16 New Hip-Hop & R&B Albums You Should Be Listening To (Week of September 3)

Music – 3 days ago

This week’s top albums feature selections from Drake, Jenevieve, Duckwrth, JMSN, L’Orange and more.

Kanye West and Drake have finally delivered their albums ahead of the change of seasons: Donda and Certified Lover Boy.

These two releases which are leading our New Music Friday selects have been at the forefront of the music conversation for months. Even if you’re annoyed by these two figures you have to admire the lengths they’ve gone to, to dominate discussions amongst music lovers, hip-hop heads, and more.

Both of these artists deemed their albums worthy of a bunch of collaborators. We don’t hate that, especially since it provided some time for artists with cult followings to get some shine. We’re looking at you Giveon, Yebba, Masego, Don Toliver who appeared on Certified Lover Boy. Over on Donda, it featured a different range of artists but, the collabs were equally impressive: Playboi Carti, Baby Keem, and Westside Gunn. Lastly, before we move on, Jay-Z appeared on both releases and so did Kid Cudi.

Now that all that’s out the way, it’s time to share additional albums that deserve some shine too. Duckwrth dropped off his newest album SG8* and it’s an eccentric yet well-produced compilation; Jenevieve releases her debut album, Division, a creative project proving why she’s a shining star in the R&B lane; JMSN offers up Heal Me, a release featuring rich textures of R&B; and Pell’s Floating While Dreaming II is a damn good listen.

More releases worth giving a shout include Damu the Fudgemunk’s Conversation Peace; then there’s Asher Roth’s The Greenhouse Effect Vol. 3; also out today is Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz; and L’Orange serves up The World Is Still Chaos, But I Feel Better. 

Keep scrolling for a look at the top selects of the week.

Kanye West  — Donda

Drake  — Certified Lover Boy

Various Artists — Romeo Must Die: The Album

Damu the Fudgemunk  — Conversation Peace

Asher Roth  — The Greenhouse Effect Vol. 3

Duckwrth  — SG8*

Little Simz  — Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

H31R (maassai x JWords)  — ve.lo.ci.ty

L’Orange  — The World is Still Chaos, But I Feel Better

Jenevieve  — Division

Shy Glizzy x Glizzy Gang  — Don’t Feed The Sharks

Van Buren Studios — BLACK WALL STREET

Big 30 — King of Killbranch

Pell — Floating While Dreaming II

JMSN — Heals Me

Mercury — Merc Tape+