Top Song of the Week
Rap Song of the Week: J.I.D Goes Toe-to-Toe with 21 Savage on “Surround Sound”
Every Friday, our new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the essential hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. This week, J.I.D recruits 21 Savage and Baby Tate for “Surround Sound.” For the past several years, it’s felt like Dreamville’s J.I.D has been on the precipice of stardom. His last album, 2018’s DiCaprio 2, spawned a pair of Gold singles, and his performances on “Down Bad” and “Costa Rica” (from the compilation Revenge of the Dreamers III) exhibited his knack for crafting a catchy hook while still being an explosive, technically gifted rapper. Among a stacked roster of MCs, J.I.D stands tall. 2022 is shaping up to be the kind of year that will bring the Atlanta spitter to the next level. J.I.D’s on the easily visible third line of the po...
Song of the Week: The Weeknd Struggles With a “Sacrifice”
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, a new single from The Weeknd provides the perfect Friday soundtrack. The Weeknd went high-concept with Dawn FM, the new album that arrived today, January 7th — and it worked. The radio station storyline is tinged with an air of sadness, and the commitment to the bit feels perfectly paired with the artist’s penchant for ’80s sounds. “Sacrifice,” the artist’s next single, is more of the irresistible fare for which The Weeknd has become known. He knows how to keep things interesting, pulling off homages that don’t feel outdated,...
Rap Song of the Week: Gunna Establishes New Slang on “pushin P” with Future and Young Thug
Our new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the essential hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Gunna teams up with Future and Young Thug on his DS4EVER standout “pushin P.” Before Gunna was considered a contemporary of Young Thug and Future, he gave his career a soft reset by dropping the Yung from his name and launching his signature Drip Season mixtape series. Five years later, he’s become a bonafide superstar who literally taught Lil Baby how to rap, so closing out the franchise with DS4EVER has particular significance. As one would expect, Thugger and Future each make multiple appearances on the project, but “pushing P” is a reminder of why we’re still hoping the sequel to Super Slimey is still happening. A...
Rap Song of the Week: Boldy James Gets Ice Cold on “Hot Water Tank”
Our recurring new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Boldy James and The Alchemist close out the year strong with the ICECOLDBISHOP-assisted “Hot Water Tank.” Boldy James is known for his prodigious output: Last year alone, he dropped four projects. In 2021, he slowed down the pace a bit, solely releasing his Alchemist team-up Bo Jackson, one of the best albums of the year. Today, the Detroit rapper upped his volume by releasing Super Tecmo Bo, a nine-track project combining a handful of new songs with bonus tracks previously only available on the Bo Jackson vinyl deluxe edition. One of the standouts is “Hot Water Tank” featuring underground LA rapper ICECOLDBISHOP, who brin...
Song of the Week: Best Coast and The Linda Lindas Collaborate on the Vibrant “Leading”
We’re taking a break from our Annual Report to highlight the Song of the Week. In this feature, we talk 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, Best Coast is back with a little help from rising stars The Linda Lindas. Pop culture right now seems dominated by a certain amount of sentimentality. Rebooting and revamping have become the norm, and people are starting to push back on the oversaturation. Best Coast probably weren’t intending to jump into that exact discourse with their latest, “Leading,” but the opening line is a relatable statement nonetheless: “Nostalgia’s overrated, or maybe it’s just complicate...
Song of the Week: Bon Iver and Nicholas Britell’s Cinematic “Second Nature”
We’re taking a break from our Annual Report to highlight the Song of the Week. In this feature, we talk 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, Bon Iver shares a standout track from the soundtrack of Netflix’s Don’t Look Up. Despite the relatively mixed reviews pouring in, film lovers are definitely discussing Netflix’s incredibly star-studded Don’t Look Up. If the promise of Jennifer Lawrence’s return to the screen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande, and Timothee Chalamet (among many, many others) wasn’t enough, the music for the movie is worth taking a look at as well. The score for the film w...
