This weekend, one American president left and another one came in.

J. Cole has thoughts about that and a few other things, too.  Released on Martin Luther King Day. 

Joey Bada$$ has some thoughts, too.

Remember how I said I loved English MCs? Loyle Carner is a grime/hip hop artist out of South London and has a new album out that's getting insane reviews. 

I like the guitar lick.

Let’s follow a sample:

Betty Wright is one of the best soul singers of the 70's. Her songs are routinely sampled in hip hop. Clean Up Woman is probably the most sampled.

Most famous? Likely this:

This is just a classic Puff Daddy produced track. The thing about these rappers/producers is that you can really hear the through line from the soul music of the 60s and 70s to R&B of the 90s and 2000s. It’s what they grew up with and what their parents played.

This is also really early Biggie. It's the first time he used "The Notorious B.I.G." as a moniker (Biggie Smalls was already used by someone else) and it was recorded three years before Ready to Die was released.

You know who else probably listened to a lot of Betty Wright? Swizz Beatz. A remix of Ms.Dynamite's Dy-Na-Mi-Tee from 2002. Throw in some Nas, and it's a party. 

I was listening to random things on Spotify, and it was this track that made me think of Clean Up Woman in the first place and where else it's been:

I've been listening to a lot of recent Chance the Rapper, but this is quality from his second mixtape Acid Rap in 2013. 

Here's an interview with Nate Fox, who produced this and other stuff for Chance.

Kehlani has been around for a little bit and her debut album is finally being released at the end of the month. 

It's a song about, you know, doin' it, but it's about other stuff, too. 

This thing just builds. No wonder she moved Pharrell. 

Come for his face and stay for when he compares her to Wu Tang Clan.