Our latest Fire Emoji playlist update, rounding up the best hip-hop releases of the week, is a particulalry dreamy one thanks to J Cole's new song "cLOUDs." The North Carolina spitter came through with one of his best flow displays in a while – which, if you're at all familiar with the J. Cole catalog, is saying a lot. The heavenly mixtures of soft keys, the Wiz Khalifa "Never Been" sample, a melodic chorus, and bars about artificial intelligence and billionaires make it a pretty engaging cut. Hopefully there's more where that came from soon on The Fall Off, Cole's long-awaited magnum opus.
Elsewhere on Fire Emoji, we also wanted to shout out REASON for his new album I Love You Again. "Cross The Waters" featuring Hit-Boy is a particularly hard-hitting highlight thanks to its triumphant tone and rags-to-riches feel. On a similarly passionate energy, we have the Ray Vaughn single "CEMETERY lanterns," which is a vivid boom-bap head-bobber with a vibrant delivery. While these two MCs are no longer TDE label mates, they are definitely two names that mainstream rap fans should be much more in tune with these days.
HNHH Fire Emoji Playlist
However, if you're looking for something more multicultural on Fire Emoji, we'd recommend French Montana's remix of Jamaican DJ Masicka's "Whites." It's got a bit of a dancehall feel here and there mixed with crisp trap percussion, dramatic but soft keys, and pretty larger-than-life deliveries from both artists. On the other hand, we have the newest record from Little Simz in collaboration with Obongjayar and Moonchild Sanelly, "Flood." It's a gripping and menacing cut with ominous drums, occasionally eerie and off-kilter melodies, and a killer bass tone that adds a lot of grit to this effort.
Meanwhile, for those fellow funk carioca obsessives out there, TiaCorine melded that sound with rap bravado on the new single "ATE." This is one of her more fiery and passionate performances as of late, and the genre fusing on here ends up crafting one of her most dynamic tracks to date. Finally on Fire Emoji, props are in order for Lil Tjay and his new song "Apex," whose speed and pace are right up his fanbase's alley.
