widontplay Weekly: Hip-Hop Releases CW 36

September 4, 2026 · This Week in Hip-Hop

A focused week on the widontplay radar. Five releases that all dropped between September 1 and today. Hieroglyphics dropped the "The Way That It Be" visual Wednesday. Dendemann drops his first official music video in years today. JR Writer and Hell Rell are out today too. Nick Bruno and Boldy James have "The Members" on a Nicholas Craven beat making the rounds. And on the Deutschrap side, JAM drops "Life Is A Bitch" produced by Roey Marquis II.

Hieroglyphics – The Way That It Be

The official video for "The Way That It Be" dropped September 3, off Hieroglyphics' album All Said And Done. Track performed by Casual, Pep Love, and Tajai, produced by A-Plus, directed by Bakari Pilgrim and shot by Aaron Brown across coastal cliffs and city overlooks. Hieroglyphics are one of the foundational West Coast underground crews: A-Plus, Casual, Del the Funky Homosapien, Domino, DJ Touré, Opio, Pep Love, Phesto Dee, Tajai. No label interference, no mainstream bend. Just Hiero doing what Hiero has always done, with the visual now matching the record.

Dendemann – Wiederstand

The official music video drops today — directed by Sebastian Tomczak, with a beat produced by Günther Fischer, Fred Gertz, and Dendemann himself. The single came out August 28 on Paroli Beats; the video makes it complete. Dendemann is one of the most respected lyricists in German hip-hop. Started with Eins Zwo (with DJ Rabauke) in the mid-90s, went solo, took long creative pauses between records, came back each time with a higher bar than before. His last album "da nich für!" dropped 2019 and went straight to number one in Germany. "Wiederstand" is his first new music since the 2025 single "Gedanken, gut."

The title works on two levels simultaneously: "Widerstand" means resistance, and "wieder" means again — so Wiederstand is both resistance and a return. Dendemann rapping about his comeback, his "Credo between 2Pac and Nietzsche," and the weight of big egos does not need translation. The craft and the haltung are both present. The DOCH! club tour starts September 10 in Heidelberg and runs through Berlin in October.

JR Writer x Hell Rell – I Will Not Lose

Both rappers from the Diplomats-adjacent Harlem orbit: JR Writer was part of The U.N. under Cam'ron's extended roster, Hell Rell was a Diplomat Records affiliate since the mid-2000s. "I Will Not Lose" drops today. The Dipset legacy is not nostalgia when the people who built it are still making new music in the same lane. Two Harlem veterans, no detours, the official video is out now.

Nick Bruno – The Members ft. Boldy James, Poppy Bricks, Kasto & Lethal (prod. Nicholas Craven)

From Nick Bruno's album "Brutality" — produced in its entirety by Nicholas Craven. "The Members" is a posse cut: Boldy James, Poppy Bricks, Kasto, and Lethal all operating over one Nicholas Craven beat. Boldy James on a Craven production is a configuration this blog has covered from Trapper's Alley I through III and it delivers here without question. Four voices, one tight production frame, nobody wasting the allotted time. The Nicholas Craven extended network is the most consistently reliable corner of the current underground, and this track confirms why.

JAM – Life Is A Bitch (prod. Roey Marquis II)

From the Deutschrap side. JAM drops "Life Is A Bitch" with a Roey Marquis II production. Roey Marquis II is a Berlin-based producer with a catalog that runs deep in German hip-hop, known for his measured, soul-heavy approach. The track and official video are out now. Exactly the Deutschrap lane widontplay covers when the craft and the haltung are in the right place.

All tracks in this week's post are also on the widontplay playlist Your weekly Neighbourhood DOPE