Say what you will about 2016, but it undeniably has produced great, if not legendary, hip hop. No further evidence of that is the brilliance of the long (and we do mean long!) awaited album from A Tribe Called Quest this week. Other releases pale in comparison, but still have their place, like DNCE flipping the script on their previous single Be Nice with ‘Be Mean,’ Highly Suspect gets ready for The Boy Who Died Wolf on ‘Wolf,’ and and Sting keeps things light on ‘One Fine Day.’
There’s nothing like acts of certainty in an uncertain world; we can always count on New Music Friday to roll around every week on Spotify. Need backups to keep your head stuck between a pair of headphones this week? Get lost in Busted Wallet New Music Friday All Stars for over 13 hours of new music.
10. How?? by The Flaming Lips
Music videos have become such a key piece in understanding each unique release this band puts forth, it’s now instrumental in taking it all in. So when you go to listen to How??, a morose and hugely pensive track that leans on drawn-out bass lines, make sure the second time around includes the visual effect. Sure, the Flaming Lips staples of latex, rainbow colored fluorescent stuffed animals (coupled with pyrotechnic jump ropes just for fun) may not change the heavy tone of the track, but they sure make it more interesting.
9. Consuela by Belly, Young Thug
There’s no better way to stake your come-up in the game than labeling your latest release a ‘mixtape’ over the standard EP or LP, or – God help you- full release album. Even better when each track line proves that you’ve got connections on the inside. For Belly, Future, Young Thug, & Ty Dolla $ign were all too eager to appear to make their presence on just-released mixtape Inzombia. Consuela stands on its own feet, a track thick with Latin horns and slow moving with deliberation.
8. Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) [from the Hamilton Mixtape] by K’NAAN, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC
Given the massive and unstoppable success of Hamilton, which includes difficulty of snagging a ticket for, well, forever, it was a smart (and giving) decision on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s part to recruit a slew of impressive recording artists to spar with the Hamilton cast members, for a 2016 take on Hamilton’s role in history. On Immigrants it lifts one line out of the original track Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) and turns it to solid gold.
7. On Hold by The XX
On Hold could have best described how fans felt about life between 2012 and now, waiting for The XX’s new album. We’re happy the end is now in sight, with the band’s next album, I See You, set to be released on January 13th, 2017 (it’s closer than you think!). And if you’re thinking the track is going to sound like the signature sound on 2010’s Intro and 2012’s Angels, you’re going to have to put that on hold as well, as On Hold takes us to an unexplored land of pepped up uptempo-ness. The dance remixes have already come out in droves; have your pick to see what gets you moving the most.
6. Realist by Vanishing Life
With every new gust of new music thrown at us, it’s good to have at least one track that is angry, hard rocking, and full metal in the mix; it keeps us all balanced. This week’s selection that fills the slot comes from Vanishing Life, a group of musicians from pre-existing bands that teamed together like superheroes to join forces for the good of Man. Realist, or reeeal-IST in the band’s delivery, is the band’s opening track on the new album Surveillance, an album that starts off loud and rocks hard all the way through track 13.
5. Shine by Buddy
It’s a good week to make a new buddy, and this new pal specializes in feel good hip hop. Compton native and recruit of Pharrell, Buddy has been patiently waiting to blow up, and what better time than now. The track is all positive vibes – I can’t help but shine! – and has spiritual undertones. As Buddy explained his track to Genius: “This is street gospel. There is an intersection of hip hop and religion; they intertwine completely. The people who make the music Are Who They Are; and that’s their religion.”
4. Satisfied by Sia, Miguel, Queen Latifah (from the Hamilton Mixtape)
HEAVY hitters came out for the reproduction of one of the musical’s most beloved and spellbinding tracks Satisfied, with Sia taking the lead and ‘playing the part’ of Angelica Schuyler, Miguel that of Alexander Hamilton, and Queen Latifah sweeping in to cover the fast raps Angelica spits out. Each artist has been casted perfectly, though it’s a different vibe than off the soundtrack, and with each contributors already blazing popularity, the track is likely to blow up in a big way.
3. I Can’t Stand You Anymore by Sleigh Bells
With each consecutive release from Sleigh Bells’s epic first album Treats, fans and band spectators alike have been craving that signature NOIZ rock sound, made popular by tracks like Riot Rhythm and Infinity Guitars. With every release since no track has felt more throwback (without living in the past) than I Can’t Stand You Anymore off Jessica Rabbit. The duo gets right into the noise, Alexis Krauss leading the way while wailing out anxieties of “bombs don’t compare to the trouble you bring me.”
2. Me And Your Mama by Childish Gambino
2016 has been indisputably blazin’ hot for Donald Glover, with the success of one of the hottest new shows out there, Atlanta, and the ever present whisperings of a new album. The opening of Me and Your Mama takes us on a journey through a tunnel of love accompanied by straight lullaby. By the time we figure out it’s “I’m in love when we are smokin’ that la-la-la-la-la” what the background voices are saying, the track does a 180 and we’re caught up in the grips of Glover’s raw emotion. It’s sophisticated, biting, and gives us that all important taste of wanting more.
1. We The People by A Tribe Called Quest
A lot happens in 18 years (there’s that whole infant to adult thing), and when facing your comeback, tapping into the band that you once were is immensely difficult. But when it comes to ATCQ they’ve reopened that consciousness last found on The Love Movement; stopping the track to deliver the sickest blows, and each member, including the dearly departed Phife Dawg, gets their equal parts. On We The People it has left us with a newly drafted Constitution that came right when it should.
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