It's been an up and down week for hip-hop. Gucci Mane is home after two years in the bing, but Troy Ave is locked up after being charged with attempted murder following the tragic shooting at New York City's Irving Plaza that left the Brooklyn rapper's bodyguard Banga dead. Rap giveth, and rap taketh away.

But while there's been toil on the social side, musically rap prospered this week.

It started early, when Hov touched Fat Joe and Remy Ma's huge hit single "All the Way Up" with a scorching verse, his first in over a year. References to Blue and Tupac, the elevator incident with Solange, his wife's juicy LEMONADE album and Prince's catalog on TIDAL, for starters, made the verse a hit with the masses. It's only available on TIDAL, though. What else did you expect from the Jigga man?

Mere hours after touching down in Atlanta, Guwop hit the studio with Mike WiLL Made-It, who Gucci helped break into the game. Less than 24 hours after his release from prison, Guwop had a new track out there, and on it he really does sound fresh out the clink, paranoia and all. He lost a lotta weight in there and it sounds like it might have affected his voice, but his bars are as hard as ever.

Kevin Gates dropped his Murder for Hire 2 EP as well, and it includes a long-awaited fan favorite, "Off Da Meter," previously known as "Panoramic Coupe." Like his major label debut album Islah from January, this project's a must hear.

And to top things off, Wale returned with "P.Y.T.," his first single from the upcoming SHINE album. That joint jams like a motherfucker.

Peep the short playlist up top and follow us on SoundCloud to stay up to date with the hottest shit out.

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