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. This week is especially loaded. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite artist or album in the process.
3 of The Best New HIP-Hop Songs of the Week
dexter in the newsagent- “Eighteen”
Teenagers go through some intense existential crises. It might seem a little melodramatic, their whole lives are ahead of them, they don’t work or pay any bills. The most they’ll ever have to worry about is the social nightmare that high school inevitably entails. However, that’s sort of the point. The passage of time feels disorienting, the impending adulthood can oftentimes feel extremely stressful. What do we want to do with our lives? What does the future even look like?
dexter in the newsagent distills these anxieties well on “Eighteen,” tender and wistful through an amalgamation of 2000s pop, indie, and R&B. She wields uncertainty with grace, no quiver in her voice despite the sobering reality that time moves forward. We can’t be kids forever and those dreams need action or they’ll fade away into the abyss. Dexter is exceptional, subtly emotive in her singing. Every pre-chorus takes a deep breath before launching into the tearful hook, embracing her fears. It’s the earnest quality in her demeanor that keeps dexter in the newsagent from a calloused dismissal. Her anxieties of the future are relatable, even if it’s simple like gray hairs and moves out of our rooms.
Veeze- “L.O.A.T”
The title for greatest rapper alive changes hands all the time. Utlimately, it’s a matter of who’s active, whether it’s a litany of guest features or a fantastic album. Back in the 2000s, Lil Wayne kept it in his ballpark through pure dominance, mixtapes, albums, and verses galore. He was good to keep his throne in a much different music industry. Nowadays, the streaming culture makes the fight for the throne more turbulent than ever. It changes hands more than the WWF Hardcore championship. However, if anyone has claim to it on a relatively consistent basis, it’s Veeze.
Veeze might be the greatest rapper alive because he resurrects a lot of the same practices Lil Wayne led with back in the day. The energy is similar too, hip-hop as an empire to conquer and the means to keep proving it. There’s no days off when trying to claim the best rapper alive. You can’t go on hiatus like Kendrick Lamar and expect it to still be his. You have to prove it.
On the slinky “L.O.A.T,” Veeze reasserts the position he claimed when he released Ganger in 2023. The best bars are absurd and hilarious, a trait that goes underrated in hip-hop. “I pour up drank with the floor seats and scream out a play to the coach” is the kind of zany, lavish line that we used to adore Ghostface Killah for back in the day. There are plenty of rappers that sound good but you can never remember what they actually say. Veeze is the kind of rapper with sticky punchlines that stick around in your head for days.
Miguel- “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U)”
It’s been 8 years since we last heard from Miguel. In 2017, he released the loose and groovy War & Leisure, generally low stakes and sexy, the kind of records you’d hear at a day party over mimosas. When you take such a long time off, what do you really have to say? Do you come back like nothing ever happened?
On “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U),” it didn’t seem like he changed all that much initially. There’s a sexy, searing guitar riff that awakens Wildheart, his sunburned rock and funk album in 2015. On a breezy, inattentive listen, it’s a thick, muggy groove. However, upon further examination, Miguel offers a radical, Bonnie & Clyde style rebellion, where love as a sacrifice turns literal. Edgy fantasy takes over the imagination, angsty and thrilling how two lovers would never leave each other behind if things go south.
But then, he unfurls the why of their operation. When he says “I’ve got my seed on my mind” and echoes “the love can’t be silent when the system isn’t equal,” desperation sinks in. Miguel and his partner aren’t backing down from the consequences either. “And if I hear sirens outside, and I can see the lights flash, let me kiss you goodbye, you know I’m ready to blast,” he croons. This isn’t your typical stickup jam. It’s a covert tune of rebellion. Eight years away, Miguel clearly has more on his mind than “Luke Skywalkin’ on these haters.”
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