Top Song of the Week

Rap Song of the Week is a Friday round-up of the hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. Today, we highlight Pakastani rapper Eva B’s “Rozi,” which was featured in the premiere episode of Ms. Marvel. In music you can fake almost anything except urgency. Anger comes naturally, longing is as easy as yawning, but real urgency — a desperate need to get these thoughts out now — is so special it transcends language. “Rozi” may be rapped in Urdu, but its message resonates equally in English; a banger without borders. Eva B — not her real name — has been called Pakistan’s first female rapper, and the decision to keep her face and identity hidden has as much to do with safety as religious practice. “Lonely difficult times to cut alone,” she spits in a translation provided...

Every Friday, Rap Song of the Week rounds up the hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Denzel Curry recruits Key Glock for the remix to “Walkin.” On the surface, Key Glock wouldn’t be an obvious choice to appear on the remix to the world-weary “Walkin,” but Denzel Curry reached out to the Memphis rapper after being impressed by Glock’s perseverance following the loss of his best friend and mentor Young Dolph. Having dealt with the brutal death of his own brother, Curry is well-acquainted with the pain of processing tragedy. “I reached out to Glock because I felt like he’s the perfect example of ‘Walkin,’” Curry explained in a statement. “Based on everything he been through and also being independent, it hasn’t stopped his grind. I’ve ...

Rap Song of the Week is a round-up of the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Kendrick Lamar returns with “Savior” off his new album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. In the second half of Kendrick Lamar’s double album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, he focuses on breaking free of other people’s expectations. Due to the Compton rapper’s position as a public figure, fans look to him to lead the conversation about racial and social issues, but just like Charles Barkley, Kendrick doesn’t want to be their role model — nor should he be. On “Savior,” Kendrick makes his case while pointing to other Black celebrities like J. Cole, Future, and LeBron James, who are also expected to shoulder the burdens of the Black community. Although each person...

Rap Song of the Week rounds up the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Doja Cat drops her new single, “Vegas.”  Recently, Remy Ma stirred the pot when she said Doja Cat isn’t a rapper during an episode of Drink Champs. The veteran Bronx MC added that although Doja makes “dope records,” she doesn’t belong in the rap category at the Grammys, either. It’s been a constant debate over the past several years as Doja has earned mainstream success, as detractors have labeled her a pop singer despite her background in the LA hip-hop underground scene. After a pair of sets at Coachella proving she’s more than capable of being a headliner, Doja Cat dropped her new single “Vegas” today. First previewed at the festival, it’s the lea...

Every Friday, Rap Song of the Week rounds up all the new hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Future and Drake reunite on “WAIT FOR U.” After one of the longer breaks of his career, Future returned today with the declarative I Never Liked You, which naturally features a pair of appearances from his good friend Drake. “I’M ON ONE” — the second song Drake’s guested on with that exact title — is one of their more typical collaborations about the trappings of success, making the vulnerable “WAIT FOR U” the more compelling of the two tracks. It’s produced by Future’s frequent collaborator ATL Jacob, who sets the mood with a sample of “Higher” by rising Nigerian singer Tems. Stepping into his introspective Hendrix persona, Future raps about a woman ...