(Courtesy/Spotify)
Brockhampton-Tokyo (Spotify)
Kevin Abstract’s “Brockhampton” is the hottest and most original group in hip hop right now. The collection of rappers, producers and visual artists has released two studio albums, Saturation I and Saturation II, in the past three months, and their creativity and energy is out of control at the moment. After meeting on a Kanye West fan forum online, all 14 members now live in the same California home, and this close proximity, reminiscent of Outkast’s “Dungeon Family”, is perfect for a young group trying to refine their sound and image. Tokyo is the centerpiece of the album. Kevin Abstract is on the chorus with an intro from JOBA and verses from Ameer Vann and Dom McLennon. The horn sample in the back of the chorus is what the people need to hear. I have a soft spot for horn samples (see “Spottieottiedopalicious” and “When They Reminisce Over You”) but this is the smoothest instrumental you’ll hear this week.
Asap Mob- Walk on water / Get the Bag (Spotify)
Asap Mob’s new Cozy Tapes, Vol. 2: Too Cozy is head-nodding music, plain and simple. Laid back, confident music to nod the living daylights out of your head to. These two tracks are not in a rush, and that is a recipe for the best type of CREW CUTS because when five or six people are on a track you need some space to breath. “Walk on water” sounds like a group of guys walking away from a robbery in the wild west, paying no attention to explosions in the background. This song continues the horn trend this week with its chorus, and it too is a great sample. Best verse entrance of the week goes to A$AP Ant for his opening verse in this song. If his flow for the first few bars was extended for all four minutes of the song I’d be fine with it. “Get the Bag”, not to be confused with Gucci Mane’s “I Get the Bag,” is an equally good head nodder. The beat stays in the background and lets the usual A$AP suspects, and Playboi Carti do their thing. The producer behind the beat, ZoneOut WorldWide, has only seven songs on Soundcloud and 16 followers, which needs to change because this is a great beat.
The War on Drugs – Holding On (Spotify)
This song was a single to indie rock group The War on Drug’s album “A Deeper Understanding” which came out on Friday. It technically came out earlier in the summer but seeing as the album just came out, and we were not in school then, I’ll throw it on here. This band has the ability to sound like they are constantly building the momentum of a song as it goes on. You can hear this in their last album with “Red Eyes” and again here with “Holding On.
Too Hotty (Spotify) / “ILoveYourAunt”
Banger of the Week award is a tie this week. Quality Control’s Too Hotty, featuring all three Migos, is smooth and lets the Atlanta Trio do what they do best, which is bang. Every time Migos are all on a song I try to decide who amongst them won the song, and here it is clearly Offset, with his first verse (see “Father God Father God/ I’m Just Tryna Live Life”). “ILoveYourAunt” is not so smooth. It’s an in your face track that will definitely offend those unfamiliar with either Ferg or Ski Mask the Slump God. This song also features a beat that chops up the all-time classic “Get Ur Freak On” by Missy Elliot.
Miguel – “Skywalker feat. Travis Scott”
This hook is going to be stuck in my head for the near future.
Beck- “Dear Life” (Spotify)
When this song started I thought Randy Newman was gonna start singing. This upbeat, pop-sounding Beck is yet another transition for him after 2014’s acoustic endeavor “Morning Phase”. The only thing constant in Beck’s genre choices is change, so this is not surprising. Dear Life is nothing incredible but the best of this album’s singles, and deserves a listen.
open mike eagle – “95 Radios” / “Brick Body Complex” (both Spotify)
95 Radios was released to YouTube earlier this summer and Brick Body Complex just came out, but this guy has far too little buzz amongst people I talk to on campus. With an album coming out in mid-September, Open Mike Eagle just released his two singles to streaming services and they are very promising. 95 Radios is one of my favorite songs released this summer, and Brick Body Complex is also solid. His album comes out on September 15, please check this guy out you will not be disappointed.
Wu Tang – “People Say (feat. Redman) (Spotify)
Who’s that coming from the top rope? IT’S WU TANG CLAN OUTTA NOWHERE!
Taylor Swift – “Look what you Made Me Do” (Spotify)
Not too big on this song, didn’t know it came out until Sunday morning when I started writing this piece, but I assume every middle-school teacher has heard it a million times and it’s only Tuesday. It kind of sounded like Brittney Spears, that’s really all I got.
Frank Ocean- “Provider” (Spotify)
Does anyone know what Frank Ocean is up to? I sure don’t. The guy has been releasing random cuts of pure gold throughout 2017. Are songs like Channel and Biking throwaways from Blonde? Are they singles for an upcoming album? So many questions but I’d take this Frank over the rogue agent Frank who fell off the map between Channel Orange and Blonde. Sunday night’s “Provider” is another stripped down melody session for frank. Far less instrumentation than Biking or Channel, and is closer to Lens in terms of his recent releases. The song also came out with a pretty strange music video, which consisted of a guy “suping up” an old stereo, then playing a tape called “Model 60” as the camera sits static watching the tape play. Pure speculation, but I predict a Frank Ocean mixtape or album or visual album or something else by the end of 2017. He has been putting out too much material for it all to be independent songs.
Teddy Craven is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at edward.craven_jr@uconn.edu.