Friday Five: PartyNextDoor recruits Rihanna, Run the Jewels kick the door in, and more
Every Friday, EW's music team runs down the five best songs of the week. In today's edition, Rihanna gives us good scraps, Run the Jewels return with a vengeance, Jacob Collier teams with Tank and the Bangs and Kimbra, Tom Aspaul brings a funky throwback, and Ingrid Andress tries to drink the bad advice away.
"Believe It" — PartyNextDoor & Rihanna
Rihanna could've coughed on the record and it'd still be a moment. So what a time for her to put down the Stunna lip paint and end her three-year music drought by harmonizing with her "Work" co-writer PartyNextDoor on "Believe It." While the Drake protégé's new album Partymobile delivers that trademark Toronto wistfulness, this R&B track shows his sweeter side, as the duo quell each other's anxieties over fidelity. —Marcus Jones
"Ooh La La" – Run the Jewels
Throw your bandanas on and dust off your Anarchist Cookbook — rap's most raucous duo are back to kick your door in. This week, the group released two tracks off upcoming album RTJ4: the braggadocios gut-puncher "Yankee and the Brave" and the GangStarr-sampling "Ooh La La." It's the latter that receives the nod here. Over a detuned piano and scratches from DJ Premier, El-P and Killer Mike get up to their old tricks: "First of all, f— the f—in' law, we is f—in' raw / Steak tartare, oysters on the half-shell, sushi bar," spits Mike, with El closing in behind him: "Part of them isn't workin' till every pocket's been picked and sold and harvested / I'm ready to mob on these f—in' charlatans." Considering the state of the world right now, aren't we all? —Alex Suskind
"In My Bones" — Jacob Collier feat. Kimbra & Tank and The Bangas
It's high praise to say this song sounds like a Stop Making Sense-era David Byrne working with a Rhythm Nation-era Janet Jackson, but the comparison is deserved. This dynamic new single from Grammy-winning music prodigy Jacob Collier sees New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra (of "Somebody That I Used to Know" fame) flourish over every percussive curveball the production throws her way. Plus, a little Tank and the Bangas verse is always a good thing. —M.J.
"Bad Advice" — Ingrid Andress
Who among us hasn't made their way to the store after a bad breakup in search of cheap wine? As Ingrid Andress boldly lays out in this clever, cha-cha-inspired track off her debut album, Lady Like, "'Cause my friend told me if I drink the whole thing then I wouldn't think about you." Unsurprisingly, the booze isn't much of a reprieve, nor is the one-night stand she has soon after that. The one she can hold onto in these dark times? "At least I'm getting good at takin' bad advice," she sings over soaring strings in the hook. —A.S.
"W.M." – Tom Aspaul
Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia has sent the world to the disco dance floor, so British singer-songwriter Tom Aspaul couldn't have picked a better time to drop a similarly boppable, funky throwback banger, "W.M." Chronicling the aftermath of a five-year relationship, Aspaul soothes his heartbreak on an emotional sojourn to his homeland of the West Midlands, where he finds solace in familiar haunts he'd lost touch with while building a life in London. With sleek, simple, yet powerful lyrics that paint a colorful portrait of a spirit rekindled, it's not hard to see why the likes of Kylie Minogue and AlunaGeorge have tapped him for collaborations. —Joey Nolfi
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