Young Nudy, Macklemore, Slowthai and More – New Hip-Hop Projects

Another new music Friday is upon us. This week, a popular Atlanta rapper feasts on beats for his first release of 2023, a Grammy-winning artist makes his return after a six-year solo album hiatus, a British rapper releases the follow-up to his sophomore album, which debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and more.

After suffering a massive song leak last December, Young Nudy is out to show he’s hungrier than ever on the new album Gumbo. The Atlanta rapper has been on a roll with his last two releases Rich Shooter (2021) and EA Monster (2022). Now, he cooks up his first dish of 2023 with the new 13-song offering.

Young Nudy often titles songs after food items and continues the theme on his latest project, with every song being named after something edible. He taps 21 Savage on the Coupe-produced “Peaches and Eggplants” and gets a verse from Key Glock on the Pi’erre Bourne-produced “Pot Roast. Otherwise, Nudy carries the day solo. The naked truth.

This week also features the return of Macklemore who delivers his third solo album Ben. The last time Mack delivered a solo LP was 2017’s Gemini, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. In the between time, he welcomed his second child with wife Tricia Davis and even tried his hand at magic. The “Thrift Shop” rapper’s latest offering has 15 songs and contains features from DJ Premier, NLE Choppa and Morray.

“I think that the process of making an album is one where you’re trying to get to the core of your own truth, right?” Macklemore told Apple Music in a recent interview. “You’re stripping away layers, you’re peeling them back. You’re like, okay, who am I? What do I want to say now? And I’ve been rapping for a long time. Twenty-five years. I started when I was 14 years old. So it’s been a journey of a discovery.

Macklemore will be going on a European tour in support of the album featuring Tones and I and Charlieonnafriday.

Next up is buzzing British rapper Slowthai who unleashes his newest album Ugly. The genre fluid artist from across The Pond has an ever-growing fans base, as evident in his album Tyron peaking at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart in 2021. The “Selfish” rhymer is looking to boost momentum on the new LP, which features 12 solo tracks from the often politically-charged rapper. Ironically, Slowthai says putting together the Ugly album was a lesson in self-love.

“At a time when i hated myself, creating this album saved me and taught me how to love myself,” he captioned the album cover on Instagram. “U GOTTA LOVE YOURSELF.”

Check out more new projects from Dreamville, Finesse2Tymes, Mach Hommy, The Weeknd and more below.