Image via Complex Original/Nick Sultana
Summer is officially over. As we transition away from Hot Girl Summer into whatever fall 2019 has in store for us, it's time to take a look back on all the best (and worst) moments of the season. Who took advantage of the warm summer months and had breakout moments? Who dropped the ball and would rather forget this summer entirely? When we look back on summer 2019 in a decade, what memories will come to mind first? According to the Complex Music staff, these are the best and worst music moments of the summer.
Best: DaBaby’s hot streak
By spring, DaBaby was already one of the biggest breakout rappers of 2019, then he secured that title by having a huge summer. After making waves with his album Baby On Baby and singles like “Suge” early in the year, the Charlotte rapper kept his momentum going with an impressive run of memorable guest appearances. And what’s even more impressive than just collaborating with J. Cole on “Under the Sun” or Chance the Rapper on “Hot Shower,” is that he outshined everyone on each of those tracks. We all would have been pleased with DaBaby’s summer if he finished with a few solid features under his belt, but then he ended even stronger by dropping an excellent solo single, “Intro.” And if his forthcoming album, Kirk, sounds anything like this, Baby isn’t just winning the summer; he’s taking the entire year. —Jessica McKinney
Worst: Playboi Carti leaks and no album release
We heard a lot of new music from Playboi Carti this summer, but barely any of it was officially released. Carti was the victim of relentless leaks, including several songs that ended up on his official Apple Music page without his authorization. Carti’s leaked Young Nudy collaboration, “Kid Cudi/Pissy Pamper” even made it all the way to No. 1 on Spotify's US Viral 50 chart before eventually being removed. Some fans were happy by being blessed with so much music, but Carti admitted frustration about the repeated leaks by writing on his Instagram Story: “Hacked :( I haven't released anything :/ I hate leaks.” And, perhaps due to all the leaks, his long-awaited forthcoming album, Whole Lotta Red, still hasn’t arrived. Hackers, leave Carti alone! —Eric Skelton
Best: Megan Thee Stallion’s breakout Hot Girl Summer
Megan Thee Stallion was one of the biggest breakout artists of the summer, and in just a few months, she captured the attention of countless new fans with her gritty penmanship and Texas flair. Hot Girl Summer initially started as a cute Instagram caption and a catchphrase for her fans, but it quickly ignited a viral movement with “hot girls” and “hot boys” playing along. At some points this summer, it seemed there wasn’t an Instagram caption or social video that didn’t include some variation of “Hot Girl Summer” in it. Now, the season may be over, but the movement won’t die with the changing weather. Meg already announced that “Hot Nerd Fall” is in full effect, and it’s clear she’s established herself as an artist who we’ll keep hearing from. —Jessica McKinney
Worst: Summer violence
The world of music unfortunately erupted in a violent frenzy at multiple points this summer. Beginning at the tip of the season, Rolling Loud was surrounded by unfortunate violent moments (although each of the events were offsite and didn't happen at the event itself). Young Thug’s DJ and tour bus was shot at, there was a killing of Florida rapper AAB Hellabandz, NBA YoungBoy’s girlfriend was shot while she sat in the car with him (which also resulted in a 43-year-old man getting killed and a 5-year-old getting grazed), and Kodak Black was arrested on a weapons charge.
Although he maintains his innocence, in the middle of the summer, Lil Durk was charged with aggravated assault and criminal intent to commit murder, stemming from a shooting in Atlanta. He’s currently awaiting his trail. Then, in early July, a video surfaced online of Future’s bodyguard getting knocked out in what was said to be racially charged attack while the rapper was touring in Spain. At the top of August, Yung Miami was shot at following a studio session she had in Miami. Fortunately, neither she or her unborn child were struck. But that doesn’t take away from the severity of the situation, or the relentless violence that followed some of music’s biggest stars all summer. —Kemet High
Best: Young Thug’s most successful album yet
In the weeks leading up to the release of Young Thug’s official debut album, So Much Fun, I wrote about how the timing was finally right for him to drop his best and most successful project yet. Even when I was typing those words, though, there was some doubt in the back of my mind. Since early projects like 1017 Thug, the Atlanta rapper has often seemed on the verge of becoming the type of superstar who routinely drops chart-topping albums. But by mid-2019, it hadn’t happened yet. There were some questions floating around his fanbase: Had Young Thug’s moment passed? Would he be surpassed in popularity by mentees like Gunna, and forever be perceived as more influential than successful? Fortunately, the answer turned out to be no. Young Thug finally received the commercial success he deserves when So Much Fun debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In the summer of 2019, the rest of the world finally caught up to Thug’s forward-thinking ways, and we were all blessed with gems like “Hot” and “What’s the Move” in the process. He’s finally Justin Bieber big. —Eric Skelton
Worst: No ‘Eternal Atake’ from Lil Uzi Vert after label drama
A year after Lil Uzi Vert first teased the title of Eternal Atake back in July 2018, fans hoped that he would finally drop the album this summer. Instead, he temporarily retired, threatened to leak it on SoundCloud, got caught up in label drama, signed a management deal with Roc Nation, and released a song called “Free Uzi.” Then in May 2019, Uzi told fans he had just finished the final song on the album, but now we’re at the end of summer, and it still hasn’t arrived. So, what’s holding things up? Is Uzi becoming less interested in music? In a September 2019 interview with GQ, he hinted that he thinks he’s better at fashion than he is at music, and explained, “I really do [music] just to make my family happy. Like, it's just something for my family to talk about.” Damn. Maybe the album delays are deeper than label drama. —Eric Skelton
