Rapsody is getting ready to release her first album since 2024, Please Don’t Cry, and Denaun Porter is handling its production.
God Gotta Afro
The first single, “God Gotta Afro” is already out, showing not only Rapsody’s impeccable lyricism, but also the amount of work Mr. Porter poured into the project. He is credited as a producer, co-writer, recording and mixing engineer. He also wrote a vocal arrangement and contributed his own vocals to the song alongside Karabo yaMorena Choir.
According to a new interview in Rolling Stone Africa, “God Gotta Afro” reflects the project’s core ideas: reclaiming Black identity and spirituality from a hostile world and celebrating the contributions Black people have made to culture. It stems from Rapsody’s deeper exploration of Black futurism and reconnecting with Black history by celebrating it. She wanted to record this project in Africa, and, at her request, Mr. Porter flew to Johannesburg to capture her creative process.
Later, Rapsody would write about it: “Denaun pushed me and challenged me in new ways to be uncomfortable in growth, he ran with me sonically and Moses’d the ark I wanted to house all my couplets, stories, melodies, and hard metal gates. The most fun I’ve had creating and the most free were in the walls of that gentrified Airbnb (😬), and in Detroit, MI where we did all the other recording outside that trip”.
Working Together Again
This project is not Denaun’s first collaboration with Rapsody. Earlier, he produced “Lonely Thoughts” for her 2013 mixtape She Got Game. A couple of years later, she joined Denaun on his track “Told Ya’ll”.
It is not surprising to see Mr. Porter producing for big names outside of the Shady universe. Of course, since producing Eminem’s first album, Infinite, Denaun has been working on the Shady projects, from Marshall’s solo records to 50 Cent’s, D12’s and Slaughterhouse’s songs. For Bad Meets Evil, he also served as an executive producer on top of his production work. Additionally, Mr Porter has an impressive list of artists who have trusted him to produce their music. This list includes such names as Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Tech N9ne, and more.
Save the date
All that being said, Rapsody’s album promises to be Porter’s biggest project in recent years. His ear for a perfect classic sample and his ability to give space to an artist and showcase their lyrical abilities match Rapsody’s storytelling organically.
The new album, God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops, is slated for release in August 2026. There is very little known about it yet – no tracklist, no features, no cover art. However, Denaun has been teasing more music from Rapsody on his Instagram page, and Rapsody herself has been giving him props every time. And it means that there is more to come.