Zeus32
Featuring Lil Keed & Blocboy JB.
With official summer solstice just around the corner, the “New Music Friday” sizzle continues heating up with today’s slate of new audible treats. Today, Lil Keed and BlocBoy JB come through with new albums: Long Live Mexico and I Am Me, respectively — both of which are their first projects of the year.
Young Thug’s newest protege, joining the likes of Gunna and Lil Duke, Lil Keed has emerged as one of the most exciting faces and sounds coming from Thugger’s YSL Records camp. A red-haired artist hailing from the A, Keed’s presence as one of Thug’s prized artists fits not only due to a shared zip code, but also because of similar artistic aesthetics.
Like his mentor, Keed is a master of vocal manipulation and contortion, massaging sounds and syllables into congruous ear-worms. Coming through with a stacked 20-track album in Long Live Mexico, Keed fully displays this linguistic command throughout the 63-minute album, getting a little help from some friends along the way.
Unsurprisingly, Young Thug makes appearances on two tracks (“Million Dollar Mansion” and “Proud Of Me”), aforementioned fellow YSL artists Gunna and Lil Duke lend a vocal hand on “Anybody;” also joining Lil Keed on Long Live Mexico are Roddy Ricch, Lil Uzi Vert, YNW Melly, Lil Gotit, Moneybagg Yo, and more.
While he’s not from Atlanta, Blocboy JB has been putting on for southern rap since his Drake-assisted breakout hit, “Look Alive,” off of his 2018 project, Simi. The Memphis rapper became a fixture in pop-culture not only for the vibey track, but for also minting the “Shoot” dance — and having it co-opted by the like of Fortnight. Today, he follows Simi with I Am Me.
A 13-track effort, spanning 30-minutes, I Am Me features Lil Durk and Moneybagg Yo — the latter who’s rivaling J. Cole for featured verse volume.
Listen to both Long Live Mexico and I Am Me below:
