Best Songs of the Week

Featuring the return of James Blake.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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It's officially Friday evening and you know what that means; it's time for a roundup of the past week's finest songs. The past five days didn't have what you might call "huge" drops from major artists or anything like that, but it did bring with it plenty of killer material. A rising NYC-based female rapper made waves, an experimental crooner got in touch with his inner-Prince, and a British wunderkind made his triumphant return. Oh, you think you know what we're talking about? Well, go ahead and click through to peep the best songs of the week.

Related: New Music This Week

Bilal "West Side Girl"

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Bilal knocked it out of the park this week with “West Side Girl,” the second single from his upcoming A Love Surreal. The new cut is miles funkier than last month’s “Back to Love” and it adds a certain synthpop sensibility to the production. The end result sounds something like a Prince track, had Prince eased more comfortably into the 21stcentury.

Kilo Kish f/ Vince Staples "Trappin'"

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Kilo Kish released her star-studded new project, K+, this past week with features from the likes of SBTRKT, Earl Sweatshirt, the Internet, Star Slinger, and Childish Gambino. Earl's presence can be heard on standout "Trappin'," an aptly titled collaboration with Vince Staples. Kish and Staples share the skittering, minimalist production from Earl, who makes a goofball vocal appearance toward the end.

Joey Bada$$ f/ Big K.R.I.T. & Smoke DZA "Underground Airplay"

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Ecko Unlimited is getting ready to release a new compilation showing off some of the finest underground hip-hop acts out there. And to get things rolling, we heard title track "Underground Airplay" this past week. It's led by Joey Bada$$, who weaves in and out of the beat and sets the pace for Smoke DZA and Big K.R.I.T. The latter steals the show yet again—did you hear K.R.I.T.'s "1 Train" verse—and proves he's only getting better with time.

Paris 96 "Afternoon"

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Today saw the first taste of dynamic duo Theophilus London and Jesse Boykins III’s collaborative sound. Forming Paris 96, the chillwavers came together on “Afternoon” a simultaneously laid-back and seductive joint. With bits of electronica, hip-hop and R&B, London and Boykins both show up with formidable vocals, lyrics and production sense, the last of which was handled by Noah Aphoon.

James Blake "Retrograde"

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