"Actin Up With Sexyy Red" by Tommy Richman featuring Sexyy Red
Tommy Richman's first post-Coyote single spent one week in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 after Sexyy Red added a verse to it, which is good considering that none of the songs on the album charted. It wouldn't have occurred to me before they did a track together, but Richman and Big Sexyy are kind of similar in the unvarnished amateurism that hasn't really left their work since they hit the mainstream -- I guess it's charming to an extent, but I personally find them both a little one-dimensional and tiresome. She brings the right energy to this track, though, it's an improvement on the original. I think I'd like Tommy Richman more if his music was all self-produced, it's weird to think that he pays someone for beats that sound like this.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"Aura (Remix)" by Bri3 featuring Star Bandz
Bri3 is a 17-year-old girl from Waldorf, Maryland, about an hour from where I live, who released her debut single "Aura" last year. She's got some talent, I'm interested to see where her career goes. So far she's collaborated with several other viral teen rappers like BabyChiefDoIt, BAK Jay, and Star Bandz, a Chicago rapper who I don't think really adds much to the "Aura" remix.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: C+
"Back to the South (Remix)" by Zillionaire Doe featuring Yo Gotti
"Stuntin' Like My Daddy" is one of my favorite Lil Wayne records, I'm cool with people sampling it. But NLE Choppa had a hit with a nice beat flipping the "Stuntin'" beat and a good Wayne verse just two years ago, while Dallas rapper Zillionaire Doe's breakthrough single just sounds like the original "Stuntin'" beat slightly distorted like someone's playing it on their phone, with terrible rapping, it sucks ass. So I was pleasantly surprised that Yo Gotti, who makes good songs but isn't really the kind of guy who does memorable guest verses often, and seemed like an odd choice to be on a Cash Money remake record, had a solid verse with an entertaining little tangent: "I need to speak to Trump/ I need to let him know that ICE been slowin' up the plug/ I need a favor 'cause I still been tryin' to run it up/ Need you to open up them borders, let my people flood."
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B+
"Banned From NO (Remix)" by Lil Wayne featuring Nicki Minaj
Speaking of Wayne, I didn't hate Tha Carter VI like a lot of people did, but it was certainly a little underwhelming. One of the better tracks was "Banned From NO" with Wayne spazzing on a "Triggaman" flip of the beat from N.O.R.E.'s "Banned From TV." And a few days after the album's release, a remix with Nicki Minaj was added to the album, which sounded like a good idea on paper. But Nicki doesn't really do the animated "female Weezy" flow anymore and she just kinda brings a weird subdued energy to a track this uptempo. Her 24-bar verse has some good moments, but I feel like she blunts its impact by doing a weak AutoTune hook before and after the verse, which appears in addition to Wayne's hook from the original song.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: C
"Blue Strips (Remix)" by Jessie Murph featuring Sexyy Red
I have mixed feelings about Jessie Murph's breakthrough hit, and her whole schtick in general, I feel like it's so close to being something compelling or unique but it doesn't quite get there. And putting Sexyy Red on the remix to a white singer's (semi-ironic?) strip club song, I dunno, I thought I'd hate it. But Sexyy Red really cracked me up starting her verse singing "I just bought a fast car so I can run over you" with a bunch of "skrt skrt skrt skrt pyoom" ad libs, I think I actually like this version more than the original.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"Bop Bop Bop (Remix)" by Rassy Bugatti featuring Zoe Osama and OTM
Rassy Bugatti is the lake Drakeo The Ruler's cousin who's released a lot of music while incarcerated and I guess is still behind bars. So maybe his delivery on "Bop Bop Bop" is kind of flat and subdued because he was trying to record in a cell without getting caught, but I don't know what OTM's excuse is -- the first two minutes of this remix are so monotonous that I'm not even sure if both members of OTM are on this or just one of them. Zoe Osama comes in last and brings the energy way up and salvages the remix.
