Keeping up with 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 Beyoncé rock the world with a new album and Charli XCX make a bit of a rap pivot. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.
Beyoncé — “Virgo’s Groove”
Last week belonged to Beyoncé as she released Renaissance and got rave reviews from just about everybody, including Lil Nas X and Questlove. Among the highlights is “Virgo’s Groove,” a funky six-minute disco odyssey that shows, as do many Renaissance songs, how comfortably and confidently Beyoncé can float between genres at a high level.
Charli XCX — “Hot Girl”
Especially in recent years, Charli XCX has been as eager as just about anybody to fold different genres into her work and she goes full-blown hip-hop on her latest, “Hot Girl.” On the song (Charli’s contribution to the movie Bodies Bodies Bodies), Charli rarely sings, like on the self-assured hook: “I’m a hot girl, pop girl, rich girl / I’m a b*tch girl, fast girl, catch me if you can, girl / You a swerve, girl, who the f*ck are you, girl? / You just wanna be me.”
Calvin Harris — “New To You” Feat. Normani, Tinashe, and Offset
We’re a few days from Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 now and Harris has shared another one of the many star-studded efforts on the album. “New To You” — which features Normani, Tinashe, and Offset — is pure disco, both in its rhythms and liberal use of strings, and a midtempo breather sure to serve listeners well all summer.
Nav and Travis Scott — “Never Sleep” Feat. Lil Baby
Canadian favorite Nav has a new one, Demons Protected By Angels, on the way, which he hyped up last week with “Never Sleep,” a Travis Scott collaboration that also features Lil Baby. Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes, “Tay Keith provides the beat, with additional production by Grayson and Mike Dean, and the three rappers let loose, calculating their income and detailing their spending through colorful metaphors hailing their wealth.”
Quavo and Takeoff — “Us Vs. Them” Feat. Gucci Mane
Recent days have brought mixed messages about the current status of Migos as a group, one factor contributing to that being Quavo and Takeoff (aka Unc And Phew) making music together sans-Offset. They did so again last week, keeping the three-piece dream alive by recruiting Gucci Mane to join them on “Us Vs. Them.”
Maggie Rogers — “Shatter”
It’s tough to have the release of your second album overshadowed by a Beyoncé album, although like most of us, Rogers is just happy to have new Beyoncé. Rogers’ new LP, Surrender, is for sure worth multiple plays after (or before, depending on your tastes) you’ve gotten through Renaissance, as highlights like the synthy and rollicking “Shatter” show.
King Princess — “Let Us Die”
King Princess had the honor of being one of Taylor Hawkins’ last collaborators before his death, as the late Foo Fighters drummer got behind the kit for “Let Us Die,” from King Princess’ new album Hold On Baby. Indeed, as Hawkins’ presence suggests, the song has a rock edge to it and Princess thinks it’s “probably the best song I’ve ever written.”
Rina Sawayama — “Hold The Girl”
Sawayama has so far teased a diverse album in Hold The Girl, and last week’s title track is a further example of that variety. Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez notes the song “opens as a slow, string-driven ballad, then, once it gets to the chorus, drums join in, along with guitars and glorious piano keys, transforming the downtempo symphony into dance-ready melodies.”
Young Dolph — “Hall Of Fame”
It’s been nearly a year since Young Dolph tragically passed away last November, and last week brought the first posthumous music from the late rapper. On “Hall Of Fame,” Dolph establishes his level of popularity and acclaim, rapping, “They say I’m showing out, they say I should be ashamed, I don’t do it for the clout, b*tch, I do it for the gang. You can walk in any trap and I bet they know my name, Frank Matthews of the South, put me in the hall of fame.”
Cordae — “Multi-Platinum”
Cordae fancies himself a story-teller, or at least he should based on last week’s “Multi-Platinum.” The two-minute song is a Kid Culture-produced number on which Cordae eschews a proper chorus so he can tell a story about an ill-fated young rapper who let success get the best of him.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.