New Music Releases for March 2017

Spring in hip-hop is always an exciting time. Summer bangers usually drop in early spring and build up momentum to the hotter months, and with music-oriented events like All Star Weekend, The Grammys, SXSW and Coachella going down, rappers are linking up and collaborating. There's some heat in the chamber set to drop this March.

Rick Ross is set to make his return to the spotlight a year and some change after his last album Black Market with the new LP Rather You Than Me, due out March 17. In preparation for his ninth studio LP, his first through Epic Records, the MMG Bawse shared an open letter to fans about what this album means to him.

“Rather You Than Me'… 10 years + in this game and it has all lead to this moment right here,” wrote Rozay on his website. “My entire life I was never given choices. I had to create this shit for myself. I had no choice but to boss up, to make it by any means necessary, to turn nothing into everything that you see in front of you today.”

Even with over 25 years in the game, Raekwon The Chef still remains hungry. The Wu-Tang Clan rhymer announced he's dropping his eighth studio album The Wild on March 24. Raekwon has already shared the track "Purple Brick Road" featuring G-Eazy off the project.

"I get a lot of love from cats from all generations and every album I try to make it different. I’ve been watching this kid G-Eazy from aside, and, you know, I study dudes before I actually get them involved in my projects and I’ve been respecting his work and his grind," Raekwon told XXL.

Though Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo died in a tragic auto accident last September, the Bankhead King's camp is releasing his first posthumous album this month. Distributed through 300 Entertainment, Shawty Lo's R.I.C.O. will boast features from Boosie Badazz, O.T. Genasis and more.

And despite getting locked up earlier this week, Kodak Black's debut album Painting Pictures apparently still has a release date of March 31.

Check out the above gallery to see what mixtapes, albums and EP's are set to drop in March 2017.