Here we have it! The Best Projects of Summer 16

Fully produced by Atlanta’s most popular producer of the Year Metro Boomin’, Savage Mode solidified 21 Savage as a premier artist out of Atlanta. Stand out track My X features none other than Future (arguably one of the biggest artists of the year) and has you feeling like Flexing on your X’s. Savage mode will most likely go down as one of the youth’s favorite projects of the summer and undeniably turned haters into believers for 21. With a mix of pure street music and heavy 808 this is likely to be the project you listen to when pre gaming for most of the summer parties you attended. Check out Savage Mode on

Although the lead single “Pick Up The Phone” was also released for Travis Scott’s Birds album, this project is full of hidden gems. Aside from not having any other lead singles, songs like Floyd Mayweather (featuring Travis Scott, Gucci Mane & Gunna) and Guwop (featuring Quavo, Offset & Young Scooter) provide enough street content to remain in the conversation for one of he most listened to projects out of Atlanta. Check out Young Thug’s Jeffery on iTunes now!

At number 13 we have an underground artist by the name Zoe Cartier, often referred to as the trap Amy Winehouse, she released her first commercial project Enfant Sauvage through Spotify in late July. Zoe is determined to make a name for herself this year and this project was a great start to continue her growing buzz in the underground. Known for her collaborations with ASAP Mob’s very own DJ Nick, this project is a progressive sound from her last release IPANEMA hosted by DJ Nick. Enfant Sauvage is her Savage mood as compared to IPANEMA, a more introspective mellow reverb sound. With standout tracks like Chelsea, TMT, and WWYD (featuring Nessly) this project is likely to end up being in your Spotify playlist before long.

After one of the best albums of 2015, Rae Sremmurd return with Sremmlife 2. With obvious singles like By Chance, Set The Roof (featuring Lil John) and Look Alive this project will definitely be one of the most played projects at all the Fall parties. Debuting at Number 7 on the iTunes charts, releasing same day as PND’s P3, this album has been a standout project so far! Catch Rae Sremmurd Live this fall on the SremmLife 2 Tour coming to a city near you!

Following the release of his breakout project Lil Boat, Yatchy is back with another project full of melodies and catchy hooks that will have you jamming out all day to. 2016 has been a huge year for Lil Yatchy, being almost everywhere at the same time, and coming off his first full headlining tour, Yatchy shows no signs of slowing down for the next year. Catch him on tour with Rae Sremmurd on the SremmLife 2 Tour, the official tour of the youth, this fall!

After his long awaited release from prison, Gucci Mane is back with his first album Everybody Looking. Signs of major growth are sprinkled throughout the album all while staying true to the classic Gucci Mane La Flare we know and love. Easily one of the best projects to come out of Atlanta in a summer where almost all the big names coming from this region seemed to release projects as well. The infectious single Back On Road, features a long awaited collaboration between Gucci and Drake. Gucci has 3 of the biggest artists of the Year on this project, Drake, Young Thug and the infamous Kanye West on arguably the albums best song, P**** Print. After rumors being confirmed for a collaboration project with Drake titled the 6ers we will all be playing this in respect to the Trap God. Enjoy this project now on almost all Streaming sites and purchase it on iTunes now!

Kodak Black has been in the headlines for over a year now while being in and out of being incarcerated down in Palm Beach County. After being named one of the XXL Freshman of the year he released one of the best projects of the summer. Lil Big Pac features some of the most introspective music released by Kodak. Street anthems likeEverything 1K, Young Prodigy, and Too Many Years (featuring PnB Rock) paint a vivid picture of lil Kodak’s life growing up in the mean streets of south Florida. Undeniable hits Vibin’ in this Bih, features his predecessor Gucci Mane La Flare while Slayed features Louisiana’s Lil Boosie. Kodak feels to come into his own on this project becoming the modern day mix of Gucci and Boosie boiled down to the trapper of the youth. Check out Lil B.I.G. Pac on datpiff today! Free Kodak Black.

THJ is no doubt one of the best R&B albums of the year. Sprinkled with melodic hits like Sing to it, Giuseppe, and Songs About You to name a few, this album is filled with songs to vibe with your significant other to. Full of Reverb to air out his intoxicating voice Ye Ali will likely sing you into a lot of romantic encounters. Another stand out track What To Do features one of 2015’s biggest artists in K.Camp while produced by Bizness Boi (who produced on 4 songs for the new PARTYNEXTDOOR album P3) provide a balance for the men who don’t want to admit to listening to R&B music. Ye Ali will be found in your girlfriends playlist soon so might as well get on the train before it fully takes off. We are excited to see what the future holds for this new R&B standout. Find Traphouse Jodeci on Spotify now!

Following his last effort YG is back with his west-coast LA sound and vibe with Still Brazy. Stellar tracks like FDT (Fuck Donald Trump) and Why You Always Hating? Stamp the album with more than just a story of violence and crime in the LA streets. All while including features from his 400 gang, Drake makes a remarkable verse on Why You Always Hating? Check out this amazing album from YG and catch him on tour this Fall in a city near you!

