Fresh off of absolutely killing her hosting gig at this year’s Grammys, Alicia Keys gets back to the music with a brand new single(?) called “Raise A Man.” The smooth track continues her piano laced brand of R&B and its equally minimalist video keeps things simple while capturing the beautiful vibes and emotions of the song. J. Cole has been on an absolute roll as of late, and by extension his Dreamville label seems poised to really blow up this year. Ari Lennox has been one of my sleeper favorites from the label and her song, “Shea Butter Baby,” with the label honcho was easily one of the best songs off that Mike WiLL produced Creed II album, and the extremely smooth and sultry single gets brought to life by its accompanying video. Love the color palette. Doja Cat may have blown up off of what was essentially a troll single, but it was clear that she had real creative talent and charisma, and her latest song and video for “Tia Tamera” sees that creativity on full display. As the name implies, it’s ’90s nostalgia all over the place. She’s definitely one of the most fun acts out there right now.
“Rainy Days” was one of the most talked about songs off Boogie’s debut Shady Records album, and rightfully so, as both he and Eminem lyrically dance all over the track. So it’s no suprise that it got the visual treatment and it’s no surprise that it has that signature Shady aesthetic and feel. But it’s dope to see him continue to get that major push and there are some slick special effects throughout. Although he’s been gone for some time now, XXXTENTACION is being kept alive by his peers and friends and “SAUCE!” was the latest song to be liberated from his cache of previously recorded material. The song is in line with much of what we’ve heard from him before and its accompanying video really captures his energy with some fantastic animations. It’s like a mix of watercolor and anime-like aesthetics and it really brings the song to life.
Check out everything I rounded up below and let me know which ones were your favorites.
