Bout to Blow: 10 Dope Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon

These are the songs you'll soon be hearing everywhere.

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Image via Complex Original
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Time for Bout to Blow: Spring Breaaaaak edition.

This column has two goals:

1. To use the many tools available to us today to get some idea of what songs were really bubbling with "the people"—in other words, to insert some science into the process.

2. To contextualize that information, because raw numbers in a vacuum would have you thinking an anonymous rapper dropped onto a stellar track was hip-hop's next big rap star when he was more like an empty, tattooed vehicle for a dope beat and a hook.

The post is obviously intended to be somewhat predictive. There's also an element, though, that is cheerleading. Many of these songs might be flourishing in certain markets, but could use wider exposure. They're tracks where the metrics suggest some forward momentum, even if the clubs and radio play don't reflect that. What trends have we spotted as we enter March like a lion? February has been one of the slower months for new music, with older records picking up steam and Rich Gang breaking up. There are still plenty of tracks about to pop, including a contender from Janelle Monae's label, a Chiraq denizen coming into his own, and a Pac tribute with plenty of heart.

Check out this edition of Bout to Blow: 10 Dope Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon.

David Drake is a writer living in New York City. Follow him @somanyshrimp

Lil Herb “Man Down”

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Despite the bullish predictions of those old heads convinced all it would take was “real rapping” to steal Chief Keef's buzz in Chicago, thus far no rappers that came up after him have supplanted his central space in the city's street rap scene. Although Herb no doubt benefited from this kind of posturing on the part of his supporters, much of the praise was premature: Herb is a promising rapper, one yet to fully emerge. His latest single, though, is his most confident step in the direction of really owning his own sound. While not a record liable to “pop” in the traditional sense—although really there's no reason why it shouldn't beyond the idiot mechanics of the current industry—“Man Down” is the kind of rap record that would have blown up if DMX had released it a decade and a half earlier. A heart-massaging loop lets Herb lean aggro, but he's still more emotional than “lyrical” in the technical sense. There's a pathos here unmatched by anything in his catalog to date.

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Jidenna “Classic Man”

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No, it's not an Old Spice commercial. (It does appear to be a Beats By Dre commercial.) Opinions are liable to be widely divergent on Nigerian artist Jidenna's “Classic Man,” particularly after folks see the video. For the anti-ratchet anthem—everyone in the record is dressed in the dandiest of attire—it's a little funny how it relies on “ratchet” production, but it's ultimately a go-for-the-gut pop song (whatever its insistence to the contrary) with memorable melodic verses. Jidenna is signed to Janelle Monae's Wondaland label, and that can mean a following of people who complain in the comments section about a song that is “insipid, unimaginative, over-reliant on electronic manipulation of a very weak lead 'singer,' gratuitously repetitive, and tries to keep us all awake with fits of potty-mouth.” Ironically, these are all the things I like about the record; front to back, it's a catchier, more immediate hit than anything even Monae herself has released. Actual facts: Jidenna is the son of Oliver Mobisson, who is "regarded as the father of the African computer industry."

Iamsu! f/ Tyga “Hella Good”

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There's something appealing about Iamsu!'s tendency to ambiguity and uncertainty in his production: Even as he insists he's feeling “Hella Good,” the beat suggests a world of uneasiness and intrigue. It magnifies his devil-may-care confidence and pulls the record away from the more obvious emotions that dominate the pop charts. Iamsu! seems to have faced an uphill battle landing hit records, and “Hella Good” may still struggle to cross over, but at least it's doing so without the appearance of battles or struggles: “Hella Good” feels effortless in every way.

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Rich Homie Quan “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)”

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First the Rich Gang break up, now every day I wake up… Last month, in a rare moment of missing the ball, I predicted Rich Gang's “In This Game” was the future. Then this month Rich Homie Quan suggested that Rich Gang was kaput. First, a moment of silence for the dissolution of the greatest rap group of 2014. But “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” has since taken off, giving Quan a solo single with the same post-Mustard uptempo dancefloor swing as “In This Game” with half the billing. Already getting burn in Atlanta, expect this one to go national soon.

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Migos “One Time”

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The Migos “have another one,” as the kids say, and “One Time” manages the trick of going back to the D4L era with a snap-style sparse bleeping melody. Not a banger at the level of “Fight Night,” “One Time” is nonetheless a welcome move away from the mechanistic sound of Rich Nigga Timeline which—let's be honest—was tough to keep in rotation. Best part of this record, outside of the group's tendency to play with various flows, is that little descending “ooh-ooh” during the second half of the chorus.

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Mike Will Made-It f/ Swae Lee and Future “Drinks on Us”

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I was accurately called out for not including this last month, which was pure oversight. Luckily the song is still on the incline. One of the best records by far from Mike Will's most recent Ransom, “Drinks on Us” has an eerie melody courtesy of the youthful stylings of Swae Lee, and Future writes a strong, dense verse as counterpoint. They recently released a version with the Weeknd, but why try to improve upon perfection? The melody works for me the way everyone else seems to dig Makonnen, a kind of unreal, haunting melodicism that makes you feel reflective, even introverted, and discomforted.

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Bobby Brackins f/ Zendaya and Jeremih “My Jam”

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Bobby Brackins has been surfing on the edge of notoriety for some time; last summer I rode for "Hot Box" as a potential crossover point, but “My Jam” is a better contender, with Zendaya and Jeremih making stronger partners-in-rhyme than G-Eazy and Mila J. The song has the kind of languorous spring break beat that one can keep on repeat without getting bored. “My Jam” is produced by Dem Jointz, which already sounds like a punchline so we'll just leave this there.

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Rayven Justice f/ French Montana “Hit or Nah”

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There's a French-free version of this song that has been out for a few months, and French is one of the most ignorable presences on major records these days, but for whatever reason this record needs a guest spot to really hold it together. And French's verse, though lazily goofy in a French Montana style, gives the record a needed center. Rayven Justice is a Bay-based R&B singer whose “Slide Thru” was one of the earliest wishful thinking "bout to blow" entries. He's still dropping ethereal R&B-pop club records in the vein of “Slide Thru” or Adrian Marcel's “2 AM,” and frankly we should ride “Or Nah” slang till the wheels fall off.

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Anthony Lewis f/ T.I. "It's Not My Fault"

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I was perhaps the world's only enthusiast of Anthony Lewis' cover of “Candy Rain.” Well, public indifference to his version wasn't enough to slow his roll, as the singer's new T.I.-featuring pop-R&B single is rolling out and seems liable to make decent chart noise. Nothing world-changing here, but it's got tight songwriting and a little stop-start beat reminiscent of early '00s Dr. Dre. Not that it's as good as Dr. Dre, just in the same spirit. An easy, catchy little jam.

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Kanye West “All Day”

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Kanye West's "All Day" performance at the Brit Awards felt like a conscious reference to Chief Keef's performance of "Don't Like" and "3Hunna" at the Congress Theater as captured by this Wala Cam video from 2012. Likewise, "All Day" is a concept record in the vein of "Don't Like" or "Hundreds" or E-40's "Choices" (to name another elder rapper seemingly inspired by this brand of pop songwriting). Kanye's biggest fans may be curious exactly what Kanye is attempting in channeling this raw and youthful spirit: Ironically, despite being a provisional Keef fan, I think this record is more interesting than musically exciting; I'm more of a "FourFiveSeconds" guy myself. But "All Day" is undeniably going to be a big moment, as "Don't Like" remains a Kanye mainstay to this day.

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