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CRT FRSH, Hip-Hop Wired’s playlist where we attempt to showcase music we believe is “Certified Fresh,” is back again as the holiday season is in full swing. Now that we’re nearing the end of the year, we’re trimming down the CRT FRSH playlist and updating the concept with our latest drop which we hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer:
The CRT FRSH playlist is a labor of love. We don’t take payments nor do we do favors. We only add joints to our playlist that fit the theme and vision we’re going for and don’t seek to waste the listener’s time. Further, we don’t stick to one lane of Hip-Hop. We believe that all aspects of the music should get some light, whether it’s young lions in the trenches or those hoping for that one shot to blow up to grizzled veterans puffing out their chests with lots more to say.
I want to explain how I approach curating the CRT FRSH playlist. Most importantly, I don’t segregate my Hip-Hop. Every form of music from the main cultural tree deserves a listen and a look. When I construct the playlist, I want to include all regions across the States and, when applicable, across the globe. I also want to entertain every fan of Hip-Hop, not just those who enjoy one segment of it. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to it. — D.L. Chandler
Can you believe it’s already the middle of December? This year breezed by and we’ll soon be sharing our top Hip-Hop albums of the year but first, let’s check out our latest playlist.
We open up this update with “Xmas Time” from GloRilla and Kehlani, a timely track for all the gift-giving that’s set to happen next week. We follow that up with “Knock It Off” from The Alchemist and Roc Marciano’s newest collaborative effort, The Skeleton Key. Lil Baby is gearing up for his upcoming WHAM: Who Hard As Me album and “Insecurities” is a song from November we missed then but are loving right now.
Boldy James, who is always dropping quality music, collaborated with Harry Fraud for their The Bricktionary album, and “Rabies” is a cinematic track with a blistering verse from Black Soprano Family boss, Benny The Butcher. Bossman DLow had a busy year with two albums, and we’re featuring “Mo Chicken” alongside French Montana from his Dlow Curry album. From there, the talented Azizi Gibson teams up with the equally dope duo The Underachievers for the haunting “Street Lament.”
A major shoutout to the rest of the artists on the playlist, including Kendrick Lamar, Freddie Gibbs, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Kota The Friend, SALIMATA, Future, Cordae, Skyzoo, Crimeapple, and more.
This will be the last playlist update for the year so we hope you rock with this for a bit until we come back fresh, no pun intended, at the top of the year.
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CRT FRSH, Hip-Hop Wired’s playlist where we attempt to showcase music we believe is “Certified Fresh,” is back for the fall season with a truncated selection. Now that we’re back, we’re trimming down the CRT FRSH playlist and updating the concept with our latest drop which we hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer:
The CRT FRSH playlist is a labor of love. We don’t take payments nor do we do favors. We only add joints to our playlist that fit the theme and vision we’re going for and don’t seek to waste the listener’s time. Further, we don’t stick to one lane of Hip-Hop. We believe that all aspects of the music should get some light, whether it’s young lions in the trenches or those hoping for that one shot to blow up to grizzled veterans puffing out their chests with lots more to say.
I want to explain how I approach curating the CRT FRSH playlist. Most importantly, I don’t segregate my Hip-Hop. Every form of music from the main cultural tree deserves a listen and a look. When I construct the playlist, I want to include all regions across the States and, when applicable, across the globe. I also want to entertain every fan of Hip-Hop, not just those who enjoy one segment of it. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to it.
For those devoted few who keep up with the updates, you may have noticed I created a playlist in memory of the late Kaseem “KA” Ryan, perhaps Hip-Hop’s greatest lyricist if not the genre’s most sincere and vulnerable. That playlist, which captures just a small slice of who KA was, can be heard by clicking here.
We open up this week’s playlist with Tyler, The Creator’s “Sticky” from his new CHROMAKOPIA, which features GloRilla, Sexyy Red, and Lil Wayne and is considered an early standout among some. We follow that with Megan Thee Stallion’s “Bigger In Texas” from her Megan: Act II reissue and finds the Houston Hottie in prime form.
The Alchemist is great for dropping potent singles out of the thin blue sky and we’re better for it. Adding to that stellar track record is “Ferraris In The Rain 2” featuring Freddie Gibbs and ScHoolboy Q. Danny Brown dropped his solid Quaranta album near the top of the year and the Detroit-born, Austin-based rapper and podcaster released a deluxe of the project. We include the somber “Keep It To Me” from the drop.
