Without accounting for the new releases from today, the HotNewHipHop staff was busy mulling over each of the fresh vibes introduced to us to decide what deserves placement on our TIDAL-exclusive, staff-curated playlist. TIDAL Wave has been a constant in our office for months, offering the readers a chance to get to know our editorial staff a little bit better, while also providing you with some of the hottest drops from the last two-to-three weeks. To start off the year, we were gifted new projects from Moneybagg Yo, Quando Rondo, and a few others before things were shaken up today. Next week's playlist will certainly be fun to put together but for now, let's focus on last week's come-ups. 

It wouldn't be right if things didn't start off with Future's new single "Life Is Good," which features Drake. The song is arguably still the biggest hip-hop collaboration to release this month and it will surely earn a high placement on the Billboard Hot 100 next week. Following up that record is Lil Baby's new single and the pre-Circles single posthumously dropped by Mac Miller's estate. We've also got two Stormzy joints on deck from his Wiley beef, as well as some select Dreamville cuts, new Mick Jenkins, and the Khalid single.

Let us know whose list is the best this week and, if you're not already on game, sign up for a free 30-day trial with TIDAL right here.

Alex Zidel (Editorial)

Future - Life Is Good (feat. Drake)
Moneybagg Yo - Bitch
Khalid - Eleven
Quando Rondo - Just Keep Going
Quando Rondo - Letter To My Daughter

Chantilly Post (Editorial)

Khalid - Eleven 
Mac Miller - Good News
Moneybagg Yo - Protect Da Brand (feat. DaBaby)
Moneybagg Yo - Real Luv (feat. Summer Walker)
070 Shake - Guilty Conscience

Noah C (Editorial)

Mac Miller - Good News
Pink Siifu & yungmorpheus - Mantle Wit The Fit
Mick Jenkins - The Fit
Akai Solo & iblss - Kingdom Koi
Knxwledge - Do You

Alex Cole (Editorial)

Future - Life Is Good (feat. Drake)
Lil Baby - Sum 2 Prove
Lil B - Pour A Cup
Stormzy - Disappointed
Stormzy - Still Disappointed

Mitch Findlay (Editorial)

Future - Life Is Good (feat. Drake)
Stormzy - Disappointed
Stormzy - Still Disappointed
Mick Jenkins - The Light (feat. EARTHGANG)
Mick Jenkins - Carefree

Aron A (Editorial)

Stormzy - Disappointed 
Stormzy - Still Disappointed
Vybz Kartel - World Government
Future - Life Is Good (feat. Drake)
Pa Salieu - Frontline

Lynn Sharpe (Editorial)

Future - Life Is Good (feat. Drake)
Mac Miller - Good News
070 Shake - Guilty Conscience
Megan Thee Stallion & Normani - Diamonds
Mick Jenkins - I’m Convinced

Cole Blake (Editorial)

Future - Life Is Good (feat. Drake)
Mac Miller - Good News
Stormzy - Disappointed  
070 Shake - Guilty Conscience
Knxwledge - Do You

Keenan Higgins (Editorial)

Dreamville & Ari Lennox - BUSSIT
The Alchemist - Try My Hand (feat. Mobb Deep)
JACKBOYS - OUT WEST (feat. Young Thug)
Mac Miller - Good News

Rose Lilah (Editorial)

Mac Miller - Good News
Dreamville & Ari Lennox - BUSSIT

Over the years, men have particularly have gained notoriety for their selfie game. In fact, there have been articles exploring the “selfie face” and others that have provided steps to take a “good selfie.” Drake‘s notorious for pulling off the duck face in his selfies which has become a joking point in the comment section of his Instagram page. Tory Lanez even jokingly roasted Drake about his “kissy lips in the camera.”

Despite what the public says, Drake might be showing some signs of insecurity in his selfie game. The rapper shared a selfie of himself, doing his iconic duck face, while presumably playing hoops in his home, but he asked whether he’s doing “the face” or not. “Am I doing the face right here? Because this really feel like a normal face to me,” he captioned the photo along with several laughing emojis. To answer the question, though: yes, Drake. You are doing the face but we aren’t mad about it.

In other Drake-related news, the rapper recently announced that he’s working on his new album which he suggested is in its final stages. The rapper dropped “War,” his UK drill-influenced banger that’s yet to make its way onto streaming services and collaborated with Future on “Life Is Good” which has been making the rounds in the past week.

