We all know the drill, these are my picks for the best songs released in September of this year.
Listen to the full playlist on Spotify or Tidal.
To kick off the list, is a new song from our toxic king Brent Faiyaz. Another smooth R&B release from him, which on it's first released featured a woman's voice speaking sweet words in Spanish, which was then ridiculed because of her pronunciation and this bit has now been removed from the song and replaced with an instrumental interlude. Just a fun little fact.
If you really want to hear her accent, you can hear a snippet of it on my travel highlights on Instagram as I used this for a picture I posted. I will say, I used a part where her accent wasn't too bad.
Moving on to actual Spanish, Enrique Iglesias and Maria Becerra has released a great bachata song. It's clear that Enrique Iglesias brings his pop influence into this song, uplifting the genre itself for those who love some bachata sensual.
Bad Bunny is seemingly in his vaquero era and has released a great reggaetón banger, which looks to be a taste of the new album he has been promising would come out this year. It seems like we can expect something completely different from his previous album, Un Verano Sin Ti.
Pop, disco, house, a great mix for a great party. This song is smooth, fun, and fits perfectly into the darker winter months we are entering.
I didn't know Lil Yachty had BARS. I love seeing Lil Yachty try and play outside of his normal frameworks and playing into this extremely J. Cole beat, with J. Cole. If you like rap, you have to listen to this.
This is my new go-to song to play at a party when people don't listen to reggaetón. It's a perfect party mix with techno, reggaetón, and good beats.
Now if the party is with reggaetón lovers, this song will be on the playlist.
Now moving towards Danish afrobeats and rap mix you have Je Ka Jo by ICEKIDD. It's a great and fun song for a party.
Sleep is the cousin of death and it seems like Nas never really does sleep with how much he manages to put out. But okay, I don't complain he consistently puts out heavy beats and good flow.
Is this Drake's best? No. Is it good? Yes.
I have a very ambivalent relationship with Drake's work, because I would be wrong to deny that he has some amazing albums and great songs. I really do love the sound on this song, it reminds me of Views and I hope to see that the album has more of that vibe - that was a great time for his music.
For the most part I post about rap and reggaetón, but I've actually been to a couple of Wilco concerts and this song is yet another one on their discography that is worth a listen.
I love JT saying, "sana sana culito de rana" such a fun song and collaboration!
I don't know what it is with reggaetón artists and being in love with Japanese culture, but titled in Japanese Hayami meaning a unique woman of beauty and Hana meaning flower, this song by Rauw is of course dedicated to Rosalía (rosa, Hana!)
Make Towers coming through with a great trap song.
Maluma beibe who released a new album this month, had this reggaetón banger on the album.
Brent Faiyaz coming through with yet another relaxed r&b song.
Feed coming through with a club banger, some house mixed with his usual reggaetón flavor.
Karol G going on to having a softer voice, matching her perfectly with Kali Uchis on this wonderful collab.
Anitta is always fun and she's coming through with her baile funk rave, perfect for ass shaking.
I wasn't expecting to hear J. Cole on an afrobeat, but it's 100% a welcomed surprise.
I won't be writing much about these songs, just know they are bangers and you can find them on my Spotify and Tidal as always.
I'm not much of a Travis fan, but this album is definitely worth a listen.
La bichota coming through with yet another reggaetón banger.
Tainy, who in my mind is the Latin American Metro Boomin, came through with an incredible album featuring an array of Latin artists. Of course, my favourite song on the album is with Bad Bunny.
Caribbean tunes, just right for the summer. If you still have that wherever you are listening from.
Don't know the artist, never heard her before, but she delivers some great afrobeats and vibe on this song.
Spanish trap with Eladio.
Now time for scene change with some soft rock/indie.
I love, love, love this song. JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown scaring the hoes and bringing the beats.
Drake came through with some fucking outta pocket lines in this song, but it's a great bop.
