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The pandemic pretty much had everyone in some sort of kerfuffle. It’s not a word we use very often, but it seems an opportune way to describe 2020, or 2021, because really, they are one-in-the-same years at this point. The kerfuffle of the pandemic affected all our lives at some point, in one way or another. Whether it halted your favorite extra-curricular activity, or school altogether, forced you to work from home, or perhaps even took your job from you– it affected family life just as much as it affected work life, not too mention, that fine balance of work-family-life– because when home is also work and work is also home…well, you get the idea. And certainly, some families were affected much more deeply, and more permanently, than others.

Here at HNHH, we had to do some re-shuffling post-pandemic, and one of the elements that fell by the wayside as we transitioned to a WFH/virtual routine among our staff, is that we’ve missed out on quite a few Music Meetings. If you’re new around here, or it’s been so long that you simply don’t even remember this being a thing in the first place, I’ll break it down, and explain how we are going to be accepting submissions moving forward.

The Music Meeting is a way for us to engage with our music-making readers, or else, bring new artists to the table that our staff writers may have recently stumbled across; ideally someone we haven’t featured on the site before. We do this, then, via two different avenues. Read more on the guidelines and how to submit music below.

The Guidelines

  • Each HNHH staff writer attending the meeting submits a song/artist of their personal choosing.
  • We also open up submissions to our readers/followers; this means you will see a Tweet or Instagram post go up stating that we are actively looking for new submissions, ahead of our scheduled Music Meeting. Follow us on Twitter and IG to never miss these.
  • We cull the best of the listener-submitted music to bring to the Music Meeting.
  • We listen to all the listener submissions and staff submission as a team.
  • We vote on our favorite songs, resulting in the final list you will see below.
  • Then we bring the vote to the masses: keep scrolling to vote on your favorite from the list below.

How to Submit Music 

  • Previously, we’ve only accepted submissions through Soundcloud messaging. We are now opening up an official e-mail: musicsubmissions@hotnewhiphop.com, to help maintain submissions from everyone/anyone on a rolling basis. This means, you will not be relegated to the ‘Open Submissions’ message, but can simply e-mail us your music directly, at any time.
  • Submissions are meant for new or rising artists, however the recency of the song is flexible.
  • When e-mailing a submission, the subject line should read Music Submission: [Artist Name] + [Song Name]. Please include in the e-mail: artist name, song name, social media links, link to stream song (video or audio) and any additional facts or things you’d want us to know.

STAFF SUBMISSIONS: TOP 3

Jenevieve 

Song: “Medallion”

Location: Los Angeles, California

Sounds: Soulful, vintage-inspired R&B with a modern touch

Discover more music: Jenevieve has one other song out right now, “Baby Powder”

Posted before: No

Skiifall

Song: “Ting Tun Up”

Location: Montreal, QC, Canada

Sounds: Toronto’s Caribbean style meets UK drill

Discover more music: Check him out on Spotify, he recently dropped “Tin Tun Up Pt II”

Posted before: Yes

Swavay

Song: “Shooter”

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Sounds: Atlanta. Trap-driven while not neglecting lyrics (wait for the beat switch)

Discover more music: Check out his Soundcloud for a full project & more

Posted before: No


SOUNDCLOUD SUBMISSIONS: TOP 3

Alan Ward

Song: “Picasso”

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Sounds: *Not* music for b*tches, a bit old school

Discover more music: Check out his Soundcloud for more

Posted before: No

MAAL

Song: “Light”

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Sounds: Rowdy and rambunctious, a la Denzel Curry

Discover more music: Check out his Soundcloud for more

Posted before: No

R3ZZY

Song: “Black Boy”

Location: Detroit, Michigan

Sounds: Socially-conscious story-telling

Discover more music: Check out his Soundcloud for more

Posted before: No