Best Verse: Zoe Osama
Overall Grade: B-
"Boy Crazy (Remix)" by Kesha featuring Jade
Kesha's latest album is alright but "Boy Crazy" isn't really one of my favorite songs. But I like Jade from Little Mix's recent solo stuff and she really sounds more natural on this track than Kesha.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"Crash Out RMX" by Lihtz featuring Meek Mill and Fridayy
"Crash Out ATL RMX" by Lihtz featuring K Camp
Lihtz is a Philly rap singer whose first high profile song was a feature on Meek Mill's 2017 album Wins & Losses (where was credited as Lihtz Kamraz). "Crash Out" is pretty much just vocals over three guitar chords over and over, I can see while Meek and Fridayy wanted to jump on this song because they just had a hit together with no drums, "Proud of Me." But this song has a much lighter vibe (the "Crash Out" single cover art is the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes's mugshot, which I think is in poor taste). K Camp's voice feels like a more natural match for this song.
Best Verse: K Camp
Overall Grade: B
"Ecstasy (Remix)" by Ciara featuring Normani and Teyana Taylor
Ciara and Teyana Taylor released albums on the same day last month, and the latter appeared on the remix to the former's single. I remember the first time I heard "Ecstasy" on the radio and I was like hey, this new Ciara song is pretty good. And then I heard her rhyme "You got on that Dolce & Gabbana" with "I'm tryin' to see what's up with that banana" (and also "hibachi" with "punani") and just rolled my eyes so hard, I can't stand Theron Thomas's lyrics. The remix is an instant improvement just for not including those lines, but I also really like how Normani and Teyana Taylor's voices sound on this song. Normani hits a cool fast flow on this, I hope this is an indication that she's coming out with more R&B-leaning music. The pitched-down "shawty this the remix" refrain is a nice addition, too.
Best Verse: Normani.
Overall Grade: B+
"FUN (Soma Remix)" by Cortisa Star featuring Venusgrl! and Soma
Cortisa Star is a 20-year-old trans woman who was born in Baltimore and grew up in Sussex County, Delaware, two places I've lived, so I'm pretty interested in her career. Her breakout song is a self-produced 71-second burst of hyperpop-ish noise called "FUN," and the remix puts Cortisa's vocal over a new beat by Soma with a new verse from Philly rapper Venusgrl! and it's still pretty distorted and weird.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B-
"Get Umm 2" by Keon K.O.K featuring Connie Diiamond
Little known New Jersey rapper Keon K.O.K's most popular track, "Get Umm," sets the Continent Number 6 vocal loop that Kanye sampled on "Power" to a drill beat, it's not bad. I'm not a huge fan of Bronx rapper Connie Diiamond, whose music I only know because I keep stumbling upon it in remixes for this column, but her voice sounds good on this track and she adds a little more energy to it.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"Gnarly (Ice Spice Remix)" by Katseye featuring Ice Spice
"Gnarly (Lara of Katseye x Lancey Foux x Slush Puppy Remix)" by Katseye featuring Lancey Foux and Slush Puppy
I praised the original "Gnarly" last week and I'm pleased that both of these remixes keep the song's hyper sensory overload vibe going with some new production. The Ice Spice remix switches to kind of a drill beat for her verse, it appears to be produced by the same four people that did the original. And then the other remix with British rapper Lancey Foux has a completely new instrumental by San Diego producer Slush Puppy.
Best Verse: Ice Spice
Overall Grade: A-
"Goodbye, Sunshine (Eternal Summer)" by Coheed and Cambria featuring Nick Hexum
"Goodbye, Sunshine (The Scientist Dub Version)" by Coheed and Cambria featuring Nick Hexum
Coheed
The original "Goodbye, Sunshine" on Coheed and Cambria's latest album is a charging rock song in their usual sound, but for the single release they completely re-recorded it as a reggae song with a horn section and some vocals from 311's lead singer. It's a pleasant little genre pastiche, I guess, but they go one step further with a version by Jamaican dub legend the Scientist, I respect and enjoy that track a little more.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B-
"The Greatest Bend Over (Take It Easy) - Chloe & Moliy Remix" by Full Blown and Yung Bredda featuring Chloe and Moliy
I remember when Chloe Bailey posted a clip of her verse from this remix on Twitter and a lot of people on there, who have generally scrutinized Chloe's career in a really uncharitable way, were nitpicking it and saying she's trying to be like Tyla or jumping on the Afrobeats bandwagon. But Full Blown and Yung Bredda are Soca artists from Trinidad, this is a pretty good version of a pretty good song.
