Keeping up with the best new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Jay-Z and Pharrell show their support of Black-owned businesses and The Killers make a winning return. Yeah, it was a great week for the best new music. Check out the highlights below.
Pharrell and Jay-Z — “Entrepreneur”
Jay-Z drew some ire for his lyrics on the Pharrell collaboration ‘Entrepreneur” before the track even came out, as he took shots at “Black Twitter.” The full song, though, sees Jay offer words of encouragement for prospective entrepreneurs, with insightful lyrics like, “If you can’t buy the building, at least stock the shelf.”
Nas — King’s Disease
Nas did a good job of drumming up attention for his new project by including a Doja Cat diss on King’s Disease, his first album since 2018’s Nasir. As for non-Nas artists who are actually on the album, he recruited Anderson .Paak, Big Sean, Lil Durk, and others for guest spots.
The Killers — Imploding The Mirage
The pandemic forced this album to arrive later than it was originally meant to, but at last, it’s here. Uproxx’s Steven Hyden wrote of the release, “Imploding The Mirage is just plain fun, at a time when ‘fun’ feels like the opposite of pain and more like a balm.”
BTS — “Dynamite”
BTS have been known to obliterate a record or two in their day, and of course, their first English-language song, “Dynamite,” did just that. The visual racked up a seemingly impossible amount of views in its first hour, a further testament that the strongest military force on Earth may just be the BTS Army.
Mulatto — Queen Of Da Souf
Mulatto told Uproxx of her burgeoning career, which was just punctuated by Queen Of Da Souf, “From the jump, I was like, ‘I know I’m here to say.’ Nobody can convince me otherwise. I know what God put me on this earth to do, and I know my purpose. I don’t believe in that blackballing or burning bridges. You keep it real and you work hard and you pray hard, it’s going to happen to you, and I’m living proof of that.”
Vic Mensa — V Tape
Vic Mensa has spent time in recent years delving into more rocking territory with his side project 93Punx, but now he’s back to hip-hop. V Tape is his first all-rap project since 2018’s Hooligans EP, and it is surely a flashback for fans who remember Mensa as a 2014 XXL Freshman.
Internet Money — “Thrusting” Feat. Future and Swae Lee
Swae Lee and Future last linked up on “Buckets,” from the 2018 Rae Sremmurd album SR3MM, but now they’ve gotten back together. This time, they have assisted Internet Money on “Thrusting,” a dancehall-inspired track featuring R&B-flavored contributions from Future.
Baha Banks — “Shake That Ass” Feat. Chance The Rapper
Chance The Rapper is happily married, but he still spits lines like, “Throw that left cheek on the beat, let me beat / Let me find out you a freak,” on “Shake That Ass.” Chance is guesting here on Baha Banks’ track, and the feature is a great look for the newcomer rapper.
Phoenix — “Identical”
The French group hasn’t been the most active in recent years, but they made a welcomed return last week. “Identical” is the band’s first new song in two years, and it arrived with news that a new album was on the way, which the band described as “all over the place.”
Duckwrth — Supergood
After making a name for himself online over the past handful of years, Duckwrth has arrived with his major-label debut album. As Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes of the project, it “combines soulful grooves to upbeat dance production and savvy, sexy rhymes that set him apart from just about everyone else in the game today.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.