This week proved that it’s a Migos world and we’re just living in it, with Quavo & Co. receiving more than a hefty boost in popularity following a Donald Glover endorsement leading up to their release of Culture on Friday. Also in new music news this week, Kehlani released her own CRZY Sexy Cool on SexySweetSavage, her first full album. ILoveMakonnen is in action with a feature on Huntar’s 4AM, and Missy Elliott and Bell Biv DeVoe (!) both threw down with their own version of I’m Better (Betta).
New Music Friday was generous to us this week with 80 releases; head over to Spotify for the full rundown. Our own take on the best new music is yours for the listening at Busted Wallet’s New Music Friday All Stars.
10. LIE by The Knocks, Jerm
The Knocks most definitely are planning on having your neighbors knocking on the door and asking you turn it down, as the sound here pops off in a way that’s best to listen to at maximum capacity. An unlikely source for the philosophizing on the ways of the world, but the electro duo kept it simply brilliant here: “We lie/We fight/Sometimes/But oh, we love.”
9. Anymore by Goldfrapp
Like many artists who know their weight in gold when it comes to marketing, Goldfrapp has been teasing fans and keeping their audience captive, with sound bytes and imagery from the upcoming album SILVER EYE, out March 31st. But it really feels as if Alison & Will took it the next level as the latest single’s main theme is its chorus “I can’t wait, I can’t wait anymore.” It’s the easily identifiable big sound by full of airy and ethereal accruements that gained them so much popularity with their biggest album to date, Supernature, in 2005. Glad the wait is over.
8. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty
Don’t expect nonstop laughs and chortles from J. Tillman’s latest, unless you think things like iron deficiencies are hilarious. Today’s subject is the comedy of man, and as you can imagine its an expansive topic and covers anything and everything. Being so, to really grasp FJM’s intention it’s best to at least watch the music video once, which will leave you feeling like a speck of dust in the universe, and maybe bewildered. But as he muses “their languages just serve to confuse them, their confusion somehow makes them more sure.”
7. Paradise by ANOHNI
When we lasted checked in with Anohni 4 Degrees was giving us a sobering look at the effect of climate change on Hopelessness. Now with Paradise it’s not at all what it seems. In fact, she penned a very no holds barred letter to go with the release of the chamber pop anthem, calling out world leaders for their ecocide, and that “only an intervention by women around the world, with their innate knowledge of interdependency, deep listening, empathy and self sacrifice, could possibly alter our species’ desperate course.”
6. I’m Better by Missy Elliott, feat. Lamb
Showing exactly how better she is when it comes to keeping the game on lock, in her latest Missy tried her hand at trap music…and totally killed it. And while we’re better accustomed to more energy like last banger Where They From, she still keeps it ice cold. It goes without saying that any Missy Elliott music video is packed with outrageous and innovative choreography, but she really outdid herself with life sized marionette moves and group choreography on exercise balls. For best results, mix the two together.
5. You by Keyshia Cole, Remy Ma, French Montana
We’re so glad Keyshia Cole is back from the Point of No Return, because even though she might be fed up, we need her prowess to get us through the challenges of life. On You she lets you know you picked the wrong one to mess with, but Keyshia’s been around long long enough that you should have known that already, and that’s on you. For reinforcements she’s got Remy Ma and French Montana on her side for the rap breaks, with great lines like “You picked the wrong one like Steve Harvey.”
4. Shock Horror by Shy Luv, JONES
We’re getting upbeat irreverent vibes from Manchester’s finest duo Shy Luv on their latest, so much that it makes us want to do something equally irreverent, like say, hit the roller rink and let the strobe light light the way. Like many artists this week their music video speaks volumes for the song, while giving us flashbacks to Lit’s 1999 video for Miserable featuring a larger than life Pamela Anderson. Best to put on when you need a mid afternoon dance break and shake up.
3. Love Me Better by James Blunt
Judging from the themes of James Blunt’s latest, we get the idea that he just got finished with a really tough internet thread battling trolls: “People say the meanest things” ..but as we get to the crux of the song we know that love will lift us higher. The song gives us standard JB feels to make us feel warm and fuzzy, but shows that he doesn’t take himself TOO seriously with lines like “Would have said you’re beautiful, but I’ve used that line before.”
2. Automaton by Jamiroquai
“Futuristic” and descriptions of Jamiroquai sound and jam style are one in the same, even when we look back to the music off of Traveling Without Moving, now 20 years in the past. To help us sink our teeth into their first album in seven years is video featuring an eyes without a face mask, (hat?) that on first glance we thought to be a bike helmet…from the future of course. Classic Jamiroquai mixed with Daft Punk flavored bass lines having us moving into the future one dance step at a time.
1. Get Right Witcha by Migos
Fitting that Migos sophomore album is titled Culture, as right now they’ve got the firmest press on what rap music is these days. And while there are many hip hop purists who say that trap music deviates too far away from the essence of hip hop, Culture might be the album to win them over. Get Right Witcha keeps it down low and shows that the best hip hop comes from an even back and forth and support among all on the track. It also outlines what ‘get right’ entails, which unfortunately for fans and groupies means “I ain’t really here to take no pictures.”
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