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

Another year, another set of new, unknown tracks to listen to.

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Image via Scott Dudelson/Getty

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Another year, another set of new tracks to listen to. These are the ones that are bubbling under the surface, each waiting to be 2017's first sleeper hit. 

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.

After a harsh decision-making process, we narrowed January 2017 down to the 10 best records you have to know. It's this month's edition of Bout to Blow: 10 Dope New Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon.

Rico Nasty, "Hey Arnold"

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DMV-based rapper Rico Nasty is a charismatic presence in the video for "Hey Arnold," named for the cartoon show with a football head protagonist. Although the content teases violence, it's all delivered with a coy wink, because Rico Nasty comes from the Lil Yachty school of childlike wonder and optimism. No surprise, then, that Yachty jumped on the song's remix a few months back. But the original is perfect on its own, a better iteration of Rico Nasty's "Sugar Trap" style and the kind of song that promises more to come.

Kyle f/ Lil Yachty, "iSpy"

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Kyle initially emerged as a Drake-lite copycat, but he's since shaken the obvious comparisons and found his own voice, a pop-oriented midpoint between Drake and Chance The Rapper. In fact it was his contribution to a Chance-associated track—Surf's "Wanna Be Cool"—that first captured his persona: a kid who owns his identity, recognizes his real self, and makes the case that it's hip to be square. "These are just the throwaways," Kyle suggests on his verse, but it's difficult to imagine this record won't have legs, between the stop-start kick drums (reminiscent of "Broccoli"), its sweetly charming tone, and the evident fun of its screwball lyrics.

SahBabii, "Pull Up Wit Ah Stick"

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SahBabii's sound is wedged firmly in the overlap between 21 Savage and Young Thug, particularly on "Pull Up Wit Ah Stick," which grants 21's typically dry style a romantic, melodic charm. SahBabii's entire project SANDAS feels like a sweeter, sugary version of 21, thanks to pretty production and gems like the hooky "Chit Chat"—it's hard to imagine it won't snowball just in time for Valentine's Day next month.

PnB Rock f/ A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie & Quavo, "Playa No More"

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Between "Playa No More," his YFN Lucci collaboration "Everyday We Lit," and solo record "New Day," PnB Rock is proving himself the emerging master of the melodic trap ballad. "Playa No More" relies on what sounds like a familiar loop: Brenda Russell's "A Little Bit of Love," sampled most famously by Big Pun for "Still Not a Player," a nightclub staple to this day. "Playa No More" is promising for two reasons: it's arrived in the wake of other, smaller scale flips of the same sample (Ariana Grande's "The Way" with Mac Miller; Chicagoan Patman's "Lit"; and Baltimorean President Davo's "I Don't Wanna Be a Playa"). And secondly, rather than flipping the sample explicitly, it pulls back at just the right minute so it doesn't completely connect to the nostalgia centers, giving it a slightly fresh new feel.

Chief Keef, "Check"

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After a relatively quiet 2016—a year which saw his many, many children, take flight—Chief Keef returned with a smoked-out vengeance on the ominous Two Zero One Seven. Several records already stand out as possible fan favorites, but predicting which Keef records will legs has proven to be a fool's game in the past. (Right now, devotees have mainly gathered around the first track.) But "Check," with its dynamic Sosa-produced beat and propulsive feel, seems like a promising standout, the kind of cut that would connect as readily at clubs as in cars and on computers. Also, Keef coins "astronaut-ly swag," which has to count for something.

Jalen Santoy, "Foreplay"

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Even if you don't much care for J. Cole—I know some of you are out there—keep an open mind when checking his spiritual disciple Jalen Santoy. "Foreplay" is a jazzy, dignified hip-hop record in a traditionalist vein. Musically, between its live horns and walking bassline, it feels out of step with popular hip-hop generally, even other oddball records like Aminé's "Caroline," that break through while working against the grain. But sometimes it's exactly that sense of being completely out of step that lets a record knock the door down more easily.

idontknowjeffery, "Don't Trust Jeffery"

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An artist like idontknowjeffery comes from a tradition not known for knocking out hit records—this is underground shit, with distant influences in horrorcore and classic Memphis rap, and its more current Soundcloud iterations. But idontknowjeffery's got a subtle sense for tone, balancing the grim style of his measured, gloomy vocals with unpredictable, even funny lyrics: "Don't trust Jeffery, I wouldn't invite him over/ I'll snatch the motor out your fuckin' lawnmower."

Kody Whoa, "Kardashian"

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This song is far better than any song promising to make a "basic bitch" into a Kardashian should be. I can't defend the concept, but the songwriting and an earnest performance sells it.

Kay P, "Blood Flow Down My Wrist"

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Kay P's "Blood Flow Down My Wrist" hits a nice midpoint between the Goth Boi Clique sound of Lil Peep et al. (Peep's frequent producer Charlie Shuffler made the beat) with a rap style reminiscent of Chicago's Lucki. Its tone is a bit torpid, to capture a muted, insulated response to a sadness never expressed through performance, only understood through the lyrics themselves, as if drugged to numbness. It's also, perhaps, a bit tongue in cheek, despite the morbid subject matter.

Ki-2, "Drug Dealers and Dancers"

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Getting some traction in North Carolina right now is singing rapper Ki-2 (pronounced "key-two"), with "Drug Dealers and Dancers." Ki-2 is a College Park-based rapper with a style that, much like Amine's "Caroline" earlier this year, feels like a spiritual tribute to Dungeon Family-era aesthetics, finding success because it sounds like not much else on the air. The song is more chorus than verses, repeating its mantra-like title as if stuck, like its characters, in its own circumstances.

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