Best Verse: Chloe
Overall Grade: B
"Hell Woods 2" by Queen Key featuring GloRilla
Chicago rapper Queen Key is I guess best known now for being on "Love & Hip-Hop ATL," I find the original "Hell Woods" kinda boring but this is one of GloRilla's best guest verses I've ever heard, she's still on a hot streak and really elevates a song that may not deserve it.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B+
"House Again (Remix)" by Hudson Westbrook featuring Miranda Lambert
"House Again" is one of my favorite country singles of 2025, and when I wrote about it a
few weeks ago I mentioned that Hudson Westbrook released a duet version with Miranda Lambert along with a cover of Lambert's "The House That Built Me." Lambert's voice sounds lovely on this, I'm glad the original was the one that became a hit but I wouldn't have minded if this was the version that country radio played.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"JAT (Remix)" by Connie Diiamond featuring Stunna Sandy
Another generic drill track with Connie Diiamond, this time featuring a Brooklyn rapper with the hilarious name Stunna Sandy, who is extremely beautiful and makes unfortunate Ice Spice-type music.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: C-
"The Longest Goodbye (Remix)" by Role Model featuring Laufey
Role Model is from Maine, Laufey is from Iceland, they're both young people making vaguely old-timey music and are very popular, and in both cases I don't feel like I totally understand their deal, although I like some of the songs. I'm kind of indifferent to this song but it does feel like the best choice for them to sing as a duet, it's pleasant and cute.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: C+
"Miami (Remix)" by Morgan Wallen featuring Lil Wayne and Rick Ross
"Miami" was the 27th most popular song on I'm The Problem at the time that the remix was released in July (out of 37 songs...goddamn Morgan Wallen's albums are too fucking long). And even now, if you included the streams for the remix, it wouldn't be in the top 10 most popular songs on the album, but I imagine Wallen feels like he needed another crossover collaboration to follow up the song with Tate McRae on pop radio. Not a particularly good song and I wish rappers weren't so eager to work with Wallen, especially when Wayne repeats a Wallen lyric and replaces "redneck" with the n-word. But I still kinda enjoy Wayne talking about his history in Miami and almost marrying Trina on this song. I also chuckled at the part in the chorus where Wallen says "I can't keep my gun in my trunk" (unlike in Nashville) but Lil Wayne ad libs "I still keep my gun!"
Best Verse: Lil Wayne
Overall Grade: B-
"MLB (Make Love Baby) [Remix]" by Tim Gent featuring Akeem Ali
I had never heard of Nashville rapper Tim Gent or Jackson, Mississippi rapper Akeem Ali, but I enjoy this easygoing melodic rap song full of silly baseball-themed sex puns.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"Other Side of Love (Remix)" by Coco Jones featuring Alicia Keys
Why Not More? is one of the year's best R&B albums, and the deluxe edition released a couple weeks ago adds some pleasant stuff but nothing really essential. The original "Other Side of Love" was the shortest song on the album and didn't stand out at all, so the remix with Alicia Keys extends it from 2 minutes to 3 minutes long and makes it feel a little more like a complete song.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B
"Party On The East Cide PT. 2" by Zoe Osama featuring Jayson Cash, P1, and Ab-Soul
"Party On The East Cide" is more of a throwback '90s West Coast beat than any of these artists usually rap on, kind of fun to hear Ab-Soul kick a pretty straightforward verse on a track like this.
Best Verse: Jayson Cash
Overall Grade: B-
"Piano Tiles 2" by Armani West featuring 6arelyhuman and Cortisa Star
"Piano Tiles" is kind of noisy underground girly rap in the same vein as the other Cortisa Star track I wrote about earlier in this post, "FUN," but it's a little more accessible and has blown up on TikTok. As much as I make fun of 6lack's name, I rolled my eyes pretty hard at the existence of an artist named 6arelyhuman.
Best Verse: Cortisa Star
Overall Grade: B
"The Rising Son Pt. 2" by R-Mean featuring Conway The Machine and Scott Storch
R-Mean's bio on Genius: "As the first rapper of Armenian descent to achieve his level of international and national acclaim, R-Mean is heading towards the ranks of his fellow Armenian icons System Of A Down and Kim Kardashian." I guess! Scott Storch has some produced some great songs in the 2020s, but "The Rising Son" is one of those really dated tracks that sounds like something he could've made in 2004, with a Biggie sample for a hook. So it's not really an ideal track for a guest like Conway The Machine, but he still outshine's R-Mean's corny self-aggrandizing new verse.
