You’ve missed me telling you what to listen to, haven’t you? You’ve probably started to tap your toes to commercial EDM (or worse, trance) and top 40 pop. You might even be debating buying tickets to go to the Up in Smoke Tour. Don’t. If you missed Wiz’s Waken Baken tour, there’s no sense in trying to right your wrongs now, dear.
Don’t worry sweetie, I’m back.
Here are the tunes that have been occupying my ears since we last spoke I ranted.
Some of these tracks have created a huge buzz on the internet; reaching far more fans than their usual releases. But of course, other tracks are still not getting the hype they deserve.
“Chi Raq”- Lil Herb ft. Nicki Minaj
This is one of those tracks that needs to be talked about more. Chi Raq is a great hip hop song for a variety of reasons. Old Nicki came back. She finally stopped putting out trash verses on one-hit-wonder-diluted-pop tracks and decided to go back into the studio and throw down like the good Lord wanted her to. To her credit, it would be hard to turn down the money I’m sure she made from those pop numbers- but Sound the Alarm? Really? Either way, welcome back Nicki. Also, up and comer and Chi City native, Lil Herb has a great verse that perfectly compliments Nicki’s and fits the beat equally as well. I’ve been saying the best artists are from Chicago, but maybe any Chicago connection means greatness.
Okay, just listen below, you’ll get the point.
https://soundcloud.com/new-rap-r-b-music-24-7/nicki-minaj-lil-herb-chiraq
“Faded”- ZHU
Not much is known about the musician ZHU other than they’re from California- splitting time between San Fran and LA apparently. What we do know is this is a hypnotic beat with some erie vocals tossed in that convey the perfect message for such a song. His EP NIGHTDAY is out now on iTunes. Don’t be the one kid at Coda who doesn’t freak out when the next deep house dj drops this in the middle of his set.
The video for this track was released last night, so make sure to check that below the Soundcloud link.
“4 My People”- Arkon Fly
This isn’t my favourite joint of their’s but in true fangirl fashion, I’m still in love with it. Arkon Fly popped up about a year ago when they released this treat. I’ve been addicted to that kick every since. 4 My People has some fantastic elements to it, but I miss the bass heavy and simplistic beats of the past.
“Friday Night”- Revo Devito ft. Kaytranada
You didn’t think I’d post an article without a Kaytranada beat, right? You know me better than that. Once again, KayKay as his Twitter suggests, once again masters a nu disco/hip hop/deep house beat. Combined with Revo’s voice makes this track one that should be seeing a lot of plays in the near future.
“Stay With Me”- Sam Smith (Rainer & Grimm Edit)
Sam Smith’s slow and emotional Stay With Me gets a boost from Rainer and Grimm to transform it into a track with an extremely summery vibe. If this doesn’t make you want to drive around in your car on a hot summer’s day with the windows down, or play through speakers on the beach, then you should probably move to Greenland now because you don’t know summer.
This is where I would put Flume’s remix of Lorde’s Tennis Court but if you haven’t heard that track then you have bigger problems than you think. This hit the net last week and blew up. Flume’s sound fits perfectly over Lorde’s original track- which was already my favourite on the album. If you haven’t heard this yet. I’m so sorry- look it up.
“Believe Me”- Lil Wayne ft. Drake
If a music snob is someone who drops lines like, “I like his old stuff better” then I am pleading guilty with Lil Wayne. He single handedly changed the game with hits like Bling Bling when he was a part of Hot Boyz and then again with tracks off of Da Drought I and II, Da Carter I, II, and III. But then he sipped on one too many purple Sprites and suddenly his witty puns and greasy lyrics were replaced with random noises and questionable lyrics (questionable in that you don’t understand what he’s saying). I stopped listening sometime before Rebirth. However, this single makes me remember both the better sides of Drake and Lil Wayne. Finally, something to restore my faith in the Southern rapper and lonely boy Drake.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
I’ll be here at my desk listening to as many sets and tracks and mixtapes as possible without my boss noticing.
Anyone looking for an A&R rep let me know.
Seriously.
Claire McArthur 