The Underachievers, AKTHESAVIOR and Issa Gold have been creating amazing music since their 2013 debut, Indigoism, along with consistent solo projects between then. Their new single “Have Nots” is a continuation of their esoteric poetics and atmospheric beats. We also have Buffalo’s Che Noir and her single “Black Single featuring Rapsody from Che’s The Black Lotus project, which she produced herself.
A strong salute to Patty Honcho, Lil Uzi Vert, A$AP Ferg, RXKNephew, Knowitall, Chuck Strangers, Milc, Blaq Chidori, Ab-Soul, BigXThaPlug, El Cousteau and the rest of the contributors to this week’s playlist.
Check out the latest CRT FRSH drop below.
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Photo: Getty
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The news of Brownsville rapper KA’s passing, also known as Kaseem Ryan, continues to shock his fans and collaborators alike. In the days since the news went viral, many in Hip-Hop are trying to make sense of the loss and find time to celebrate KA’s audio art as he intended.
I am not beholden to religious doctrine nor do I invest much time in esoteric possibilities of fate, but something continues to nag me about the death of Kaseem Ryan. I was listening to the Brooklyn rapper’s latest album, The Thief Next To Jesus on the morning of the day that the news of his death was posted on social media.
I was listening to the album to find a song to add to our ongoing CRT FRSH playlist series at Hip-Hop Wired, but also just enjoying hearing the FDNY firefighter presenting ideas of how Christianity is a hallmark of the Black community while continuing to grapple out loud with the religion being used as a tool to keep the enslaved in fear of the masters.
Beyond the dissection of Christianity as a whole, KA also deftly examines how the music and art that the masses consume might have deeper consequences that we’re unwilling to face. Yes, music and its enjoyment is a subjective experience but being inundated with certain messages does permeate the senses far more than anyone would admit.
I was not unfamiliar with Ryan’s work as someone who is an avowed Hip-Hop nerd. These days, the volume at which music is released today doesn’t allow me to know every nook and cranny of the so-called “mainstream” or “underground” scenes, but in the 1990s, it was far easier to keep up.
Also back then, I was an active rapper, most especially the sort that would be in freestyle “ciphers” and battles while also making my meager attempts at recorded material. At my core, I was a fan first and I picked up rhyming as a means to get closer to the music.
Natural Elements, currently comprised of L Swift (now Swigga Da Don), A-Butta, and Mr. Voodoo, featured more members and one of them was KA, who later left the group as he felt he didn’t measure up as a rapper in comparison to his compatriots. The group’s 1994 debut The EP was very much a product of its time and wore its rugged street-born style with pride.
The style of Hip-Hop then, especially on the independent side, was replete with heavy basslines, horn stab samples, en masse choruses, and an emphasis on lyrical superiority over direction or substance. The goal for many toiling outside the label structure was to be the nicest in their respective lanes.
Reinvention is not a new concept in the history of Hip-Hop music. One of our most famous examples of this is the late, great MF DOOM, who began his career as Zev Love X as a member of KMD (Kausing Much Damage). Like DOOM before him, KA found a late 1990s surge of creativity which culminated in the formation of Nightbreed alongside the late Kev, and of the unreleased music one can find online, it was clear that he stepped his game up tremendously.
Time would pass before we would hear Ryan’s gravelly vocals again, and admittedly, I was reconnected to the lyricist by way of GZA’s “Firehouse” track from the Wu-Tang Clan swordsman’s Pro Tools album. As I later learned, GZA, a fellow Brooklynite, discovered Ryan’s debut album, Iron Works, and invited him to a recording session.
It feels trite to say that the rest is history but, it truly was a historic run of critically acclaimed albums that would commence. I treated every KA drop like a spiritual experience and whatever ability as a writer I thought I had was easily dwarfed by the mighty pen of the Iron Works honcho. There have been times when I’ve been listening to an album such as 2016’s Honor Killed The Samurai where I would stop the track or else fall into a heap of emotions.
Everything about KA felt authentic, tangible, personal, vulnerable, and ultimately human. It would be some time before I discovered that his day job was that of saving lives as a firefighter. I dare say Kaseem Ryan saved my life and that of countless others via his selfless flood of self-expression, creativity, and missives that should be studied by anyone who claims to love this culture.
As I’m writing this, the tears are forming at the corners of my eyes but my heart is beating strong knowing that the music KA gave to the world was done in a manner that was befitting of all the outpouring of love we’ve seen on social media in the past week and more.
