Rico Nasty – Buss
The alt-hip hop icon is back after her big album release last year. “Buzz” has all the familiar Rico Nasty elements: scream rapping, aggressive bassline, lyrics flexing wealth and bling. It may feel underwhelming to some listeners, but nothing the Nasty Mob won’t embrace.
Tierra Whack – Walk The Beat
The elusive rapper is back after a long silence with a very unexpected sound (is this house rap? Dance music?!). Whack raps of designer clothes and fashion shows in her most Azealia Banks-ian track so far. The chorus, however, can’t help sounding a tad repetitive as she sings, “Fashion shows, fancy cloooothes” repeatedly until it starts sounding like an alarm.
Victoria Monét – Coastin’
The American singer-songwriter reached a wider audience last year with her disco-funk EP Jaguar. Monét seems to have found her sonic style as she continues dabbling with this sound in her latest seductive single.
Joy Crookes – Skin
The London-based singer of Bangladeshi descent is in comfortable territory here, doing what she does best: a bare piano-backed ballad. Crookes sings of having melanated skin and her insecurities as a child regarding this. It’s heart-touching but also heartwarming thanks to the vocalist’s honey & cocoa-like smooth voice and the empowering conclusion.
Holly Humberstone – Please Don’t Leave Just Yet
This is a classic Holly Humberstone song as the young artist sings of heartbreak, separation and grief. It’s a mainly lo-fi song with some interesting, almost ‘chopped-and-screwed’-type mixing going on in the back.
R.A.E. – Mine
The charismatically hilarious and adorable rapper makes a bop. “Mine” is bubbly, upbeat and with a dash of tender romantic yearning. If this track was released at the start of summer, it might have been a huge hit.
Cat Burns – Into You
The British indie singer delivers a straightforwardly lovestruck song, displaying romantic confusion, infatuation and fear of rejection. It’s a classic pop sound reminding us of a range of singers: Mabel, Sam Smith, ‘Tough Love’-era Jessie Ware, and Cher Lloyd.
Jorja Smith – All of This (feat. Guilty Beatz)
“All of This” is a catchy beat produced by the talented Guilty Beatz that will make you move. Jorja is in her element here as the instrumentation compliments the soul & RnB star’s husky-but-robust vocals.
Marina – Venus Fly Trap (Sofi Tukker Remix)
This is the third “Venus Fly Trap” remix now and they’re all starting to sound similar. Pack it up, Marina. On a better note, it’s nice to see the Welsh popstar collaborate with mainly female producers (an underlooked minority in the music scene), for remixing her songs from her newest album, such as Blossom, Empress Of, Kito, and one half of MUNA.
GIRLI – Ricochet
The pop-punk artist makes a vigorously energetic pop song that captures the spirit of wild girlhood. There are influences of Rico Nasty and Ashnikko here that will appeal to a younger crowd.
Also read: Music Review: ‘Happier Than Ever’ by Billie Eilish
Trending Stories
- Sikkim: Here’s why the Chungthang Hydro-dam breach is a big deal
- What happens when pharmaceutical pollutants enter the environment?
- RPF cracks down on railway theft, arrests 18
- Sikkim govt informs extent of damage caused by glacial lake outburst flood
- Himalayan plunder: 3 million Indians live in areas that can be swept by glacial lake floods, says study
- From glacier melting to rise in glacial lakes, eastern Himalaya most hit by climate change
