Hit-Boy’s prolific run isn’t letting up as he’s revealed he’s dropping a new album called Surf or Drown next week.
The Grammy-winning producer announced the project during an interview Home Grown Media Group, saying it will be produced mostly by himself and find him rapping alongside a host of guest artists.
“I’m literally dropping a whole album next week with me rapping,” he said. “I got features on it. It’s produced by me and a couple of the homies did some little pieces, but it’s a real good body of just what I’m on right now … It’s gonna be like 11 joints.”
Hit-Boy shared more details about the forthcoming album during a Twitter Spaces interview with TIDAL’s Elliott Wilson on Thursday (March 16), confirming its Friday (March 24) release date.
HipHopDX‘s Producer of 2022 also spoke about his determination to prove himself as an artist in his own right, beyond being a go-to beatmaker for some of Hip Hop’s biggest names.
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“Some of the vibes on there I feel like people are gonna rock with. It’s not all soul chops and shit; it’s modern sounds, it’s everything. It’s a world to come into,” he explained.
“In different interviews and stuff I’ve been doing, I’ve been talking about how I went through some real stuff and I had to really figure out my place back in the game and just understand my personal power in this shit.”
“I could’ve drowned in this shit, so it’s like, Surf or Drown. You already know, Surf Club, that shit go way back,” he added of his long-running record label, while promising “something special” on the album.
Hit-Boy additionally shared the cover art for Surf or Drown on Instagram, along with a voice message from rising Texas rapper Teezo Touchdown, who’s perhaps best known for his cameo on Tyler, The Creator’sCall Me If You Get Lost.
In his comments section, Hit hinted at more solo material on the way by writing: “Vol.1” along with an eyes emoji.
In his interview with Wilson, Hit-Boy confirmed that Surf or Drown will include his recently released single with The Alchemist, “Slipping Into Darkness,” which saw him take shots at fellow producers Metro Boomin, Southside, Mustard and Hitmaka.
“I just seen Yung Berg spoke on the wave, I should do him like Trick Trick and snatch Hit out his name,” he rapped while taking aim at the latter, referencing the notorious Detroit rapper famed for his “No Fly Zone” decree.
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The track was mainly aimed at Hitmaka and came in response to his recent claim that he’s a better producer than Hit-Boy because he has more songs on the radio.
The “Control”-esque diss record sparked a back-and-forth between the two beatmakers, with Hitmaka labeling Hit-Boy a “terrible rapper” and B-side producer.
The King’s Disease producer fired back by dismissing Hitmaka as a glorified A&R who doesn’t even make the hits he claims to have produced.
“First off, the conversation is over: he doesn’t make beats, bro,” Hit-Boy told Home Grown Media Group. “I’m really hand-crafting new styles, coming with different bounces, different drum patterns.
“And this man don’t even make the beat and he got the nerve to speak on me. That’s like, you really on them pills, for real. You crazy.”
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Surf or Drown will serve as Hit-Boy’s first solo album since 2020’s The Chauncey Hollis Project, and his second offering of the year so far following the recently released Victims & Villains with R&B legend Musiq Soulchild.
Another full-length effort with Benny The Butcher tentatively titled Everybody Can’t Go and a fourth installment in his successful King’s Disease series with Nas are also in the plans for 2023.
