Happy December!

Usually as it reaches the colder months, releases tend to slow down. Artists wait for the summer, spring months, it’s where the hits shine. But this year hasn’t followed that trend. Here we are in December, and we have big drops left and right. It’s awesome. My best guess is because of the return if concerts this summer and fall, so artists are eager to put something out for shows.

But I think it represents something else really nice going on right now in music. There are SO MANY amazing artists who put out music, at all levels of popularity. In a streaming world and internet age, we have access to any artist’s music at the touch of our fingers, and they have easier access to making the best quality music they can. It’s a fan’s paradise. And from Brent Faiyaz to Bieber, we have a whole new roundup release.

“I Hate U” by SZA – She’s back! SZA dropped her first single since the widely popular “Good Days” that dropped just weeks under a year ago. Not sure if this is leading up to an album, but she’s been dropping loosies on SoundCloud here and there, so we’ll have to see. It’s classic SZA though, great modern R&B about a toxic relationship. Check it out.

“Mercedes” by Brent Faiyaz – Speaking of toxic R&B! Brent Faiyaz dropped another single to tease his upcoming album. He opts for another futuristic-sounding cut following a similar sound to “Wasting Time” with Drake and The Neptunes. The track features production from himself and go-to collaborator Atu (with who he’s a part of the group Sonder with). His vocals-first, then-beat approach to music always builds a unique listening experience. 

“Just Look Up” by Ariana Grande & Kid Cudi – Cudi and Grande dropped a new song for the Netflix Movie Don’t Look Up. The movie comes out next week, and features both of them!

Hall Of Fame 2.0 by Polo G – Chicago’s Polo G brought the follow-up to the Hall Of Fame series with a deluxe version. Sitting at 14 tracks, the project is almost a whole new album. This version features exciting new cuts with features from Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, NLE Choppa, Lil Tjay, and Yung Liv.

“Day After Tomorrow” by Phoebe Bridgers – Bridgers dropped yet another heart-wrenching cut. The song covers Tom Wait’s song of the same name. This follows a tradition of hers, where she drops a cover song around Christmas time every year (which I found out actually doing research for this article, so cool). 

Scenic Drive by Khalid – El Paso artist Khalid returns with this tape, his first release in over two-and-a-half years. Khalid has always been an interesting artist to me. He has a really unique voice, he’s so talented, and American Teen was so important to my high school years, but I feel like he was an artist that got popular too quickly for his own good. To see this shift from retro-sounding 80s pop tunes to a much more mainstream sound was a little disappointing to me. But to see he’s labeling this offering as a “tape”, lends to a more relaxed way of making music. Features such as Smino, Ari Lenox, JID, and more lend to less mainstream sound as well. This is just my personal opinion, but that’s something that’s happened plenty of times. Welcome back Khalid!

“Build Me A Way” by Bakar – Bakar’s dropped a handful of singles over the past year or so, including “1st Time”, “Play” with Lancey Foux, and most recently “The Mission” a few months back. The Production’s more polished and the vocals are stronger than on most of the cuts from BadKid. This was a nice guitar-centric cut with heartfelt lyrics. Badkid was already a great effort (check it out here if you haven’t), so his next effort should be a great listen as well.

“Sinister” by Cordae (featuring Lil Wayne) – Big feature for Cordae (if the Q-Tip feature from his EP earlier in the year wasn’t enough). But, he doesn’t get outshined by Wayne, and they complement each other well. The hook is super catchy, is reminiscent enough of old-school hip-hop, and modern enough for everyone to get behind. Excited for his next record.

“Wandered To LA” by Juice WRLD (with Justin Bieber) – Juice WRLD drops another posthumous single, this time with a feature from Justin Bieber. It’s catchy, but reeks of a cash grab. 

WAKE UP LUCKI by Lucki & F1lthy – Trap legend Lucki drops a collaborative effort with producer F1lthy. F1lthy’s proved to be an outstanding producer, especially with his work on Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red. It’s crazy to see how Lucki’s sound has evolved from his debut project Alternative Trap back in 2013.

“Block Boy” by Pi’erre Bourne and TM88 – Pi’erre and TM88 give up the first single from their collaborative tape Yo!88 dropping next week, which they announced just a few days ago. Crazy beat on this one. You can see the whole tracklist here.

Rap? EP by Tierra Whack – Whack is back! If you read the article on the announcement a couple of days ago, I was wrong. Rap? still sounded good, and was creative but I was wrong. Great beats, good flows, nice raps. That beat on “Millions” is actually insane too.

“Lose My Cool” by 070 Shake (featuring NLE Choppa) – New Jersey-born 070 Shake has been both a unique and exciting artist since she broke out on Kanye’s ye album back in 2018. This is her first solo single since her debut album back in early 2020. And this single is a great development back on that sound. She bellows over a spacey, futuristic beat. And NLE Choppa delivers a nice, calm, introspective verse. 

That’s all, have a good one and enjoy the weekend!