Best: Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” Billboard record
Right when you thought the art of the remix was dead, Lil Nas X used “Old Town Road” to shock them back to life. Remixes have changed over the years, moving from mobbed up appearances seen in Busta Rhymes’ “Touch It” remix, to slapping a verse on the end and calling it a day, seen on Summer Walker’s “Girls Need Love” remix. Lil Nas X used a similar formula as the latter example, but he made history in light of it. This summer, “Old Town Road” broke the record for spending the longest time in the No. 1 slot of the Billboard music charts, at 19 weeks. To help achieve the record, he dropped remixes that included guest appearances from Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, BTS’s RM, and Mason Ramsey. Lil Nas X was eventually dethroned by Billy Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” but “Old Town Road” was impossible to ignore this summer—remixes aside. He came from nowhere to produce one of the most successful songs of all time, and this summer, we all watched how Lil Nas X became a global superstar. He’s also proven he might not be a one-hit wonder, as “Panini” has now entered the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. Nas X is here to stay. —Kemet High
Worst: Chance the Rapper’s ‘The Big Day’ backlash
Regardless of how you feel about the actual music on The Big Day, it’s clear this was a disappointing summer for Chance the Rapper and his fans. The Big Day was outsold by NF’s The Search, which took the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums, and there were so many jokes flying around at his expense that Chance took to Twitter to write, “I’m getting this crazy feeling that people want me to kill myself. And I feel like even more than that, some people want me to feel ashamed.” A couple weeks later, it was announced that Chance was pushing his tour back to 2020 to spend time with family. Whether you’re a fan of the album or not, it was a frustrating couple months for an artist who was supposed to be celebrating his official debut album. —Eric Skelton
Best: Tyler, the Creator’s ‘IGOR’ success and Funk Flex freestyle
Nearly a decade after releasing his breakout hit, “Yonkers,” Tyler, the Creator has made it to a point in his career where he can ignore everything else that’s happening in music and successfully live in his own universe. On his fifth studio album, IGOR, Tyler has the confidence to take a lot of risks, rarely rapping and largely ignoring traditional song structure conventions. As a result, IGOR doesn’t sound like anything else happening in pop music right now, and that’s exactly why it’s so compelling. It’s a testament to the dedication of his fanbase that an album like this debuted at No. 1 and earned the distinction as one of the most successful rap releases of the year. And, as if his summer wasn’t already successful enough, Tyler put a cherry on top of the season by visiting Funk Flex for the most entertaining interview (and freestyle) of the year. What can’t he do? —Eric Skelton
Worst: DJ Khaled’s ‘mysterious’ response
DJ Khaled has built his career on a “positive vibes only” attitude, but he strayed from this approach when his album Father of Asahd charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 behind Tyler the Creator’s IGOR. Instead of congratulating Tyler, he left a cryptic message on Instagram. “I make albums so people can play it and you actually hear it,” he said in a now-deleted Instagram video. Although he didn’t say any names, his message appeared to be aimed at Tyler. “It’s called great music. It’s called albums that you actually hear the songs. Not mysterious shit that you never hear it.” This was a brief misstep for an artist who has otherwise been very positive and welcoming of other artists. —Jessica McKinney
Best: Lil Tecca’s breakout moment
Lil Tecca became a star, nearly overnight, thanks to his breakout single “Ransom.” The track fell just shy of the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 4, but it has been a streaming monster, racking up more than 300 million plays on Spotify alone. Tecca’s rise to stardom came in a blink of an eye, but the 17-year-old seems to have a long future in the game. In August, Tecca followed up the release of “Ransom” with his debut mixtape, We Love You Tecca, which impressively peaked at No. 4 the US Billboard 200. So, if you thought this kid was a one-hit-wonder, guess again. It’ll be exciting to see what he does in 2020. —Jessica McKinney
Worst: The 6ix9ine Nine Trey trial
Arguably the biggest music story of the summer barely had anything to do with music. Nearly a year after getting arrested on RICO and racketeering charges along with other members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, 6ix9ine appeared in court as a cooperating witness and testified for three days in late September. Now, it’s likely he will receive a reduced sentence and could be free soon, but the conversation has shifted to the possibility that he will need to enter the federal witness protection program in order to protect himself from gang-related retaliation violence. In the midst of his testimony, Twitter had fun with snitching memes, but the bigger story that developed was a tragic tale of a rapper who was so focused on fame and attention that he got caught up in very real criminal activity and threw away his own bright prospects (and the freedom of several others) in the process. —Eric Skelton
Best: Vince Staples’ ‘The Vince Staples Show,’ new music, and Motown deal
