Asset.Radio is a weekly playlist of new hip-hop releases curated by OGM contributor Aidan C Werder (@aidantheasset). See last week’s Asset.Radio.22.7.4 here.
Tune in weekly for a freshly curated batch of 25 (ish) new releases from the week, or throw on shuffle for a random sampling of new music from some of the most original and compelling artists in hip-hop.
The goal of Asset.Radio is to paint a picture of what the cutting edge looks like, answering questions like: Which artists are bringing something new to the table? What are the cool kids listening to? And who is an asset to the culture?
And keep in mind, all in the humble opinion of Aidan the Asset
Asset.Radio.22.8.1 isn’t the only hot playlist to listen to this week. Former President Barack Obama dropped his Summer Playlist, a new yearly tradition that always contains some surprising bangers and an impressively diverse range of fresh selections – some of the more Asset-friendly picks on this year’s list being Lil Yachty, Doechii, and Vince Staples.
To kick off this week’s list we have a big single from Nav. The polarizing “brown boy with a bag” pulled out all the stops for his latest release, enlisting two of the biggest artists on the planet in Lil Baby and Travis Scott for a huge, Tay Keith-produced banger.
Of course, Beyoncé, the Queen herself finally dropped her long-awaited quarantine album full of club-ready dance songs and self-love – one of the most fun being the Jamaican-infused “ENERGY” featuring BEAM.
Doe Boy continues to carve out his place as the face of Cleveland with his new project, Catch Me If You Can – closing out the hard-hitting project with the electric “Set It Off” featuring the always-fire G Herbo.
The criminally underrated K Camp also dropped a new project this week, aptly name Vibe Forever, as Camp has been quietly dropping hits and bringing the vibes for literally a decade at this point. Signaling the end of his label deal and long-awaited return to indepedence, the new project contains only two features from Ne-Yo and Doe Boy, a good example of the wide range and broad appeal of his hugely compelling, vibey melodic trap sound that could probably be categorized as “R&G” – or “Rythm & Gangster,” a term recently coined by Seddy Hendrinx to describe his R&B-infused approach to hip hop.
EST Gee took to IG this week to express his disappointment for the support of his new song “Blood”, Lil Zay Osama recruited Lil Durk for the aggressively titled “Fuck My Cousin” with (a somewhat confusing title that doesn’t mean what it sounds like), and Chicago’s self-proclaimed ‘richest gangbanger’ Trench Baby teamed up with older brother Polo G and G Herbo for the hard-hitting Chi-town-only party, “Invite Only.”
CEO Trayle tried his hand at NYC’s chill drill sound with “DrillC4,” finding a killer pocket for his eerie, one-of-kind delivery over an insanely good beat from the mega-multi platinum Ricci Riera. And from Harlem, the ever-consistent Neek Bucks is in peak form on his new single “Used To,” dropping dense, effortless bars about his real life day-to-day and constant grind for success in that captivatingly raspy vocal – ahead of a reported new project.
Also from the towns, SpliffHappy has been making waves with his energetic, grassroots approach – consistently dropping entertaining singles like “Yotti” that feel like a refreshingly revamped approach the Bronx drill sound, successfully channeling the infectious high-energy that made the subgenre so viral in the first place as one of its few rising latino voices.
From Michigan, Detroit big dog Peezy dropped “Hustler vs Scammer” to hold us over while we wait for the album that was scheduled to arrive in July. And from Flint, Michigan, YN Jay and RMC Mike gave a masterclass on the infectious “Flint Flow” that has been captivating the streets around the country on their new joint-project Drake & Josh.
From the west coast, LA’s Fenix Flexin dropped a new project Fenix Flexin vol. 2 that he also feels went underappreciated – jam packed with slick talk like “you are not a joint, you a swisher” and intensely west coast vibes on bangers like “Red Flags.” And from Inglewood (and Odd Future), Domo Genesis reemerged to drop a new project Intros, Outros & Interludes.
And from the South, East Tampa’s Taleban Dooda is ready for “War With Whoever,” and Houston’s Maxo Kream is sipping heavy with Babyface Ray on “Mixin Juices” off his new project. And from Georgia, Internet Money affiliate Rot Ken celebrated his recent release with a new single, “Rollin” – as he continues to infuse his melodic, unmistakably Atlanta trap sound with the fresh approach of the underground.
And finally, there were quite a few entries from the ‘new wave’ this week (that still needs a better name). The biggest news in the underground last week was the release of Lawsy’s DotComNirvan-directed visual for “Hotels” – an unusually groovy single for one of the underground’s most unlikely new faces. Speaking of unusual, the squeaky-voiced viral phenom lil Shordie Scott dropped his debut EP this week containing the viral hit “Rocking a Cardigan in Atlanta” that launched him into the spotlight, as well as a number songs exploring a more upbeat sound backed by production from Fish, like “bloody mary” featuring Ken Carson.
One of the veterans of the new Soundcloud wave, Thouxanbanfauni dropped a new project this week TTB Thouxanban Taliban, featuring all of his closest collaborators including MONEYSHAAWN and LEVO on one it standouts “RIGHT OR WRONG” – and of course fellow underground staple UnoTheActivist. Another Soundcloud OG, K Suave dropped a remix of “Outer Body” featuring the always electric, XXL Freshman Cochise.
From some of the frontrunners of the new wave, Autumn! (aka producer, twinuzis) dropped a new EP that appears to be teasing a new project with its typically cryptic title ##B4GC2 ##B4GC2. midwxst continues to forge ahead as the face of the hyperpop (and/or digicore) genre with consistently quality singles like “under fire.” Bktherula, one of the premier female voices to have risen out of the underground tapped Opium’s Destroy Lonely for “FOREVER PT. 2.” And relative newcomer Jae Lynx continues to impress with his new single “When I Die.
BIGBABYGUCCI also did a pretty cool thing by dropping what is essentially a whole 6-track EP inside of one 8-minute long song called “Teen Spirit.” The song is presented as “Teen Spirit Radio,” cycling through the different songs as if you were listening to the radio, channels a similar feel to Beyoncé’s recent project that comes with its own built-in voiceovers and radio-like intros.
Lastly, Eem Triplin continues to double down on his understated, self-produced original sound with another new single “Chain Hang Low” after first catching fire on TikTok. Speaking of which, if you don’t recognize Take45’s “Sturdy” then you probably haven’t opened the TikTok app in months. The impressively dynamic single is fully performed and produced by Take45 himself, and suggests huge potential for the viral young artist-producer – as thoroughly outlined by Syspence in the video below.
Listen to Asset.Radio.22.8.1 below and tune in every week for a fresh batch of new releases