Toronto native PartyNextDoor is back with his third full-length release with P3. After charting at number 3 on its debut this album has got a more dark and sad vibe compared to P1 & 2.  In this latest effort by PND the production value is through the roof setting the tone of Toronto’s signature ominous and eerie vibe. Although it did not reach top chart success like his pervious albums, this one shows maturity in sound and direction. Heavy Auto-tune and reverb fill the void of thoughts between sexually progressive lyrics that have you reminiscing about past lovers and future romances. The obvious lead single Come and See me, featuring Drake, sets the tone for moodiness while songs like 1942, a song with the hidden message of drinking with your latest crush, Don’t Run and Not Nice carry the album into a luxurious vibe of partying with woman. This is possibly one of the most put together projects of the year with little room for improvement throughout the tracklist. Party continues his trend of no features, except for the previously mentioned Drake collaboration “Come and See Me” thus adding his signature stamp and well as broadening his personal agenda. PND is coming off his one of his biggest songs where he is credited for writing Drake and Rihanna’s monster hit “Work”.  Make sure to buy and stream this moody project on Apple Music.

DJ Khaled, known for his many hit songs throughout the last 10 years in hip hop, is back with a full length album that landed him at the top of the charts when it debuted. With singles like “I Got The Keys” featuring Future and Jay-Z, “For Free” Featuring Drake, and “Tourist” featuring Travis Scott and Lil Wayne, this album is filled with summer smashes that will be played almost everywhere for the duration of the year. Other notable features include the legendary Nas, a song from the lately distant J.Cole, Bryson Tiller (arguably one of the biggest singers to debut this year after being nominated for MTV’s Best New Artist), Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Gucci Mane, Jeezy, Yo Gotti, 2 Chainz, Kodak Black, French Montana, Fabolous, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and more big name features make this one of the biggest albums of the year. Make sure to check out Major Key and remember, Don’t Play Yourself.

After much anticipation, a slight beef with Drake, and a couple Chart topping singles with “Say It” and “Luv” Tory Lanez released his debut project with absolutely no other features on it but him. Pushing his vocals with more rawness and polished sounds, it seems like he hit a zone for this album and never let it go. Lanez paints a more than vivid picture throughout the whole project utilizing skits between every song that connects the bigger picture he was trying to portray. Songs like To D.R.E.A.M. and 4AM Flex paint an emotional picture of the true struggle before the rise to fame. Rags to Riches is sort of the hidden message within this captivating album. Catch Tory Lanez on tour this Fall on the “I Told You” tour and purchase this amazing album.

These two albums rank at a tie for third place, and being from the same camp/label it was only fitting to add them together. In his fellow up album to “Oxymoron” School Boy Q sounds more comfortable and more confident with his abstract approach. That Part features an impressive verse from Kanye West, while a short film released in the album roll out accompanied the album. The Sun’s Tirade was one of the years most well received releases. Showing growth in the album process this album’s sonic direction was well calculated in its entirely. With features from Kendrick Lamar, SZA, and Jay Rock, Isaiah didn’t seem too interested inreaching away from his label for help.  Catch School Boy Q on tour with special guest Joey B.A.D.A.S.S. and purchase both albums now!

Travis Scott came with all his ammunition with his stellar new album, Birds. Debuting at number 1 on the charts for his first #1 album to date, Birds became the third highest streamed album in its first week behind only, Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” and Drake’s “Views”. Setting the tone for his signature Auto-Tuned trap, drugged out sound, Scott is released arguably the best hip-hop album to be released so far. Travis Scott is the modern day version of Kanye West. With production, creative direction, art, and much more Scott, like Mr. West, always gets the best effort out of everyone he hand picked for his album. Some album standouts include 21 Savage on “Outside”, Kendrick Lamar on “Goosebumps”, an amazing verse from one of rap’s godfathers Andre 3000 on the intro track “the ends”, Bryson Tiller on “First Take” Cassie on the infection song “sdp interlude” and not to mention his idol Kid Cudi on “Through the late night” arguably one of the albums most impressive and complete songs. Birds is definitely a step forward from his last effort “Rodeo” that most thought was so complete he’d only regress on the follow up. Lets also not forget the song “biebs in the trap” (not featuring Justin Bieber, checkout Maria, I’m Drunk from Rodeo, if you want to hear Scott and Bieber) features Toronto Singer-Producer Nav with an infectious hook. Overall the melodic sounds of this album surpass his previous works and undeniably show a major boost in confidence for Scott. Purchase the album or stream exclusively thru Apple Music.

After years away from music and no signs of releasing another album Frank Ocean blessed the world with a new album that was released exclusively through Apple Music. Blonde follows a short film/album titled “Endless” to release himself from his then contract allowing him to release “Blonde” and a magazine titled Boys Don’t Cry independently. Landing him atop the charts and becoming the most streamed album of the year, this album is full of ups and downs of personal struggle Frank was facing over the last few years. Ocean continues his signature sound with this new album while adding the most talked about feature of the year from none other than Andre 3000. Musically ahead of its time “Blonde” takes you through so many emotions its hard to figure out how you feel other than feeling excitement for the project. Check out Blonde on Apple Music and make your own opinion of the years best projects.