New Music Treats of the Week!

March 21, 2023
CASTEL

Welcome back! I hope y'all had a bustling weekend! Spring is in the air, and the projects are coming. A new season means new anticipated albums, and the first round of them comes out this Friday! So let's get into some of the final drops before albums, more promotion, remixes, and some cute throwaways!

Oh! We talkin' eps and albums.

SWARM x Ni'Jah

Janine Nabers and Donald Glover's seven-episode series about "Stan culture" focuses on a Beyonce-type character and their influence on the world and Dominique Fishback's main character. Accompanying the show is a six-song EP entitled Swarm. KIRBY lends her voice to the character Ni'Jah and performs all the songs. It is not Beyonce, but the creative direction and musicality KIRBY has taken made Ni'Jah a force.

She was able to embody and piggyback off of the legacy Beyonce has created. Between singing, spoken word, rapping with unmistakable bad bitch energy, and creating a small universe to fall into.

Key Track: "Agatha", a diddy that would remind you of Hold Up and Sorry.

SWARM (ep) on Spotify

100 Gecs have released their second full-length album 10,000 Gecs. I remember seeing them open for Brockhampton and being unsure about their sound and what was happening on stage. Still, with this project, they have entertained me with their ridiculous titles, disjointed tracks, and the amount of fun it is to listen to their project.

Key Tracks: "Dumbest Girl Alive", from movie theatre samples to "757", rampin' up the tempo to keep the mood going.

10,000 Gets on Spotify

Alex Vaughn gave us one of the best R&B projects of 2022 when anyone with a keyboard and a lousy take was spoutin' online that "R &b iS dEaD" Insert the Spongebob meme here. She is on tour supporting Ari Lennox alongside Jai' Len Josey, who recently released her single "Good Soup".

She gave us an eight-track project that evolved from being about situation-ships to discourse on platonic love and how to move on from an all-encompassing love.

This past weekend she gathered the R&B girlies for a rerelease entitled "The Home Girl Pack" with remixes of "So Be It (with Summer Walker)", "Demon Time (with Ari Lennox)", and "IYKYK (with Muni Long)". The girls did what they had to do, providing heartfelt verses and impeccable vocals to Vaughn's already catchy and deep tracks.

Key Tracks: All of them! Only three to listen to y'all!

The Hurtbook (The Homegirl Pack)

Spinnin' the singles of the week:

"Death" x Melanie Martinez

The quirky, indie pop girl has shed her Crybaby skin that has been the concept for her for two projects to morph into mystical, sci-fi creature aesthetics. On "Death," the first single from her forthcoming project Portals (out 3/31) on banging drums and notably nursey rhymeless samples, Melanie sings about returning from her hiatus, reaffirming her boundaries, and growing from previous notions and conceptions about her.

Death on Spotify

"All The Girls You've Loved Before" x Taylor Swift

The Eras Tour has officially started! Much to fan anticipation, Taylor kicked off the tour in Glendale, AZ. Also, Taylor released a "vault" track from her seventh studio album and the first she released under her label. "All The Girls you Loved Before" praises her current man and thanks the women of his past for creating the man she has fallen in love with. How kind of her.

All The Girls You've Loved Before on Spotify

"The Grants" x Lana Del Rey

On the opening track of her next album, Did You Know There's a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd, appropriately titled "The Grants," Lana sings about her loved ones and the memories of them she holds dear. Keeping in line with the theme and aesthetic of her being the eternal bliss someone needs, she asks her lover in the song, "Do you think of Heaven? Do you think of me?" I can't wait for the entire project.

The Grants on Spotify

"What It Is (Block Boy)" x Doechii (with Kodak Black)

Slowing it down from she/her/black bitch, Doechii gives us an R&B pop take about hood love, and I am running this back. Her versatility and writing continue to have me in awe, and I am sure this is why Top Dawg signed her. Hopefully nurtures and continues to push her talent!

What It Is (Block Boy) on Spotify

"Baby again.." x Fred again.., Skrillex, Four Tet

To liven up your mixes and DJ sets, the trio is reuniting again on the Lil Baby sampled "Baby" "Baby again.." I can feel my back sweating, stomping on plastic cups, with my eyes close and arms in the air. Spring has sprung y'all!

Baby again.. on Spotify

"Glu" x Usher

Before I praise the song, the internet had Usher fucked up a month ago when discourse appeared online that he didn't have the discography to headline a Superbowl Half-Time show. USHER RAYMOND THE FOURTH?! The Half-Time show is 13 minutes long; trust and believe Mr. Raymond has the range and the catalog. Don't piss us off. On "Glu", Usher is doing what he does best, crooning and serenading us while making our bodies twitch over the erotic explicitness of the song. "All this licking your lips, going back and forth girl / Gaped open, back arched, and rude / I just love that glue that slides down you whenever we start touching/... Usher, please! We are in public!

Glu on Spotify

"Ribbons" x Ryan Beatty

On "Ribbons," Ryan sings about the passing of time in a new place as you run away from a love that broke you. You drink, you dance and cry it all out. Try to be brave in the evening, holding yourself alone. Is it safe to be ok again? A sweet and melancholy piano melody will get me every time. He is slated to release his next album, Calico on April 28th.

Ribbons on Spotify

"Fatal Attraction" x 6lack

On the last song before his next album release, 6lack continues his theme of love songs, this time a "Fatal Attraction," which isn't good for any of us, but listen, the good times are good, the love is intoxicating, the sex breeds multiple orgasms. Yeah, you staying right here, girl!