The Best Rap Songs of the Week: Grilled Cheeze, Vol. 2

Welcome back to GRILLED CHEEZE, your weekly dose of rap songs I like and my useful/dumb commentary about them. We started real on some real “trap arms” shit, this week we just do a bunch of drugs and then end on some Real Hip-Hop.

For Volume One of the great Grilled Cheeze journey, click here. To submit your raps to Grilled Cheeze, hit . Oh, and follow GRILLED CHEEZE on Twitter.

Alex Wiley - “His Lil’est Nonchalant”

I knew Alex from “#MoPurp” with Chance the Rapper, which I knew mostly from its trippy stop-motion video. So I was not expecting Village Party, which dropped last week, to be the weird experimental adventure that it is. I still haven’t fully digested it but it’s yet another example of how every comfortable every part of the Chicago rap scene is with pushing its own limits. “Nonchalant” cribs sounds from 808’s-era Kanye and Andre 3000 and doesn’t even have that much rapping on it. Trippy shit from another great midwest talent who looks like the kid from The Sandlot in a bucket hat.

Yemi Marie - “Love Bop”

Speaking of the ever-expanding Chicago rap world, DJ Moondawg just dropped We Invented the Bop 2. Invented 1 was more of a collection of pre-existing bop anthems while as far as I can tell Invented 2 is new shit. Bop still sounds like a Dance Dance Revolution level that takes place in Chief Keef’s brain (not a bad thing) but this fun and summery joint from Yemi Marie turns the robot vibes down significantly. “Love Bop” sounds like an updated version of the R&B remixes dudes like DJ Gant-Man were making in the mid–2000’s.

VesperTown - “Colour Wheel (Lil Texas remix)

I’m not even really sure how this ended up in my world but it made sense here and Lil Texas is ”p chill" as the kids say.

DJ Rashad f/ Spinn + Taso - “She A Go”

While we’re keeping it Chicago, I’m an idiot for sleeping on Rashad. In my defense, footwork isn’t really in my wheelhouse but whatever, I’ve been listening to Double Cup pretty much non-stop since he passed. I don’t need to tell anyone that it’s an incredible album and “She A Go” is dead-ass one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. So here it is.

Jigz the Flyer - “Stargate”

Connecticut is a weird place, stuck between New York and Boston and home to both some of the richest, whitest enclaves in the country, and some of the most bombed-out hoods. Without going too deep here all I’m saying is it’s hard to know what to expect from Jigz, who reps Meriden, Connecticut. But his Opium Fields project is a nice piece of post-A$AP hip-hop, cloud-inspired but grounded in actual rapping.

OTF Nunu feat. Oochie - “Codeine”

The late OTF Nunu was really a talented dude, a pure Chicago spitter in the same lane as the quick-rising Herb and Bibby. Sam Hoody’s The Best of OTF Nunu is a bittersweet listen. While the freestyles aren’t the most creative choices, Nunu does the likes of “Pound Cake” justice and rides Mannie Fresh’s “Used 2” perfectly. He’s more on his straight-ahead Drill shit with “Codeine” (featuring DC’s Oochie).

Beatking - “Too Much Lean 2014”

And speaking of pourin’ up, Beatking remade one of my favorite rando Houston joints on Gangsta Stripper Music 2. A dude named RP Cola made the original and Beatking’s version (with a beat from the always reliable Mr. Lee) takes the track in a whole different direction. In a perfect world, we’d get Nick Kroll on here for a “Too Much Tuna” remix. Hold up!

Zelooperz - “Blackberry”

Zelooperz’s HELP has a lot of good ideas but also descends into drugged-out self-parody. Homeboy really has a track called “I’m So Sad,” but he also has moments of clarity like the ultra-specific “Blackberry”.

Meek Mill - “0 to 100”

Meek Mill and Gunplay are on a very short list of rappers I’ll check for when they rap over the hottest beat of the moment. I was pretty sure Meek’s “0 to 100” was gonna make the mix this week but Gunplay dropped his version of “Move That Dope” yesterday and I didn’t want to use both. But I had to rip the Gunplay off Soundcloud and didn’t sound great so I went with Meek. I know, cool story bro. PS I still think “MEEK MILL RAP LIKE” is really funny.

Boaz - “Like This”

Before the city became synonymous with Wiz Khalifa’s friendly stoner raps and Mac Miller moved to Los Angeles, my hometown of Pittsburgh was really holding a torch for Real Hip-Hop in a way few other parts of America were. And while the city has diversified enough to produce a dude like the T.I.-cosigned Hardo, it still backs rappers like Boaz, who calls himself “the Pittsburgh Nas” on the Illmind-produced “Like This”. Word, son. Nefs, Ike.

Party Arty - “The Party Y’All”

Bronx rapper Party Arty aka P–80 died of “undisclosed health complications” in 2008 but had a solid career as a member of DITC’s B-team. He and another rapper named D-Flow formed the Ghetto Dwellas and were sort of AG’s proteges. P–80 rapped in a distinct growl that could have been the voice for a Decepticon on the old Transformers cartoon. He’s one of my favorite random New York rappers and for some reason I was obsessed with his verse on “Themes Dreams and Schemes” for six months in 2001. Anyways, last month Robbie over at the always-great Unkut blog linked up with AG and unearthed some of the tapes long-shelved Ghetto Dwellas LP, Return to 1999. Since Party Arty is no longer with us, new Party Arty is rad.

Earth Wind and Fire - "Brazilian Rhyme (Bozo Meko edit)

Happy summer!

@skinny412