R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week: Khalid & Normani, AzChike, THEY. & More

Another week, brings another shocking new legal filing. Following bombshells legal actions involving fellow hip-hop moguls Sean “Diddy” Combs and Aubrey “Drake” Graham, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has found himself in the center of a harrowing new suit. In a Dec. 8 refiling of an earlier civil lawsuit against Combs, Carter has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after that years MTV Video Music Awards. The 24-time Grammy-winner, who was recently named Billboard’s 16th Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century (So Far), immediately took to social media to vehemently deny the accusations, and the following day (Dec. 9), he filed a motion calling the case “extortionate” and arguing that the accuser should not be allowed to litigate such “heinous allegations” anonymously.

This case is still in the early phases, so there isn’t much to analyze beyond the new filing, Carter’s responses and general reactions to the stunning news. Though the news broke late Sunday night, it quickly became the weekend’s defining hip-hop moment, surpassing both the buzz of Doechii‘s new NPR Tiny Desk performance and Smino‘s new Maybe In Nirvana LP.

With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Khalid and Normani spinning the block to A$AP Rocky’s fiery new remix. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.

THEY., “Straight Up”

If you have a new album dropping on Valentine’s Day next year with a title inspired by one of the most beloved Black romantic comedy-dramas of the ’90s (1997’s Love Jones), you know your singles have to be home runs. With “Straight Up,” the latest taste of the forthcoming Love.Jones, smooth R&B duo THEY. deliver a ’90s-evoking cut built around sultry vocals, pitched-up vocal loops and come-hither lyricism. “Let’s make plans, let’s link up, let’s be ’bout it/ Got you wet, got me drunk, now we drownin’/ Crashing out, pussy good, I’m surrounded/ We on round number four, but who’s countin’?” Drew Love croons in the first verse. Infused with the forward, hip-hop sensibilities of contemporary R&B but steeped in the sensual tension of the genre’s ’90s iterations, “Straight Up” is another hit for THEY. — KYLE DENIS

Hanumankind, Kalmi & A$AP Rocky, “Big Dawgs (Remix)”

This isn’t your average remix in 2024 looking to game the streaming system as Hanumankind recruited A$AP Rocky to take his thrilling ride of “Big Dawgs” to another level. The Mob leader flosses to kick off the track and takes it back to his humble beginnings running around Harlem. “Crackheads by the corner store, bakin’ soda by the stove, mattress on the floor/ Mice and the roaches, my room ain’t have a door, but I had some dope,” he reminisces over the revved-up production. The Indian rapper even slaps a reworked verse into his top 40 Hot 100 hit as he gives a shout-out to Flacko – his first American rap collaboration – and sets the stage for his official debut album in 2025. — MICHAEL SAPONARA

Khalid & Normani, “Personal”

After making history with “Love Lies” back in 2018 — the Love, Simon track was the first duet by two African-American singers to reach No. 1 on Pop Airplay in over 20 years — Khalid and Normani are back with another sultry team-up. This time, the two stars have joined forces for a deluxe cut for Patience, Khalid’s third studio album. Across a hiccuping, Afrobeats-nodding beat courtesy of Digi and Simon Says, they coo in carnal whispers: “Don’t know how I got it, but I’m next to you/ So what you gonna do?/ Put your body on my body, get personal/ So sensual.” Normani continues to show off her personal innovations on Brandy’s vocal playbook, while Khalid displays his growth as a duet partner, offering up a rich, husky complement to Mani’s airier timbre. — K.D.

AzChike, “Love Yo Weapons”

Fresh off his appearance on Kendrick Lamar’s GNX album, AzChike keeps fans’ attention with the menacing “Love Yo Weapons.” “Welcome to the show/ I don’t think we got no seats left,” he greets the newcomers over the haunting production. But it was the slick wordplay flipping Drake’s So Far Gone into a bar that had us hitting replay: “Up this Drake, now he gone/ Hit him from so far,” Az spews. The burgeoning West Coast rhymer certainly didn’t fumble the spotlight with “Love Yo Weapons.” — M.S.

Rhyan Douglas feat. Lekan, “Magic Gurl”

Rhyan Douglas and Lekan have both made incredible strive in 2024, and they’re capping off their formidable runs with an ode to a special “magic gurl.” A slow-burning duet that unfurls across a sparse soundscape comprised off ricocheting background synths, serne percussion and ethereal harmonies, “Magic Gurl” plays with quietness and loudness in a really refreshing way. Rhyan and Lekan both understand the innate dynamism of holding back and they effortlessly demonstrate that across this languid, swirling tune. — K.D.

Chocc, “Did You Mean It”

Cori Broadus, who sings under the alias Chocc, is stepping out from under her father, Snoop Dogg’s, shadow – or smoke cloud. Revealing her vulnerabilities through a reinvented sound mixing moody R&B with glitzy pop, Chocc shines on Journals to Johnny EP standout “Did You Mean It.” The 25-year-old pleads with her fiancee Wayne Duece while grappling if his “I love you’s” were for nothing. “Did you mean it when you say you love me,” Chocc sings while demanding an answer. The couple further peels back the layers of their relationship in a new E! docuseries Snoop’s Fatherhood: Cori and Wayne’s Story, which arrived alongside the project. — M.S.