808 Melo is a UK producer that helped carve out Pop Smoke’s sound in the NY Drill scene. Here we’ll recap his 2021.
Pop Smoke – We Made It (aka Tell The Vision)
808 Melo & Pop Smoke were the dream team. Having done some of Pop’s best tracks, which include the likes of “Dior,” “GATTI,” “Welcome to the Party,” he has some tracks still left with him. After the sloppy rollout of the second posthumous album of Pop Smoke’s Faith, their song “We Made It” went through a bunch of different iterations. The one that made it to Faith was “Tell The Vision,” the other one made it to Kanye West’s album DONDA under the same name. The track we have here is the original version, and much more authentic to Pop Smoke’s sound.
Migos – Light It Up (ft. Pop Smoke)
While Quavo has stayed close to the changes in the NY Drill scene, working with the likes of Pop Smoke & Fivio Foreign, the other Migos have not tried their hands at the sound. Despite that being the case, “Light It Up” finds Takeoff & Offset right at home on this 808 Melo beat. With a Pop Smoke feature attached, this tracks makes to one of the best tracks on Culture III. Even though Pop Smoke may not be here, hopefully this isn’t the last time we hear them tackle the sound.
Lil Tjay – Go Crazy
It may not be a drill beat, but his song with Lil Tjay lets 808 Melo reach for new sounds. Lil Tjay sings over this bass heavy, guitar backed track. Tjay raps about his fame and his goals for 2021. Hopefully in the future we can see Tjay experiment with more sounds like this.
42 Dugg – Still Catching Cases (ft. Fivio Foreign & Rowdy Rebel)
We callin New York on this
42 Dugg dropped possibly not only one of the best Detroit albums of 2021, but one of the best albums of 2021. Teaming up Fivio Foreign & Rowdy Rebel, Dugg crafts a NY Drill cut on his otherwise Detroit Trap album. Hearing Dugg go over production is refreshing, but the beat gets more aggressive as it gets to Fivio’s verse. Subtle touches like this make 808 Melo an act to look out for.