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

Summer is over and it's time to go back to school. August was a solid month for music, although low on out-and-out jams; instead, there were several R&B contenders hoping to take up some space in your earbuds this fall, just in time for sweater season.

Welcome to the September 1 edition of Bout to Blow. 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. After a harsh decision-making process, for September we narrowed a long list down to the 10 best records you have to know. 

It's this month's edition of Bout to Blow: 10 Dope New Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon.

The huge irony of Ebro's ghostwriting accusations over Rae Sremmurd's debut tape is that it's exactly Swae Lee's vivid eye and particular way with words that separates his writing from his contemporaries. When you hear him sing "small world all her friends know of me," his cleverness is subtle, artful; concerned more with the effect it creates on the listener than drawing attention to how clever it is. "Like clockwork I blow it all," he says midway through his verse, "then get some more / Get you somebody that can do both." It's a reference to a popular turn of phrase/meme, but in his hands cliches feel fresh again, thanks in part to the pause in his phrasing, and the way he saves the quote for the end, moving from the unfamiliar to the familiar. Of course, this song is great for many reasons, from the vocal harmonies in the chorus to the way Gucci Mane's verse—one of the few this year where he's not outshining his costars—is kept in the middle, rather than making the song a prelude for his cameo finale. Black Beatles know whose song this is.

Baton Rouge has long been home to hip-hop innovation. The chaotic energy of WNC Carlos, JMM Larry, and SOG Sherwood Flame's "Cross Me" is the latest entry in a proud tradition. The song is brimming with energy, an enthusiastic, sloppy record that transcends the false marketing of today's generational beef by both embracing and rejecting tradition in equal measure. In its high-adrenaline bounce, "Cross Me" is the heir to the glory days of producer KLC and No Limit; in its reckless, messy disregard for order and precision, it pushes further into the 21st century, the full democratic promise of punk rock for another time and tradition. Anchored by a repeating kettle drum loop, WNC Carlos' verse splatters all over the track in the tradition of offbeat growlers like Fiend and Silkk; JMM Larry's verse answers by rapping in a contrasting style, fitting tightly to the groove.

Aminé​'s "Caroline" has been building for several months; now, it's on the verge of hitting the next level. Its innovation is to synthesize a kind of nerdy earnestness popular in the era of Childish Gambino and Kyle with the bright buoyancy of classic swag rap, a mix which works surprisingly well. With its melodic chorus to, "Caroline" will remind some of OutKast, but more in an abstract, spiritual sense than a direct reference.

Much like CupcakKe's "Doggystyle," Ye Ali's "Sing To It" is great because it's not afraid to risk embarrassment. Ye Ali fits in extremely well with the contemporary R&B sound of Bryson Tiller/PND et al, so there's not much new here musically; his songs live or die by their conceits. Which is why a record about singing to the pussy while a cat meows in the background, performed with a completely straight face, works so well. It feels like the product of a really enjoyable, creative recording session, one which must have ended with lots of laughs.

I've been worried for Tink. Since linking up with Timbaland she dropped several whiffed singles, all of which banked more on Timbaland's brand name and increasingly clichéd​ production style rather than her own identity. Meanwhile, Chicago rapper Dreezy's Interscope debut shifted into a similar lane, banking off R&B even though Dreezy had been known more for her rapping. Tink has long been an artist of great talent who is nonetheless reliant on her collaborators; although her early tapes were great demos of an emerging talent, the songwriting could be a little inconsistent. The great strength of Tink's latest tape is how Timbo has slipped to the background, while the songwriting has stepped up considerably. "Wet Aquafina" is one of the best songs of her career and should be a single.

For all the talk about how artists don't respect tradition, Sevyn Street and Gucci Mane's "Prolly" is a reward for those of us rap fans who love hip-hop's historical referentialism. "Prolly" is a flip of the same sample used by the Notorious B.I.G. for  "Party and Bullshit," transformed into an R&B record featuring Gucci Mane, who I would contend, controversially, is the Biggie of our time. Sevyn Streeter is one of R&B's most talented artists, yet remains a marginal concern to many in the press. Hopefully, if "Prolly" puts numbers on the board, this will finally start to shift.

YFN Lucci's "Key to the Streets" has been bubbling for months; like Lil Durk in Chicago and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie in New York, YFN Lucci's fame in his region seems to exist at a remove from other popular rap artists, offering a melodic, heartfelt perspective that resonates strongly with the already-converted. "Key to the Streets," though, feels like the first Lucci record that could push past his large and devoted core.

We Are Toonz have struggled to garner much attention since the sharp and dramatic rise of the "Nae Nae," but their latest record "Drizzy"—thanks in part, one suspects, to a cameo from official dance record master of ceremonies Jermaine Dupri—feels like the hit they've been waiting for. Not that it will reach "Nae Nae" levels, but it's a strong party record and arguably more fun to actually listen to than its predecessor. The best part is the beat switch-up during the chorus, which sounds like the soundtrack to a scene from a nature documentary when they film over canyons or desert.

Shy Glizzy's latest tape took a step back from the Migos-like club records and towards a more serious, lyric-focused, intense sound—depth over height. To my ears, it's the superior direction. "New Crack," a song faintly reminiscent of records like Chief Keef's "Bussin," broods towards pop, its production offering a lot of empty space in which Glizzy's nursery-rhyme flow sloshes back and forth in an emotional sing-song.

Uzi Vert's "Buy It" has garnered a lot of traction since dropping a few weeks back. But his Migos collaboration "Bad and Boujee" is the superior record, an understated, hypnotic song. There's little new here conceptually, but its dark sound and the Migos' inspired execution of a familiar template makes this one, at the very least, a track with long-term replay value, even if it never goes top 40.