Bout to Blow: 10 Dope Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon

From Rihanna to 2 Chainz, these are the artists you're about to hear wherever you go.

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Image via Complex Original
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Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away; whether you're about to blow a check on your significant other or throw up two middle fingers to your ex, these 10 songs will make a sexy soundtrack for your February.

This column has two goals:

1. To use the many tools available to us today to get some idea of what songs were really bubbling with "the people"—in other words, to insert some science into the process.

2. To contextualize that information, because raw numbers in a vacuum would have you thinking an anonymous rapper dropped onto a stellar track was hip-hop's next big rap star when he was more like an empty, tattooed vehicle for a dope beat and a hook.

The post is obviously intended to be somewhat predictive. There's also an element, though, that is cheerleading. Many of these songs might be flourishing in certain markets but could use wider exposure. They're tracks where the metrics suggest some forward momentum, even if the clubs and radio play don't reflect that.

January is typically a slow month for new music; this month was a complete exception, with major R&B albums from Tank, Jacquees, and KING, plus an impressive major label debut from Kevin Gates, a Future mixtape, and perhaps the best EP of 2 Chainz's career. Culling from the biggest records released of late was a difficult process—after all, the traction for jams like Fool Boy Marley's "Boy Oh Boy" (2014) or Ayo Jay's "My Number" (2013!) suggest the long-building hit is back like it never left, competing with brand-new records that just missed the cut, like Tory Lanez "LA Confidential." But after a harsh decision-making process, we narrowed February 2016 down to the 10 best records you have to know. It's this month's edition of Bout to Blow: 10 Dope Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon.

Rihanna f/ Drake "Work"

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The magic of this record is in its conflicted push-pull dynamic, at once unbothered and deeply earnest. Her emotion is held in check, just out of reach, sounding all kinds of contradictory tones (what does "work" mean, in this context? 2,000 words by next week): Work is drudgery and fulfillment, hopeful optimism clashing against jaded cynicism. And her performance, which Clover Hope of Jezebel described as sounding "like she’s in the middle of a deep thought and suddenly stopped caring about articulating it," reflects this sensation of restlessness, the worry that certain aspects of life can feel like so much wasted motion. Writer Jesse Serwer identified the likely inspirations for the song's unforgettable melodic juxtapositions, a musical history that jumps from 1980s quiet storm classics to 1998's "Sail Away" riddim.

Ro James "Permission"

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What we have here is what contemporary critics might call a "consent anthem," as well as a beautiful piece of retro-soul sampling the intro to Willie Hutch's classic "Brothers Gonna Work It Out." Sound familiar? It's a sample that's been used by both Chance the Rapper ("Lost" from 2013's Acid Rap) and Chief Keef ("Nobody," his Kanye West feature from 2014's Nobody). It also earned a spot on Lloyd's 2004 debut album, Southside ("Feels So Right"). It's never been pushed as the basis of a single, which makes Ro James' respectful reversioning a welcome addition to radio, its sensitive conceit a tonal match for the sample's sliding-in-the-bathtub canvas. Despite its framing, it's also not overly polite, just devoted ("Love you from behind, but I hate to see you go"), a lustily, respectfully intimate jam.

Trevor Jackson f/ IamSu! "Rock Wit Me"

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While Mack Wildz's "Love in the '90s" has earned considerable airplay, its another actor-turnt-sanga whose record deserves your attention this month: Trevor Jackson, star of the SyFy series Eureka (I have no idea) released his debut mixtape, In My Feelings, at the end of 2015, and the Lee Major-produced "Rock Wit Me" is a sparkling highlight. Major—who has a long list of hip-hop credits, including Rick Ross' "Mafia Music"—outdid himself with the distant, atonal kettle drum effects, which give Jackson's yearning vocals a ratchet-meets-retro pastiche that's recall Tim & Bob/Bobby Valentino classics, with a guitar line that would blend effortlessly into last month's Bout to Blow selection "In2."

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Jaquáe "My Pieces Hittin"

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His name looks, confusingly, like Jacquees, but there are subtle typographical differences between the two. Also, Jaquáe is a New York-based rapper whose song "My Pieces Hittin" is taking off after breaking in the South Atlantic region. The beat and card-swiping concept do a lot of the heavy lifting here, and while Jaquáe won't win any awards for his stylistic acumen, he lends the song his bemusement, letting its sparse snap music synths and arpeggios play with the listener's expectation of exactly where the beat is going to go, and granting dancers much freedom of movement. The video's also playfully funny, including a section where Jaquáe pretends to be a blind man on a "hover" board. One of those records that seems to pop out of nowhere and grow organically, this is liable to get bigger in the coming months.

