Favourite Songs:

The dance-rap tune opens with a Missy Elliot sample, which is then carried out through the DMV emcee’s effortless and lyrically-savvy rap streams.

Justine Sky - I’m Yours (feat. Vic Mensa)

this is unfortunately the version with Pitbul but head over to Apple Music to listen to the original version. really good song.


By day, Kiiara is a hardware store clerk hailing from Illinois. But in her off hours, when she wants to "cut out the white noise and reach oblivion," as she told The FADER, she's been writing songs for herself. She's currently preparing for the release of an EP, and today has unleashed the first single, "Gold." Produced by frequent SZA collaborator Felix Snow, it's a glitchy, sensual airing out of a less than loyal lover: Say your sorry, honey, but you never really show, she sings, her voice just a tick above a whisper. And her retort? I can leave the party without ever letting you know. Young love, you know? Kiiara's debut EP, Meet Me In The Cornfield, is coming soon.

It starts as a faint melody, like the radio from a car turning onto your street. At first, "Humanize" sounds like a textbook girl group throwback—sunny harmonies, wistful lyrics, and a heartbeat snare pattern led by a big voice. But Lizzo, who is from Detroit and lives in Minneapolis and made her name as a rapper, isn't here to do what's already been done. When she pulls up and the song really begins, "Humanize", which is about cautious optimism, booms forth with clarity. It's like if Sharon Jones made a song with Mike WiLL.

Favourite Albums:

The strand running through*Reality Show*is Sullivan's performance itself, rather than any particular approach to production. Every character she inhabits is one of hard-earned principle: You may judge their choices, but they are performances of unblinking honesty and an acceptance of consequence that makes our judgement beyond the point.


What Disclosure have done really well here is kept with the style that has rightly made them huge, honing their songwriting skills further in conjunction with a group of very well chosen collaborators. Caracal, then, passes the test – and with its success Disclosure become fully paid up members of the rare club that admits dance producers with more than one good album.


A sweet, effortless cloud of modern soul. Some artists are good at building on trends, but this one's better off when he's starting them.


Songs To Make Up To*shows the ease with which Ta-Ku can communicate themes, thoughts and emotions without words. Ta-Ku manipulates the listener and allows them to fill in the gaps by projecting their own experiences onto the sounds. Ta-Ku‘s next project will have a fight on its hands to top this.


Amethyst’s seven tracks are immediately more compelling than any of her pre-Aquarius tapes. Back then, circa 2012-13, the vision was there, and she was an expert at setting a mood, the listless, vaguely horny sort where you can’t decide whether sex or weed will put a dent in your late-night ennui. But like so much of the so-called "alternative R&B" of its time, it lacked something central to great R&B from all ages: in-the-flesh humanity, presence, something you can feel instead of just a tantalizing silhouette or ghostly caress. But there is unambiguous groove here on Amethyst. The Ryan Hemsworth production "Wrong" meanders for a bit, then snaps into Tinashe’s funkiest cut to date. It’s infinitely more interesting than either of the two’s previous collaborations, back when both were still considered niche artists. Tape highlight "Worth It", produced by Iamsu!, offers 3LW-style sass, "Candy Rain"*sweetness, a hint of Iamsu!’s signature slap, and a minute-long sax solo by Khris Royal. Over production by duo Nez & Rio, native Chicagoans who crafted some of drill’s formative hits ("Shout out Nez & Rio / This beat is so stupido"), Tinashe summons true vulnerability on "Something to Feel". The tape feels alive in a way little of her pre-Aquarius work had managed to, with a presence that punctures the numb glow of your computer screen.

Artist to watch:

On her debut EP, 2014’s So Good, London singer-songwriter Nao led with a juicy revelation: the record's*first single doubled as our introduction to A. K. Paul, Jai’s equally elusive brother. A. K. was revealed to have had a hand in some of his bro’s best tracks, writing and playing on "Jasmine" as well as contributing the unforgettable vocals on the "BTSTU (Edit)" demo. Paul's contribution was an intriguing development, to be sure, but the news of his involvement threatened to overshadow the spectacular talent of Nao in her own right. The Hackney native seemed to emerge fully-formed, with an arresting, lean-muscled falsetto and a spiritual connection with turn-of-the-millennium R&B and soul, the kind of bond you only have with the music of your young teenage years. And while the EP’s introductory collaboration was charming in its Paul-isms—the brothers’ trademark diaphanous, multi-layered synth collage work—the following four tracks were even better, peaking with stunning closer "Adore You",*a graceful midtempo glide that felt like an answer to Miguel’s instant classic "Adorn".

