Edition: Nov 2, 2026. Every edition.

NYC Rappers to Watch: The KAZI Heat Chart, Updated Mondays

By Tariq Monroe,

KAZI Heat: Top 10 Hottest Artists, New York hip-hop, October 2026, ranked by Tariq Monroe, shown on a map of New York City.

Heat is my weekly read on the New York hip-hop artists with real momentum right now. It is not a list of the biggest names in the city, and every Monday I check who climbed and who slipped. All view and listener counts are KAZI's own dated reads of official YouTube and Spotify pages unless another source is named. For the longer story on where the city's scene stands, start with Jenn Carter Proves NYC Drill Never Left.

This week: Fergie Baby takes No. 1 from JayBay, Judah Weston climbs to No. 4, and all ten artists hold a spot on the board.

Fergie Baby

No. 1 | Heat 80 | Move: Up 1

Harlem's Fergie Baby takes the top spot on a guest verse: Erick the Architect's "YERR," with Ghostface Killah, went from 62,598 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 88,574 on the morning of Nov 2. Music Connection named it its Video of the Week on Oct 27. His own "Uptown Shooters N' Bronx Bombers" visualizer had 110,164 views on Nov 2, and his Spotify page read 129,439 monthly listeners on Nov 2, up from 127,607 on Oct 30. We covered how he got here in Fergie Baby's Re-Release Strategy Actually Worked. That's Rare.

Erick the Architect feat. Ghostface Killah and Fergie Baby, "YERR" (official video)

JayBay

No. 2 | Heat 76 | Move: Down 1

JayBay slips one spot, but the "Shell After Shell" video, posted Oct 26, kept climbing, from 22,393 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 79,607 on the morning of Nov 2. The "To The Left" video from Oct 15 is moving too, from 174,013 views early on Oct 30 to 215,308 on Nov 2. JayBay's Spotify page went from 6,725 monthly listeners on Oct 30 to 12,377 on Nov 2, still the smallest audience in the Top 10.

JayBay, "Shell After Shell" (official video)

Sixbill

No. 3 | Heat 69 | Move: Same

Sixbill wearing a green jungle and tiger print track jacket over a white T-shirt with a green beaded necklace
Courtesy of The Haiko Group

Sixbill holds No. 3 as his Spotify count kept rising, from 328,518 monthly listeners on Oct 30 to 346,102 on Nov 2. The "SEVRAGE" video, from the Oct 16 album Pure Lust, went from 47,752 views on Oct 28 to 55,285 on Nov 2, and the "SERVE" video is at 23,745. The FADER walked through the album's studio sessions on Oct 20.

Sixbill, "SEVRAGE" (official video)

Judah Weston

No. 4 | Heat 69 | Move: Up 1

Judah Weston, the Lower East Side rapper The FADER profiled in August, put out "Thumb" on Oct 30, and the official audio went from 295 views early that morning to 5,512 on Nov 2. Shatter the Standards listed "Thumb" in its Oct 30 new music roundup. His Spotify page moved from 712,646 monthly listeners on Oct 30 to 738,563 on Nov 2, while the "Ain't The Same / I'll Be Fine" video went from 126,424 views to 130,329 over the same stretch.

Judah Weston, "Ain't The Same / I'll Be Fine" (official video)

KillaMoe

No. 5 | Heat 55 | Move: Down 1

The new "King Of New York" video, posted Oct 30, went from 4,362 views early that morning to 26,946 on Nov 2. "Layoo (Remix)" with Juicy J is still adding, from 703,886 views early on Oct 30 to 725,459 on Nov 2. Spotify is the drag, at 213,148 monthly listeners on Nov 2, down from 219,212 on Oct 30.

KillaMoe, "King Of New York" (official video)

ksuuvi

No. 6 | Heat 46 | Move: Up 1

ksuuvi moves up a spot as the "BIGASSBANK" video from Oct 22 went from 44,151 views on Oct 28 to 51,252 on Nov 2. Pitchfork spent a day in the Bronx with him on Oct 8. His Spotify page is steady at 318,063 monthly listeners on Nov 2, against 316,601 on Oct 2, per the tracker Music Metrics Vault.

ksuuvi, "BIGASSBANK" (official video)

Kenzo Balla

No. 7 | Heat 43 | Move: Down 1

The "Get Flicky" video, posted Oct 28, went from 15,767 views early on Oct 30 to 22,271 on Nov 2. "Back 2 The Basics" with TG Flockaa, from Oct 3, went from 112,693 views on Oct 28 to 125,602 on Nov 2. Kenzo Balla's Spotify page read 111,642 monthly listeners on Nov 2, against 112,393 on Oct 30.

Kenzo Balla, "Get Flicky" (official video)

Dee Billz

No. 8 | Heat 42 | Move: Up 1

Brooklyn's Dee Billz (BET) is still riding "GULAG" with Kyle Richh, released Sep 4, which went from 360,785 views on Oct 28 to 369,249 on Nov 2. His Spotify audience read 613,031 monthly listeners on Nov 2, level with 613,864 on Oct 30. For the producer who helped shape Brooklyn's sound, read Axl Beats Gave Brooklyn Drill Its Defining Sound, Then Took It to Drake.

Kyle Richh x Dee Billz, "GULAG" (official video)

Bay Swag

No. 9 | Heat 39 | Move: Down 1

Bay Swag, who grew up in Jamaica, Queens, still has the biggest Spotify audience in the Top 10, at 740,669 monthly listeners on Nov 2, down from 751,831 on Oct 30. His newest release, "Drain" with Fatt Smaxk and Young KB, came out Oct 16 and was listed by HotNewHipHop two days later. The "F*** Ya Opinion" video from Sep 11 went from 249,045 views on Oct 28 to 253,750 on Nov 2.

Bay Swag, "F*** Ya Opinion" (official video)

Jay Critch

No. 10 | Heat 37 | Move: Same

Jay Critch holds No. 10 on the "REGAL" video, released Oct 16, which went from 68,455 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 68,998 early on Oct 30. Jay Critch's Spotify audience read 662,989 monthly listeners on Nov 2, against 665,209 on Oct 30 and 655,879 on Oct 2, per Music Metrics Vault.

Jay Critch, "REGAL" (official video)

Bubbling under

How I check views

Every view and listener count in Heat is a dated read I take from official YouTube and Spotify pages, unless another source is named. When a video jumps, I compare the likes added with the new views against that video's lifetime like rate and the artist's other videos, and I check the jump against the video's earlier daily pace. When a jump doesn't hold up on those checks, I leave it out of the score and use the last pair of reads that does. The copy cites only the counts I scored, and every exclusion is logged.

Past editions

Spot a wrong number or a missing release? Email inquiries@kazimagazine.com with a link. I check every claim against the public source and fix errors in the next edition, or sooner for factual mistakes.

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