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Kevin Gates f/ Trey Songz, Ty Dolla $ign, and Jamie Foxx "Jam"

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Kevin Gates' album hit harder than most were probably expecting—as of this writing it tops the iTunes charts, and his singles "Really Really" and Bout to Blow alumn "2 Phones" are both in the Hot 100. But unlike aspiring stars like Raury or Tory Lanez, he hasn't appeared on late night television, and though he's earned some critical respect, he's most widely known for viral moments, like the time he endorsed anilingus as a normal part of a healthy sexual relationship. Ironically it was that moment—which many took as a cynical ploy for virality, but which scans to this writer as earnest—that may help explain how he's become one of hip-hop's biggest stars without really seeming like a major star. It's especially evident in "Jam," a record that feels melodically like a Ty Dolla $ign record but into which Gates slots effortlessly as a true sexual romantic, whose vulnerability and generosity with women seems as genuine and enthusiastic.

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Chi Hoover "Adderall"

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A little-known rapper from Chicago, Chi Hoover's first major cosign came from King Louie, who featured him on 2014's career highlight TONY. He then began collaborating with Jeremih, appearing on Katie Got Bandz's Jeremih-featuring hit "Make Me Rich" and a series of YouTube-only records that leads one to surmise he may in some way be involved in Jeremih's broader creative process. "Adderall" proves he's got all the pieces as a rapper to become something so much more; over a subtle production, his barbed-wire lines are punctuated with sharp, clever wordplay that never oversells itself, and he's got a great musical sense for how to put together words in a way that keeps you hanging onto each line, jumping into different flows as the song dictates. It's not a huge hit record, but it is his most promising and deserves many more than the 10,000 views at which it currently sits.

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2 Chainz "MF'N Right"

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2 Chainz's latest mixtape, Felt Like Cappin​, is one of the strongest releases of his career, and it comes at a critical time for the middle-aged rap star. BOATS II: Me Time, a follow-up to the creatively cynical but commercially successful BOATS, was his strongest album overall, but the box office receipts were less than tantalizing, and aside from the recent "U Guessed It" jack "Watch Out," he hasn't had much in the way of momentum since. Whatever 2 Chainz's stimulants, ghostwriters, or inspirations, each record on Felt Like Cappin feels like a potential single, with funny lyrics ("put it in yo face like a napkin"), clever, original songcraft, and creative production choices coming together to make for one of the most consistent yet stylistically varied records of his career. "MF'N Right," which appeared on Saturday's episode of OVORadio, is certainly a standout, with Zaytoven and Mike Will linking up for a record that retains Zay's church organist soul and gives it the heft and presence of Mike Will's strongest material. Expect to see some SheLovesMeechie dance videos for this one, if there aren't any already.

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Young Dolph "Get Paid"

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Young Dolph's risen slowly yet steadily over the last few years, thanks in part to an understated style that doesn't ask for too much from listeners. This approach has no doubt made it easier for him to stay the course, building buzz step-by-step and conquering the regional clubs and nightspots that house the core audience for an artist expanding throughout the South and Midwest. Thus far, his biggest record is "California," which was released by Colonel Loud; Dolph is merely a guest, and when T.I. jumped on the official release, Dolph wasn't even its most famous one. He's had other records garner significant spins—"Preach" jacked a Shawty Lo classic—but "Get Paid" is lined up next, and it may surpass it, even if it won't touch "California." The uptempo beat gives the laconic rapper a rare sense of urgency, and its chorus is just good advice, spit with an insistence apt to make a mark on any listener who thought about doing some shit for free.

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Tank f/ Chris Brown, Siya, and Sage the Gemini "#BDAY"

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The Bay/Mustard axis that forged the "ratchet" sound peaked in 2014 and has receded considerably since, after a few late pushes courtesy of Krept & Konan ("Freak of the Week") and Natalie La Rose ("Somebody") in the spring. Yet Tank's "#BDAY" is a surprisingly sturdy iteration, replete with great pop-rap bars ("Here's a bag of nothing/Go and put it on!") from Sage and Siya and backup from Chris Brown, who gives Tank's husky vocals a sweet contrast. Tank's voice gives the song a weighty, old school center—imagine James Ingram recorded "Don't Tell 'Em"—which never got a chance during the height of the ratchet era. It's also an unusually complex composition, with a memorable bridge leading into the chorus and a coda for Tank to conduct some melismatic emoting. The song's real star is its concept, which is about birthdays, the kind of timeless, universal subject that could make this a real party starter.

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Lil Yachty "1Night"

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This warbling red-haired ATLien offers an...unusual take on post-Keef melodic Auto-Tune sing-song, but it's already attracted the attention of guy-Kanye-namedrops Ian Connor, A$AP Mob, Chief Keef, and—most recently—Kylie Jenner. Although "1Night" was initially uploaded to SoundCloud months ago, it's built up millions of plays only recently as the wider world peaked in. Just last week, Lil Yachty was spotted in the studio with A$AP Rocky, Tyler, the Creator, and Made in Tyo. It's that final artist whose sound best reflects a current trend in underground Atlanta, of which Yachty is a part. Yachty's sound is playfully ironic and minimal, the anti-"BMF," a logical endpoint of reaction against hip-hop as a source of Bangers, Inc. Think of it as bangers turned inward. While "1Night" is already responsible for soundtracking assorted memes, whether or not Yachty's reserved, shambolic hip-hop deconstruction will sustain feels like a coin flip.

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