I'm not sure if Nas even sleeps with the amount of music he manages to put out. Either way, enjoy.
This summer has been busy and I am sorry to deliver this late, but here’s Top 10 songs for June.
As always, find the playlists here on Spotify and on Tidal.
Starting off is the great soundtrack curated by Metroboomin’ for the new Spider-man Movie, which is awesome by the way. There’s a selection of great songs, but this one is my favorite.
Young Miko shines in this great collab with Jowell and Randy, enjoy a nice dembow with great rap flow accompanying it.
Janelle Monáe who has been promoting her new album in great ways, has finally released it and she has brought some bangers. Enjoy Paid In Pleasure with the groovy beats and summer sounds.
Rosalía released in June the romantic song TUYA. The song is great, although bittersweet to review such a song following her break-up with her fiance, Rauw Alejandro.
Earlier this year Feid and Yandel released Yandel 150, which was great so how else do you make a reggaetón song better than by adding the one and only Daddy Yankee.
Although, I’m a bit sad that this version does not have the iconic, “hey mor” line from Feid.
Completely switching focus and instead looking at Danish pop rap, Kesi comes through with house inspired rap, perfect for a good summer vibe and clubbing.
Groovy beats and nice samples, Burna Boy comes through with Sittin’ On Top Of The World
Good flows, gospel and cyperbeats all joined with rap veterans.
A perfect club song if you like heavy beats made for perreo.
Lastly, another perreo song this one more feminine with the beautiful Bad Gyal, Tokischa, and Young Miko spitting great bars and having fun with Chulo.
In May we have been spoiled with great EPs and singles, here are my 10 favorite releases this month.
Find the playlists on Spotify and Tidal right here.
Kendrick blends beautifully into the queer house themes of this song and just plays around with it perfectly.
Janelle Monáe has been promotion their new album in great manners and this little taste the album is great. Janelle Monáe has repeatedly made amazing soft queer pop albums and this seems to be yet another one for the collection.
Odd for El Conejo Malo to title a song in English, but the lyrics are still in Spanish and it's a great high energy song for your summer evening parties.
Slowing down a bit, we have Summer Walker and Childish Gambino's song New Type. The songs which is about unhappy love and cheating, with great intertextual references, "Go and call Tyrone". It's also not common to hear Gambino on such a slow beat, almost like he's spitting slam poetry. Worth a listen on a warm evening.
Bringing the speed up again we got Dua Lipa's new song for the Barbie movie coming out this summer (!!!). Dua Lipa is continuing her streak with disco inspired pop music and it's a great bop.
Mixing reggaeton with afrobeats with have Pablo Alborán, Ckay, and Leo Rizzi on this. Afrobeats and reggaetón is a match made in heaven, there's nothing more to say.
This song I stumbled upon by pure chance, simply because the artist shares name with another artist i like. Carmon, an 18 year old Spanish artist who has just released her first EP and this absolute banger is on it. Her music can best be described as Spanish Hyperpop and indie, for La Noche Entera it's a queer summer indie song and completely worth listening to.
Danish rap artist Artigeardit comes through with a heavy and melodic rap. It fits him perfectly, but is still a breathe of fresh air.
Another reggaetón afrobeat match made in heaven. Nothing more to say.
Switching it up with a Mexican banda song from the band Fuerza Regida,this song has great rhythm and speed and is perfect for a noon where you need to dance, feel the sun, or have beer.
This month has blessed us with long albums, such as Mac DeMarco’s One Wayne G which is 8 hours and 43 minutes long in clear contrast to Jack Harlow’s Jackman. which only spans 24 minutes. None the less, many interesting projects both albums and EPs have been released this month and here are my favorite 10 songs released this month.
Find the playlists on Tidal and Spotify here.
Starting off with the legendary Tego Calderón we have a classic reggaetón song ready for the night clubs and nice weather.
