September 18, 2026 · This Week in Hip-Hop
Rakim, Kurupt & Masta Killa – The Godbody LP
The widontplay release of the week.
This should not work simply because the names are legendary. It has to work as a record.
Rakim, Kurupt and Masta Killa connect East Coast foundational rap, Wu-Tang lineage and West Coast lyricism across a 15-track collaborative album released today on Team League Entertainment. The project has been building since "Goin' Down" with Kokane and the "A Different Kind" single, which was particularly notable because Rakim produced it himself — his first self-produced solo release in roughly 15 years. That production detail is what pushes this above simple legacy curiosity. All 15 tracks are produced by Rakim and Nick Wiz.
The feature list runs deep: Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Daz Dillinger on "Rock Ya Body." Buckshot. KRS-One and Kool G Rap together on "Still Ill!." Snoop Dogg on the "Rabbit" remix. And then the one that stands apart from everything else on the record: "God Speak (Interlude)" featuring Eminem and Jay-Z — the first collaboration between the two in 25 years.
That last point is not a secondary detail. Eminem and Jay-Z sharing a track for the first time since the early 2000s, on a Rakim-produced album, is a historical marker regardless even though none of them raps.
Nobody needed market research to arrive at Rakim + Kurupt + Masta Killa in 2026. Good.
DJ Skizz – Chopped Cheese EP
Chopped cheese is a New York institution — the bodega sandwich, chopped beef and melted cheese on a hero roll, specific to Harlem and the Bronx. DJ Skizz takes that as an EP title and the logic is sound. No abstract concept, no inflated narrative, just a concrete New York reference from a producer who has been building a recognizable sound in the city's underground for over a decade. The Slice of Spice orbit, collaborations with New York MCs, eight tracks — dusty, warm, rooted in classic boom bap. The title says everything about his approach: everyday city life is the foundation, not the album pitch.
AZ Chike – No Rest for the Wicked
14 tracks on Warner today. Tyler, The Creator on "Look Like My Mama," production orbit that includes Pharrell. AZ Chike appeared on Kendrick Lamar's GNX, which expanded his audience considerably, but his music belongs to an existing Los Angeles street-rap language rather than something constructed after the Kendrick cosign. That distinction matters. Regional rap gets less interesting when success removes the region. Chike still sounds like somewhere specific.
SITES x Micall Parknsun – Everybody
UK underground single from September 15. Micall Parknsun has been one of the defining figures of British underground rap since the early 2000s — active as both producer and MC, with a catalog that carries a distinctly UK sensibility built over two decades. SITES has appeared in the same orbit, recently on "Streets Getting Knocked" with FlowTecs and Ruste Juxx. Two UK underground veterans with their positions already secured.
paco in action – Crooked Keys
Dropped September 17. 81 BPM boom bap built around an eerie piano loop — dusty and slightly off-center, with heavy controlled drums underneath. Built to give a rapper room to think rather than crowding the top end. Available on BeatStars.
