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 Jack Harlow have a busy few days and Kid Cudi pop up with a collaboration. 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.
Jack Harlow — “Nail Tech”
Jack Harlow had a big weekend: The rapper played at the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game (and put together a solid little highlight reel while doing so), and before that, he dropped “Nail Tech,” his first single of the year. Harlow became quite the success with his 2020 debut album That’s What They All Say, and he spends time on the track reflecting on his prosperity.
DDG — “Elon Musk” Feat. Gunna
Speaking of All-Star Weekend participants, Gunna (who joined a high-profile crew for a performance on Saturday) hopped on a new track from up-and-comer DDG. The song is “Elon Musk,” and on it, the rappers reckon it’d be pretty cool to be as wealthy as the titular billionaire.
Nilüfer Yanya — “Anotherlife”
We’re now just days away from Painless, and emerging indie favorite Nilüfer Yanya popped up last week with another preview of the upcoming LP, “Anotherlife.” Uproxx’s Adrian Spinelli says of the song, “It’s a breezy groove, showcasing the seemingly infinite combination of sounds that she employs on the axe.”
Kid Cudi and Nigo — “Want It Bad”
At the end of a week during which the Kid Cudi news cycle was mostly focused on beef, it was nice to wrap up with some actual music. The song is “Want It Bad,” a collaboration with Nigo that falls on the more psychedelic and synth-driven side of Cudi’s oeuvre.
J Balvin — “Niño Soñador”
Balvin is on a hot streak that’s seen him drop a full-length project every year since 2018. It remains to be seen if we’ll get a 2022 album, but he’s certainly got new material to share, as he dropped the tender single “Niño Soñador.”
Khruangbin and Leon Bridges — “Mariella”
After delivering one of 2020’s best collaborative EPs with Texas Sun, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges reunited last week for another batch of tunes, Texas Moon. The five-track effort concludes with “Mariella,” which is about as close as Bridges has gotten to a lullaby, with comforting instrumentation that makes your eyelids feel satisfyingly heavy.
Vince Staples — “Magic” Feat. Mustard
Vince Staples has a new album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart, on the way, and while a tracklist hasn’t been unveiled yet, it seems last week’s “Magic” is the first single.” Uproxx’s Aaron Williams says of the track, “‘Magic’ features a Mustard-standard, post-hyphy beat that gives Vince plenty of real estate to sprawl out and once again explain his Long Beach-bred point of view.”
Tame Impala — “The Boat I Row”
Kevin Parker dropped his latest Tame Impala album, The Slow Rush, back in February 2020, meaning we’re already two years removed from the LP. He marked the occasion last week with The Slow Rush B-Sides & Remixes, which includes such highlights as “The Boat I Row,” a hazy B-side that would have sounded right at home on the album proper.
Baby Tate — “S.L.O. (Slut Him Out)”
Some people are looking for love. As for Baby Tate, she’s more into lust these days, at least going by the lyrics on her latest single, “S.L.O. (Slut Him Out).” The track has a simple and hard-hitting beat over which the rapper proclaims she plans to do a bevy of head-turning, NSFW things.
Beach House — “Hurts To Love”
Last week saw Beach House finally follow their 2018 album 7 with the expansive 18-track Once Twice Melody. In her review of the album, Uproxx’s Caitlin White describes “Hurts To Love” as “a more openly sentimental move than they might have adopted in the past” and continues, “More midi than some of the other offerings here, this song’s lyrics also seem to be more direct than most of the others, confronting the confluence of pain and pleasure that any deep relationship necessarily invokes.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.