Listen: Glorilla / Hitkidd, “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
Glorilla: “Tomorrow 2 (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B]
Memphis rapper Glorilla accomplished her goal of terrorizing bad friends and exes on the original “Tomorrow.” Sounding equally tart and dismissive, Cardi B makes the remix all the more intimidating. As ever, though, even Angry Cardi has to cut her barbs with humor—her best dig, about owning “condos in that bitch head,” is sandwiched between a line about scissoring and a slurping sound effect. The point is this: Every new day is a chance to brush off the past, smile, and move on, but not before making a quick stop to hurt a few feelings. –Clover Hope
Listen: Glorilla, “Tomorrow 2 (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B]
Hitkidd / Gloss Up / K Carbon: “Shabooya” [ft. Slimeroni and Aleza]
After Glorilla’s viral tracks redirected the rap conversation towards Tennessee this year, the Hitkidd-produced “Shabooya” re-introduces her “Set the Tone” co-stars Gloss Up, K Carbon, Aleza, and Slimeroni. Using the “roll call” bus chant as a template, they’re all hilariously brazen, whether robbing men blind, shitting on bitches, or getting raunchy: “Didn’t let him fuck/He ate my ass/What a bummer,” drawls Gloss Up. Choose your fighter: Individually, they’re unbothered, bubbly, cheery, vicious. Collectively, they’re the vanguard of Memphis rap. –Heven Haile
Listen: Hitkidd / Gloss Up / K Carbon, “Shabooya” [ft. Slimeroni and Aleza]
Ice Spice: “Munch (Feelin’ U)”
Merriam-Webster defines “munch” as a verb that means “to eat with a chewing action.” Which is wrong. Or, at least, incomplete. Because according to Ice Spice, the word is a noun that describes a particularly clueless kind of guy—a dummy, a sucker, a simp. “You thought I was feelin’ you?” the Bronx drill rapper eyerolls on one of the year’s most memorable hooks, “That nigga a munch/Nigga a eater he ate it for lunch/Bitch I’m a baddie I get what I want.” Ice Spice grew up idolizing both Cardi B and Erykah Badu, and she balances her brashness with a supremely unbothered delivery, as if she’s been swatting away munches for decades. Centuries, even. Merriam-Webster, it’s time to catch up. –Ryan Dombal
Listen: Ice Spice, “Munch (Feelin’ U)”
Ice Spice: “Bikini Bottom”
The follow-up to a viral single can make or break an artist, but anxiety isn’t part of Ice Spice’s vocabulary. After securing NYC’s song of the summer with “Munch (Feelin’ U),” you might expect her to address haters who wish one-hit wonder status upon her, but on “Bikini Bottom,” she’s the embodiment of “Unbothered. Moisturized. Happy. In My Lane. Focused. Flourishing.” “How can I lose if I’m already chose?” she asks over a mischievous, Looney Tunes-chase-sequence-ass beat. Don’t try to answer, the question is rhetorical. –Heven Haile
