That moment when you realize one artist — just one artist — not only has the streets on smash, but the entire rap industry on smash during those crucial months of June, July, August and September— there’s really nothing like it. Like the MVP award in the NBA, the rapper who owns the summer etches him or herself on a distinct list of emcees who will undoubtedly be remembered for many years.
In 2003, 50 Cent was that rapper. The streets, the clubs, the radio, it didn’t matter. Hip-hop couldn’t get enough of the him. Two years later, Young Jeezy pulled the feat (in the Summer of ’05, they used to play his entire album in the club!). Weezy owned hip-hop in the summer of 2008, followed by Drake and Rick Ross in 2009 and 2010 respectively. 2 Chainz was up last summer, and — let him tell it — Jigga held you down…no way! Has it really been eighteen summers (damn, where IS the love)?!
Sidebar: Quick math! Jay dropped that line (1:44 mark) on The Blueprint, which was 2001, and he “had already been holding us down six summers”. Add 12 to that and you get…a headache. Where does the time go? But I digress.
The month of June has not only brought us the customary warmer temperatures, longer days and shorter skirts, it has also blessed us with a bevy of music from many of hip-hop’s heavy hitters, with everyone trying to stake their claim as “The King of Summer 2013”.
But who needs this distinction the most? HHSR will take a look at five rappers and why they need to own the summer, before submitting our verdict.
1) French Montana
The stakes might be even a little higher for French. Not only is he in the “King of the Summer” sweepstakes, he’s playing for “King of New York”, a distinction that appears to have lost some of its luster as NYC has seen its impact on hip-hop wane in recent years. When Big passed the torch to Jay, it meant something. 50 absolutely had the city on lock in ’03, before ceding it back to Hov after the G-Unit run ended (with Diddy doing his Diddy thing throughout). Over the years, many other emcees from The Big Apple have had flashes of being the next king in waiting (guys like Cam’ron, Fabolous and Jadakiss come to mind— Nas was always there lyrically, but never really had the commercial success to match), but fans have still been left waiting for Gotham City’s next savior.
Okay, so we all can agree it’s hard to call French Montana “a savior” of anything. But the crown is up for grabs nonetheless, especially since Jay-Z is moonlighting as an agent these days. And the only rappers out of New York that are hot nationally right now are A$AP Rocky and Montana, with apologies to Fab.
Sidebar: Loso was actually excluded from this discussion. While I’ve been a fan of his for many years and respect what he’s done in the industry, his career isn’t quite at the pivotal point like these other artists. When Loso’s Way Part 2: Rise to Power drops (hopefully) later this summer, we already know we’ll get a solid effort from one of the more consistent rappers in the game. Looking forward to it.
With the lane opening up and his name never having been hotter, the time is now for Montana. There’s plenty working in his favor already. He dropped his solo studio debut on May 21st (getting out in front of the summer months— smart move) and he’s already scored possibly the biggest hit of the season with the streets. The album was co-released on Bad Boy Records and Maybach Music Group — Montana’s duel citizenship is still hard to understand — which provides him with backing from the south and the east coast. His album, Excuse My French, also includes one of the hottest records of last summer, a track with Nicki Minaj and debuted at #4 on the charts.
He says he ain’t worried bout nothin’, but best believe French Montana is worried about being #1 this summer.
The problem is, after three weeks with a Diddy/Ross/Khaled co-sign and heavy radio spins, he’s only sold 85,000 copies. Montana also doesn’t seem to have the personality of a star. Sure, he’s got the wearing-shades-24-7 part down, but his interviews, videos and lyrics are all pretty boring. If not careful, the leader of the Coke Boys could find himself next to Black Rob & G-Dep in the Bad Boy graveyard. He needs to run the summer 2013 to solidify his place in the rap game, his career could be riding on these next three months.
2) J. Cole
His mission is clear: Avoid the dreaded sophomore slump, by any means necessary.
J. Cole has elevated himself to the top of the rap game since dropping his rookie record, Cole World: The Sideline Story in 2011. From his spotlight-stealing features, to his two-part EP that he dropped earlier this year, Cole has gone out of his way to put the world on notice that he’s no longer holding the clipboard. The Fayetteville, NC native dropped his second studio album, Born Sinner on June 18th and the hip-hop world has been patiently awaiting its arrival for several months.
What makes Cole’s situation unique is that he is the poster boy for Roc Nation, yet the label’s godfather seems far more interested in making waves with the likes of Kevin Durant and Skylar Diggins, than Cole himself. In fact, it doesn’t appear Jay-Z has done much of anything to aid J. Cole’s quest for stardom. Jigga doesn’t appear on Born Sinner at all; he doesn’t executive produce the record either. They’ve made little to no appearances together to promote the album. Jay was also absent from Cole’s two works from the first & second quarter — Truly Yours & Truly Yours 2 — and offered up only one 16 on Cole’s debut album.
