Born Evill

Now that the full album is here, Busta Rhymes and J Dilla have delivered the kind of hip-hop project the streaming era rarely makes room for: patient, personal, technically sharp, and completely uninterested in chasing the sound of the week. Released August 25, DILLAGENCE II brings Busta back together with the late Detroit production visionary across 19 tracks. The album follows their beloved 2007 mixtape Dillagence , but it feels like more than a sequel. It is a reminder that chemistry can survive changing eras—and, in this case, even survive the loss of one-half of the partnership. A Project Built on Trust, Not Trend-Chasing J Dilla died in 2006 at only 32, but the music he left behind has continued to influence generations of producers. According to The Associated Press , Dilla sent Busta Rhymes more than 300 beats during their friendship and working relationship. Busta did not rush to release everything. He kept much of that collection private and used it selectively. Th...

  Rappers are under constant pressure to release more music and stay visible. But could the algorithm-driven release cycle be making songs more disposable? There's a piece of advice independent rappers hear constantly: Drop more music. Didn't get enough streams? Drop again. Nobody watched the video? Drop again. Algorithm slowing down? Drop again. Haven't posted this week? What are you doing? Drop something. At some point we should ask whether this strategy is actually building careers—or simply producing more content for platforms. Complex's August 2026 ranking of the hottest active rappers unintentionally captures the pressure perfectly. In describing the current environment, the publication points to an overcrowded field, shrinking attention spans and unstable industry support, where active rappers increasingly release frequently and hope algorithms sort out what connects. That's understandable. It might also be destroying the lifespan of music. Music Used to Have...

 Post Malone’s 2016 debut mixtape August 26 is headed to streaming platforms for its 10th anniversary, preserving an important piece of his early career. Before the stadium tours, country records and global pop success, Post Malone was another young artist trying to figure out what he sounded like. That version of Post is about to become much easier to revisit. Complex reported on August 13 that Post Malone’s debut mixtape August 26 is finally headed to streaming , ten years after the project originally arrived during the period when his career was beginning to explode. For longtime listeners, this is nostalgia. For younger fans, it's history becoming accessible. And for independent artists, it's a reminder that early work can become much more important than it seemed when you made it. Mixtapes Used to Live Outside the System There was a period when mixtapes were essential to hip-hop discovery. DatPiff. Mixtape sites. Blogs. YouTube uploads. MediaFire links someb...

 Joe and Donell Jones face off in VERZUZ on August 20. The matchup is a reminder that a deep catalog can outlive trends, algorithms and viral moments. There are artists with huge songs. Then there are artists with catalogs . Joe and Donell Jones are about to remind everybody of the difference. The two R&B veterans are scheduled to face each other in a VERZUZ matchup on Thursday, August 20 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT . Complex has been revisiting Joe’s three-decade career ahead of the event, including records such as “I Wanna Know,” “All the Things (Your Man Won’t Do),” “Stutter” and his appearances alongside major hip-hop artists. This matchup isn't built around who has the hottest record this week. That's what makes it interesting. Joe Has Records People Forgot They Knew Joe is one of those artists whose catalog becomes surprising when you start listing records. “I Wanna Know.” “All the Things.” “Stutter.” “Ride Wit U.” Then you remember collaborations. Big Pun....

  Erykah Badu and The Alchemist will release their long-awaited collaborative album Abi & Alan on August 28. Here’s why the pairing makes so much sense. Some collaborations sound obvious before you hear them. Others sound strange enough that you immediately need to know what happened in the studio. Erykah Badu and The Alchemist fall into the second category. After months of anticipation, the two are finally releasing their collaborative album Abi & Alan on August 28 . Pitchfork confirmed the date on August 13 alongside the release of “Witch Doctor,” another preview from the long-awaited project. Badu and Alchemist don't come from identical musical worlds. That's exactly why this could work. The Alchemist Understands Space When people talk about The Alchemist, the conversation naturally centers on rappers. Freddie Gibbs. Boldy James. Earl Sweatshirt. Action Bronson. Conway. Westside Gunn. The list goes on. But what makes Alchemist production special isn...

       Pooh Shiesty’s FDO has debuted inside the Billboard 200 top 10, adding another milestone to one of rap’s biggest comeback stories of 2026. Pooh Shiesty’s return isn't just generating conversation anymore. It is generating numbers. Billboard’s latest Billboard 200 update, published August 17, shows Pooh Shiesty among this week’s new top-10 debuts with FDO . That gives the Memphis rapper another major milestone in a comeback that already produced a No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with the FDO title track. For an artist who spent years away from the normal music-industry cycle, that's significant. Rap audiences move fast. Entire subgenres can rise during the time an artist is gone. New rappers arrive. Algorithms change. The sound of playlists changes. Returning isn't as simple as picking up where you left off. Pooh Shiesty had to find out whether the audience was still waiting. Apparently, plenty of them were. “Back in Bloo...

  Suno has reached a global AI licensing agreement with BMG that includes opt-in participation and compensation. Here’s why independent artists should care. The music industry's AI conversation just moved from “Should this exist?” toward a much more complicated question: If it exists, who gets paid? AI music platform Suno has reached a global licensing agreement with BMG, one of the world's largest music companies. Under the arrangement, participation by BMG artists and songwriters is optional, with compensation planned for authorized use of their work, including certain past uses. That's important because the fight over generative AI has largely revolved around consent. Artists aren't simply worried that a machine can make a song. They're worried that a machine may have learned how to make that song by ingesting their work without permission or payment. A licensing deal attempts to address that problem with something the music business understands very well: Rights...