Girl (feat. KAYTRANADA) – The Internet
No matter how many times I listen to this track, it never ceases to amaze me. Not only is “Girl” incredibly smooth, but it’s meaningful, uncomplicated, and hard hitting. Off of The Internet’s album Ego Death, “Girl” is a sultry, trippy love song that works out of a carefully crafted outer-space soundscape.
Unemployed – Tierra Whack
A women who’s rising up in hip hop and you can see why when she dropped this track last year. Tierra Whack makes the top of the list for me with “Unemployed”
Break the Bottle – Jess Silk
God I love the story tellers.
The lyricists who construct a reality you can step into, to experience it as if you were there – as if you knew the characters – who do it so seamlessly that – even if it is by proxy – you get to feel the emotions for real.
That’s the point of this list – it’s designed to make you feel – to connect with the emotions that we’re oh so good at keeping hidden, buried under guilt and social conditioning. Because when we don’t deal with those emotions – well – that’s when the bad shit happens…
Remember Me – UMI
Neo-soul singer songwriter UMI is by far, one of my favorite rising artists right now. Only 21 years old, Tierra Umi Wilson, who releases music under her stage name UMI, is slowly gaining more popularity with her addictive vocals and lyricism. Her biggest hit thus far is “Remember Me”, a song that effectively encapsulates both the nostalgia and heartbreak that comes with a breakup.
Blessed – Daniel Caesar
Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar released his debut studio album Freudian in 2017 as an exploration of the importance of sexuality in human behavior, as it relates to Freud. The term ‘Freudian’ itself refers to a follower of neurologist Sigmund Freud and his methods. The album contains several hits like “Get You” and “Best Part” as well as eight other stunning tracks, including the ballad “Blessed.”
Gold – Dash Berlin, DBSTF
I don’t know how this track went unnoticed by the masses… But I am glad you are here to experience this piece of musical luxury.
Bloodflow – Grandbrothers
Whilst combining acoustic elements like pianos and vocals is far from a new thing in electronic music, Grandbrothers do it with such finesse and balance that it feels like an entirely new breed.
Raingurl – Yaeji
Raingurl is part of EP2 released in 2017 and it’s an energetic track with very distinct house elements and beats, right from the start this song is very powerful and will make you want to turn the volume all the way up.
Electric (with Khalid) – Alina Baraz
R&B singer-songwriter Alina Baraz and R&B pop icon Khalid teamed up in 2017 to make “Electric”, one of the most blissful songs I’ve ever heard. In the track, both artists speak of a rare, new love that’s “deeper than the sea” and as far-reaching as “outer space”. What’s most impressive, though, is the intimacy the two artists are able to create within a mere 3 minutes. Not only does the lyricism frame this love story of dreams in a beautifully detailed way but their voices fall and soar with the track to make it practically love-inducing.
talk is overrated (with blackbear) – Jeremy Zucker
New Jersey native singer-songwriter and producer Jeremy Zucker wowed listeners with the release of his hit track “talk is overrated” featuring blackbear in the summer of 2017. Mostly making music in the indie/alternative genre, Zucker ventured a little out of his box in his collaboration with blackbear. Now verging more on the side of indie electro-pop, this track draws out a situation where two people, both unsure of what they want out of a relationship, overcomplicate it with feelings and decide to go for a no-strings attached, no feelings relationship instead.
Eruption – Van Halen
There is much written about this track as we all know and in view of Eddie Van Halen’s untimely death recently I had to pick this as another track from my teenage days of the 70’s. I had a band at the time in the NY Catskill mountains where my parents had a weekend farmhouse.
Freeway Jam – Jeff Beck
When the song really got cookin’ I was completely blown away, thinking man I didn’t know you could do that on guitar and even more amazing was it is all instrumental.
