Next week, NLE Choppa will release his highly-anticipated major-label debut, Top Shotta. To celebrate the announcement, the rapper has dropped a new single titled “Narrow Road” with Lil Baby. The track tells a story of pain and endurance, with Choppa detailing how his drug use began at a young age. “They tell me think smart, I know right from wrong/They say I’m going to get life with this dirty chrome,” Choppa sings. “Well, you would rather take a life before they take your own/And b*tch, I been through some shit, I come from a broken home.”
Choppa’s melodious cadence is balanced by Lil Baby’s flow. The personal track gives insight into what has shaped Choppa’s mentality today. “I got a different mentality, bitch, it’s kill or be killed,” he raps. “I’d rather kill a rat before I write a statement and squeal.” Lil Baby continues, “Road getting narrow, slimmer and slimmer/Pray to God that I forget, try my best not to remember/It’s a cold, cold world and I was born in December.”"Narrow Road” marks the first time the pair have officially collaborated on a track together and comes after Choppa released a remixed version of Lil Baby’s “Emotionally Scared,” called “Different Day.”
A tracklist for Top Shotta hasn’t been released yet, but will include Choppa’s recent single “Shotta Flow 5” and “Walk Em Down” featuring Roddy Ricch, along with 18 other tracks.
22-year-old singer-songwriter and producer Liv.e has released her debut studio album Couldn’t Wait to Tell You via In Real Life with pre-orders available for vinyl and cassette. The Los Angeles-based, Dallas-born artist has been steadily releasing singles that serve as hypnotizing vignettes into her psyche full of dusty loops and smooth vocals. Today she also premieres the new music video for “I Been Livin’” inspired by her Texas roots. With cowboy hat and fur coat on, Liv.e drives on a lonely highway and soaks up the sunshine.
Her cosigns include collaborator Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, The Creator and more — her friend Erykah Badu hosted an album release party for her on the freshly minted “Quarantine Concert Series: The Apocalypse,” created by Badu as an outlet during the coronavirus. “What better artist to highlight as an extension of what I am creating?” Badu said. “I’ve known Liv.e as family since forever. She was this young shy, creative girl who found her way into my heart. We graduated from the same arts high school years apart. Liv.e is of the same tribe.”
“I Been Livin’” first featured a lo-fi visualizer to hold you over until today’s release. “I was feeling like my soul has been here before and lived many lives. I can feel it in my body and my mind,” Liv.e said in a recent press release of “I Been Livin’”. “It’s prior knowledge that’s instilled in my DNA. It’s about being hyper-aware of the frequencies that go through you and feeling the weight of the world and traveling through time.
Liv.e’s music videos have elevated each of her recent singles. She’s effortlessly infused her music with the occasional chopped and screwed influences and plenty of nostalgic R&B like on “SirLadyMakemFall” where she rocks gold grills and performs through the grain of a vintage VHS camera. She performed a number of these Couldn’t Wait tracks in her own “Quarantine Session”, too.
“LazyEaterBetsOnHerLikeness” finds the artist at her most emotive and the Pink Siifu-directed music video is a must watch for the retro informercial aesthetic.
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