The official “Life Is Good”-inspired merch has been officially unveiled and is available for pre-order purchase on Future‘s official online store. The collection is based off of the music video for the Drake-featured track, in which Future and Drake had to stretch their imaginations in order to pull off pretending to work at various regular day jobs. Their positions working at places like a fast food restaurant, a mechanic’s garage, and their version of the Apple store in the Fred-Foster-creatively-directed visual were used in the designs for various pieces in the collection.

The collection includes a black T-shirt with a red “Hotlanta” logo embellished on the chest, the same logo found on Drake and Future’s uniforms from the fast food chain where they work in the music video. The T-shirt also has “Life Is Good” and “Future” printed on the back, matching the print found on the front of the grey hoodie from the collection. There’s also a classic trucker hat available with the name “Future” embroidered on the panel, mechanic’s style. The collection also features some collectibles, such as a cassette tape, CD and signed 7” vinyls of the track. Each of the vinyls feature a different logo of one of the companies that the rappers worked for in the visuals as the sleeve art. The apparel ranges in price from $35 USD to $65 USD, while a digital download of the track starts the collectibles at $0.69 USD and the signed vinyls cap off the collectibles price at $13.98 USD.

Dancehall’s always had a global appeal but in recent times, it seems like the sounds have seeped into the sound of pop music. Popcaan is without a doubt one of the most popular dancehall artists right now. Under the wing of Vybz Kartel, he grew in popularity throughout Jamaica and across the world. Although Vybz is currently incarcerated, Popcaan explained how Vybz Kartel has always been one of his earliest supporters.

“[Vybz Kartel] is a Man wa bet pon me from morning. Him did already tell the world say Popcaan ago do this. Is no surprise to him, him know me great long time. Him could a see it from the minute me sing pon the stage and the way how me operate around the studio a day time,” he told Ebro.

He also went on to explain his connection to Drake and officially locking in his deal with OVO. He explained that his debut on the label was a mixtape because he has so much music in the cut, although he didn’t know what they had in their plans. “The first time when me realize say Drake really in tuned with me music, him tweet and say Drizzy Drake a the only man she want,” he said. “Drake support dancehall music a lot. Him already a shed light pon dancehall culture by shedding light on Popcaan.”

Poppi also confirmed future plans with the label confirming a collaboration with Drake will appear on his official album through OVO. Peep the whole interview below. 

She’s made her way through a few reality shows throughout the years and some say she left a path of destruction along the way. Whether she was fighting her Love & Hip Hop New York castmates or arguing with Ms. Deb on Growing Up Hip Hop, Jhonni Blaze is a talent who is known for her temper more than her music.

The singer has also been caught up in a few headlines, as well, associated with some of our favorite rappers. Jhonni recently chatted with Supa Cindy from 99 Jamz radio station to talk about her controversial history and the spiritual growth she’s experienced over the years. While there, Supa Cindy couldn’t help but ask Jhonni about the famous men she’s been linked to including Empire‘s Bryshere Gray (who is just her friend), Fetty Wap (who she worked on a few records with), Rich Dollaz (who she was “talk-dating” at one point), and then Drake, who blocked her after she spread rumors about him.

“Never dated Drake,” Jhonni flat out admitted. She said when she was in her early twenties, she was “all about being into the brag and if something doesn’t go my way, I wanna go off on somebody and post their number.” When she learned that Drake was “talking to” her friends, she decided to air him out on social media. Years ago, she even sat down with VladTV and said that she and the rapper had a “five-some” without protection, a declaration she would later apologize about.

“It was just really bad, I’ve apologized,” Jhonni said. “He unblocked me, that’s a good thing... Everything’s cool. I feel like one day we’ll bump into each other and it’ll be I [apologize], he’s heard me say [it] millions of times. We all grow up and build and become better people so that was just something that I wish I was this age now. It would have went totally different.” She added that Drake is a “phenomenal artist” who is “so dope.”

Check out more from Jhonni Blaze below including her opening up about being a sex trafficking victim and working on bettering herself after the traumas in her life.

The self-proclaimed King of R&B is trying to hit the studio with Drake right now, or at least, that’s what he’s telling the judge. According to TMZ, YK Osiris filed paperwork asking the judge for permission to travel to Toronto in order to record with Drake but the 6ix God was apparently not aware of this. 

John Phillips/Getty Images

The rapper is currently on bond for an assault case where he’s accused of attacking his girlfriend. He filed documents asking that the judge gives him the green light to fly to Toronto because he has an opportunity to work with Drake. His lawyer even filed documents with emails from Preme, Drake’s affiliate, asking for Osiris to head to the 6ix to record for several days. The studio time was booked from Jan. 13th to 16th and Osiris decided to apply for this on the 14th. 

