TDE Has Another Reason Why It’s The Most Dominant Hip-Hop Label Of The 2010s (Video)

Last week, Top Dawg Entertainment added another MC to its star-studded label. Reason comes from the same city of Carson, California that Ab-Soul reps. He quietly slid onto TDE’s first #1 release of 2018, the Black Panther soundtrack ahead of his public welcome. However, if “Seasons” remained off your radar, this month’s “The Soul” crashes right into the satellite dish.

Following last week’s news, Reason releases the video to his first TDE solo single. The visual shows an artist who has paid dues since early 2016’s The Free Album mixtape (embedded below and featuring Skeme, AD, and others). Like his newfound roster-mates, this California MC has years of dues paid. However, he must continue to sharpen his craft like all of the spitters on the celebrated label family.

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The video is simple, but the rhymes are complex. In between studio footage, show scenes, and some dramatic recreations of some bars, Reason spits with potency. “Look, patience, new beginning’s comin’ / Ni**as been had drive, had to get the engine runnin’ / You either die chasin’ dreams or you gon’ live for nothin’ / Sh*t, ni**a I’d get murdered ‘fore I not make it / Ni**as told me, ‘spot’s taken’ / Ni**a, it’s Reason, word to Liam Neeson / If it’s taken once then you can take it twice / Don’t ever think they love you, that’s some great advice / So if you ain’t used to pay attention, gotta pay the price / Sh*t, just a year ago, ni**a, I was hatin’ life / Eight-to-five workin’ for mass’a, I slaved through it / Nights cryin’ to P like, ‘I hate music’ / Now my shows sell out like Ray Lewis / Who is Reason, ni**a? Ni**a, I’m the thin line / I’m one ni**a that think he big-time / A walkin’ contradiction, but admit mine / Outspoken but horrible, my feelings inside / ‘Til the beat play and all the pain come out / Let’s speak ’bout what this game about / I gave it all to make it, I’m not leavin’ / Do it for the streets, my ni**a, the block bleedin’ / Better off swallowin’ knives than to try to stop Reason / I ain’t a killer, but don’t push me, I’m ‘Melo with the hoodie / Mike Jackson with the boogie, Kobe Bryant as a rookie.

He speaks with blunt honesty: “Keem asked if I was signed with Top and I felt indifferent / Not that I’m not grateful, just got my apprehensions, sh*t / ‘Ni**a, what apprehensions you got?’ / Came from the bottom, so of course I’m apprehensive of Top / Grew up with Crips, of course I’m apprehensive of Rock / Feel I’m the greatest, of course I’m apprehensive of Dot / Been often hated, ain’t a square but come from the block / Look, my family sell dope, cousin caught some bodies / Now I sell crack music on some records, caught some hommies / Got signed, still broke, got high, still low / Long as Reason still spittin’, ni**a, still got hope / Reason do this for the soul of it / Ain’t scared of layin’ in dirt, ni**a, we rose from it.

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Reason raps with umph and purpose, and from the heart. As TDE made stars out of MCs (and singers) putting in consistent work for years, we may have just properly been introduced to a star. He will be joining Jay Rock on The Big Redemption Tour.

#BonusBeat: Don’t sleep on The Free Album: