Welcome! Let’s get started with this week’s “New Music Friday” review. 

Top 3 (in no particular order)

1. “Her Loss” was quite the exciting new album release from Drake and 21 Savage. They have featured on each other’s albums before, but “Her Loss” was their first collaboration on an entire album together. To address the obvious question, why did the two rappers choose to use a wacky image as the album cover? Though it seems like a weird choice, it was actually a smart way to build buzz about the album. People start talking about the cover because it stands out so much, which eventually draws people to listen. The woman on the front cover, Qui Yasuka, is a model and a nail stylist. There was no particular reason for the image other than the fact that both rappers liked it and rapper Lil Yachty chose it for them. The producers of the “New Music Friday” playlist included three songs from the album. Though I loved those three, my favorite was “Circo Loco” which sampled Daft Punk’s “One Last Time.” “One Last Time” is a vibrant song that gets you dancing, so Drake and 21 Savage’s choice to sample it was genius. 

2. Sleepy Hallow dropped the single “Marie,” which was a complete switch up from Hallow’s normal style. “Marie” is a soft and sweet song about a girl named Marie. Hallow begins the song singing about how he doesn’t know if Marie would care about him if he wasn’t famous. He repeats the line throughout the song “I want you to get all in your feels everytime that they play this.” Establishing this emotional connection with his listeners sets the vibe for the whole song. As an artist specialized in the rap genre, this was unexpected from Hallow, but surprisingly good. 

3. Joji’s “Die For You” from his new album SMITHEREENS made it in my top three picks from the “New Music Friday” playlist. “Die For You” follows Joji’s thoughts about a former love moving on to someone new, and Joji’s personal journey moving forward. The depressing yet beautiful track is set to a soft drum beat and a subtle melody. “Die For You” is definitely not a song to dance to, but a dramatic and wholesome listening experience. 

Each of these songs brought a different vibe, but they were all so good. Hopefully there’s a good selection of songs to pick from next week!