Talented acts such as Chuck Strangers, billy woods, Open Mike Eagle, Roc Marci, Pink Siifu, and far too many acts to name all had similar stories of their run-ins with Ryan or their connection to his music. And it wasn’t just the lyrics. Just like his collaborator Roc Marciano, KA didn’t need to outsource production as an adept producer himself but his collaborative works with producers Preservation, Aminoss, and Roc Marci matched his sonic ethos perfectly.
I’ve undertaken the impossible task of gathering one song each from KA’s projects over the years along with a feature verse, opening with the aforementioned “Firehouse” as a primer for the uninitiated. I hope that upon hearing the music you’ll do what I urge everyone else to do if they ever talk shop with me. Just dive in, allow yourself to feel every bar, and try to walk upright as KA did despite the wickedness of the world at large.
Rest Powerfully In Peace to Kaseem Ryan.
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Photo: Images Obtained From www.brownsvilleka.com
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CRT FRSH, Hip-Hop Wired’s playlist where we attempt to showcase music we believe is “Certified Fresh,” has been on a far longer hiatus than intended. Now that we’re back, we’re trimming down the CRT FRSH playlist and updating the concept with our latest drop which we hope you all enjoy.
Some readers might remember I used to deliver a disclaimer before each playlist and I’ll do so again. The point of this disclaimer is to effectively share with you all the aims of CRT FRSH and how I want to stay true to the vision.
Disclaimer:
The CRT FRSH playlist is a labor of love. We don’t take payments nor do we do favors. We only add joints to our playlist that fit the theme and vision we’re going for and don’t seek to waste the listener’s time. Further, we don’t stick to one lane of Hip-Hop. We believe that all aspects of the music should get some light, whether it’s young lions in the trenches or those hoping for that one shot to blow up to grizzled veterans puffing out their chests with lots more to say.
I want to explain how I approach curating the CRT FRSH playlist. Most importantly, I don’t segregate my Hip-Hop. Every form of music from the main cultural tree deserves a listen and a look. When I construct the playlist, I want to include all regions across the States and, when applicable, across the globe. I also want to entertain every fan of Hip-Hop, not just those who enjoy one segment of it. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to it.
It’s been a long time, I really shouldn’t left you, word to Rakim. Life got in the way of keeping the playlist updated but I’m back to try and enlighten not just the listeners and readers but also myself. As a longtime Hip-Hop supporter, I have serious FOMO when it comes to all the constant drops, and curating this playlist helps me to feel, ahem, fresh.
Unlike before when I would break up the list with “mainstream” or acts that are more established and follow that up with “underground” or little-known acts, I’m taking a new one-for-one approach to not bury anyone’s art and divide the sound. Like I say in the disclaimer, I don’t segregate my Hip-Hop.
We open up this week’s playlist with “HOLLON” from GloRilla, who just dropped her debut studio album, Glorious. Next up, Boldy James and Conductor Williams dropped a masterful project in Across The Tracks and we added their stellar “Flying Trapeze Act” track. We keep the Conductor Williams train rolling, pun very much intended, with “FEELINGS ON SILENT” featuring Wale from Leon Thomas’ latest album MUTT.
Taking things up to Harlem, 100GrandRoyce teamed up with producer Dame Grease for their The Fix 2 project and the intro track is an absolute banger. We then return to The D and share Tee Grizzley’s “Blow for Blow” featuring J. Cole from Tee’s new Post Traumatic album that dropped earlier in October. Australian producer SB11 dropped a fresh platter of heat in his Heavenly Unknown album and “Silent And So Cold” features the heavy-duty bar work of Flashius Clayton, Planet Asia, and Defcee.
We round out the rest of the CRT FRSH playlist with tracks from Ransom, Conway The Machine, Doechii, Hus Kingpin, REASON, Rod Wave, Future, Powers Pleasant, and more.
Peep the playlist below.
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Photo: Getty
The 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week is less than two weeks away, taking place from Oct. 14 to 18 at the Fillmore Miami Beach and coinciding with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards set to air Sunday, Oct. 20, on Telemundo.
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This year, Latin Music Week celebrates its 35th anniversary, and confirmed speakers for the star-studded event are Feid, Pepe Aguilar, J Balvin, Alejandro Sanz, Gloria Estefan, Peso Pluma, Thalia, Young Miko, Fuerza Regida’s JOP, Maria Becerra, Eden Muñoz and Yandel, among others.
Over the past 35 years, Latin Music Week has become the one, steady foundation of Latin music in this country, becoming the single most important — and biggest — gathering of Latin artists and industry executives in the world. Initially named Latin Music Seminar, sponsored by Billboard, the event traces back to 1990, where it kicked off as a one-day event in Miami featuring a two-artist showcase and awards show. Throughout the years, it has taken place in Miami, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico, returning to Miami Beach for a fourth consecutive year in 2024.