If you need something soothing after going partying listening to Calderón, you can sit back and enjoy the soft afrobeats of Trumpets by Olamide and Ckay.
And if you’re in a more nostalgic mood, you can turn up the speaker to NEW YORK (CONCEPT DE PARIS) with Jay Z and Gil Scott-Heron, which reinvents Jay-Z’ hit song Empire State of Mind.
If you want newer rap and trap, listen to queer artist Young Miko with Cazzu on Brinca.
And if you want something completely different you can listen to No Commando, tropical sounds, electronics, and pure vibes.
Returning to Spanish we have another well loved artist, MORA, with a softer reggaetón song.
And if you like it hard - your reggaetón that is - you can listen to Perrita.
If you’re more into late night rap and slow beats, Stars On The Roof is the way forward.
Keeping it soft and turning it R&B, Bless Your Heart is a great listen. If you like H.E.R. or DRAM you are sure to love chlothegod.
Lastly, I would be wrong not to include one last good Spanish trap song.
An album review of Jack Harlow's newest album, Jackman. (2023)
Jackman. (2023) is the newest album from Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow, who gained international fame with his pop rap song, WHAT’S POPPIN (2020). However, he breaks from this style in Jackman., exploring the genres of conscious rap and storytelling in rap, over the short span of 24 minutes divided into 10 songs.
This album follows last year's release, Come Home The Kids Miss You (2022), which disappointed many critices and fans alike. In contrast, Jackman. has received a lot of praise, with people reacting positively to his change in genre and citing his lyricism as having greatly improved He shows clear inspiration from artists such as Drake, with songs like Is that Ight? and It Can’t Be which is reminiscent of a J. Cole track.
The album kicks off with Common Grounds, a song where Harlow critiques American white suburban kids who appropriate Black American culture. In doing so, he seemingly acknowledges his own part in rap culture. However, this is later downplayed by It Can’t Be, where Harlow sarcastically states that his success is solely due to his hard work and not his skin color, neglecting to acknowledge the privilege he has.
Throughout the album, the instrumentals are stripped down to give space for the lyricism, but this does not always work in Harlow's favor. His flow is very uniform throughout, and he neglects to take full advantage of the auditory storytelling elements. However, They Don’t Love It is an example of one of his stronger songs on the album.
On his lyrically absolute strongest song, Gang Gang Gang, Harlow sets the tone with its eerie-sounding hook:
Ride for my dawgs, lie for my dawgs, die for my dawgs
This is heard between verses of storytelling where Harlow experiences the disgust and horror of finding out two childhood friends, one of whom grew up to be a serial rapist and the other a pedophile. The storytelling is one of the strongest elements on the album, but it is still somewhat lackluster and flat, undercut by the fairy tale ending of the song.
Overall, the album is a great improvement on his previous work and shows that we can expect more from Harlow than just clever lines and fun songs. However, the album seems half-finished and lacks depth despite its focus on conscious rap. While it may not be part of my rotation, I will be listening out for what Harlow has in store for us in the future.
Tyler, The Creator unreleased songs, finding out Manuel Turizo is only 22 years old and a Khalid comeback. March has had a lot on store for us, music wise.
Find the playlists here on Spotify and Tidal.
To start off with we have one of the songs from Manuel Turizo's new album 2000. The album's cover is a picture of him as a baby, as he was born in the year 2000. An incredible discovery, to see such a talented artist become internationally known at such a young age. Turizo has earlier released his hit La Bachata and on the album follows it up with El Merengue, which certainly is worth a listen. However, I would like to highlight the song Verte de Nuevo.
Next up I wanted to bring your attention to this song, by up and coming Danish rapper D1MA. What you'll see is that in recent years, the Danish rap scene has certainly been mixed a lot with pop and more melodic sounds and this song is no exception.
