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...
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...
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...
YG is set to drop his new studio album, My 4Hunnid Life, in just a little over a week. Already we’ve heard a few teasers in “Laugh Now Kry Later”, “SWAG”, and the timely ACAB anthem “FTP”. Now, another single has been unboxed: “Out on Bail”. Today’s offering is drawn from YG’s own real-life experience with the prison system. Earlier this year, he was arrested and charged for robbery. The Compton native was released shortly after — just in time for his Grammys tribute performance to Nipsey Hussle — but clearly those events have stuck with him. “I’m out on bail, them motherfuckers tryna get me/ But I won’t tell, so with some time they tryna hit me/ I’m innocent as fuck, but they tryna prove I’m guilty,” YG raps on this fresh cut. Its corresponding video, directed by Austin Simkins, follows t...
Our new music feature Origins gives artists the challenge of digging into the various influences behind their latest tracks. Today, Dawes reveal the things that “Didn’t Fix Me”. Now more than ever, we’re all on our own journeys to try and feel just a little bit better. Of course, the double-edged sword of it all is no matter how good a place we find ourselves in, this year has made it ever more clear that such harmony is frail. But as anyone with any experience giving or receiving mental health advice will tell you, that’s normal. Feeling 100% all the time is an unfeasible expectation — and that’s okay. If you ever need a reminder of that, Dawes have delivered what could be the perfect musical hug with their new song “Didn’t Fix Me”. Taken from the band’s forthcoming Good Luck with Whateve...
Sunflower Bean are back with their first new music in 2020. The former Artists of the Month have shared a new track called “Moment in the Sun”, along with a wondrous accompanying music video. Sonically, “Moment in the Sun” is quite a departure from the glammy ’70s rock of their Twentytwo in Blue sophomore record or last year’s King of the Dudes EP. It’s firmly in the indie pop sphere, modern synth intersplicing jangly ’80s pop guitar lines on the chorus. “All that other noise is just a waste of time/ You’re the only music on my mind,” sings Julia Cumming on the hook. “I don’t need money, I don’t need to be cool/ I’d trade it for a moment in the sun with you.” It’s that focus on spending time with loved ones that makes 202 the perfect time for Sunflower Bea to share “Moment in the Sun”...
Sam Smith has announced their new album. It’s called Love Goes and it’s due out October 30th via Capitol. To accompany the news, Smith has shared a dance-ready single called “Diamonds”, alongside an accompanying music video. Love Goes is Smith’s third studio album to date, following their 2014 debut In the Lonely Hour and 2017’s The Thrill of It All. They originally planned to call the new album To Die For, but scrapped the title and pushed back its release due to the pandemic. It seems in the time since then, Smith has tinkered with the album. Several of the previously released singles — including the Demi Lovato-aided “I’m Ready”, the Donnie Darko-sampling “To Die For”, and the Donna Summers cover “I Feel Love” — have been relegated to bonus track status. As such...
Last month saw Jamila Woods return with “SULA (Paperback)”, her first new music since releasing one of 2019’s best albums, LEGACY! LEGACY!. Now, she’s shared a different version of the track, appropriately called “SULA (Hardcover)”. Inspired by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s 1973 novel of the same name, “SULA” finds Woods rejecting conventional ideas of identity in order to “embrace my tenderness, my sensitivities, my ways of being in my body.” Whereas the “Paperback” version did this as a peaceful mantra, the “Hardcover” take features a more sensual grove. With a silky beat from Slot-A, “SULA (Hardcover)” fully embodies the sexuality at the song’s core. As does the accompanying music video. The clip would be labeled slightly NSFW in normal days, but let’s be real, this is a pa...
Lady Gaga has premiered her epic new music video for the Chromatica single “911”. Watch the clip down below, directed by filmmaker Tarsem. Considered by the pop megastar as a “short film”, the clip follows Gaga as she traverses a desert and follows a mysterious horseback rider to a remote village. It’s there where the previously masked Gaga marches out one incredibly detailed outfit after another in true Gaga fashion. Some have her draped in blue, see-through lace, while others feature ornate headpieces. She and those around her perform ritualistic movements, and there’s more than a handful of seemingly religious imagery (one Mary-like character wears an elaborate white dress with a red cross emblazoned on her chest). There’s also a scene in which Gaga ascends into the air, but a rope...
Next month, The Replacements will put out a deluxe box set of their seminal album Pleased to Meet Me. To drum up support, the combustible rockers have released a new music video for “Can’t Hardly Wait” that uses original 1987 footage. This black-and-white imagery was originally intended for a video for “The Ledge”, but the band switched courses when MTV banned the song for objectionable content. Afterwards, they recycled the footage for “Alex Chilton”. Now, 33 years later, the same source material has found a new home in the visuals for “Can’t Hardly Wait”. Of course, the viewing experience is a familiar one. All three videos open with the same image of Paul Westerberg eating a sandwich in a rocking chair, and while the timing varies slightly from song to song, they all follow the sam...
It’s been less than a month since Cardi B successfully sent politicians, conservatives, and sexists into a tizzy with her massive Megan Thee Stallion collaboration “WAP”. But already the New York rapper is back with another joint single sure to get people talking again: “Me Gusta” with Brazilian pop singer Anitta and Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers. “I really love this song,” Cardi B gushed on Twitter earlier this week. “I don’t get on a song the same day I hear it. Like, I gotta listen to it a couple of times. But as soon as I heard the song, at the end of the night, while I was going to sleep, I kept repeating the hook in my head,” she said, adding, “You guys know how I love Spanish music, you guys know how I love Brazilian funk, and I’m just really excited.” Check out “Me Gusta” below v...