Lil Baby, Tee Grizzley, Mach-Hommy and More – New Hip-Hop Projects This Week

Week in and week out, the rap game never disappoints when it comes to new music drops. This time around, one of hip-hop's hottest spitters repping Atlanta drops off an eagerly awaited album, a smooth-flowing rapper from Detroit puts out a project accompanied by stunning visuals, a respected Haitian-born, New Jersey-bred MC unleashes a new LP and more.

After building hype for the past six months, Lil Baby, one of the most prominent stars in the music industry, finally blesses hip-hop fans with his new album, It's Only Me. Despite Baby dropping singles left and right throughout 2022, the announcement of the LP's lengthy, 23-song tracklisting unveiled the fact that It's Only Me only includes two previously released singles. With the platinum-certified track "In a Minute" leading the way, the revered Atlanta MC just dropped off his latest single, "Heyy," this past Monday (Oct. 10) and it's already garnered a bunch of buzz throughout the game.

While Lil Baby rides solo on many of the songs throughout the album, eight of the new project's joints feature guest appearances from the likes of Future, EST Gee, Nardo Wick and Pooh Shiesty. Even though he's currently locked up and facing RICO charges, Young Thug appears on the song "Never Hating," and added to the anticipation surrounding It's Only Me with a tweet aimed at Lil Baby in a brotherly way.

"Wham, if you don't drop in three days, we ain't bruddas," Thugger wrote earlier this week.

Much like the album itself, It's Only Me's elaborate cover design is a direct representation of Lil Baby's growth as both a person and an artist and also serves as a nod to his last solo project, 2020's My Turn. Images of Baby throughout various stages of his life can be seen displayed across the "Staying Alive" lyricist's own version of Mount Rushmore. He appears in front of grown-up versions of the same baby goats from his last album's artwork.

Boasting his second full-length project of the year as his "most ambitious body of work" to date, Tee Grizzley delivers Chapters of the Trenches, a 13-track album that accompanies a comprehensive short film comprised of storytelling music videos that were initially rolled out one by one. With previously released singles like "Robbery 4," "Tex & Tone 1" and "Jay & Twan 2," Tee Grizzley paints vivid audio and visual depictions of various characters navigating life in the rough and tumble neighborhoods of his home city of Detroit.

In promotion of what Grizzley describes as a "visual album," the "First Day Out" spitter hosted sold-out theater screenings of Chapters of the Trenches in eight major cities around the country. In a stunning video posted to Instagram ahead of the project's release, Tee Grizzley explained the motivation behind his latest endeavor and how it all came together.

"I tried to write a book and the story just started getting longer and longer and longer, so I just had to break it up," Grizzley says in the video clip below. "In a matter of 90 days, I wrote 13 books."

Notably respected Newark, N.J. MC Mach-Hommy continues his relentless lyrical assault on 2022 with his fourth offering of the year, Duck Czn: Tiger Style. Serving as the follow-up to 2018's Duck Czn: Chinese Algebra, the 11-track album includes Mach-Hommy and frequent partner in rhyme Tha God Fahim defending themselves and fans alike against the wrath of seasonal depression that often comes along with the changing weather.

"Tiger Style is not an escape, but a relocation, a space where more can be done about the things that are," Mach-Hommy said when describing the new project. "Allow Tiger Style to help you fly south for the winter, as the season changes, so must your behavior and this album is your soundtrack."

Check out new projects from G Herbo, Kool G Rap, Smoke DZA and more below.