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 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 listenable? 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
“DWNTWN LUV” by Thirteendegrees
Nostalgia can be a dangerous tool for an artist to wield. If you rely too much on it, it hardly means anything. At best, it’ll be pleasant enough not to pay much mind. At worst, it’ll make someone wonder why they aren’t just listening to the original song.
What makes Thirteendegrees so fascinating is his attention to detail when he dives back into the past. Records like “Da Problem Solva” hone in on the specific era of OBEY logos and NBA 2K11 YouTube videos. Now, “DWNTWN LUV” muses on a bygone era of Tumblr and Instagram with somber mood boards and TBH/rate posts. “But I told shawty, you can take my heart, take it or leave it,” he yearns. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to scroll on an iPhone 5 to see what old photos you didn’t save to your iCloud.
“TIM3” by Mike WiLL Made-It and SahBabii
SahBabii has made his mark as one of Atlanta’s strangest musical stylists. However, there have been times when he sets aside his eccentricities to some of the most blistering bars you could hear come out of Atlanta today.
Sure, you might’ve heard rappers refer to extendo clips as chopsticks. But have you heard SahBabii say that they’ll turn you into some egg foo young? It’s not enough just to kill your friends; he has to “dig your partner up and display ’em like a dinosaur.” Is SahBabii typically good for his weird tentacle-forward imagery, deranged horniness, and colorful threats? Sure, but never take his methods as a lack of skill as a rapper.
“Gold Wrapper” by Mike Sherm and Fenix Flexin
California and Michigan are in a tight race for the state with the funniest rappers. “Gold Wrapper” sees Mike Sherm and Shoreline Mafia’s Fenix Flexin indulge in the kind of cartoonish horniness that makes for some outlandish imagery.
“Young Hugh Hefner, 100 h**s in my mansion/b*****s doing anything for me, Charles Manson,” Fenix quips before admitting that the back shots smell too much like fish. Meanwhile, Sherm won’t even touch a woman if they aren’t paying *him* instead. Rappers like Mike Sherm and Fenix Flexin are so rabid that even Johnny Bravo would tell them to relax.
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