Top 10 song releases - July 2022
By Philippe Martin 04/08/2022
Summer vacations are in full effect at Rap Nerds, meaning the articles for June and July will be shorter than usual. It doesn’t stop good music from being released and waiting to be discovered. With that being said, here are the best songs of July 2022.
This list contains many independent placements from artists that either dropped great albums during the month or that are preparing to do so in a near future. Let us know in the comments what you think about these and if any other singles deserved to make this list.
- SiR - Life Is Good (feat. Scribz Riley)
- Russ & Ed Sheeran - Are You Entertained
- Nicholas Craven & Boldy James - Death & Taxes
- Joey Bada$$ - Survivors Guilt
- Quavo, Takeoff & Gucci Mane - Us vs. Them
- Token - I Was In Hollywood
- Harry Fraud, Jay Worthy & Conway the Machine - Helicopter Homicide (feat. Big Body Bes)
- Wiz Khalifa - We Don’t Go Out To Nightclubs Anymore / Candlelight Girl
- Pouya & South Strip - Kota
- The Weeknd & MIKE DEAN - Starry Eyes (MIKE DEAN Remix)
SiR - Life Is Good (feat. Scribz Riley)
TDE continues to release quality music with this new single by California’s own, SiR. The song is a catchy ballad about good living and the feeling you have when everything turns out great in your life. With its sweet guitar loop and the atmospheric background vocals, the beat shines by the simpleness of the musical arrangements. As usual, SiR seems at ease with his verses and the straightforward hook that will stay in your head for the whole summer.
Released 08/07/2022
Russ & Ed Sheeran - Are You Entertained
Shaping to be one of Russ’s biggest hits yet, “Are You Entertained” is a collaboration between the Atlanta artist and one of the biggest names in the music industry, Ed Sheeran. It’s a simple rap banger full of energy that sees them at the top of their game with verses about their luxurious lifestyles and undeniable success. It’s great to see the British artist collaborate with an independent artist, proving that successful songs shouldn’t necessarily be pushed from major labels.
Released 22/07/2022
Nicholas Craven & Boldy James - Death & Taxes
The Montreal producer and the Detroit rapper continue their productive artistic relationship with another great song. Craven keeps his sampling game on point with a simple beat featuring an epic female voice on loop, while Boldy raps flawlessly about his favourite subjects: money and crime. A special mention to Boldy’s Quebec references during the hooks.
Released 08/07/2022
Joey Bada$$ - Survivors Guilt
With his excellent new album “2000”, Joey Bada$$ released a great body of work that peaks in quality with track thirteen “Survivors Guilt”. The Brooklyn native gives a heartfelt tribute to Capital STEEZ, the founder of Pro Era and his close friend, who died in 2012. From the storytelling to the authenticity of the words, he delivers every bar with a heaviness that cannot be ignored. On the production side, it matches Joey’s energy with a slow and nostalgic boom-bap beat created by Rahki.
Released 22/07/2022
Quavo, Takeoff & Gucci Mane - Us vs. Them
Atlanta is known to create some prolific artists that manage to constantly put out so much music that you don’t know if it was created in 2022 or 2014. This new single fits in that mindset by bringing together the Migos (minus Offset) and Gucci Mane on a DJ Durel beat. It sounds exactly as it reads, with no stepping out of the comfort zone for the three rappers as they brag about superiority over their haters.
Released 29/07/2022
Token - I Was In Hollywood
Token is back with a very hard-hitting single full of bass and aggressive rapping. Fresh off the release of his second studio album “Pink is Better” back in January, he delivers this song out of nowhere to bless his fans with some dark rhymes about his life, delivered on a rapid tempo created by Nox Beatz.
Released 13/07/2022
Harry Fraud, Jay Worthy & Conway the Machine - Helicopter Homicide (feat. Big Body Bes)
The prolific producer Harry Fraud is gearing up for another project with the Compton artist Jay Worthy, and this single is a good sign that the quality should be on par with the rest of their respective catalogues. The melodic guitar is balanced out by the violent subject matter of Worthy, Conway and Big Body Bes. It plays beautifully as they all bring their A-game to the track, leaving no witnesses behind.
Released 20/07/2022
Wiz Khalifa - We Don’t Go Out To Nightclubs Anymore / Candlelight Girl
Here is an example of an artist that normally chooses to stay within the same boundaries that they have set for themselves, but then decides to explore, experiment, and grow into something even greater. This 8-minute song is split into two sections, the first being an extravagant piece of soul music that just gets you deep in your feelings. Wiz then begins to sing a ballad to this special girl as if she was the last woman on Earth. It’s all very entertaining and the fact that he implants different sounds into his catalogue is beautiful to see.
Released 27/07/2022
Pouya & South Strip - Kota
Going straight into the horrorcore playlist, this new single by Pouya and South Strip represents well the southern rap movement of artists that take the sound forward to new grounds. They rap fast with low voices, and the artists all refer to heavy drug use and murder. It may sound harsh at first, but artists like Pouya and $uicideboy$ are leading the way when it comes to this niche style of rap.
Released 13/07/2022
The Weeknd & MIKE DEAN - Starry Eyes (MIKE DEAN Remix)
To promote the “After Hours Until Dawn” tour with Mike Dean and Kaytranada, The Weeknd releases another remix of a “Dawn FM” song with “Starry Eyes”. Remixed by the legendary producer from Houston, the song sounds spacier than the original with a synthesizer solo during the outro and some 80s-sounding drums in the last half of the song.
Released 01/07/2022