Every week, seemingly a gazillion songs release on streaming services. From Soundcloud and Bandcamp exclusives to the endless array of songs on Spotify and Apple Music, it’s a lot to take in. Additionally, some of the tracks aren’t nearly as good as it should be. Who wants to waste their time sifting through records in fear that some aren’t very good. How can one possibly have the time to even do it?
This is where Noisey has you covered. We’re saving you time in the playlist department to narrow it down to the three most essential songs in hip-hop and R&B you should hear. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite artist or album in the process.
3 of The Best New HIP-Hop Songs and R&B REcords of the Week
BNYX & Clara La San- “TELEPATHY LOVE”
Artists have milked the 80’s and ‘futuristic’ aesthetic dry. We get it, you like synths, Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Thriller, and Ronald Reagan’s America. But at some point, we have to pull from another source right? Maybe one day people will follow suit. However, it isn’t impossible to actually do it right. It just needs a little seasoning to distinguish itself from more post-disco slop and a Stranger Things retread.
Take producer BNYX and British crooner Clara La San’s latest “TELEPATHY LOVE.” Rather than rest on the laurels of cheap synth and a vacant groove, BNYX implements little music nerd details to separate itself from the pack. Little DJ vocal chops lends a bit of texture and warmth to the subzero temperature he operates with in his synths. Little keyboard stings flash and amplify the neon color from its resting heart rate. The central synth circulating the record sears the cool demeanor of “TELEPATHY LOVE” rather than lightly glaze atop the drums.
This just leaves Clara La San to fill in the remaining gaps. She croons lightly, feeding into the atmosphere where it sounds like her breath is fogging outside. Moreover, her sugary voice crystalizes due to BNYX’s production choices, preventing her otherwise smooth voice from playing too watery. In the never-ending vortex of half-baked, uninspired Boiler Room filler, BNYX and Clara La San release a record actually worth grooving to in a club.
Reuben Vincent & 9th Wonder- “ISSA DEE” (Feat. Kelly Moonstone)
Regional rap never fully died. It’s an easy trap to fall into; a lot of popular music has been leaning towards a fascist kind of amorphous sludge where distinction is the enemy. The overwhelming scale of the internet has also dulled some of this impact, where oftentimes it doesn’t even matter where an artist is from. The end result ends up being indistinguishable from the other hundreds of songs coming out. Is there any incentive towards distinction when the digital sphere has no true region?
Still, hip-hop has managed to maintain some measure of regional flair with specific scenes. The only difference is that our understanding of a city or region’s sound is susceptible to change. However, for North Carolina’s own Reuben Vincent and 9th Wonder, the spirit of the South is alive and intact. As Kelly Moonstone coos sweetly about insecurity, a twangy guitar and Vincent’s Southern accent warms the setting. “ISSA DEE” captures the spirit of a family reunion, that fried fish smell in the air, spades, and “Never Too Much” somewhere in the queue. There’s a Black Southern hospitality that oftentimes goes missing today. Where some artists sound like they merely rent a condo down South, Reuben Vincent and 9th Wonder emphasize what home is supposed to feel like.
My Favorite Color- “All Facts”
They always say laughter is the best medicine. People laugh to keep from crying, a form of protection from life’s greatest tragedies and injustices. We’re destined to crack under the world’s obscene pressures if we don’t strive for some form of relief. If not optimism, chuckle at the absurdity.
My Favorite Color knows this reality far too well. In the announcement post for his upcoming album Elmer, he candidly opens up about experiencing some of the lowest lows you could ever go through. When he turned to jokes, some people thought of the Pittsburgh bred, LA based rapper as a gimmick. In reality, it was a form of self-preservation when nothing else made sense. “Y’all thought I was being funny just cause? Nah, laughters the best medicine and I was genuinely fighting for survival. Y’all SEEING me gave me that much more of a fighting chance,” My Favorite Color writes.
Insert “All Facts,” a manifestation of this new mission statement. Over a hazy, overcast production, My Favorite Color weaves the mundane weed smoke with slick writing (“If you ain’t Sway, then don’t throw no Shade”), bars about hunting white people that say the N word, and sobering shrugs about drugs and alcohol. All of this glues together through the occasional smirks in his overall despondent delivery. The depression may devour the psyche but in joking through cynicism, My Favorite Color offers himself just a bit of light to keep going.
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