After a number of quiet weeks, May 19 is here and it’s beautiful. Music fans of modern R&B and hip-hop are assured to be content with releases led by Summer Walker, Kaytranada and Aminé. Here are some of the top new releases of the week.
One recently-released top single is Sukihana’s “Casamigos” featuring Afro B. Sukihana recently stopped by rolling out, and said her goal for the song was to show her versatility and talent within songwriting.
Summer Walker released her Clear 2: Soft Life EP. The project is reminiscent of the sounds of her doula, Erykah Badu. In the song “Hardlife,” Walker explains how she envy’s the White women she sees online who have the privilege of living a soft life, while all of her Black relatives have never received the same luxury.
The project also features “Agayu’s Revelation,” which is four-and-a-half minutes of Walker discussing the difficulties of learning about romance while navigating her 20s. Solange and Steve Lacy produced the track, an on-par interlude for Walker, the same artist who got Ciara to literally reveal her famous prayer before she met her husband Russell Wilson on a track titled, “Ciara’s Prayer.”
The EP also features a rare rap feature from fellow Atlanta artist Childish Gambino on “New Type.”
J. Cole also added a verse of his own, which shouted out SZA and Ari Lennox.
Kaytranada and Aminé released their highly-anticipated album, KAYTRAMINÉ. The 11-song collection features Freddie Gibbs, Big Sean, Pharrell, Snoop Dogg and Amaarae.
DDG released his remix to “I’m Geekin,” which features Luh Tyler. DDG’s new verse includes a diss to Twitch streamer BruceDropEmOff, who joked he couldn’t name five DDG songs, and a shoutout to Tyler for publicly shooting his shot at DDG’s ex, Rubi Rose.
NxWorries, the producer-artist duo of Anderson.Paak and Knxwledge, has returned with the single “Daydreaming.”
Will Gittens released a music video for the single “Bigger Person.”
Soul singer Rebel Rae released the single “Used To Know.”
Lee Terry released “Be Praised,” which features Kierra Sheard.