 YS is one of multiple rising stars coming out of the LA underground scene. Despite the competition, YS continues to flex his dexterity and ability to create catchy, melodic music, while painting pictures of pain, struggle and perseverance. The Compton native has been a very busy man, as of late, and he looks to continue his winning streak with his new single titled "Shot Caller". YS taps Oakland artist and internet sensation Guapdad 4000 to add his own splash of color to the track for a Bay Area to LA connection. On production is Long Beach’s Charlie Shuffler, who's past credits include Lil Peep, Lil Yachty, and Lil Tracy produced the wintry instrumental.  To go along with the new single, YS also delivered a brand new music video to go along. The Chum Production directed visual follows YS from the trap, duffle bag in hand, to a warehouse where he is met by Charlie Shuffler driving a fully restored convertible 1964 Impala, as he makes his rounds during the day, only to retire to the hills at night joined by Guapdad, beautiful models, and bottles of Tequila like a true shot caller. “Shot Caller” is the lead single from YS’s forthcoming project 'Cold Hearted' which is slated to be released later this month. The project will feature appearances by Sada Baby, Guapdad4000, and WS Boogie “Shot Caller” is out now on all streaming platforms, and the music video is out on YouTube. Be on the lookout for the project, Cold Hearted which is dropping soon.
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 Rapper Slatt Zy from Chattanooga, Tennessee is blowing up right now. The 18-year old displays to the world just how his neighborhood molded him into the man he is today with his new project, East Lake Projects. The title is named after the housing development he was raised in with his musically inclined family of 11 brothers and sisters. Listeners will quickly recognize Slatt Zy’s effortless flow, which moves from melodic, growled bars to more mournful, introspective lines. This is what makes Zy’s musical arsenal so versatile. “East Lake Projects is where I became a man. It was tough to value life there, and getting over that made me a man. To me it’s more than projects - it’s my family, and we got through together. 17 people in 2 rooms, 12 people sleeping on one floor – granny, 11 siblings, auntie. We been through struggles together,” he says.“We been through everything -shootouts, hungriness, shoeless, people dying. East Lake Projects is where all my problems came from and made me grown early, but my happy times came from there too. I couldn’t imagine any other way to be. The projects may have given me scars and bruises, but also motivated me to be the nigga I am today.”  This is Zy’s second release of 2020. He made his first entry back in April with his debut, Zy Story. He introduced audiences to his unique vocal approach and innate ear for melody. With people starting to know Zy’s name, the Tennessee native takes a different approach with his latest piece of work. On East Lake Projects, the artist showcases a more vulnerable, personal side. On the first track, “Straight Out Them Projects,” Zy wastes no time to set the tone of the record. Over melancholic piano chords, he sings, “We come from poverty / We had to find a way / Straight out them projects, ain’t had shit, I had to find a way.” The focus on East Lake Projects is Zy’s childhood as he aims to shine a light on the community he grew up in and the violence that still plagues it. For a young artist, like Zy to make an album about his upbringing, shows great maturity. The first video from East Lake Projects came back in October when Zy released the video for “How It Go (feat. Hotboii),” which is at nearly a million views. On the track, Zy takes on the vivacious hook while Hotboii delivers smooth melodic verses. The song is one of the more playful, freewheeling cuts on the project, showing that even when Slatt Zy is exploring his emotions, he’s able to turn up too. Other standout tracks from the project include “3 K’s (We On That Same Shit)”, “Last Dance”, and “First Year” featuring Pooh Shiesty. Tennessee has emerged as a hip-hop juggernaut as of late and Slatt Zy has turned into another prospect to watch. East Lake Projects is out now on all streaming platforms.  On Tuesday morning, the Grammys announced the nominees for the 2021 awards. As always, there were snubs, which is never surprising. However, this year seemed particularly corrupt. For example, The Weeknd received zero nominations after his album After Hours sat on top of the Billboard 200 for a month straight and had arguably the best song of the year in “Blinding Lights”. R&B wasn’t the only genre that had questionable decisions. Hip-hop had its share of notable snubs, especially in the Rap Album of the Year category. The albums that made the cut include Black Habits (D Smoke), Alfredo (Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist), A Written Testimony (Jay Electronica), King's Disease (Nas), and The Allegory (Royce Da 5'9"). The rappers nominated all fall into more “traditional hip-hop”. To define that, it basically means rap music for old-heads. Not to discredit the work of these artists, but there are only two albums (King’s Disease & Alfredo) that I agree deserve to be here. It’s obvious that sales didn’t play a part in the selection process. If you add all five of these album’s sales numbers together you still wouldn’t have a platinum album. Sales don’t always do the music proper justice, so I credit The Recording Academy’s voters for that. However, there were three albums that could (and should) have been nominated for this once prestigious award:  My Turn - Lil Baby The second studio album from hip-hop’s 2020 MVP showed no signs of a sophomore slump. With going number one first week on the Billboard 200, Lil Baby also had 12 songs off the album chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is the first artist of 2020 to have their album go double platinum. Those milestones have to count for something. Please Excuse Me For Being Anti Social - Roddy Ricch An artist that also had a huge 2020 is Compton’s Roddy Ricch. The 22-year old arguably had the hip-hop track of the year with “The Box”, to go along with his number one album. He also went double-platinum with his debut studio album. Another young artist who did all of the right things, yet still no nominations for this piece of work. Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon - Pop Smoke Pop Smoke’s tragic death back in February was one of the worst moments in music this year. However, his posthumous debut studio album was a highlight in hip-hop. 250k in first week sales is simply impressive. Streams don’t mean everything, but if you want to bring up Billboard, the initial 19 tracks all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the first week. Streams, Billboard-charting, and most importantly, hits; this album had all three. Personally, I was surprised Pop Smoke was only nominated once (Best Rap Performance for “Dior”) since there’s been a recent trend of deceased hip-hop artists receiving nominations for their work. Other notable albums that you can argue were snubbed include Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake, Gunna’s Wunna, and Mac Miller’s Circles.
