August 7, 2026 · This Week in Hip-Hop
CW 32 brings an official video for one of the year's better underground albums, two strong West Coast visuals in as many weeks from Jay Worthy, a fresh Mike Shabb and MIKE collaboration, Your Old Droog pairing with Masta Ace, and a Big Sean single that signals his long-anticipated project with The Alchemist is moving.
Wiki – Ancient History (Prod. The Alchemist)
The official video dropped August 5, directed by Rafael D'Almeida — and it serves as the best entry point into an album that deserves more attention than it got when it came out on June 12.
Ancient History is Wiki's first fully solo album since Oofie in 2019. Released through his own Wikset Enterprise label, it is a New York album in the most specific and lived-in sense: Patrick Morales writing about the city he grew up in, the people who shaped him, the streets that still define how he moves. HHHeadz described it as sitting in a tradition that goes back to Biggie and Wu-Tang — slices of city life that feel both minute and expansive. The Pitchfork review was positive. Fantano covered it. The underground response was strong from the start.
The production spread tells you what kind of record this is. The Alchemist handles the Alchemist-produced closing title track — five minutes, symphonic instrumental, the most cinematic moment on the album. Navy Blue produces several tracks. Nick Hakim brings melodic directness. MIKE contributes production under his dj blackpower alias. Your Old Droog appears as a guest. None of the collaborators pull the center away from Wiki's defined, lived-in vision.
The official video for "Ancient History" is out now on Wiki's YouTube channel. The Park Bench Tour starts September 4 in Montreal and hits Toronto, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, and New York through September 15.
Jay Worthy & George Clinton – Knee Deep ft. Snoop Dogg
Second week running, Jay Worthy is on the widontplay radar. "TRIPPIN" with Estevan Oriol last week. "Knee Deep" this week. Both are exactly in the lane this blog covers — West Coast street rap built on real cultural knowledge rather than aesthetic.
"Knee Deep" brings George Clinton and Snoop Dogg onto a LNDN DRGS production. When George Clinton appears on a track, HHHeadz put it correctly: it is not a feature, it is a DNA transfer. Parliament-Funkadelic laid the foundation for G-Funk. Having Clinton on a Jay Worthy record produced by LNDN DRGS — Sean House, the other half of the duo Jay Worthy himself is a member of — is a lineage meeting. The music video is out now, directed by New High Filmz.
Mike Shabb & MIKE – Dontsweatit!
Mike Shabb appeared in the widontplay CW 27 write-up as the producer behind Estee Nack's Live at the Tabernackle Vol. II. He is from Montreal — same city as Nicholas Craven, same underground orbit — and his Sewaside III album from 2024 received a 7.6 from Pitchfork. MIKE is one of the most prolific underground rappers working, releasing continuously and never compromising the quality. A Mike Shabb and MIKE collaboration dropping today is exactly what the widontplay radar exists to catch.
Your Old Droog – Pavlovian Effect ft. A-Reece & Masta Ace
Your Old Droog is a Ukrainian-American rapper from Brooklyn who first drew attention in 2014 when people genuinely debated whether his debut EP was a secret Nas project — the delivery, the cadence, the New York specificity were that close. He has spent the last decade building a catalog that justifies the original buzz on its own terms. A-Reece is a South African rapper whose name has been circulating in underground-adjacent conversations for the past few years. Masta Ace is a Boom Bap veteran with a catalog that runs from 1990 through the present without a significant drop in quality.
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