To highlight some of this past week’s latest music releases, we here at The MouthSoap are chiseling up a new segment called “The Battle of the Projects” where we do quick, spitfire reviews of a handful of music projects released over the past week and rank which ones are our favorites, and which ones are not so much. This week, we will be discussing projects by Pooh Shiesty, The Weeknd, D Smoke, and Devin the Dude.
Pooh Shiesty is a 21-year-old rapper from Memphis, Tennessee who released his debut mixtape Shiesty Season this past week. Shiesty released the mixtape under Atlantic Records and Gucci Mane’s label, 1017 Records. The mixtape is 17 tracks long, rounding at about 49 minutes with a handful of features including Gucci Mane, Lil Durk, 21 Savage, and Tay Keith.
Overall, Shiesty Season is filled to the brim with trap bangers that are meant to be bumped at a socially distanced party or a roadtrip with your inner circle. If you go into this project expecting game changing production, or off the charts lyricism, you may be a bit disappointed. But if you are looking to have a good time, then Shiesty Season is pretty solid and doesn’t overstay its welcome too much. Some highlights for me include “Guard Up,” “Neighbors,” and “See Red.”
Riding off of the exploding Super Bowl halftime performance, The Weeknd put out a compilation of some his biggest hits in an album entitled The Highlights. This project feels like it’s already at an advantage over the others because it is The Weeknd and includes many of his singles from his discography. But nonetheless, The Highlights is a fun mix of Abel’s best material over the years all in one place.
Although it seems like this move to release a compilation album conveniently after his Super Bowl performance is most likely a marketing ploy to increase streams, The Weeknd deserves it for being snubbed from the Grammys this year. The Highlights includes all your favorite hits, such as “Blinding Lights,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Often,” and “The Hills.” There are a few new unreleased tracks on the tail end of the project such as “The Morning” and “After Hours.” They aren’t bad tracks, when snuggled up next to Abel’s best material, but they definitely feel like they are lacking a bit and could have just been left out and The Highlights would have been fine.
Next up is Inglewood native D Smoke’s project, Black Habits (Deluxe). D Smoke garnered attention after winning Netflix’s music competition, Rhythm and Flow back in 2019. Since then, D Smoke has released two full length projects, Inglewood High and Black Habits. Originally released in February 2020, Black Habits got a deluxe release with a few new tracks attached. So, this project isn’t technically a new project, but it is an album worth promoting again because it is absolutely fantastic.
In fact, Black Habits is nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album, and D Smoke himself is up for Best New Artist. With mainstream recognition such as the Grammys, this project has been pivotal to D Smoke’s stratospheric rise. Even though the feature list is stacked with Snoop Dogg, Jill Scott, SiR, and Ari Lennox, Black Habits is a great project because of D Smoke’s ridiculous lyricism, flow, and top notch production. D Smoke definitely rides on the tailcoats of his influences such as Kendrick Lamar and Nipsey Hussle with jazzy instrumentals tinged with a bit of g-funk, but if Black Habits tells us anything, it is that D Smoke has an endless amount of potential that is just finally being recognized.
And last but not least, we have the latest album from underground legend Devin the Dude, Soulful Distance. Despite having a long career in hip-hop working with artists such as, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Pimp C, and Jeezy, Devin the Dude has yet to reach the mainstream masses with any of his solo releases. Still a highly respected artist in the underground scene, Devin the Dude delivers on his 11th studio album, Soulful Distance.
Soulful Distance is 14 tracks ranging from a wide array of instrumental choices such as west coast hip-hop sounding beats and soul-infused rhythms all stapled together with Devin’s laid back flow. As a whole, this project is consistent and definitely a perfect introduction to Devin the Dude’s sound for the unfamiliar. Soulful Distance leans heavily on the old school hip-hop sounds, which from time to time takes the listener out of the album, almost detracting from the fact that it is a 2021 release. However, there are some highlights from this project, including “BREAK-fast,” “Discouraged,” and “You Got No Time to Play.”
So, in true Battle of Projects fashion, here is my ranking, starting with my top pick: D Smoke – Black Habits (Deluxe), Pooh Shiesty – Shiesty Season, The Weeknd – The Highlights, and Devin the Dude – Soulful Distance.
- D Smoke – Black Habits (Deluxe)
- Pooh Shiesty – Shiesty Season
- The Weeknd – The Highlights
- Devin the Dude – Soulful Distance
Every project from has its highlights, but the album that stood out to me was D Smoke’s Black Habits (Deluxe). But what do you think? Do you agree with our ranking of these projects? Let us know! You can listen to each of these projects on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming service you use.