Eladio Carrión has also released a new album this month, a mixture of Spanish rap and reggaetón. In contrast to D1MA and other Danish rap artists, you'll see that Eladio and many other Spanish spoken artists still use a heavy beat when rapping, more inspired by the American south. Therefore it is no surprise, that this song Peso a Peso is featuring American artists Quavo and Rich the Kid.
This next song isn't completely new, it's a re-release - but none the least it's a great song. HOT WINDS BLOWS by Tyler, The Creator and Lil Wayne. It's a wonderful mixture of rap and melody.
Becky G usually releases reggaetón and fast paced songs, but has slowed it down for this acoustic guitar driven song with Peso Pluma. Listen to their beautiful and slow love song, Chanel.
Moving from slow and Spanish to soft and English. Khalid has brought a nice summer pop song to our ears, Softest Touch is a nice bop, reminds me a lot of recent Lizzo releases. Sweet and pop-py.
This list would be nothing if I forgot to mention Kali Uchis amazing new album Red Moon in Venus. Another bilingual release by her, suave vocals and relaxing sounds. She is ethereal. The song which I have chosen to highlight is one of her few featured songs, where Don Toliver gets the pleasure of sharing a Fantasy with her.
Kiko el Crazy El Alfa is here to switch it up. Going from the slow beautiful songs to --- well a Kiko el Crazy and El Alfa song. Ass shaking, quick lyrics, sex fixated and a good bass.
You can feel the summer is creeping up when afrobeats are in the air. One Of A Kind by Jaido P and Fireboy Dml is a great song to add to your playlist for sunny days and sunbathing.
Lastly, NATTI NATASHA brings your typical reggaetón song, beat and fun to the scene with ALGARETE. Let Natti Nash make you move in the club, in the kitchen, whenever and wherever.
Shakira has blessed us once again with a beautiful song, shittalking her ex. This is on Karol G’s new album MAÑANA SERA BONITO where on the song, Karol G also fires shots at her ex-fiancé Anuel AA on this great song. I recommend listening to the whole album, as Karol G really has a lot of songs which varies greatly in the form and inspiration.
I have, in an attempt to branch out, also included quite a lot of non-Spanish songs this time. So without further ado, here are my top recommendations for February releases.
Find the playlist on Spotify here, or on Tidal here.
To start off with is the aforementioned song by Karol G and Shakira, TQG. Here the Colombian queens ask their former partners such as, what happened? I thought you were happy with your new girl, so why are you checking up on me?
I could not keep myself from adding another Karol G song onto this list. I really do implore you to listen to her new album. This song is called DAÑAMOS LA AMISTAD which is by Karol G and Sech, a true reggaetón song perfect for a house party, pre-party or just pure fun.
Not leaving reggaetón alone, we have the Father of it - Daddy Yankee with LA HORA Y EL DÍA. This song is a great fit to put on, at the party right after Karol G’s song.
This has been a collaboration I have been waiting for, for some time. Gorillaz released their new album, Cracker Island which features many amazing and different artists such as Beck, Thundercat and my favorite Bad Bunny.
Recently, I was informed that a new movie has come out by the name of Cocaine Bear this movie is about a bear on cocaine, based on the true story of a black bear that ate an enormous amount of cocaine that she found in the forrest. Who better than Pusha-T to create a song for the soundtrack? White Lines (Remix) made on the backdrop of White Lines by Grandmaster Flash, is a great song where Push delivers funny wordplay and great bars.
Slowing down a bit, we have Don Toliver’s newest album Love Sick which I also recommend as a listen. Here I want to highlight his song with Kali Uchis, a smooth and relaxing song.
Moving on to a French afrobeat song we have Tayc, who released this great song perfect for a car ride or staying at home with a glass of wine and a good conversationalist.
Not straying far from the afrobeat we have Rema and Stormzy with Hide and Seek. This song is a bit more upbeat and can easily be listened to to bring up the mood.
For a bit of a throwback, The Weeknd has released Die for You (Remix) featuring Ariana Grande. There’s no need to describe how great they are when they collaborate. Their angelic voices work in perfect harmony.
