Best Songs of the Week
With so much good music steadily coming through, it's easy to miss out on some of the best. To help prevent this, we've picked some of our favorite tracks from the week. Here are the songs you can't afford to skip, in no particular order.
Brodinski ft. 21 Savage - "No Target"French producer and Bromance Records label head Brodinski has always been on top of what's hot in US rap, but in a real and genuine way. For his debut album, BRAVA he spent time in Atlanta and L.A. to get in the studio with artists like Peewee Longway, Bloody Jay, Fabo, and Bricc Baby.
Now, Brodinski has a new mixtape dropping called The Sour Patch Kid, and he's teasing its release next week with this menacing 21 Savage collaboration. The beat is perfect for 21's snarling delivery, horror film keys on loop and heavy low end. Let's hope this isn't the last of their collaborations.
Brodinski is also going on a US tour, starting in Philadelphia on September 16. See all the dates here.—Alex Gardner
Felix Snow ft. Young Thug - “Turn Up”Somehow, Young Thug keeps finding new ways to stretch the human voice to its limit. Innovation at the hands of new electronic tools and techniques has become commonplace, but hearing someone use something as primal as human vocal chords in ways we’ve never heard before is special. It’s a feat Thugger has made routine in recent months.
Two weeks after growling and gasping his way through an insane flow on “Harambe,” Thugger slides over a wonderful skittering beat from Felix Snow, throws everything you thought you knew about rap flows out the window, and lets loose. Snow calls it a “crazy James Brown type vocal.” We can’t quite figure out what to call it, but we can’t get enough of it.—Eric Skelton
Merlyn Wood - "Culdesac"Brockhampton's Merlyn Wood has continued to impress with his unhinged contributions to a number of their tracks, as well as a pair of promising solo tracks. Now he's slowing things down a touch with his latest, "Culdesac," which opts for a far more emotional tone than his previous releases. Produced by Jabari, "Culdesac" is another example of just how talented everyone in Brockhampton really is, continuing to surprise by broadcasting an ever-increasing depth and variety few crews are capable of matching.
Speaking with Dazed, Merlyn says, "Texas isn't the biggest state, in fact, it's only just big enough to feel hugely disconnected." That vague statement speaks volumes about what he's going for with "Culdesac." He continues, "In Alaska there's the wild, and in California there's the coast, but in Texas all there is is the blank space and rugged individualism in between us that defines us as a people. Cities made up of distanced small towns."
You don't have to be alone to be lonely, and how Merlyn beautifully translates that into song on "Culdesac" is what makes it his most essential track yet.—Joe Price
Young Gunna - "Colder"I love trolling the P&P forum and always try to make time to run through a couple of threads and provide spicy commentary when I can. That being said, when I saw a post from an artist named Young Gunna, I expected the worst and was very excited to destroy this guy. I threw my trolling cap on and clicked the link ready to slander "Colder" to no end. Instead, no more than 30 seconds after I pressed play, I fell in love with it. This song is magical, everything from the catchy melody to the Yoshi effect will have you hooked. It's easily one of the two or three most played songs in my iTunes since I've heard it.
Young Gunna is only 19 and although he's just getting started and may have a lot to learn, he's got something great on his hands with "Colder." I can't wait to see how far this record goes.—Eric
D.R.A.M. - "Cash Machine"D.R.A.M. can do no wrong. The celebratory "Broccoli" is still in heavy rotation, and he's already back with another feel-good anthem called "Cash Machine." D.R.A.M. seems to be in a positive, joyful head space right now, and it's absolutely contagious. If you need a pick-me-up, just throw on "Cash Machine" and leave it on repeat.—Jacob Moore
Pell ft. BrandUn DeShay - "All in a Day's Work"There's a certain melody in Pell's voice that overall makes him hard to resist. For his latest single "All In A Day's Work" alongside BrandUn DeShay, this fact is apparent once again. On the new track, he manages to tackle the tough reality of simply not understanding how to verbalize your own feelings to someone else, and somehow he still makes it sound sweet.
As the words of the chorus ring out—"I've been searching for words that concur with the fact I'm salty"—they hit hard for someone not in touch with her own feelings, or actually completely in denial of them. Pell and BrandUn can't seem to properly express themselves when they're upset, but thankfully they've created a song that will help say those difficult words for us.—Adrienne Black
Travis Scott - "Goosebumps"In 2016, the problem with a lot of artists is that they're all over the place. There are so many ideas in the world that putting together a cohesive album that feels new is difficult. This is one of Travis Scott's specialties, and a skill highlighted by his new album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. "Goosebumps" is dark, intense, and undoubtedly a Travis Scott song, but he brings Kendrick Lamar into this world without alienating Kendrick from his own strengths and sensibilities. Turns out a Travis Scott song tailor made for Kendrick Lamar is unsurprisingly excellent.—Jacob Moore
Zack de la Rocha - "digging for windows"Holy shit, it's real. After suffering rumors of a solo Zack de la Rocha album for ten years, we finally have hard evidence. El-P (naturally) produced the first single, "digging for windows."
A jagged sample right out of the RTJ playbook is all Zack needs to remind us what we've been missing: "Fuck that bright shit / The spot or the flashlights / We in L.A. ducking both / In the shadows with lead pipes / The days are all night."—Graham Corrigan
Topaz Jones ft. Pell - "Winona"Now that she’s a rap hook in 2016, Winona Ryder’s comeback is complete. Topaz Jones and Pell move at top speed on "Winona," finding flows that should make Outkast proud—but the hook is all patience and payoff, a deep breath between the anaerobic verses.
This is the fourth single off Topaz's upcoming album ARCADE, and what we've heard so far foretells big things for the young artist.—Graham Corrigan
Pumarosa - "Honey"Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but it seems to be harder and harder to find good rock bands. That means, however, that when one does come along, it's even more special. Pumarosa are special, and this is the third excellent song they've released, an atmospheric but urgent call to arms.
"Honey," and the previously released "Cecile" and "Priestess" are out today on Pumarosa's self-titled EP. Listen in full here. —Alex Gardner
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