Sidebar: This isn’t all that new when you think about it. Look at Roc Nation’s current stable of artists besides Jay himself: Cole, Hugo, Willow Smith, Rita Ora, Bridgette Kelly, Alexis Jordan, Jay Electronica, K Koke, Calvin Harris & Mayaeni. While a few have experienced some success, the majority of his artists have not seen any of the success you’d expect considering they’re being backed by Shawn Carter (and is Jay Elec gonna EVER drop an album? EVER?!).
Oh yeah, then THIS HAPPENED!!!!!
In the middle of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and less than 48 hours before his protégé was set to drop his next album, Hov rocked the internet with the news that he’d be dropping a new album on July 4th! That’s just under two weeks away from today! This is an album that will feature super-producer after super-producer, as can be seen in the above commercial. Meanwhile, Cole practically produced all of Born Sinner himself.
While Jay-Z is responsible for introducing (most of) the hip-hop world to him on Blueprint 3 in 2009, J. Cole has not publicly criticized Hov for his seemingly lack of support. In fact, Cole has sighted Jay’s influence on his development behind the scenes in various interviews. But the heat is on for him to deliver an album that will keep him at the top of anybody’s mind when they think about the best emcees (notice it was not qualified by saying “best young emcees”) today. This is Steve Young trying to get the Joe Montana monkey off his back.
Can Born Sinner be J. Cole’s Super Bowl XXIX, or will he have to wait a few years, just like Young did?
3) Mac Miller
Self-preservation— that might just be the name of the game for Mac Miller. The Pittsburgh rapper does have what could accurately be described as a “cult following” at this point in his career. His 2011 debut, Blue Slide Park, went straight to #1 in its first week, without a major deal or any cosigns.
Still, Miller is also entering the always dangerous sophomore album and many of the reviews he received on his first project were negative (Blue Slide Park predates HHSR, so there was no review for it on this website. However I never heard anything from this guy to make me think his first album was misjudged).
Sidebar: For some context: XXL gave it an “L” (meaning “Large”, or “average”), Spin gave it a 4/10, Allhiphop.com gave it a 6.5/10, Rolling Stone gave it a 2.5/5 and Pitchfork media gave it an abysmal 1/10.
If he has any desire to continue his success in the rap game, Mac Miller needs to prove that he’s more than just a gimmick rapper. As trite as it appears to compare a white rapper to Eminem, Miller looked a lot like early Em his first time out. Look no further than the video for his most successful single off his last album.
Sidebar: That shitshow of video actually raises an interesting point: why is it that so many white rappers have to resort to off-the-wall visuals when trying to get on? Shady laid the blueprint & ate off it for years before finally dropping the act for good. The Beastie Boys, though, probably have to get credit for originating wacky, white boy rap video. Too many white rappers to count have either dressed up like idiots, or have had their video centered around “the biggest house party of all-time” concept. Why is this? And more importantly, why does it continue to work (See Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)? Why can’t a white rapper get respect off of more conventional means like lyrics and flow? It’s hard to blame the artists, but sooner or later our white emcees need to stop shucking & jiving and feeding into this stereotype that their talent alone won’t allow them to compete within hip-hop.
Mac Miller needs focus on lyricism. Otherwise, people will continue to see things in black & white.
If history has taught us anything, it’s that a gimmick won’t get you far in rap if you don’t have the skill to back it up. If Mac Miller wants to separate himself from the party-rapper lane he’s in now and be taken seriously as an emcee, his new album, Watching Movies With The Sound Off, needs to connect with the streets (actually getting Jay Electronica off his ass and into the studio was a good start Jay-Z couldn’t even do that). But if it doesn’t, Mac Miller may wind up as just another flash in the pan rapper.
4) Wale
While J. Cole is looking to avoid the sophomore slump, Ralph Folarin is looking to bounce back from said slump on this third solo outing entitled, The Gifted, due out June 25th.
Wale recently went on The Breakfast Club and talked about how the third album is the proverbial “fork-in-the-road” record. In his case, there does appear to be some truth to this for two reasons:
1) The feel of each of Wale’s first two albums was noticeably different. Attention Deficit (2009 – Allido/Interscope) seemed to speak more to Wale’s artistic side, where as his followup Ambition (2011 – Maybach Music Group/Warner Bros.) was a slightly more shallow Wale, who was (not coincidentally) releasing his first record on a rap-crew label (Ross’ MMG). Ambition lacked the substance and bite — from a lyrical standpoint — that his debut album contained, which was reflected in its generally lower critical reception.
Sidebar: No better example of this was the track “No Day Off“. The track was laced by nasty beat from DJ Toomp, yet Wale basically did nothing with it. Wale got the dope beats when he teamed up with the “it” rap crew of the moment, but the artistic merit seemed to be compromised a bit.
2) Conversely, his record sales did increase significantly on the second go-around. Attention Deficit debuted at #21 on the Billboard charts, while Ambition soared to #2 on the charts upon its release. To say Wale “sold his soul” would be an exaggeration, but it’s hard not to notice his very calculated decision and the differences between album one and album two.