Lastly, we have an English spoken song by a smaller Danish artist, Giift. This song is a great RnB song and great for the next time you just want to turn off your brain and relax for a moment.
This month starts off strong, Shakira took over the entire music scene with her amazing diss song about ex-boyfriend Piqué and his mistress Clara. A song which makes me happy that there are so many amazing translators, but yet still feel pity for those of you who won't get the feel effect of understanding the Spanish. While this list has a significant amount of Spanish spoken songs, we have had really promising releases outside of the Spanish spoken scene.
The following list is my favorite 10 songs from this month.
If you have been living under a rock, you would still at least have heard of this song. Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53. It is the ultimate revenge song, with clever wordplay calling out Shakira’s ex and his former mistress turned girlfriend. Not only is are the lyrics satisfying, but the song is simply addictive.
Everybody loves a Colombian accent, but the way Feid says mi amor just hits absolutely different in this song. An entrance sentence to this temazo, which is perfect for perrear.
Moving on to another Spanish spoken song. I actually had a hard time choosing a song from this release, Asimétrico, a project which consist of 5 songs by Rafa Pabön. Besides this great pop banger, I have also added his salsa-song Agüita de Coco to my own personal playlist and I highly recommend listening to all 5 songs from this release.
Taking it back to the reggaetón, we have Yeska which is perfect to start the party.
Continuing with the Puerto Rican reggaetón artists we have Daddy Yankee and Rauw Alejandro, with an additional song to Rauw previously released album SATURNO RELOADED.
Rauw Alejandro is also joined by his girlfriend in releasing bangers this January. La Rosalía, the Spanish artist released LLYLM, which stands for Lie Like You Love Me. Quite a title for a Spanish/English song, with a flamenco inspired sounds.
Quevedo follows closely by with his album released this month. Now there are many good songs on it, and he is certainly an artist to keep on your playlist if you like reggaetón, which is a bit different than the typical.
Moving on from reggaetón we have a rap song, heavy beats, gun sounds, and big words that’s what defines this song.
Going on to English spoken music. This month can’t go by without mentioning the artist Lil Yatchy. Yatchy who is known for his highly auto-tuned rapping has changes styles with this psychadelic inspired album, where he heavily samples Pink Floyd. I will be the first to say, I do not like the album as a whole, however Yatchy does have some really compelling songs on it which are worth the time.
And I would love to end this list with my favorite new star, Ice Spice. She delivers fun, catchy rap. Ice Spice has some great samples, delivers solid bars and just has so much fun with it - there’s not way to dislike her.
Listen to all the songs, right here on my Top 10 January Spotify playlist, or alternatively on my Tidal playlist.
For the people defending Drake, saying the ‘shots’ line was meant to allude to something other than Meg. Does being intellectually dishonest weigh on you after awhile? I really wanna know, because I truly do not believe y’all are that dense. Does all the mental gymnastics you have to go through to gaslight women and uphold blatant misogynoir ever get old, like do you ever need a V8 to deal with the fatigue of gaslighting women and abetting abusers. This is sad. Y’all are such free thinkers, do ever think twice, ever? She’s a person. Black women are people, deserving of dignity, respect and care. And this man made a bar about her being shot and won’t even stand ten toes down on it. Disgraceful. Black women, I wish y’all safety, love, peace and healing. You deserve all of the good things.
Ask is in response to this post.
Black women are not respected, Drake reflects this and more in his lyrics and those who chose to simply believe it’s an unfortunate coincidence and not a direct insult to Meg also show how they do not believe Black women.
Art cannot be viewed outside of politics as it does not exist in a vacuum. Drake is informed by his own beliefs and through his art influences others, main young men to align themselves with these same values.
A commentary on Drake and 21 Savage’s new album and how Drake went from being a hopeless romantic to just a hopeless loser.
