Mike Mettler

As Black History Month comes to a close, we wanted to put our final BHM aural spotlight on the always dynamic Tampa rapper Doechii. Not only did she perform a mightily charged set in New Orleans the night before Super Bowl LIX just 19 days ago, but on February 2, 2025, Doechii also won the Grammy for Best Rap Album for her powerful 2024 mixtape release, Alligator Bites Never Heal. Even better, all of Bites is available in Dolby Atmos. Read Mike Mettler’s review of a pair Alligator tracks — the self-analytical “Denial Is a River” and the knowingly defiant “Boiled Peanuts” — to find out just how Doechii has taken a serious bite out of the 360-degree apple. . .

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— 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). Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Atmos mixes of these two uplifting tracks maximize their best 360-degree intentions. . .

Kendrick Lamar is a busy man these days. Not only is the West Coast hip-hop superstar headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and prepping for the Grand National Tour with SZA for 19 stadium dates starting in April 2025, but he also found time to drop a surprise new album, GNX, on November 22, 2024, just six months after his majorly successful May 2024 release, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers—and it’s all in full-on, glorious Dolby Atmos at that. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Dolby Atmos mixes of two key GNX tracks, “Luther” and “TV Off,” make the 360-degree grade. . .

Saweetie ain’t known as “Icy Grl” for nothing. But now, the Bay Area rapper has set her hot-but-chill sights on reveling in the holidays with a new double-stockinged single under the Dear Big Santa mantle. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Dolby Atmos mixes of “I Want You This Christmas” and “Big Santa,” the pair of festive, fresh new tracks on Dear Big Santa, are worth adding to your holiday playlist. . .