Best Verse: Conway The Machine
Overall Grade: C+
"Tip (Remix)" by Ayetian featuring Nitzz, Shenseea, and DJ Mac
"Tip (Remix)" by Ayetian featuring Nttzz and Skillibeng
Moliy's "Shake It To The Max" remix with Shenseea and Skillibeng turned out to be an absolutely huge record, which I did not anticipate at all when I
reviewed it in this space a few months ago. Unsurprisingly, the same two artists have been drafted for remixes to a recent dancehall hit, in this case by Jamaican artist Ayetian. And I don't mind that Shenseea is becoming ubiquitous, I adore her and still hold out hope that
"Puni Police" will become a hit.
Best Verse: Shenseea
Overall Grade: B
"Type Dangerous (The Brazil Funk Remix)" by Mariah Carey featuring Luisa Sonza
"Type Dangerous (The Remix of the Gods)" by Mariah Carey featuring Redman, Method Man, and Busta Rhymes
"Type Dangerous (Sean Don Remix)" by Mariah Carey featuring Big Sean
I like to give Big Sean a hard time as much as anybody, but credit where it's due, this is one of the best guest verses I've ever heard from him, the part where he incorporates a bunch of Mariah song titles into the lyrics is clever but the verse was really strong even before that. I can't rank him ahead of Redman, but I'll still give him props. And the beat on the Brazil Funk Remix is pretty cool.
Best Verse: Redman
Overall Grade: B+
"Way Back (Remix)" by Kay Anthony featuring Westside Boogie and RunItUpDay!
Kind of a pleasant but unremarkable relationship rap song, good verse from Boogie.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B-
"We Outside (Cali Remix)" by Murkemz featuring Coyote, EastSide K-Boy, Dazy Lyn, and Fedie Demarco
"We Outside (Plug City Remix)" by Murkemz featuring Jungle Da Boss, Sluggah2Times, and Chris Coke
I'd never heard or heard of any of the rappers on these remixes, but Murkemz is from Arizona and he did one posse cut version of his single with some obscure California rappers and another with Phoenix rappers, who may very well be the biggest MCs in that scene, I have no idea. A pretty generic song but I think every verse on the Plug City Remix is better than every verse on the Cali Remix, it's no competition. I really hate EastSide K-Boy's verse with those tasteless punchlines about Lizzo and homeless encampments.
Best Verse: Jungle Da Boss
Overall Grade: C-
"We Pray (Jasleen Royal Version)" by Coldplay featuring Jasleen Royal, Burna Boy, Little Simz, Elyanna, and Tini
"We Pray (Twice Version)" by Coldplay featuring Twice, Burna Boy, Little Simz, Elyanna, and Tini
The second single from Coldplay's latest album was one of those big global utopian gestures they love, a song featuring Nigerian, English, Palestinian, and Argentinian artists, but it was unfortunately kind of a lousy song. They upped the ante with a couple new versions, and I think Indian singer Jasleen Royal sounds by far better on here than any of the other guests. Chris Martin also sings a nice bridge on the version with the K-Pop group Twice that I wish was on every version of the song.
Best Verse: Jasleen Royal
Overall Grade: C+
"Wrangler (Remix)" by Austin Walker featuring Chingy and JD Walker
Chingy is probably smart to follow in his old hometown rival Nelly's footsteps and join the
country/rap collaborations bandwagon, this remix is the only track he's done in the last 15+ years that has over a million streams.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: D
"WTHelly (Remix)" by Rob49 featuring G Herbo
Back in April when "WTHelly" was blowing up, Rob49
teased four different remixes for the song: one with G Herbo, one with Latto, one with Big Sean, and one with Justin Bieber and an additional 'surprise' feature. The G Herbo remix came out in June, and now months later none of the others have materialized, which is more or less fine with me, the snippet of the Bieber remix sounded stupid and I can only see maybe the Latto one actually being good. "WTHelly" has a great beat and I kinda wish there was a posse cut with some really talented MCs on it, but Rob49's chaotic energy on the original is pretty fun as it is, and G Herbo is just kind of a shitty rapper at this point but not in a fun way.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: F
"Yacht Party, Pt. 2" by RTM MB featuring Skilla Baby
It drove me crazy how Skilla Baby had a 10-bar verse with some odd clusters of rhyming lines on Rob49's "Mama," and he does a similar thing with his 15-bar verse here, just a really unserious rapper.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: D