This Friday Drake and 21 Savage released their collaborative album Her Loss which features 16 songs, 4 of them solely by Drake making it feel less like a collaboration and more like a Drake album with 21 Savage features. This project differs from Drake’s previous release of this year, Honestly, Nevermind in so far that it takes less inspiration from house and returns to the sound we usually correlate to Drake and 21 Savage as artists. This is completely and totally a rap-album. In this album Drake refers to multiple of his contemporaries, some by name such as the artist Bad Bunny, but also through words like bitch such as for Megan Thee Stallion. Drake has the following to say about Tina Snow on his song Circo Loco
This bitch lie about getting shots, but she still a stallion
This is in reference to Megan Thee Stallion getting shot in the foot, alledgedly by Tory Lanez who is awaiting trail for the 28th of this month.
And without knowing the verdict of the trial, this opens up to the question: why is Drake and so many men ready to call Megan a liar? As more attention have been brought onto assault, typically sexual assault, caused by men victimizing women in the last decade or so, we’ve also been audience to women being discredited, treated as untrustworthy, and deceitful. This view of women is deeprooted in our society and what Drake exemplifies is a systemic disbelief in women. Treating women as untrustworthy is a tool of our opression. It erases women’s voices, authority and power.
It’s the grease that makes the entire system go. Women’s erasure is an essential part of the deal powerful men have always made with the men they would have power over: let me have control over you, and in turn I will ensure you can control women.
Drake used to make music with Black women in mind, he made songs with the intend to empower and uplift women such as Fancy, Take Care and Madonna these are songs that celebrate independent women, who pursue their own education, have their own career goals and lifes. But in reality, this is not the woman Drake wants. After professing his love for Rihanna at a speech in 2016, he then made a song with her abuser Chris Brown, who mind you, almost killed her. Drake was also at the receiving end of a lot of controversy, when it was releaved that he was texting the then 14 year old Millie Bobby Brown about her love-life, a weird situation to be at more than twice her age. This is not the first time Drake has publically been romantically involved with a teenager as a video resurfaced of him kissing a 17 year old at one of his concerts, as well as him dating an 18 year old model, at the age of 31. Drake does not care about women, he cares about what they can do for him, but he does not see them as equal nor care for their independence as his previous songs would have you believe. In his actions he is clearly using the power imbalance between women and men, which is even more stark within the rap-community, to his advantage. By calling Megan a liar, he is aligning himself with a growing number of young men, incels and the likes, who band around a community of hatred for women. These are the followers of Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan. These are men who truly and deeply believe that women are deceitful, and that it is more likely that they are lying about assault than that the assault actually happened. All of this, he does while also saying the following on the song Spin Bout U on the new album.
Damn, just turned on the news and seen that men who never got pussy in school
Are makin' laws about what women can do
I gotta protect ya
He is obviously trying to continue to pander to women, but the one we need protection from is him. By discrediting Megan Thee Stallion, who would have absolutely no reason to lie, Drake is upholding the patiarchy and why? It’s simple, it’s because he benefits from it.
Because the existing power structure is built on female subjugation, female credibility is inherently dangerous to it. Patriarchy is called that for a reason: men really do benefit from it. When we take seriously women’s experiences of sexual violence and humiliation, men will be forced to lose a kind of freedom they often don’t even know they enjoy: the freedom to use women’s bodies to shore up their egos, convince themselves they are powerful and in control, or whatever other uses they see fit.
Not only does Drake benefit from weakening women in his field of work, now that we see such strong talent and competition, he is protecting himself should his romantic-track record give any indications as to what he might do, as well as protecting his male counterparts in the industry. He is protecting himself not any women even if he does say, “I gotta protect ya” he does not even have the common decency to respect us.
Quotes throughout this article are from
Deadly Silence: what happens when we don’t believe women
kaledo-art
stormborns
pixelskylines
titsay
areudirty
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn