Anderson .Paak has become one of today’s token genuine talents, meaning he’s a guy you call when you want your music taken seriously. So he shows up on a Macklemore song or two. But that doesn’t stop him from lending vocals to LA upstarts on Alpha Pup. In this case, it’s Kintaro, who is nice with the keyboards.
Sphere: Related ContentStones Throw goes dreamy and ethereal.
I’ve revisited Yes Lawd! more than any other album from 2016. I might have been underwhelmed on the first listen because I expected it to go further left given that this was a Stones Throw release by two towering figures of today’s underground/indie rap scene, though Anderson .Paak hasn’t been underground for some time now. But it’s a mistake to listen to Yes Lawd! expecting Madvillain meets Curtis Mayfield. Unlike a Madlib production, the beats glide along comfortably and give .Paak’s retro pimp space to shine and the aesthetic comes out perfect. It’s a soul album having too much fun to take anything too seriously. Watch the video for “Scared Money” and savor all the details smashed together: wads of cash, fur coats, Chinese takeout, Gucci, Louis, and Adidas logos, and the aloof producer with his eyes downcast. Then a sun-scorched basketball court at the end of the world. A full-length remix album later this year means we get to have all this fun again.
Sphere: Related ContentPossibly low-key my favorite song of 2016.
We can all agree that 2016 has been a truly terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. Really, the only redeeming thing this year has done for us is produce new albums from Rihanna, The Knowles Sisters™, Kanye (we’ll ignore the last month), Frank Ocean, and Chance. That’s nothing to bat an eye at but…
We’re not even going to talk about them. This year we’re here to celebrate the low-key bangers. The songs we found while we were waiting for Frank to finally drop that album. The songs we discovered in the deep dark recesses of Spotify. The songs that made us scramble to ask Siri who it was… and not even Siri could tell us. These are the best songs of 2016 that you haven’t heard. It won’t quite make up for the dumpster fire of 2016 but it’s the least we could do.
Sphere: Related ContentFor those who can’t or won’t tolerate Drake. The guy who made “Cut Her Off” has more to say.
What did people do in the summer before we had TeeFLii?
Trey Songz plays jilted lover on a banger.
From Fetty Wap’s camp comes a great new trap ballad. As with Fetty, M80 holds nothing back.
