Top Song of the Week
Song of the Week: Adele Confirms the Arrival of Sad Girl Autumn with “Easy On Me”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Adele breaks her lengthy hiatus with an extremely on-brand ballad. What is it that separates a moody piano ballad from an Adele song? Is it the undeniable vocals? The reflective nature of the lyrics, nostalgic and sad? The overwhelming desire to suddenly go stand outside in the rain? It’s probably all of the above, and with “Easy On Me,” Adele takes it easy on absolutely no one — not the listeners, and not herself. The record-breaking vocalist has shared that her upcoming album is entitled 30, and the only thing truly surprising a...
Rap Song of the Week: Young Thug Remembers the “Day Before” with Mac Miller
Every week, our new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down our favorite rap tracks of the week. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Young Thug shares his posthumous Mac Miller collaboration “Day Before.” Young Thug just released his second official studio album Punk today (October 15th), and like most major hip-hop releases, it’s chock full of features. Drake, J. Cole, Travis Scott, Future, and A$AP Rocky all drop off guest verses, but Mac Miller’s posthumous appearance on “Day Before” stands above the rest. Thugger kicks off the track with a shoutout to Snoop Dogg before going into tales of self-defense (“I ain’t tryna give him a chance to kill me or take the stand on me”) and a relationship gone bad (“I had feelings for this girl that barely owned a residence”). Ho...
Rap Song of the Week: Conway the Machine Previews His Forthcoming Album with Some “Piano Love”
Every week, our new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the essential rap and hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Conway the Machine’s debut album on Shady Records is preceded by “Piano Love.” Dating back to a November 2017 interview with Consequence, Conway the Machine has been teasing his debut album on Shady Records, and “Piano Love” is a promising sign that it’s finally on the way. Featuring ominous production by frequent collaborator The Alchemist, the track itself arrives today (October 8th) after the Buffalo MC teased it on Instagram Live earlier this year. Advertisement Related Video With Spooky Season in full effect, the sinister keys are an appropriate soundtrack for the Griselda standout to do what he does best: Deliver raw s...
Song of the Week: Mitski Cuts to the Bone with “Working for the Knife”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Mitski makes a welcome comeback. When the world needed her most, Mitski disappeared. In her two-year absence from music, from touring, and from social media, fans of the indie rock superstar found solace in her career highlights like “Nobody” and “Your Best American Girl,” which often centered around the fear of not living up to the expectations set by both others and yourself. “Working for the Knife,” her first new music since 2018’s Be the Cowboy, is no exception to the Mitski formula. From the get-go, “Working for the Knife” of...
Song of the Week: Kali Uchis and SZA Sizzle with “Fue Mejor”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Kali Uchis turns up the heat with SZA’s Spanish-language debut. Steamy and dreamy: two words that have long applied to SZA’s discography, and that certainly apply to her latest collaboration with Grammy-winning Latin artist Kali Uchis. “Fue Mejor” is sad and sultry, grooving over a throbbing beat that wouldn’t sound out of place in any of SZA’s albums. The airy, whistle-toned background vocals are offset by the sound of a revving engine, grounding the fantastical atmosphere. Notably, SZA sings in Spanish alongside Kali Uchis while...
Rap Song of the Week: Wale and J. Cole Reunite on “Poke It Out”
Rap Song of the Week runs down the essential rap and hip-hop tracks you need to hear every week. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Wale and J. Cole reunite on “Poke It Out.” Later this month, Wale is dropping a sequel to his 2012 mixtape Folarin. To promote the project, the DC rapper reached out to his fellow blog era alum J. Cole for their new collaboration “Poke It Out,” a throwback single sharing the same sample as Q-Tip’s effervescent 1999 hit “Vivrant Thing.” After a brief falling out in late 2016, the dynamic duo officially made amends on Wale’s boastful 2018 track “My Boy (Freestyle),” and the new track finds the longtime collaborators fully unburdened from any past animosity and simply have a good time. Over a bouncy beat by Cool & Dre, Wale and Cole celebrate t...
Song of the Week: King Princess Offers a Faithful Velvet Underground Tribute With “There She Goes Again”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, King Princess provides a standout track off the new tribute album for The Velvet Underground and Nico. King Princess goes vintage this week with a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again,” part of a new tribute album out today (September 24th). The collection includes quite a few beloved names offering their own homages to the seminal band — Sharon Van Etten, Courtney Barnett, and Iggy Pop are among them — and King Princess’ moment truly stuck the landing. Effectively capturing the 1960s spirit of the origina...
Rap Song of the Week: Lil Wayne Tag Teams with Run the Jewels on “ooh la la” Remix
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the essential rap and hip-hop tracks you need to hear every week. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Lil Wayne hops on Run the Jewels’ remix of “ooh la la.” Mixing the cutting edge sensibilities of Run the Jewels with their love for Golden Era hip-hop thanks to contributions from the legendary Greg Nice and DJ Premier, “ooh la la” instantly became a standout entry in their catalog when it was released in 2020. For the remix, El-P and Killer Mike recruited Lil Wayne, another veteran MC who has nothing to prove this deep into his career but continues to go toe-to-toe with the best rappers of any generation. Only getting better with age as he turns 39 years old this September, Wayne has been on a hot streak this year, popping up on tracks alongside r...
Rap Song of the Week: Lil Nas X and Megan Thee Stallion Brush Off the Haters on “Dolla Sign Slime”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the rap and hip-hop tracks you need to hear every week. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Lil Nas X teams up with Megan Thee Stallion on his Montero track “Dolla Sign Slime.” After a rollout that left conservative pundits clutching their pearls, Lil Nas X finally dropped his debut album, Montero, today and revealed a complete artist comfortable in his true identity. “Dolla Sign Slime” is not one of the many soul-baring songs on the project, but a Megan Thee Stallion-assisted banger squarely aimed at everyone who predicted the 22-year-old rapper’s downfall. Here to dispel all the rumors and naysayers, Lil Nas X uses the anthemic, horn-driven production of “Dolla Sign Slime” to talk his shit. While bragging about buying all the luxury items that co...
Song of the Week: MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers Keep it Easy and Breezy with “Silk Chiffon”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers paint a pop portrait of September bliss. After over a year, MUNA has returned with a bright, addictive pop anthem. “Silk Chiffon” employs the help of beloved and perpetually-in-her-feelings Phoebe Bridgers, for whom the band will opening on tour this fall. Bridgers, for her part, arrives with perhaps the most Phoebe Bridgers line imaginable: “I’m high and I’m feeling anxious inside of a CVS.” (It’s called having a brand — look it up!) The members of MUNA have always embraced their identity as a “quee...
Rap Song of the Week: AZ Performs a Rhyming “Ritual” with Lil Wayne and Conway the Machine
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the essential rap and hip-hop tracks released each week. Check out the full playlist here. This week, AZ teams up with Lil Wayne and Conway the Machine on a cut from his highly-anticipated album, Doe or Die II. After more than a decade in the making, New York hip-hop royalty AZ has finally dropped Doe or Die II, the sequel to his mafioso rap classic debut. Lyrical exercises like “Ritual” ensure the album was well worth the wait, as The Firm member tag-teams with Lil Wayne and Conway the Machine over a grimy beat by The Alchemist to remind fans and fellow MCs alike that he’s been a force to be reckoned with since the mid ’90s. Using an effortless multi-syllabic flow, AZ raps about not needing the spotlight to prove he’s been one of the best rappers over...
Rap Song of the Week: Kanye West Goes “Off the Grid” with Fivio Foreign and Playboi Carti
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the rap and hip-hop song releases you need to hear each week. Check out the full playlist here. For our latest installment, Kanye West teams up with Fivio Foreign and Playboi Carti for “Off the Grid.” Following three public listening events and several missed release dates, Kanye West’s much-fabled Donda finally dropped on Sunday morning. With 27 tracks to choose from, picking a standout song was no easy task, but “Off the Grid” fits the bill because it sees the G.O.O.D. Music founder at his best. Sprinkling his own touch on Brooklyn drill, Kanye brings out a lyrical side of Fivio Foreign rarely seen before, while also sounding right at home over the wobbling bass and gothic synths. The track was reportedly first made as a solo track for Playboi Carti, who ...
