Rae Sremmurd, JD & Currensy, NF, More – New Hip-Hop Projects

With April now in full effect, a platinum-selling duo of brothers drop their first album in five years, a consistent MC from New Orleans links up with a renowned Atlanta rapper-producer for a new project, a Michigan-bred multihyphenate puts out an LP just in time for a world tour and more this week.

Nearly half a decade since their last full-length offering, Rae Sremmurd returns with their new album, Sremm 4 Life. For their fourth studio LP, the brothers from Tupelo, Miss. deliver 14 fresh tracks led by two previously released singles: “Torpedo,” which dropped at the close of 2022 and has nearly 9 million streams on Spotify, and the Mike WiLL Made-It-produced banger “Tanisha (Pump That).”

Other notable producers who provide beats on Sremm 4 Life include Zaytoven, Sonny Digital and Chopsquad DJ, among others. The only two guest features on the album find Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi enlisting the services of Future, who lays vocals on the song “Activate,” and Young Thug, who presumably recorded “Royal Flush” with Rae Sremmurd prior to his current RICO case.

For the fourth track on Sremm 4 Life, Rae Sremmurd flipped a lean-laced version of Eminem‘s 2000 multiplatinum smash “Stan” for the aptly titled “Not So Bad (Lean’s Gone Cold).” Swae Lee reworks the lyrics to Dido‘s chorus with the line, “My lean’s gone cold, I’m wonderin’ why/I got out of bed at all.”

Earlier this week, Jermaine Dupri and Curren$y linked up to put out For Motivational Use Only, Vol. 1, a seven-track project the pair of revered rhymers has been teasing since back in 2021. As JD and Spitta Andretti trade flows and bars across the entire EP, two other southern legends join the fray with 2 Chainz and T.I. being featured on “Off the Lot” and “Never Fall Off,” respectively.

Following a lengthy press run that included appearances from both Jermaine Dupri and Curren$y on outlets like The Breakfast Club and Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, JD and Spitta will celebrate the release of For Motivational Use Only, Vol. 1 with a highly anticipated performance on Friday (April 7) at Atlanta’s The Eastern.

NF comes through with his fifth studio album, Hope. The Michigan rapper-singer’s new 13-song LP was previewed by the singles “Motto” and the title track “Hope,” a self-reflective look into how NF views the current status of his career and what he hopes to accomplish in the future.

The only other rapper who provides a guest appearance on Hope is Cordae, who is also gearing up to hit the road with NF as a supporting act on his upcoming Hope Tour, a large-scale string of shows that includes 47 dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe and the U.K.

Check out other new projects this week from Mozzy, Kenny Muney, Cookiee Kawaii, Madlib, Mayhem Lauren, DJ Muggs and more below.