So where does that leave Wale now? After hitting fans upside the head with Folarin — one of the best mixtapes of the last year — in December, Wale speaks as if he’s struck the elusive balance between commercial success and musical depth on this project. In interviews, he’s hinted that The Gifted‘s production will be more centered around live instrumentation; perhaps this will help him reconnect with fans of his prior work.
Wale is also dropping his album a week after Cole, Mac Miller & Kanye West. These three artists will be going toe-to-toe, straight up. If everything comes together, the dark horse from the District could end up stealing the summer spotlight, cementing himself as a top rap act.
Speaking of Mr. West…
5) Kanye West
Leave it to Kanye to complain for years about not getting enough credit for his genius, putting a baby in one of the most famous women in the world, broadcasting his new song on the side of buildings all over the world and recording a record called “I Am A God”, Featuring God (not a joke), only to wild out on of paparazzi after he himself ran into a Wrong Way sign.
This is why we love Yeezy. He’s the most fascinating man in music today. He’s as captivating as he is perplexing, and now, the pressure is on for him to deliver this summer.
Granted, he’s already one of the biggest stars in the world, but people just don’t know what to expect from this guy anymore. The man who made “All Falls Down” and “Through The Wire” is long gone. Ye has taken the concept of artist evolution from the earth to the moon and back again. His relationship with Kim Kardashian, coupled with his somewhat erratic behavior (even by his standards) over the last several months has set a somewhat bizarre stage for his new album, Yeezus.
The album leaked last weekend and officially dropped this past Tuesday. Kanye is on record saying he didn’t care about the early leak; he apparently doesn’t care about much of anything in terms of promoting the record. Taking a counter-intuitive approach, Kanye has hardly done any press for this record.There was no pre-order. There is no radio single. There is no “Good Life” on Yezus. One can quickly identify the intensity with which West is bringing on this project by simply taking a quick look at the track listing. “God”, “Skinhead”, “Blood”, “Slaves”, “Liquor”; these are the words that can be found in the song titles on this album.
With such an aggressive temperament, mixed with such an obscure marketing scheme (Yeezy 2 giveaway notwithstanding), Yeezus has certainly become one of the most highly anticipated rap albums of the year, if not the decade to this point. Needless to say, the pressure Kanye West is under to deliver another great album is immense. Of course, it is Ye’s unconventional approach to music which makes his ability to satisfy traditional hip-hop fans problematic.
Fame and fortune seems to have changed Kanye West on some level. In fairness, his level of success would probably change most of us. But if Kanye swings for the fences and strikes out with this record, who’s to say if he won’t lose some of those long-time College Dropout fans forever?
Sidebar: Some people still haven’t forgiven him for 808s & Heartbreak, although I actually liked it.
So where does that leave us?
With hip-hop completely up for grabs, it’s difficult to say who needs to own Summer 2013 the most. However, it appears as though this is J. Cole’s time above anyone else.
He went out of his way to challenge Kanye West, without ever even having the mainstream success of Wale, or arguably even French Montana (has Cole ever had a bigger club hit that “Pop That”? Don’t think so). He’s dropping on the same day as Mac Miller as well, an artist who also scored a #1 debut album, but did so without the help of a label. Of course, the expectations for Cole juxtaposed to that of Miller are extremely different.
People view J. Cole as one of the next great lyricist in the genre (a burden French Montana won’t ever have to worry about)— how else would a song like “Let Nas Down” come about? He’s not as established as Kanye, or even Wale for that matter. But Cole carries himself like a man ready to solidify his place as not just “the next great lyricist”, but simply “the greatest lyricist”.
He cares about the history of the game and his place in it. If that weren’t enough, he’s working extremely hard to double as an elite producer. Born Sinner will be the litmus test for all of that. If Kanye’s album is too weird for the people, he can always work on the next Throne album to reel back in the purists. If Wale doesn’t pop, he can jump on the next Self Made album, due out this August. Even with Jay-Z in his corner, there is no safety net for J. Cole.
And perhaps this is the genius of Jay at work. Maybe he believes in Cole’s ability so much, that he doesn’t want to throw himself behind everything his pupil does in an effort to help him get out from under his shadow before he even casts it.
Whatever the case, with Loso, Kiss, 2 Chainz, Juicy J, Cam’ron, Joey Bada$$, Freddie Gibbs, Pusha T, Ace Hood and yes… Jay-Z (Update: And Drake!…AND Big Sean!) are all set to put out new music in the next three months. Hip-hop is like one big pickup game right now and everybody wants to show out at the Rucker.
The task at hand for each of these artists is to cut through the clutter; given the expectations, the circumstances surrounding the project and the ability of the artist, nobody’s summer is set up like J. Cole’s.
It just feels like it’s his time. And you know what they say, “Everyday, a star is born“.