T-Pain, EST Gee, Lil Keed and More – New Hip-Hop Projects

As everyone springs ahead and adjusts to daylight saving time, the rap game still has plenty of time to bust out fresh sounds. For this round of new music releases, a rap-crooning pioneer drops an album full of songs that hold deep personal meaning, a Kentucky-bred rhymer follows up a stellar debut album with a new project, a late Atlanta rapper’s estate delivers a posthumous album and more.

At this stage in his storied career, T-Pain has earned the ability to take any creative direction he chooses, as is evident by the release of his new album, On Top of the Covers. Now that the Nappy Boy Entertainment exec is completely independent, he took the opportunity to use his latest project as a reminder to himself of the many ways he’s fallen in love with music through the years.

“Each one of these songs means something to me and helped me fall in love with music at different points in my life,” tweeted T-Pain when sharing the album’s track listing earlier this week. “I’m releasing this cover album from the view of what I hear when I listen to each song.”

The 7-track LP finds T-Pain showing off his incredible talent through covers of classic songs from various genres and generations including the “T-Sinatra” version of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life,” on which Pain features his own artist, NandoSTL, Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and even “War Pigs,” a classic rock anthem originally made famous by Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath.

Off the heels of his studio debut, I Never Felt Nun, which was considered one of the best hip-hop projects of 2022, EST Gee comes through with MAD, a 14-song project that the Louisville, Ky. native says is “not for the industry.” The CMG/Warlike signee previewed MAD earlier this week with the release of the project’s JohnGotit-produced single, “25min Freestyle.”

Guest features on the project include offerings from Boosie BadAzz and Young Scooter, and during the promo run leading up to MAD‘s release, EST Gee hit up Instagram with a number of well-produced videos of the Kentucky spitter rocking massive crowds and engaging with his loyal fan base around the country.

EST Gee accompanied MAD‘s drop on Friday (March 17), with the release of his new video for “Ball Like Me Too,” a braggadocious banger that contains a sample of Kanye West‘s 2005 smash, “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” featuring Jay-Z.

Ten months after his passing, Lil Keed‘s estate and former label, YSL, releases Keed Talk To ’Em 2. The Atlanta rhymer’s first posthumous project serves as the sequel to his stand-out 2018 mixtape, Keed Talk To ’Em. 

Led by the single, “Long Way To Go,” the 20-track opus in memory of Lil Keed sees guest appearances from YSL boss Young Thug, Trippie Redd, Cordae and Keed’s brother, Lil Gotit, among others. Keed Talk To ’Em 2 includes beats from an array of the game’s top producers including London on da Track, Bankrollgotit and Wheezy Outta Here.

Just a week prior to the LP’s release, Young Stoner Life dropped a visual for the album’s second single, “Self Employed,” which Lil Keed filmed before he tragically passed away in May 2022 from natural causes associated with eosinophilia.

Check out other new projects this week from Lil Pump, DC The Don, Princess Nokia and more below.