Yes, the music itself should be the priority for these kinds of awards, however streams & Billboard should hold some value. If the Grammys wanted to go this route and stick to a specific style of hip-hop and close out everyone, then they should look into sub-genre categories. Hip-hop is the most dominant genre in music right now, so they deserve more awards.  Here at Dead Prezzies we’re always searching for that next up-and-coming star in the making. Well we have come across just that, once more. He goes by the name of Griff Tyler. The Inglewood native is capping off his solid 2020 campaign with his latest project, Play Your Cards Right. After releasing singles such as “Coffee”, and the lead single for this mixtape “Guarded” featuring Airplane James, with the latter being played on the L.A Leakers radio show, Tyler has had himself a successful year. The multi-genre artist looks to maintain his momentum, and take his career to the next level with this project. Play Your Cards Right is a total of nine tracks long. Griff Tyler takes no time to set the tone on the introduction “Wild West”. For the title track, “Play Your Cards Right” it features west coast production from G$V. A strength of this project is the track placement. There’s a continuous flow, and tracks 1-9 tells the “westside love story”, just as advertised. “Wassup” featuring G Perico is a perfect mesh of a smooth hook with Perico’s more up-beat guest verse. “Sayless Interlude” ties the project together, and the outro phone call just adds to the authenticity. On “4th Quarter” Griff shows his versatility as a dual-threat with a rapping verse that goes well with a guest feature from Enimeezy. The street’s are saying “Cold Piece” is the one. Rightfully so, since it got radio play on the L.A Leakers on Sunday. When Griff was asked what motivated him to make that track he responded with, “I feel like the culture has shifted a lot in a way where women are rising up and taking what’s theirs no matter the obstacle. It’s a great time for women in today’s culture. I felt like it would be fun to put a creative spin on it from my perspective, making a vibe that both females and males could sing and love.” “Guarded Too” is the perfect sequel to the lead single. It displays his point of view, opposed to his significant other’s which was the subject of the predecessor. Griff caps off his first release of 2020 with “End of the Day”.
West coast hip-hop has always had a reputation of hardcore gang banging music. That cliche is about to change real soon, and artists like Griff Tyler are the reason for that. If I could use one word to describe this project I would simply say “wavy”. Just because this isn’t “hardcore” doesn’t make it soft. This is a project that everyone, no matter what gender, can enjoy from front to back. Griff Tyler’s music is relatable to just about everyone. Play Your Cards Right is out now on all streaming platforms. Previously published on Rosecransavenue.com  Coming out of Los Angeles, California is a 26-year old artist that goes by the name of PettyPetty, and he might be the next LA artist to reach stardom. The Crenshaw MC has only grown as an artist as well as his fanbase since he debuted back in 2015. Since then, he has caught fire with songs like "Strapped" featuring Drakeo The Ruler (who is now home free!) and multiple collaborations with Ralfy The Plug. Petty's influence and reverence is apparent as LA's newest artists continue to request his verses as a stamp of approval. His 12-track collaboration project 'AlPetty' with Mike Almighty features verses from fellow LA acts such as BlueBucksClan, Ralfy The Plug and more.  PettyPetty released the visuals to the track "No Rental" that comes from his masterful collaboration project with Los Angeles producer Mike Almighty titled "AlPetty". His nonchalant style of rapping about a luxurious lifestyle is exemplified in the video directed by William De La Torres. Like it states in the track, yes, he drives a luxury car, no it's not a rental, yes his shoes are expensive, no he didn't buy them on clearance, yes he's pouring a 6 of Wockhardt in his Big Blue soda, no it's not a big deal, yes he's always out, no he's not catching covid. The visual for “No Rental” is out now on YouTube, and stream “AlPetty”.  Coming out of Chicago, is a 19-year old rapper that goes by the name Jae Good. Jae Good is a multi-faceted promising star on the rise, but what separates from his competition is his creative ability off the mic. The young MC brings something different to the table, and is unlike anything we’ve heard coming out of the Windy city. Jae Good teams up with fellow Chicago native Slayton Jacquan, and the both of them capture the eyes and ears of listeners with their latest visual for their collaborative track “Outta Pocket”. The track acts as the lead single on Jae’s 7-track mixtape titled Dice Roll which released back in August.  “Outta Pocket” is a perfect blend of trap drums and lyrical flexing. What makes this song completely different is the eloquent aggression of Jae Good and Slayton Jacquan’s vocals on the Jae Good produced instrumental. Jae Good is an artist on the rise, his versatility and consistency is going to make him a problem in the rap game. His unique style of flow matched with his advanced production skills is what makes Jae Good someone to follow. The visuals for “Outta Pocket” are out now on YouTube, and the project Dice Roll is out now on all streaming platforms.  42 Dugg is an obvious contender for hip-hop rookie of the year. The Detroit native looks to continue his success with his latest single “Free Woo”. The track serves as the second single off his upcoming project, and pays tribute to an incarcerated friend and his Detroit community. Dugg also plans to drop the corresponding visual, which is directed by Gerard Victor, for the song later on Friday that will include a cameo from CMG label boss Yo Gotti.  Throughout “Free Woo,” Dugg rhymes with his signature bravado and sets his sights on continued greatness, rapping “Yeah Gotti run the show, but I’m finna have a spinoff” over the dynamic beat produced by frequent collaborator, Flex On The Beat.