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Some of the biggest names in Latin music history — including Celia Cruz, Selena Quintanilla, Ricky Martin, Chayanne, Tito Puente, Jenni Rivera and Emilio Estefan — have participated at Billboard Latin Music Week. Most recently, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, Karol G and Romeo Santos also joined the celebration.
In honor of the 2024 edition, Billboard curated the ultimate Latin Music Week playlist featuring more than 100 hits from this year’s panelists including Yandel & Feid’s “Yandel 150,” Gloria Estefan’s “Conga,” Alejandro Sanz’s “Corazón Partío,” and “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma, to name a few.
Listen to the playlist below, and to register for this year’s event, go to Billboard Latin Music Week.
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Fall is almost here thus it is time for Barack Obama’s 2024 summer playlist. The likes of 2Pac, GloRilla and Beyoncé are some of the artists who made the cut.
As reported by HipHopNMore, the 44th president of the United States has shared his yearly drop of tracks that he has been grooving to the last couple of months. On Monday, Aug. 12, he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to do the unveiling. “With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately – and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix. I hope you find something new to listen to!” his post read.
Barack Obama’s summer 2024 playlist is as follows:
Shaboozey: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Charli XCX: “365”
Billie Eilish: “Chihiro”
Tems: “Love Me Jeje”
Artemas: “I Like the Way You Kiss Me”
Tommy Richman: “Million Dollar Baby”
Hope Tala: “I Can’t Even Cry”
Blackstreet: “No Diggity” [ft. Dr. Dre and Queen Pen]
Enny: “Charge It”
Carminho: “O Quarto (Soundtrack Version)”
Calimossa: “What’s in the Tea?”
Hubert Sumlin & Keith Richards: “I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love”
PJ Morton: “Say So” [ft. Jojo]
Cleo Sol: “Why Don’t You”
The Miracles: “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”
H.E.R.: “Process”
2Pac: “How Do U Want It” [ft. K-Ci and Jojo]
Sting: “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”
Lucinda Williams: “Unsuffer Me”
Jill Scott: “Golden”
The Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
Saweetie: “My Best”
Charles Mingus: “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting”
Norah Jones: “Come Away With Me”
Common: “The People”
Etta James: “Don’t Cry Baby”
Chris Jedi, Gaby Music, & Dei V: “Bad Boy” [ft. Anuel AA and Ozuna]
Rema: “Yayo”
Bonny Light Horseman: “Old Dutch”
Willow: “Symptom of Life”
Moneybagg Yo: “Whiskey Whiskey” [ft. Morgan Wallen]
Myles Smith: “Stargazing”
GloRilla & Megan Thee Stallion: “Wanna Be”
Tyla, Gunna, & Skillibeng: “Jump”
Bad Bunny & Feid: “Perro Negro”
Paul Russell: “Lil Boo Thang”
Digable Planets: “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”
Bob Marley & the Wailers: “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)”
Nick Drake: “One of These Things First”
Bob Dylan: “Silvio”
Pharoah Sanders: “Love Is Everywhere”
The Supremes: “Where Did Our Love Go”
Beyoncé: “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Samara Joy: “Someone to Watch Over Me” [ft. Pasquale Grasso]
For years it has been speculated that Barack Obama’s staff chooses the songs, but in an interview with Hasan Minhaj the former POTUS made it clear he is the one making the selections. “People seem to think, ‘Well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut,’” Barack said. “No, man! It’s on my iPad right now!” You can listen to the playlist here.
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Today is 710 Day and we hope the cannabis-themed holiday will be celebrated safely and around people you truly rock with. To aid in the festivities, Roger Volodarsky, the founder and CEO of Puffco, put together a dope 10-track Hip-Hop playlist just in time for 710 Day.
I interviewed Roger Volodarsky last year for the site and the Brooklyn native shared not only his life story and the early days of Puffco, but also the fact he’s a big Hip-Hop head. As fellow fans of the Flatbush Zombies and the whole Beast Coast collective, Roger and I found a connection in our shared fandom of Zombie Juice of the Flatbush Zombies.
I suggested that Volodarsky put together his favorite collection of Hip-Hop songs in a playlist and he came up with an idea far better than mine. Taking time out of his busy schedule running all things Puffco, Volodarsky whipped together 10 tracks for 710 Day that aren’t your typical “stoner” fare.
