Pro Era member Chuck Strangers had a busy 2018 thanks to the rollout cycle for his debut solo album, Consumers Park. Since then, the Brooklyn-based rapper has been relatively silent, but he’s looking to change that today by releasing a new song called “Regular Season”. This is the first official single Strangers has released through his own label, Sounds of Beverly, which he announced earlier this year. A press release suggests there’s more to come from Strangers soon, be it other solo tracks of collaborative material with other artists. The latter wouldn’t come as a surprise considering what a pivotal role he’s played in other artists’ careers over the years. In a statement, Strangers said he felt inspired to write “Regular Season” in part due to the natural evolution that comes with grow...
Rising rocker beabadoobee shared her new song “How Was Your Day?”. It’s the latest preview of her debut album Fake It Flowers, which drops October 16th via Dirty Hit. As you might guess from the songwriter behind “I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus”, bea has never been afraid to express herself with a forceful electric guitar. But here she strikes a softer tone, with acoustic strumming providing a backdrop for a bruised vocal delivery. The question, “How was your day?” is an attempt to reestablish communication. “What do you look like?” she asks later. “Remember when we used to fight?” Others might not recall that memory so fondly, but this is a song for appreciating the view through rose-colored glasses. She sings, “You used to kiss me/ Guess it’s not hard to believe/ That I miss gett...
Pixies have shared a new single called “Hear Me Out”. The band’s first new music since releasing Beneath the Eyrie last year, the track serves as the A-side to a forthcoming 12-inch single. Penned jointly by Black Francis and Paz Lenchantin, “Hear Me Out” features the latter on lead vocals. “‘Hear Me Out’ is about things not turning out the way we hoped, but knowing that it’s going to be ok regardless,” Lenchantin said of the track in a press statement. “Black started the melody phrases on an old organ. I loved it right away, so he asked me to take a pass at the lyrics. The song has an evocative melody that inspired the lyrics to come out straight away.” The track comes with a Maximilla Lukacs-directed music video that finds a creative cowboy seeking inspiration in the desert. Considering ...
Earlier this week, Polo G made his TV debut on The Tonight Show. Now, he’s returned with “Epidemic”, his first single since dropping The GOAT back in May. Despite its suggestive title, today’s offering is not about the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, the Chicago rapper focuses on another widespread occurrence that continues to take lives, especially within his own community: gun violence on the streets. “Every day a gamble with your life, all we know is risk,” Polo G rap-sings on the track, which is produced by Tahj Money, DMAC, Londn Blu, and Karltin Bankz. Later, he vows to be more careful for the sake of his family. “Promise to my son that the streets won’t get no more of me/ Remember every line from that obituary poetry.” Editors’ Picks Frequent collaborator Ryan Lynch d...
Zayn has returned with his first solo single in two years, “Better”. This is the first preview of his forthcoming third album, the follow-up to 2018’s Icarus Falls. “Better” is a velvety R&B love jam about the sexiest thing there is: open communication. Zayn asks his lover to express her negative emotions now, rather than waiting for the problem to get worse. “Why? Why wait to fight?” he croons, later wondering, “Can we save tears in your eyes?” The music video was directed by Ryan Hope and the concept seems simple enough: Zayn starts out shirtless, and then he gets dressed in slow motion. But there are also brief cutaways to people watching him through binoculars or listening to tape recordings, which suggest that the pop star might be under surveillance. Paparazzi? Foreign ...
While some people might prefer a plain life, Reason is living for the “Sauce” on his new song featuring Vince Staples. “Sauce” is a summery track, perfect for driving along the California coastline with the windows down and the volume up. It’s built over a relaxed piano refrain, stunting drums, and a subterranean bass. During the chorus, Reason raps the way a schoolkid skips, with a couple syllables to gather momentum followed by a moment of suspension. “I might slip, I don’t fall, if I slip, I might crawl,” he spits. As he’s been doing his whole career Vince Staples steals the show with an exuberant guest verse. Here, he takes aim at the police. “Hit the block, chip the bars, yuh/ Catch a pig, Randy Moss, yuh/ I don’t rock with the police none/ Don’t ditch the Glock when the police ...
Young Thug and Travis Scott (photos by Philip Cosores), M.I.A. (photo by Ben Kaye) Travis Scott has unleashed his latest single “Franchise”, featuring M.I.A. and Young Thug. Check it out below via its accompanying self-directed music video/short film. The song comes hot on the heels of Scott’s smash hit McDonald’s collaboration, which has been so popular that various locations are literally running out of ingredients. “Franchise” is itself something of a branding exercise, as the short film premiered ahead of select IMAX screenings of Christopher Nolan’s Tenent on Thursday night. Scott also contributed the track “The Plan” to the film’s soundtrack, leading Nolan to call the new short film “part of a Travis/Tenet/Travis sandwich” in a note he wrote the rapper. Yet despite all the cross-prom...
Marilyn Manson has unveiled a new music video for “DON’T CHASE THE DEAD” starring The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus. “DON’T CHASE THE DEAD” was recently released as the second single from Manson’s latest album, WE ARE CHAOS, which arrived earlier this month. The LP debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking Manson’s eighth consecutive album to land in the Top 10. Reedus, who has played Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead since the beginning of the popular AMC series, co-stars alongside Manson in the cinematic video for “DON’T CHASE THE DEAD”. The clip depicts a heist gone violently wrong, along with scenes of Manson singing the song. Manson discussed “DON’T CHASE THE DEAD” in our recent interview with the singer. He told us that the track is “a very driving song, but whe...
Los Angeles-via-Atlanta rapper Malcolm Jamaal Davis, better known by his moniker MadeinTYO, has been not-so-subtly climbing the ranks as one of hip-hop’s most exciting rising artists. While his breakout 2016 mixtape You Are Forgiven captured the attention of rap giants like Travis Scott, it was his debut studio album, 2018’s Sincerely, Tokyo, that proved he was worth keeping an eye on in the long run. Now, MadeinTYO is returning to the spotlight with “Money Up”, his new single featuring Toro y Moi. In just under three minutes, MadeinTYO makes a big splash over a weird, warped beat produced by Toro y Moi. Instead of showing off his speed or narrative abilities, MadeinTYO makes an impression here by rapping about financial security, body positivity, and knowing your worth — topics that he fl...
Emerging songwriter Bree Runway has shared the thumping new song “Little Nokia”. Born Brenda Mensah in Hackney, London, Bree first gained international attention for the 2019 EP Be Runway, and she blew up earlier this year when the music video for “Apeshit” went viral. She specializes in what she calls “destructive pop,” and she’s happy to plunder sounds from other genres to make her point. “Little Nokia” is a great example of her wandering ear — it’s built around heavy-metal guitars, placed within a hip-hop structure, and finished with a sugary pop topline. Lyrically, the song is about a gorgeous guy who spends all his free time doing drugs, which she references by the names of celebrities who use them. In a statement, she explained that the song is based on a true story. She sa...