Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Dot da Genius previews his upcoming album with “Talk About Me,” an all-star collaboration with Kid Cudi, Denzel Curry, and J.I.D.
After more than 15 years of being Kid Cudi’s most trusted collaborator, producer Dot da Genius is stepping out with a debut album. If “Talk About Me” is any indication, he’s preparing a red carpet rollout. Touting features from Denzel Curry, J.I.D, and Kid Cudi (of course), he dropped the all-star collab along with a video from Lyrical Lemonade director Cole Bennett.
“It feels good to finally make the decisions, decide what looks good, and just get my vision out to the people that supported me all this time,” Dot da Genius said in a statement. “There are so many kids out there that have supported me, so I want to give them something to hold on to.” To that end, he lays down a booming track with spacey synths for each rapper to show off their unique styles.
Curry, whose latest album Melt My Eyez See the Future includes a pair of tracks produced by Dot da Genius, sets the tone with the chippy chorus: “Everybody on the block talk about me/ Way back in the day, you used to doubt me.” Following suit, the Carol City MC lets loose about everyone trying to bring him down before shouting out Cudi: “Cop a black on black hovercraft that float/ Or I pull up in a Phantom like Kids See Ghosts.”
Right at home on Dot da Genius’ production, Cudi pops off about living his best life before bringing out his darker side (“Type of negro that’ll go in rage mode, the evil creeps/ The Devil cannot hold a middle finger how it be”). Meanwhile, J.I.D, continues to prove why he’s one of the slickest rhymers in the game while closing out the track with lines like “Bunch of pie flippin’ n****s, they don’t work at Dominos/ Take a slice out a n****, delivery, not Digiorno.”
After Pro Era’s Powers Pleasant dropped his cypher-like track “Overseas” last week, it’s refreshing to see another deserving producer step into the spotlight and join the likes of The Alchemist, who’s been dropping compilation albums for years. Based on “Talk About Me” alone, Dot da Genius’ debut effort deserves plenty of anticipation.