Every week, seemingly a gazillion songs are released 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 they 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
Kwame Adu & Ocho Worldwide- “Dirty Monk”
Remember those videos of Lupe Fiasco practicing with his sword? Usually, he’d take to his backyard and channel his inner samurai. That’s how Kwame Adu raps on “Dirty Monk”. The New Jersey-bred, LA-based rapper/singer/producer has this sharp, pointed precision in his rapping that slices through even the most wildly kinetic production imaginable. “Every day a blessing when you make a prayer knowing everything is different,” he raps over the kind of beat that would soundtrack a Samurai Jack fight scene.
Ocho Worldwide steals the show, one of the few rappers with an innate understanding of a record’s stakes and the verse it calls for. He channels the chaotic energy by teetering on the brink of a sinister rock bottom and grounding it in self-improvement. “I done seen me a few endings, I done had me a few benders. I done spent hours pretending, long way from home, I ain’t servin’ no sentence,” he snarls before centering himself in the present and future. “I’m still tryna pray 5 times a day, I’m still tryna chase liquor away, I’m still tryna get blood out the cage, I put bread on his books everyday. I’m the only one who picks up the phone. I hope they don’t forget me one day,” Ocho sighs. “Dirty Monk” is all about quieting the storm that comes with the existential torment of modern living.
GENA- “Circlesz”
Liv.e channels soul in a time of increasing soullessness. Collaborating with Detroit jazz drummer Karriem Riggins, they create “Circlesz”, a delightfully sweet, lovesick jam session. Liv.e yearns over Riggins’ steady, smoky drum beat, as if she’s cooing flirts over cognac at the bar, dim menthol in the air, and everyone wearing corduroy. Vocally, there’s a lot of ambition here, holding and squiggling a note on the hook, while contorting her voice a bit deeper for a textural change. Together as GENA, Liv.e and Riggins depict a never-ending honeymoon phase, the kind of romance that informed the greatest soul records.
Summer Walker- “FMT”
Marriage is usually the happiest day of a person’s life. The idea of eternal commitment to the person you love in front of the people you cherish. It’s a dream come true for so many people. However, on “FMT”, Summer Walker looks at marriage through the coldest lens: a business proposition. Love is but a fleeting emotion that always crumbles in the face of turbulence. So instead of setting herself up for disappointment, she chooses the lover who brings her a comfortable life and hopefully a peace of mind. Love is secondary here.
There’s such a visceral jadedness to Summer Walker’s disposition. “FMT” plays at acceptance. She croons over a warm, wispy guitar that suggests a sense of finality. The war for love is over. Instead, she’s “Finally Over It” and loves herself enough that she doesn’t need to find that love of her life.
However, there’s an air of tragedy that pervades the record. Summer Walker writes with such melancholy, but sings with this nagging feeling that she shouldn’t give up. She shrugs, “I’m tired of trying, let’s make Daddy proud even if we’re lying,” but she croons with this hesitance. “Honey, he’s rich, so swallow your pain,” Walker sighs.
If R&B stresses the importance of love and commitment, Summer Walker uses her songwriting to highlight how a woman can give up in favor of a lucrative transaction. There are only so many times the heart can withstand abuse until someone decides that giving up would be a whole lot easier.
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