Hey! Another great week for music. This past year and onward feels special. As a fan, it feels like there was a major kick in the ass for artists to go out and experiment. And with the internet being the main source of fame nowadays over labels, I feel like it’s forced major artists to not play it safe and go hard. It’s really exciting. 

Anyways, this week was headlined by the KENZO Winter 2022 show. Here’s the full show if you’re curious. Major names in hip-hop showed out in support of icon Nigo taking the helm at the brand. If you’re not familiar, Nigo was the founder of BAPE. He also founded Billionaire Boys Club with Pharrell. So, huge names in hip-hop like Kanye, Cudi, Pusha T, Tyler, The Creator, and more all showed out in support. This also lines up with the rollout of the I Know Nigo Album he’s putting together, but I’ll touch on that in a second.

This also coincided with the announcement of DONDA 2. Which, apparently, is coming out February 22nd. That would be super cool, 2/2/22, but you know how the story goes. Yandhi, Turbo Grafx, need I say more. Also Future is executive producing the project. Oh boy.

But back to my point. I think experimenting is becoming cool again in music. There are artists like ericdoa and glaive combining elements of pop, electronic, emo, and hip-hop. And it seems like now most of the time, these artists are gaining bigger followings rather than the mainstream taking the sound and running for the hills. 

Either way, there’s a ton of new drops this week, and I think a lot of them reflect this new experimentation:

“Arya” by Nigo featuring A$AP Rocky – Nigo kicked off the rollout of his highly-anticipated I Know Nigo album that’s supposed to come out this year. The piano on the song is such a cool vibe. It’s a great opening to an era. The album is confirmed to have features from Pharrell, Tyler, The Creator, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Lil Uzi Vert, and more.

“KEEP IT UP” by Rex Orange County – Rex Orange County is back with the first new music since 2019’s Pony. Rex fans will like this one a lot. I think it’s really cool he’s incorporating string sections often. Like basically the whole chorus. The song is very catchy as well. He also announced a full-length album titled WHO CARES? releasing on March 11th, along with a North American and European tour that kicks off in May. The project will feature Tyler, The Creator too.

“DFMU” by Ella Mai – Great track! This is just her second song since her 2018 debut Ella Mai. Nice to see she’s taking her time and not rushing a follow-up. This ones a really moody track. The Mustard and J.Holt production meshes really well with the vocals. Worth a listen for any R&B, Pop, or Rap fans.

old dog, new tricks EP by Glaive – Follow-up to August’s all dogs go to heaven. This one’s a little shorter at five tracks but lives up to its name. Glaive expands his sound with these tracks, and in my opinion, goes over well. There’s also production from Travis Barker on the track “walking around with no hands”, which I’ll link here. Definitely check out the whole EP though.

“Walkin” by Denzel Curry – New Denzel era! This one dropped earlier in the week, but nonetheless a great track. Production from Kal Banx too. The songs split up into two parts, and more hard-hitting, boom-bap section, and a more graceful section with trap drums. He also just announced the tour with Kenny Mason, Mike Dimes, redveil, and PlayThatBoiZay.

It’s Not So Bad by KYLE – Singer/Rapper KYLE’s first fully independent album. Pretty new sound for him here. There’s a lot of singing and a lot of tracks with heavier grooves. I listened to it while writing this, and I enjoyed it a lot. Very danceable, and the singing is great throughout. Any Pop or R&B fans should give it a spin.

“Postman” and “Magazine” featuring Salami Rose Joe Louis – New album cycle for Toro as well. These two are very cluttered but clear at the same time. You kind of have to hear it to see what I mean. But the vibe is cool. I’d compare it a bit to Channel Tres. It’s own thing, but a similar vibe. Excited to see how he reinvents his sound again.

“NW3” by Bakar – Nice song here from Bakar. His new album Nobody’s Home comes out on February 25th

“Don’t Miss” by SSGKobe – New track from SSGKobe. Very EDM-influenced, especially in the drops and builds to the chorus. Underground hip-hop and hyperpop fans should check this out for sure!

“sad4whattt” by ericdoa – This one’s off of the Euphoria soundtrack. Classic ericdoa. Super dope. Banger!

“YEET” by Yung Kayo featuring Yeat – Immaculate. The beat is WILD. Any hip-hop fan should check this out. Yung Kayo and Yeat both body the beat.

On that note, that’s it for this week. Happy Friday!

Have a good one!