December heated up more than expected this past week, with J. Cole, Ab-Soul, The-Dream, Hodgy (Beats), Post Malone, Tech N9ne, CJ Fly, and Lloyd all dropping new projects. Even with Drake removing himself from the year-end running by pushing back More Life, this week will still keep the excitement ramped up with new projects from Kid Cudi and Gucci Mane, making for quite an exciting month.
This week, J. Cole, Wale, and Nicki Minaj are all tied with two appearances apiece, but if you weight them based on appearance, Wale's the clear winner. New tracks barely missing out on a top ten spot include Ab Soul's "D.R.U.G.S." (#11) and "Threatening Nature" (#12), Fetty Wap and Nicki Minaj's "Like A Star" (#13), and Lil Yachty and ASAP Ferg's "Terminator" (#14).
10. Juelz Santana Feat. Dave East, Bobby Shmurda & Rowdy Rebel - Time Ticking (Prod. By Jahlil Beats)
Just a few days before Bobby Shmurda got a glimmer of hope in his criminal proceedings, he popped up with his first guest appearance since the June remix of Puff Daddy's "Shmoney Ain't A Problem." Accompanied by his GS9 compatriot Rowdy Rebel, as well as 2016 XXL Freshman Dave East and Harlem veteran Juelz Santana, the feature comes on a track produced by Shmurda's "Hot N*gga" accomplice Jahlil Beats. "Time Ticking" makes its debut at #10.
9. J. Cole - Everybody Dies
The first of two non-album diss (?) tracks that J. Cole released two weeks ago, "Everybody Dies" was released on Spotify early last week, and predictably went on to do some numbers on our chart, though not as many as it would have had it been released to streaming before its video dropped. "Everybody Dies" purportedly takes aim at Lil Yachty, though not as vehemently as Cole's other pre-4 Your Eyez Only track. This one debuts at #9.
8. Nicki Minaj - Ain't Gone Do It
Now, we've seen some tracks with pretty low user ratings making our top ten in the past, but 24%-- that's unprecedented. Nicki Minaj is obviously upper echelon enough to still demand plenty of clicks, but between this and her "Black Beatles" remix, which may be getting a video soon, she's been falling off hard in terms of her approval rating on HNHH. Despite that, "Ain't Gone Do It" debuts at #8.
7. Wale - Folarin Like
Although Wale wasn't the prime target of either J. Cole diss, he clearly felt slighted by something the Dreamville rapper said, because he's clapped back with two responses, the first landing two weeks ago, and this one, a freestyle over 1999 classic "Nas Is Like." In this one, he "shows up like the bear from 'The Revenant,'" by his own estimation, and garners a whopping 97% user rating. "Folarin Like" debuts at #7.
6. Mac Miller Feat. Anderson .Paak - Dang!
Back again! It's now been almost half a year since Mac Miller dropped the lead single from his Divine Feminine project, and although it's dropped out of the top ten a couple of times, it continues to pop up. In its 20th week out, "Dang!" holds steady at #6.
5. J. Cole - False Prophets
The second pre-4 Your Eyez Only track to appear on our list this week, "False Prophets" was easily the more newsworthy of the two, as Cole clearly takes (low blow?) aim at the recently-hospitalized Kanye West on it. Again, this would probably do much better had it not leaked in video form first, but 60,000+ views in six days isn't too shabby. "False Prophets" debuts #5.
4. DJ Khaled Feat. Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Future, August Alsina, Jeremih & Rick Ross - Do You Mind
Dropping the same fateful July day as Mac Miller and Anderson .Paak's "Dang!", DJ Khaled's massive posse cut "Do You Mind" has proven even more successful, never failing to appear in our top ten, usually ahead of "Dang!" In its 20th week out, "Do You Mind" holds steady at #4.
3. Kid Cudi Feat. Travis Scott - Baptized In Fire
We're now mere days away from Kid Cudi's make-or-break follow-up to last year's abysmal Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven, and its lead single portends good things thus far. "Baptized In Fire" has Travis Scott returning the favor for Cudder's two guest spots on this summer's Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, and i thus far the only thing we've heard from Friday's Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'. In its second week out, the track drops two spots from #1 to #3.
2. Wale - Groundhog Day (J. Cole Response)
The first of his two recent responses to J. Cole, Wale's "Groundhog Day" has fared even better than "Folarin Like," despite the fact that its user rating is four points lower (at a still-impressive 94%). Perhaps it's due to the original beat or the more direct lyrics? Either way, it's up one spot in its second week out, going from #3 to #2.
1. YG Feat Lil Wayne - Trill (Prod. By Boi-1da)
Out of nowhere, we got our second YG/Weezy collab of the year last week, with the duo following up their Still Brazy highlight "I Got A Question" with a Boi-1da-produced gem entitled "Trill." Part of a Red Bull series, it's unlikely that this will wind up on any official projects by either rapper, but just be thankful that we've got it as a year-end present. "Trill" debuts at #1.
