Listen to Skeme, “Cake”

As the maxim goes, things done changed. No longer can artists reasonably hope to blow up by sitting back, biding their time and hoping that a well-meaning executive spots talent does all the leg work. That early 2000s mixtape run by 50 Cent (and its later analogues by Lil Wayne, Freddie Gibbs and others, even into the digital onslaught from Lil B) have proven definitively that when it comes to post-Napster rap, there's no substitute for hard work. Two of this year's biggest rappers, Young Thug and Future, have already put out multiple records that should land on most critics' year-end lists, and are in the lab working on more. Skeme is no exception. The "Fancy" architect is one of the promising young stars from Los Angeles, and he hasn't taken that status for granted. Fresh off the star-studded Ingleworld 2 mixtape, Skeme's back with the first single from the third installment, which will be released as an album on Nov. 13. "Cake" is produced by The Fam and can be streamed above.