The playlist opens up with one of my favorite songs, “Barz Simpson,” featuring the vocal talents of rapper and producer Sonnyjim alongside the late MF DOOM and the elusive Jay Electronica. Next up is Larry June’s “89 Earthquake” from the rapper’s collaborative project with The Alchemist, The Great Escape.
Any playlist with Dr. Baklava aka Action Bronson is a solid one and Volodarsky dug into the archives and placed “Imported Goods” on the playlist. The rest of the list is rounded out with tracks from recent XXL Freshman That Mexican OT, Moneybagg Yo, Peso Pluma, Quavo, Key Glock, Jgrrey, Zombie Juice, King Hendrick$, and Boldy James.
The variety of songs that Roger Volodarsky put together is impressive and kind of follows my CRT FRSH playlist ethos of mixing up all kinds of sounds no matter the region. There is no East Coast or West Coast bias, just dope songs from acts you should know and maybe others you’ll come to know. Follow the homie on his IG page here.
For now, check out the playlist below and have a happy 710 Day!
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Photo: Asha/Jerry Dempe/Stream Team
It’s International LGBT Pride Day (June 28th), and to celebrate, we have created a playlist with great music from LGBTQ artists who have broken barriers and conventions, paving the way for others to present themselves to the world as they are. With songs like “FruityBoy” by Villano Antillano (from their new album Miss Misogyny, released […]
It’s April 20 — the unofficial holiday for lighting up and celebrating cannabis culture — and Billboard Español curated the perfect playlist for the occasion, called Corridos Verdes (or Weed Corridos). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In the mid-2010s, this new strain of corridos verdes blossomed, painting […]
As introspective, guitar-based songs from artists including Noah Kahan, Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves continue proliferating streaming consumption and music charts, Amazon Music aims to capture this cultural surge with its newly launched playlist Bonfire, which started globally on Friday (April 12).
The playlist will launch with more than 50 songs, focusing more on mood than genre and capturing a cross-section of artists such as Mumford & Sons, Bryan, Dylan Gossett, Boygenius, Kahan, Musgraves, Lizzy McAlpine and more.
“This is a huge movement,” Emily Cohen, country programming lead for Amazon Music, tells Billboard. “We’ve seen storytellers bubble up and connect with our listeners, artists like Zach Bryan and Hozier. For us, we see what customers are into and double down on what they love. We felt it needed to be in one place where people could listen to these artists together. It’s creating a true collection of ‘Bonfire’ songs. Artists don’t want to be put in a box or be defined, so it’s an amalgamation of country, alternative and indie-folk that is bubbling up.”
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Among the songs initially part of the playlist are Bryan’s “Something in the Orange,” Kahan’s “Stick Season,” Musgraves’ “Deeper Well,” Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” The Red Clay Strays’ “Wondering Why,” Lord Huron’s “The Night We Met,” Black Pumas’ “More Than a Love Song,” and the Joy Oladokun/Chris Stapleton collaboration “Sweet Symphony.”
“Listening to this, it is elemental and outdoorsy in its vibe,” Cohen says. “They are all sonically connected. I think a unique thread through all of these artists is they are authentic. You know who they are through their songwriting and fans react to that.”
The playlist is highlighted by Big Loud Records artist Charles Wesley Godwin’s new Amazon Music Original cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. Godwin released his latest album, Family Ties, last year.
Amazon Music
“I believe Gordon to have been one of the greatest songwriters of our time and felt this opportunity with Amazon Music was perfect to shine a light on one of his most popular songs a little over 50 years after its original release date,” Godwin said via a statement. “Hopefully, through this version that me and the guys recorded, a new generation of music listeners can be introduced to Gordon’s music and become fans of his themselves.”
Godwin is set to debut his rendition of the song when he performs at the annual Stagecoach Festival on Sunday, April 28. Music fans can watch the performance as the festival will be livestreamed on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and Prime Video. The Morgantown, West Virginia, native will open shows for Luke Combs’ stadium tour in 2024. In addition to Stagecoach, Godwin will perform at festivals including Bourbon and Beyond, as well as Bonnaroo.
“He’s an incredible songwriter,” Cohen says. “He’s such a powerhouse. He’s becoming his own version of Bruce Springsteen onstage, rock and country—he’s an embodiment of what we’re trying to achieve with this playlist.”
“It’s such an honor to be included in a playlist like this with so many amazing artists,” Godwin added in a statement. “Keeping company like this is all I ever could have wished for when I set out on this path of music. ‘bonfire’ is so fitting for those special moments in life when we’re enjoying the company of our friends and family.”