Rap Song of the Week: Tierra Whack Embraces Her Inner Joker on “Stand Up”
Our recurring new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear at the end of every week. Check out the full playlist here. This week we highlight “Stand Up” off Tierra Whack’s new Rap? EP. In the three years since releasing her innovative debut Whack World, Tierra Whack has put out a steady stream of one-off singles that have kept her in the conversation as one of the most talented rappers in the game. The Philly native officially returned this week with her new EP Rap?, which is unfortunately only three tracks long. With the opener “Stand Up,” however, Whack serves up a reminder that she will never stop pushing forward. In an interview with Apple Music, Whack shared her love for the most recent Joker film and expressed her ambitions to ...
Song of the Week: Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin Honor “Diamond Dreidel DLR” with a Hannukah Cover of Van Halen’s “Jump”
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, Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin continue their Hanukkah covers celebration. Hanukkah is in full swing, and Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin are keen on celebrating: each night of Hanukkah, the Foo Fighters frontman and super producer are uploading a new cover of a song by a prolific Jewish artist. For Night Four of the holiday, Kurstin and Grohl treated fans to a cover of Van Halen’s “Jump,” citing David Lee Roth as “quite possibly the loudest and proudest of hard rocking Jews.” (“He became a rockstar the day he became a man: Diamond Dreid...
Song of the Week: “Oh My God,” Adele’s Back!
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 keeps us on our toes with the refreshing “Oh My God” from her new album 30. Adele is reliable. She knows how to unlock feelings authentically, often against the backdrop of a piano or forlorn strings. The promise of Sad Girl Autumn was realized when she dropped “Easy On Me” in October. There were certain expectations around 30, which is here in full today, November 19th, and Adele put them to rest with an album that is, in many places, surprising and sonically diverse. “I Drink Wine,” “Hold On,” and “To Be Loved” are all abs...
Rap Song of the Week: Freddie Gibbs Reconnects with Jadakiss on “Black Illuminati”
Our recurring new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear at the end of every week. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Freddie Gibbs reunites with Jadakiss on “Black Illuminati.” When Freddie Gibbs and Jadakiss last collaborated on Gibbs’ star-studded Baby Face Killa mixtape nine years ago, the Gary, Indiana rapper was about to exit his ill-fated deal with Young Jeezy’s CTE label. Given all the talent he’d displayed up to that point, it’s no surprise that Gibbs went on to become one of the most successful independent artists in the game, earning enough gravitas to ink his own partnership deals with major labels. After notching a Grammy nomination for Alfredo, Gibbs is mashing the gas pedal even harder for his follow-up, which h...
Song of the Week: Taylor Swift’s 10-Minute Version of “All Too Well” Is Lush Heartbreak, Extended
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, Taylor Swift takes us down an emotional path that we know all too well. There’s no denying that “All Too Well” has always been the broken heart and mended soul of Taylor Swift’s Red. The song became an instant fan favorite when the album was released back in 2012 — its flashbacks of a romantic trip upstate with a lost love crystallized in amber and wrapped in a long-lost scarf, tucked away in a drawer for safekeeping. But in the months and years following the album’s release, whispered rumors began circulating within the annals of...
Rap Song of the Week: Rick Ross and 21 Savage Are “Outlawz”
Every week, our new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Rick Ross kicks off his Richer Than I’ve Ever Been era with the 21 Savage-assisted “Outlawz.” Rick Ross is one of the most audacious characters in rap history, naming himself a notorious drug dealer and doubling down on his Mafia boss persona after photos of his previous stint as a correctional officer surfaced online. More than a decade after the minor controversy, the Florida rapper is living up to the title of his next album, Richer Than I’ve Ever Been, as a Wingstop franchisee and the owner of a fleet of luxury cars. First-time collaborator 21 Savage was also clowned after a bullshit ICE arrest revealed the Atlanta-based rapper was actuall...