42 Dugg is looking to cap off a breakout 2020, where he has emerged as one of the hottest new rappers in the game. “Free Woo” is out now on all streaming platforms, with visuals set to release this Friday.  YS has been one of the most consistent artists in Los Angeles, as of late. He continues his winning streak with his brand new single titled "In My Eyes". Continuing with his prolific progression, the Compton emcee pours his ice cold heart out over the cool, melodic Trademark production. Although YS jump started his career with rowdy gangster rap anthems such as his Sada Baby collaboration "Mobsters", he has recently showcased he has the ability to make melodic pain music such as "In My Eyes" and "Deep Thoughts'' (produced by 10Fiftyy). His versatility & consistency is the perfect recipe for long-term success in the hip-hop game. This is YS at his most vulnerable yet, as he croons "I done felt a lot of pain, you can see it in my eyes". He does however notify listeners that he stays dangerous with lyrics like "a couple people up on my list, we better not cross ways". The Bijan Productions directed visual, displays YS and his squad sliding across the city, hitting the studio and retiring to their respective section. “In My Eyes” is out now on all streaming platforms, and the music video is out on YouTube.  Baltimore native, Shordie Shordie teams up with Grammy nominated producer, Murda Beatz for their most recent track, “Good Evening.” Mostly known for melodic and addicting flow, he does not shy away from the talent he holds in that category. He is also extremely known for his song style, short and catchy. Shordie Shordie has done an amazing job making a name for himself and solidifying himself in the game. With tracks like “Bitchuary”, “Both Sides”, “Bonnie & Clyde”, and much much more. Something Shordie does really great is actually drop the songs that he teases with snippets. His latest album, >Music, was full of highly anticipated songs: “Two”, “L.O.V.”, “Dice Games”, “FDP”, “Rather Be”, and “Confused”. After dropping that highly awaited album, Shordie Shordie has been pretty quiet this year. This is the first we're hearing from him, other than some pretty big features, since his album released back in April of this year. Murda is coming off 2 highly successful songs of the year, “Banana Split” feat. YNW Melly and Lil Durk, and “DOORS UNLOCKED” feat. Ty Dolla $ign and Polo G. This doesn’t mean they haven’t been working, the two have a bunch of stuff in the vault being set to release this upcoming year. They dropped visuals for the song at the same time as the song was released. The video was directed by Cathcrec. The video takes place in a sunny and beachy setting with Murda and Shordie and their crew having fun shooting craps on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. "Good Evening" is the lead-in single for Murda Beatz's upcoming collaborative album with Shordie Shordie, which will be titled Memory Lane. The album is set to release in January 2021. They want to start the year off right with the release of their collaboration album. “Good Evening” is out now on all streaming platforms, and the music video is out on YouTube.
 Maluma teamed up with The Weeknd for the Hawaii Remix, where Abel & Maluma deliver the hook in Spanish. Abel’s verse is all about not wanting some temporary love but rather something permanent. He opts out of marriage and instead opts to go “half on a baby”. The hook is all about whisking their lost woman off to Hawái for vacation. Maluma lets it be known that there is no winner in this war. The song itself is extremely rhythmic and catchy. Maluma and The Weeknd deliver this ballad and accompanying video about taking their girl back from her current man three months after the original song. In the video they deliver a performance in a room clad with low lit lighting and then switch over to a various bar scenes where they are each with their ex, then to Maluma serenading his girl in an overflowing tub only to end with a climactic ending where she’s walking down the aisle, presumably to her new man. This is all on the tail end of Maluma’s fifth studio album “Papi Juancho” which was released in August of this year and The Weeknd’s fourth studio album “After Hours” which was released in March of this year. |
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