The Ones: 5 Best New Rap Songs From Young Thug, Knxwledge, Caleb Giles, Loski, and Dee Aura
With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily roundup of the best new rap tracks you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.
Young Thug - “On the Run”
Young Thug’s music has been in an experimental phase recently (see: Beautiful Thugger Girls) and “On the Run” is a welcome return to the high energy, ad-lib-loaded flow that has made the Atlanta rapper into one of the most imitated stars of this generation. Thug grabs a beat from longtime collaborator London on da Track and in classic London fashion, the drums hit hard, hi-hats rattle, and the melody is as silky as Thug’s voice. London also adds some quirky elements to the production like a blaring air horn and a soft flute, resulting in Thug at his most comfortable.
Knxwledge - “Likealight_”
Somehow Knxwledge flips Drake’s verse on part three of “Sicko Mode” into a track that belongs on a D.I.T.C. record. Everything about the remix works: from Drake’s suddenly grimy recontextualized vocals over the dusty drums to the room Knx gives Travis’ ad-libs to breathe. It’s why Knxwledge continues to be unmatched in the remix lane.
Caleb Giles - “Name” [ft. Cleo Reed]
The Bronx’s Caleb Giles rides the wave of this soulful Slauson Malone production on “Name.” Giles recruits singer Cleo Reed for some soothing background vocals on the song’s hook and brings out some lovestruck bars for the verses: “Love that I lost/Ooh it’s a shame/Breaking my heart/Who was to blame?” The second half of the track rounds out the feeling by letting Slauson Malone’s beat coast with some additional smoky bass accompaniment from Crumb’s Jesse Brotter.
Loski - “Mad About Bars”
The Kenny Allstar-hosted UK drill freestyle series “Mad About Bars” ended season 3 with a bang—getting South London’s Loski to close it out with a two-parter. The first beat, produced by UK and Brooklyn drill go-to Axl, features one of the type beat producer’s best melodies to date and the second booming instrumental is courtesy of Sxbz Beats. Loski hardly takes a break during the five minutes of ruckus, showcasing the kind of bars that have helped him rise to the top of the UK drill scene: “Little man got kidnapped when bro hit that strip/Same dons talk a whole of waps and a whole of crash but don’t let it rip.”
Dee Aura - “UF-Flow” [ft. YT03GhostGang]
Dee Aura brings out the whole damn block for the outro to his first official mixtape, Aura Season. In the last year Queens rap has taken the bouncy and crisp sound provided by Bronx producer Cash Cobain and transformed it into the vibe of its own rap scene. “UF-Flow” is all about the feel, the bounce, and Queens as a unified front looking to break out of New York’s shadows.
Check out yesterday’s Ones, and listen to new rap from Young Thug, Caleb Giles, Dee Aura, and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.
