Happy Friday!

A lot, a lot of new releases this week. Some major comebacks as well. I’m going to share my top picks of the week and some that demand attention.

30 by Adele (album) – The 33-year-old singer-songwriter is a once-in-a-generation talent. Whenever she releases, her music is everywhere. But she is also a rare pop star in the sense she’s also never sacrificed her sound for commercial success. The album outlines her divorce and takes you through her mind at the time, and even explaining the divorce to her son. Definitely worth a listen.

Donda Deluxe by Kanye West (album) – This released a couple days ago on Sunday, but it’s Kanye, so I’m going to talk about it anyway. Kanye added five new songs, including ‘Life Of The Party’ with André 3000. ‘Life Of The Party’. releasing on its own garnered attention as it was leaked back in September by Drake, where Kanye’s verse was in fact a Drake diss. The verse has since been changed, and is now much more fitting to the album and theme of the song anyways. He added some songs back from the listening party back, like ‘Never Abandon Your Family’ and ‘Remote Control’ with a Kid Cudi verse. He also switched up the tracklist. Always interesting when Kanye drops.

“2010” by Earl Sweatshirt (single) – Earl Sweatshirt is back! He dropped the first single of this new era since coming off of FEET OF CLAY IN 2019 (which also had a deluxe version that dropped the next year. He’s switched up the sound on this one too, very different from the distorted samples and soft drums of Some Rap Songs and FEET OF CLAY eras. Features a trap beat, produced by Black Noi$e, and clocks a bit over two and a half minutes.

The House Is Burning [homies begged] by Isaiah Rashad – This is the deluxe version of his album that dropped back in July. This version has four new songs, all with features, and even includes a remix of “RIP Young” with brothers Juicy J and Project Pat. Other features include Deanté Hitchcock, Young Nudy, and UMI.

“Yae Energy” by Lil Yachty – Lil Yachty’s back with a new single. The song even has a Lyrical Lemonade music video that’s shot entirely shot on iPhone. It’s pretty sick, and still a high-quality video. Good song overall though, the Buddah-Blessed produced beat bangs but doesn’t take itself too seriously

“Money” by Rico Nasty feat. Flo Milli – Banger. Also interpolates 2 Live Crew’s “We Want Some P***y” which is pretty funny

“Black Illuminati” by Freddie Gibbs featuring Jadakiss – Gibbs collaborates with rap legend Jadakiss for another single for his upcoming album SSS. They both do their thing as always.

“Prick” by Glaive – Back with a single fresh off a tour with ericdoa and the exciting all dogs go to heaven EP he released back in August. Another hyperpop banger, with more trap-centric drums. Great song!

Intimidated by KAYTRANADA – The Grammy-nominated producer is back with his signature groovy dance beats. The project includes features from H.E.R., Thundercat, and Mach-Hommy.

Stop That by Saba – Second single in two weeks for the Chicago-native who’s gearing up for his new album, Few Good Things which drops in February. He does his thing over a chill trap beat.

Have a good one!