The publication reports that Osiris has yet to sign off yet but things are looking favorable for him as he’s previously received approval and the D.A. has no problems with him recording with Drake. But as previously mentioned, Drake’s camp said that his management wasn’t aware Preme reached out and made it clear no collaborations are in the works with YK Osiris and Drake.

Despite the reports, though, the rapper did share a post on Instagram with his location set to Toronto last night. He also shared videos on his Instagram Story recording in Scarborough, Toronto with Preme. 

Via YK Osiris’ Instagram

Stormzy is undoubtedly one of the leading global figures in grime, proving himself last week with his recent bout with Wiley. Although a response to "Eediyat Skengman 3" hasn't arrived yet, Big Stormzy has been making the rounds in the U.S., appearing on Hot 97, making his U.S television debut on Jimmy Fallon, and most recently, sat down with Charlamagne Tha God for an in-depth conversation. They discussed a variety of topics but as you'd expect from Charlamagne, the topic of Drake's adaption of UK culture came into the conversation.

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I had a conversation with the man who has the number one album in the U.K. right now @stormzy here he discusses his thoughts on Drake leaning into the U.K. sound. Link to full interview in my bio!!! #HITH ?????????????????? ?? ????????????

A post shared by LENARD (@cthagod) on Jan 15, 2020 at 6:31am PST

"I think it helps because Drake is undeniably a fuckin' massive, mahoosive, gargantuan artist, do you know what I mean? And an incredible artist, as well. Having a big incredible artist pay homage or pay recognition to a style or a genre is undeniably a good thing, a positive," he said. Stormzy explained that he's also not very in tune with American's outlook on UK culture so he's not the most familiar with how people outside of the UK's perception of Drake's grime/drill flow.

"The undeniability of it, of course, is [Drake] brings exposure and that brings a light to a situation that no one -- listen, what Drake has done, in terms of having eyes locked in on culture is undeniable. That can't happen without -- that's a massive light onto what we do," he said. "You get your purists who are never going to like that idea of a massive artist gettin' involved with a niche thing."

Peep the full interview below. 

Paul George and Kawhi Leonard made waves this summer when they decided to team up on the Los Angeles Clippers. Both of these players are from California so their union was the perfect way to go back home and play for a hometown team. Of course, Leonard signed there as a free agent while George was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Interestingly enough, it took a lot before these two decided to make their respective decisions. In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, George spoke about what led to his relationship with Leonard.

As it turns out, George called Leonard to congratulate him on his championship. This led to some extended talks and texts. Eventually, the two met up at Drake's house on two separate occasions and eventually made plans to link up and change the league for years to come.

At this point in his career, Drake can afford just about anything he could possibly want. While financial wealth isn't the end goal for all recording artists, it certainly is a motivator for the majority of rappers. People see the flexing that occurs on social media and they think to themselves: "if I perfected my skills as a rapper, maybe I could get this rich?" The reality of the situation is that most people will never get to Drake's level of success. The Canadian artist has calculated his rise to superstardom for years, taking advantage of certain situations and screwing his head on tight for a long ride. We've seen glimpses of the interior of Drake's lavish Toronto mansion in the past and today, he felt like showing off a number of high-ticket collectables that he's got laying around the crib. Some of them are so special that a price can't even be estimated for them.

Is Big Sean prepping for Detroit II? Internet sleuths think so. The Motor City rapper has been hyping up his new project for months now, sharing that he’s gone through his sort of spiritual awakening that caused him to self-reflect. Sean has also stated that he’s making the best music of his career and as fans await his forthcoming LP, there may be another mixtape on its way, as well.

Neilson Barnard / Staff / Getty Images

On Tuesday, YK Osiris shared a few photos of himself in the studio with Sean Don. Initially, fans were questioning what these two artists were working on, but then they began to notice that there was a whiteboard in the background that listed features for Detroit II. While it’s small print and difficult to read when one tries to zoom in, some people say that they can clearly see a few noteworthy names on the list.

After the internet started buzzing about the sneak peek, Sean decided to stir the pot by re-posting the image with the caption, “Ready to eat! Swipe to see a glimpse of the menu. ??.” Decipherable names are Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Future, and Young Thug, but the others are a bit of a toss-up. Check it out for yourself below and let us know what other names you can spot. If you haven’t already, make sure to give Big Sean’s acclaimed 2012 mixtape Detroit a few spins.