Vince Staples has had the West Coast on tilt for years now. Looking back to the early days of his career, which included mixtapes like Stolen Youth (entirely produced by Mac Miller), his growth has been impressive. Dipping between the worlds of gangster rap and house/techno, Vince also inking deals with Sprite and established himself as one of Def Jam’s strongest signees. This summer, he announced that he was now signed to Motown Records via Blacksmith Recordings, and promised new music. A few weeks later, coupled with The Vince Staples Show, he dropped an accompanying song called “So What.” The first episode was short, but certainly showed the artistic range that Vince really has. You can now catch him on the charts, on your Twitter timeline, and on your TV. Also, Vince, if you’re reading this, we need more episodes! —Kemet High
Worst: Nicki Minaj’s ‘retirement’
On September 5, Nicki Minaj announced her “retirement” from rap on Twitter in order to start a family. Some critics would argue the Queens artist hasn’t been on top of her game as of late and in the past two years, and she’s arguably racked up more hate than love, due in part to her antics on social media and controversial Queen Radio episodes. But even with her faults, it’s impossible to deny Nicki’s decade-long reign and influence on rap. She ended up deleting her retirement announcement, but the indifferent response to her tweet showed how her far her public perception has fallen in rap over the past couple years. We’re all rooting for a Nicki comeback soon, but this was a low point. —Jessica McKinney
Best: Meek Mill’s case gets dropped, plus new documentary and label deal
Meek Mill is finally a free man. After 12 years of legal battles, the Pennsylvania Superior Court dismissed Meek’s decade-old drug and gun conviction. As a result, the court also overturned a 2017 parole violation, which had resulted in the rapper going back to prison for five months. While the judgment was a major personal win for Meek, he also used his situation to promote awareness surrounding the criminal justice system. His documentary, Free Meek, which premiered on August 9 on Amazon Prime, brought more attention to his case and other individuals who are currently entangled in similar legal battles. In addition to his activism, Meek expanded his musical presence and brand by launching the Dreamchasers record label under Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. “Creating a record label has always been the next step in my journey as a businessman and I appreciate Roc Nation and Jay-Z’s support on this new venture,” Meek said during a press conference. “I want to take my experiences in the music industry, use them to find young, hungry talent, and open doors for the next generation of artists.” What a summer for Meek. —Jessica McKinney
Worst: JAY-Z’s NFL deal announcement
JAY-Z’s partnership with the NFL was a disappointment for many fans. In August, JAY announced that his entertainment company Roc Nation was entering a partnership with the NFL to enhance the league’s entertainment experience, as well as amplify its social justice initiatives. The move appeared to many to be hypocritical for JAY, who had publicly supported former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick after the player was blacklisted from the league following his protest of police brutality during the national anthem. Hov also stood in solidarity with Kap’s stance by turning down the Super Bowl halftime show, a decision he admitted on the 2018 single, “Apeshit.”: “I said no to the Super Bowl, you need me, I don’t need you.”
While many fans were understandably critical of the rapper, others seemed more hopeful, suggesting JAY would invite Kap to the deal, or that he would introduce a clever plan to correct the NFL’s flaws. JAY then took his leverage and announced an apparel line and a concert series featuring Meek Mill, Meghan Trainor, and Rapsody, with a majority of the profits going to social justice organizations to help inner-city communities. Hov deserves some credit for his past efforts to help underrepresented communities. But, given the information that we have about the partnership thus far, the criticism and feelings of disappointment from fans feel warranted. —Jessica McKinney
Best: Dreamville’s collab album manages to live up to the hype
When J. Cole first announced Revenge of the Dreamers III and invited dozens of hip-hop’s biggest stars to the rap camp recording sessions, there was some speculation about whether the star-studded album would be a success. Would there be too many cooks in the kitchen to actually make a great album? Somehow, the third installment of the Revenge series managed to live up to expectations and it landed at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in its first week. Dreamville’s decision to invite over 100 artists and producers to lock in for a 10-day recording session in Atlanta paid off. In addition to showcasing the talent of Dreamville’s younger artists like J.I.D. and Ari Lennox, the project also helped put Guapdad4000, Yung Baby Tate, Baby Rose, and others on the map. In the process, Dreamville owned the summer and showed they can compete with other major labels like Top Dawg Entertainment and Quality Control. —Jessica McKinney
Worst: ASAP Rocky unnecessarily held in Swedish jail for weeks
The fact that ASAP Rocky was detained in a Swedish prison over an alleged assault for weeks took many by surprise. The worst part about Rocky’s situation was that he had video evidence that appeared to show he didn’t initiate the altercation between two Swedish men. In fact, footage showed the Harlem rapper and his team trying to avoid the men. Things only turned violent after the men continued to follow and antagonize him. And despite having the viral video, the court refused to release Rocky, stating he was a flight risk, and kept him in reportedly “inhumane” detention conditions before he was ultimately allowed to leave the country weeks later. The #FreeRocky tag was very appropriate. —Jessica McKinney