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGZawiItC2s

Wow, that's pretty great!

Saw it on a best of 2025 list that only was posted recently.

I'm so depressed right now with everything going on thank God there is a new Roc Marci, I need this right now