13 Beats of the Week: 10/22/20
- “Wishmaster,” by Lil Ugly Mane — Lil Ugly Mane has long been a personal favorite, mostly because of the consistency – even on his B-sides – that cements his sound as something revolutionary and unprecedented in the Memphis rap genre.
- “So.Incredible.pkg,” by Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats — One of the most incredible collaborations of recent history, Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats produced the wonky Unlocked back in February, making it one of the few recent concept albums to have mainstream appeal.
- “Norf Norf,” by Vince Staples — A homage to his roots of Long Beach, California, now-renowned rapper Vince Staples made “Norf Norf” for his oldest and most prolific album Summertime ’06 back in 2015.
- “Backseat Freestyle,” by Kendrick Lamar — Kendrick Lamar’s “Backseat Freestyle” is a homage to youthful recklessness and the nonsensical rodomontade of childhood aggression. Occasionally absurd and even comical, Lamar on this track emphasizes how clueless one can be of the world around them.
- “In The Lobby,” by IndigoChildRick — Rising Florida-based trap star IndigoChildRick makes short snippets of boom-bap-powered raging hip hop, which are not for the faint of heart in any capacity.
- “Quicksand,” by Timothy Bright — Smalltime bedroom artist Timothy Bright creates raspy lo-fi hip hop bangers, coming about as a rising artist after the recent internet-based musician explosion resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown.
- “Dump You In a Rivah,” by Nickelus F — Southern hip hop legend Nickelus F released his solo project Stuck back in 2018, and making waves with revolutionary production that some still try to mimic today.
- “I Did It – Chanel Tres Remix,” by Kris Yute & Chanel Tres — Chanel Tres has always been a legendary producer, and his role on New York City’s own Kris Yute’s “I Did It” is a huge emphasis of his ability. This being said, one shouldn’t sell Yute short in any capacity as he explains his own up-and-coming.
- “RENTAL,” by BROCKHAMPTON — A quiet and underrated release off of the sensational collective BROCKHAMPTON’s SATURATION III, “RENTAL” serves as a precursor to the group’s more emotional releases, like GINGER, while maintaining DIY production and out-of-the-box sampling.
- “1539 N. Calvert,” by JPEGMAFIA — Many claim JPEGMAFIA’s “1539 N. Calvert” is one of the strongest hip hop releases of the past decade, as it brings the stereotypes of glitch hop and underground sampling to the mainstream.
- “Leglock,” by Shakewell — “Leglock” serves as Shakewell’s breakout single, coming from that same gritty and grimy trap sphere as names like Pouya, Bill $aber and Fat Nick.
- “Cyan Hardcore,” by Machine Girl — Taking pages from off-shooting EDM genres like jungle and electro-industrial, Machine Girl released their recent EP RePorpoised Phantasies in response to the growing popularity of hyperpop, introducing new fans to the lush and provocative sounds of the Internet’s densest solo-work from Brooklyn’s own Matt Stephenson.
- “Fireflies,” by Owl City — What if you did get 1,000 hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs? That would be pretty nice.
About the Writer
Miller Downer, Managing Editor
Miller Downer is a senior from Natchez, Mississippi concentrating in environmental biology and English. He's previously served as an assistant commentary...
