Music Reviews

Memphis rapper NLE Choppa is in the midst of celebrating Black History Month by releasing a new single each week here in February 2025. His first two BHM offerings, via NLE Entertainment/Warner Records—the hopeful confessional of “Crescent Moon,” and the anti-gun-violence hip-hop hymnal “Can We Live?”—both aspire to achieve loftier heights and goals in Dolby Atmos (albeit in slightly different ways).

As is my wont, I tend to listen to Atmos mixes in a number of ways—i.e., through earbuds, headphones, and open-air speakers (and not necessarily in that order)—before landing on which option best reps the core vibes of the 360-degree mixes at hand (er, ear). While I enjoyed getting thoroughly immersed through my floorstanding GoldenEar Technology Triton One loudspeakers and ever-present House of Marley Liberate XLBT headphones, my AirPod Pros are what brought me closer to NLE Choppa’s fine pair of heartfelt 360-degree messages.

“Crescent Moon”—which was released yesterday, February 14, 2025—rises first, with a breathy opening vocal spread wide across the soundstage and a mournful keyboard encircling the entire moment. “You said you’d be in my arms by the next crescent moon” continues the lyric with a full echo in tow, and then Choppa sets the real table by admitting, straight up, “My immaturity created monsters to any girl I hurt.” Instead of following the by-now tired style of fronting and boasting, Choppa takes a deeper look inside himself as his flow unfurls—and he doesn’t pull any inner (or outer) punches. The penetrating percussive sample keeping time behind him rivals his voice in terms of volume, skittering ever-so-slightly just left and right of center while his rap mainly stays dead-set in the middle (though, admittedly, he too veers to the left in spots). The keyboard line floats out and around him like an unburdening dreamscape.

The opening-line “in my arms” callback comes a minute-plus in—still echoey—and the title phrase repeats twice behind it before the next confessive verse rolls on. “Self-sabotaging / feeling like you deserved a better me,” Choppa assesses—and we believe his sincerity to strive for betterment. The music drops out for his linchpin, spoken word “I apologize for real” moment, which is followed by a deep, deep sigh. Tinkling keys and mournful horn-like fills take to the sky as some key phrases repeat behind the music, a melancholy yet refreshing way to get this young man’s meaningful, rectifying error-of-ways message across.

Released a week prior to “Crescent Moon” on February 7, 2025, the rhetorical “Can We Live?” puts gun violence square in Choppa’s sights—and sounds. Featuring B.O.A Mook on the alternating verses, “Live” opens right up in the clouds with a heavenly, wordless chorus backed by supportive keys and horns before Choppa takes the literal center stage, his main rap spitting fast with a swirling counter vocal behind him. “I’m tryin’ to live my dream like Martin Lu’,” he asserts ahead of the impassioned, implored title phrase—now buttressed by the only correct answer, “We wanna live”—that repeats across the front before it wails on up into the ether while Choppa spreads the anti-gun gospel in and around it.

B.O.A. Mook takes the second verse, with Choppa’s extended vowels and howls swirling and swooping around the stage like Ali in his prime. The title phrase and its response continue to recur in the next chorus—along with a keyboard swell recalling the ethereal vocal wash of 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love.” The volume continues to percolate as the “can/wanna” call/response continues onward, and upward, with the heavenly chorus rejoining into it in the back half—so you may wanna turn your playback volume up even more, depending on how much you truly wanna be caressed by this track’s inescapable uplift.

“Can’t fix the past / but today let’s move forward,” Choppa suggests in the back half of “Crescent Moon”—such world-wise words from a 22-year-old who appears to be more mature than many twice (and even thrice) his age. If these two deep-rooted cuts are any indication, whatever else NLE Choppa serves up to us in Atmos for the balance of BHM will be very much welcome—and much needed—hip-hop food/fuel for thought.

“Crescent Moon” and “Can We Live” can both be listened to in Dolby Atmos here on NLE Choppa’s artist page on Apple Music.