Doja Cat, Lil Tecca, 2Rare and More – New Hip-Hop Projects

Another new music Friday rolls around, with some heat from some of your favorite artists. This week, we get the return of a Grammy winning rapper-pop star, the new album from a New York artist who had a major buzz, the debut album from a 2023 XXL Freshman and more.

Doja Cat Drops Rap-Heavy Album Scarlet

Doja Cat returns this week with Scarlet, her first album since 2021’s pop effort Planet Her. Despite Planet Her receiving critical acclaim, a Grammy and numerous other accolades, Doja Cat teased Scarlet’s release by clowning the project as a mere “cash grab.” Doja said plainly that Planet Her’s follow-up would be a rap record, which stirred up controversy among her peers as to whether Doja Cat was truly a rapper. Doja then continued to stir the pot even further by calling out her fans for their undying love towards her. She then finally unleashed Scarlet’s first single “Attention” on June 16, followed by “Paint The Town Red” and “Demons” on Aug. 4 and Aug. 31, respectively.

The hype for Doja’s fourth album, which she confirmed on Sept. 13 will have no features, has also reached a fever pitch. The success of “Paint The Town Red” has been astronomical, and caused Doja Cat to emerge as the only rapper in 2023 to snag the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. She also emerged on Sept. 14 as the highest-streamed female rapper in Spotify history, making the case that Scarlet could potentially compete with Drake for that No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200.

Read More: Doja Cat Performs ‘Paint The Town Red’ and More at 2023 MTV Video Music Awards

Lil Tecca Returns With New Album Tec

Lil Tecca releases his third studio album Tec this week, which serves as the follow-up to his August of 2021 album We Love You Tecca 2. Tecca has been teasing the project since Jan. 27 when he announced the album on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Since then, Lil Tecca rolled out multiple singles in support of the project including “Need Me,” “500lbs” and most recently “Hvn on Earth” with Kodak Black. The 16-track album will only include two features from Kodak and Ken Carson.

Read More: The Best 13 New Hip Hop Songs This Week

2Rare Drops Debut Album Truth or Rare

2023 XXL Freshman 2Rare drops off his debut album Truth or Rare on Sept. 22. The Philadelphia rapper made a name for himself with his singles “Rare’s Room” and “Q-Pid” with Lil Durk in 2022, and kept the momentum up in 2023 by hitting the feature circuit hard. While he still made time to drop off a few tracks of his own like “Rare’s Room Pt. 2,” “Rare Steppa,” “Tox-ish” and more, 2Rare also joined forces with Flo Milli, French Montana, NLE Choppa and a slew of others. As a result, the young rapper has been inescapable. His buzz is at an all-time high.

Check out other new projects this week from Mykki Blanco, Nick Grant, Earthgang and more below.