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 Rap and R&B Songs of the Week
El Cousteau- “Menace to Society”
How great a modern Alchemist beat can be is entirely dependent on who’s piercing through it. Sometimes, it’s as simple as a raw loop, like on “Menace to Society.” It’s searing, like the blue flame flickering from a stovetop, the heat waves sizzling off of the asphalt, the drums cracking and battering through cement. It’s staggeringly simple and sparse in its space; it can feel extremely overwhelming for a lesser rapper to conquer.
El Cousteau is the special exception, a scorching trash talker out of DC with offhand free jazz flows and visceral haymakers every other line. “Whoop a n***a with the fists, I’m like ‘b***h a** n***a, go get ya gun,” he snarls. Grizzled intensity and luxury aesthetics go hand in hand with Cousteau; tales of robbery and fur coat shopping fill his self portraits. But the former is merely a byproduct of his hustle, a fearlessness that sees record labels call him ‘sir’ and death is an inevitability he isn’t worried about. Rather than let Alchemist’s blazing production consume him, he wields the fire.
Liim- “WHY WHY”
The best part of New York is that it can assume a variety of different identities. The multicultural melting pot breeds a lot of different twists and turns musically. In hip-hop alone, it has oscillated between traditionalist Pete Rock soul flips and robust DJ Premier drums to scorching drill anthems. Maybe it’ll tinker with the vodka fueled horniness of Cash Cobain’s sexy drill movement. Another artist might ruminate on their upbringing in the concrete jungle through an artsier lens.
What makes Harlem’s Liim fascinating is how he distills the essence of all of these different styles. Fans and artists alike are still trying to pinpoint what he’s all about. Pigeons and Planes cite Pharrell, Blood Orange, and Steve Lacy as stylistic comparisons. Meanwhile, Tyler, the Creator summons Max B and Stereolab from the bowls and rails of skate parks. The thing is, all of these ideas are true.
Take “WHY WHY,” an icy, heavy-hearted rumination on a withering relationship. Liim croons and howls over chilly, overcast synths, flattening sub bass and clinking hi-hats about the dizzying toxicity between him and his partner. She’s soft and tender but also capable of deep vitriol. The last time he sings “why, why,” it’s to the point of exhaustion, where fighting feels inevitable and pointless.
The bridge into the outro showcases Liim’s dense, luscious musicality, playing like a intimate vignette of every good moment in the relationship before the fire burns out. It’s some of the closest work we’ll get to a classic 90’s R&B interlude. Liim’s gambit of melding all of his intricate taste in music and fashion through his own songs is an extension of what makes New York great. It can take on many forms while still maintaining its distinct regional flair.
Kal Banx & Isaiah Rashad- “0022ZAY”
Isaiah Rashad has an uncanny ability to tap into the Southern experience with any producer. Within the last decade, he’s struck a strong alliance with Dallas beat maker Kal Banx. His work informs a strong portion of Rashad’s 2021 outing The House is Burning, extremely warm and intimate and a reflection of the healing the Chattanooga rapper was undergoing.
Nowadays, you can find Banx on practically any TDE release, from SiR to Doechii. However, it’s his shared ideals with Rashad that blooms the most. “0022ZAY” might be the title of some leftover in the vault, but it feels extremely lived in. Kal Banx paints a front porch conversation while passing a blunt around, the woodwinds giving a rich woodsiness that reflects quiet Southern living. Isaiah Rashad’s mantra is simple: everything is confusing and disorienting, so give him something he can feel. It’s this kind of breeziness and familiarity Kal Banx imbues that depicted Rashad as one of rap’s best every-men. Although Isaiah Rashad says that he’s branching out towards ambitious, funkier Stankonia era Outkast and Prince, it’s still nice to hear him on something so cozy.
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