Favourite Songs:

Rihanna - Bitch Better Have Money

Rihanna's personal brand remains solidly IDGAF. Her deep side-eye at damn near everything can almost be taken for granted by folks. Thankfully the "Bitch Better Have My Money" video isn't interested in letting people take a single thing about her for granted.The video's black-ass revenge plot, becomes a turnt road trip and ends with Rihanna's face full of blood after enacting revenge on a bougie, wrinkly white dude. Undeserving whites were scrubbed out by black woman and her crew. *finger nails emoji*

Tinashe - Party Favors

Tinashe may be under the same spell herself, as she weaves in and out of consciousness over the production. The entertainer just about whips up enough strength to be able to entertain and announce that "They don't go as hard" as she does. Just as the chorus hits, her vocals heighten slightly as she tells her audience that she has "Party favours" for them. As this is all happening the production swings in too, and adds to the altering of her voice, layering a slightly distorted pitch, making Tinashe sound even more trance-like in her pursuit to please her lover. The impact of this all, leaves the singer sounding seductive, but robotic - a quite intriguing and unique creation, which actually adds to the whole hypnotic vibe of the track already manifesting at this point.

Tink - Like

Tink’s pen game is on another level on this one as she breaks it down on verse three, “Are you here to rescue me / Are you here to go and get a check with me / Are you here to pillow talk / Or are you here to bounce and pull out when this s*** get hard?” I’m expecting a very impressive debut album from this artist

On the song, the Detroit rhymer remains romantic with her come-hither lines while Tunechi is rather frank and upfront with his sexualized lyrics.“Makeup off, no weed, glasses off / Codeine, Adderall, it’s a p— marathon / Girl you don’t love me, you just love my doggy style,” he raps, adding, “Babe, I guess chemistry is true / But I don’t know if it’s the Hennessy or you / I heard you eat p—- too and I’m feelin’ that.”

While the band has reached a new height of fame in the past couple of years, there are some things that may ultimately stay the same, whether by choice or because of other outside factors. However, there’s also this deep realization of the way fame can affect personal relationships. The video does a great job of enhancing this theme while also focusing on the band outside of all the glitz and glamour. The best scenes are the ones with The Internet just vibing and having fun as a band. Their cohesiveness and chemistry with each other is as apparent in the music video as it is when they perform live.

Alessia Cara - Here

Ms. Cara sings deeply in the pocket, landing heavy on syllables as if she were shifting her weight from one hip to the other, and delivering the hook — “I’ll be over here” — with sass and cool, emphasizing that final word in a manner both rebellious and cocksure. That “here” is a flag planted for the outsiders, the shy kids, the loners. And it makes the stunning “Here” (Def Jam) part of a proud and stubborn lineage of outcast pop by young women. In recent years, songs like Lorde’s “Royals” or Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” have argued their case for outsiderness so stylishly that they helped catapult their singers from the margins to pop’s centre.

SS: "With "Shoulda Been There," it just ended up working out just perfectly, like icing on top of the cake to have him on "Shoulda Been There" because, like I said, the record is very personal. It's talking about me going through something with my last situation and then getting out of that and making a decision like, "OK you know what you didn't appreciate me, you didn't get it. I'm in a different space now you know what - you should've been there." And then to have Bob get on the record and make that story even more real, it couldn't have been any more perfect. It worked out perfectly and I love his verse, he killed his verse and it kind of got to tell his own little part of the story with his verse too. So it was really cool."

Janelle Monae- Yoga (feat. Jidenna)

Monae's characteristically pristine vocal talents are on full display on "Yoga," as she flips familiar melodies on their head, intricately layers her voice to create a dense spectrum of harmonies and relishes the ridiculousness of the track's infectious refrain, "Baby bend over / Let your booty do that yoga." The sentiment certainly fits the track's sparse, trap-heavy production, over which Jidenna breezily muses in a sing-song voice, "She did that yoga / Looking for my loafers man, I woke up in a toga."

D.R.A.M. - Caretaker (feat. SZA)

The sly, sensual melody remains intact for this extended run-through of the song, though it's the newly added SZA who takes control of the piece in the intro. Following some layered, cloud-soft vocalizations from her about a current beau, D.R.A.M. responds with a request to take care of her "even if you got a man now."

Major Lazer and DJ Snake feat. Mø, “Lean On”

It is fresh and mad dope. I love that the song fuses reggae, pop and soul. I’m a big fan of fusion music.*

Favourite Albums:

Adele - 25

Whether she's holding notes with the strength of a suspension bridge or enjoying a rare lighthearted "whoo-hoo!" on "Sweetest Devotion," her incredible phrasing – the way she can infuse any line with nuance and power – is more proof that she's among the greatest interpreters of romantic lyrics. "No river is too wide or too deep for me to swim to you," she sings on the gently lifting "Remedy." On 25, no feat of strength comes as a surprise. Let's just hope the next one is called 28, and not, say, 30. Each new chapter of her story is too good to wait for.

Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon

You can’t exactly call Del Rey radical. Her taste is too old school, and Honeymoon’s Quaalude-doped, sun-stroked, California-beach-zombie vibe suggests that she can’t muster the energy to actively push any ideology beyond, God, I’m so high right now. But there’s something refreshingly contrary about her best songs. While other producers borrow from what’s next in the underground, Del Rey revels in a more timeless sound, whether it’s the swirling Italian aria of “Salvatore” or the syrup-screwed “Art Deco,” which perks up her woozy mood with some much-needed hip-hop edge.

Tink - Winters Diary 3

Tink is not the next Aaliyah; most likely, nobody is. But she doesn't need to be, and in fact, attempting to mold her into Baby Girl the Sequel undersells her extraordinary talents. Despite her girl-next-door demeanor, there was always something mysterious about Aaliyah. At her core, Tink's appeal is that she is very much of this world. She bares her soul completely, putting her most private hopes, fears, and fantasies on paper in hopes of making things a little easier for someone else. Her Winter's Diary series—spanning from her 2012 debut to her latest, Winter's Diary 3—hinges around the loose concept of journaling about a boy that's ****ed her entire world up. And as far as Tink's come since that first project, she's very much still that girl in her room, staying up too late stuck in her own head; the tape opens, as the first Winter's Diary did, with the sound of her pen scribbling furiously as she narrates: "It's December 1st, and I met this guy…" (No matter she's dropped it in the height of summer; the Gregorian calendar is irrelevant in Tink's universe, where cuffing season is year-round.)

Erykah Badu - But You Caint Use My Phone

But You Caint Use My Phone is a fantastic collection of songs, and while Badu has dubbed the release a mixtape, it's as strong, cohesive and consistent as any proper soul LP put out in recent memory. Don't think of it as a mixtape, but rather an extensive and heartfelt voicemail to fans who have been longing for the queen of neo-soul to give them a ring.

Lizzo - Big GRRRL Small World

Big GRRRL Small World—named for a line on LIZZOBANGERS, and Lizzo's label BGSW, on which she released the album—finds her reckoning with her sudden fame, and also the things that plague it: white culture vultures, terrible dudes (consigned on "Ride" to the "Support Group for Men Without Lizzo," a demolishingly hilarious couple of bars), people who need her references RapGenius'd clear for them, needy people, misogynists. It's all delivered with sheer glee, and some of it is among the most wicked fun committed to record in 2015.

Artist to watch:

Jacqueline Mapei Cummings writes and records polyglot pop-soul that feels deeply inspired by her international upbringing and well-traveled adulthood: she was born in Rhode Island to a Liberian mother and an American father, moved to Sweden with the former at age 10, and has bounced between Portugal, Brazil, and Tunisia in the decades since. Her 2009 debut EP*The Cocoa Butter Diaries*was made up of gritty, socially conscious rap that garnered comparisons to the work of Lauryn Hill; a collaborative record with French electro knuckleheads Justice was scrapped shortly after. When she returned nearly five years later with single “Don’t Wait”, she sounded completely different, her hard-edged progressivism replaced by cracking analog warmth, extensive vocal processing, and rich, earthy tones. “Don’t Wait” made a decent-sized splash, and the song leads off her debut LP, Hey Hey, a record that represents an ostensible attempt to build on the song’s success. Don’t Wait” remains a supremely catchy, texturally compelling piece of music, but it also manages to encapsulates most of Mapei’s strengths and weaknesses in one four minute blast. There’s her voice, a warm and engaging instrument that sounds almost exactly like Alicia Keys; there’s her ear for space, which allows small details like backing percussive snaps and secondary piano melodies to pop instead of being swallowed. And, troublingly, there’s her tendency to lean on clunky, lazy phrasing and lyrical motifs: a line like “Let’s laugh and cry/ Until we die” combines dullness and awkward rhyming, almost grinding the song to a halt even as its positive aspects are present and in motion. Largely,*Hey Hey continues on in this way—showcasing a pleasant voice with some interesting musical ideas, stunted by a reliance on platitudes, staid imagery, and tired themes that make it tough to get through the entire album.

Jazmine Sullivan - Reality Show

I was hoping you'd be ranking dog breeds, for some reason.

These write-ups

Originally posted by Diarrhoea These write-ups

Originally posted by Ivan this looks great, disclosure is my fave here