“realization/all the temptation”
Dizzy Fae’s debut mixtape Free Form is charming and intriguing, full of various vocal approaches to songs packed with plush synths that feel like they time travelled from the past and future to coexist in the now. Closing track “Don’t Hate For Me” pulses along a strident groove, and Fae matches its throbbing energy, telling a lover, “[I’m] grown as fuck, I don’t really care what you do.” Fae’s vocals are clear-eyed and her lyrics are refreshingly honest, relatable both to those scorned by a callous lover and those who had to be a little callous to protect their energy. Based on this tape, we can expect Fae to be around for a minute, but this record will keep giving for even longer. Put it on for your friends or your lover and get down to this ASAP.
“i’ve seen every hieroglyph and monument i need to see”
I stan for BXHXLD and have for a fucking minute. This review isn’t me speaking to you as a music critic, but as an unabashed fan. His album Everything You’ve Heard About Me Is True is due out on the 23rd, exec produced by the artist himself and notable Young Thug engineer Alex Tumay. New single “Control” has a distinctly Prince-ian aesthetic and feels like the soundtrack for a chase scene in a 1980s slasher flick. When he insists, “you are the one in control,” it’s not just an empty affirmation, but a reassuring mantra after what felt like the longest January of my life. 2018 energy: “We’ll never die/we are anointed.”
“gasolina all inside my blunt”
Daddy Yankee is back in vogue thanks to Despacito and Cardi B, and the hook on “see me” knows it. ARTHUR presents Lil Traffic with a hard-knocking beat and when it drops 4 measures in, it lands like a bolt of lightning. Much like “bounce out” from last month, Traffic’s vocals are distorted by a layer of digital static, like the soundcloud equivalent of the way a vinyl record crackles. But where “bounce out” is slinky and melodic, “see me” is brash and insistent, crashing and tumbling out of your speakers to demand you turn the fuck up to this.
“i’ll pretend i don’t see you texting, you’ll pretend you don’t see me wylin”
Tommy Genesis going full No Doubt on “Lucky” literally turned me into white_guy_blinking.gif in real life; I can’t remember the last time a song made me do such a hard double take. While Genesis has showcased her ear for melody before, it was usually in service of more hip-hop indebted tracks (see: “All My Friends” with Slug Christ). I keep running this song back and wondering if it’s a one-off or a fresh start, if her next record will be more like this or previous single “Tommy.” But ultimately, it doesn’t matter at all; I just feel lucky to have heard this track at all.
“clip long like a unibrow so my glock it name Helga”
There are so many legendary stories and myths that swirl around Chicago’s exiled son Chief Keef; the speeding ticket, the paintball match in a mansion, the $6 million deal with Interscope. At the heart of it all is a musician with talents not just on the mic, but behind the boards. So it was a treat to catch multiple beats by Turbo on Gunna’s new tape Drip Season 3. “At The Hotel” swirls around a moody piano and a sonorous flute line, both of which sound like you’re hearing them from the opposite end of a space station aquarium. Both Gunna and Young Jordan (FKA So Icy Jordan) hold their own, but Lil Uzi Vert steals the show with a surprisingly straightforward verse with a flow switch right before the aforementioned Hey Arnold! reference.
