Bout to Blow: 10 Dope New Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon

Featuring Chris Brown, Lil Uzi Vert, and Joey Purp.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Plenty of big releases have launched in the past month as artists vie for song of the summer. While mainstream records lean away from "hit" and closer to "miss," we look to the underground and determine which records deserve broader attention. Welcome to the June edition of Bout to Blow.

This column has two goals:

1. To use the many tools available to us today to get some idea of what songs were really bubbling with "the people"—in other words, to insert some science into the process.

2. To contextualize that information, because raw numbers in a vacuum would have you thinking an anonymous rapper dropped onto a stellar track was hip-hop's next big rap star when he was more like an empty, tattooed vehicle for a dope beat and a hook.

The post is obviously intended to be somewhat predictive. There's also an element, though, that is cheerleading. Many of these songs might be flourishing in certain markets but could use wider exposure. They're tracks where the metrics suggest some forward momentum, even if the clubs and radio play don't reflect that.

After a harsh decision-making process, we narrowed June 2016 down to the 10 best records you have to know. It's this month's edition of Bout to Blow: 10 Dope New Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon.

Alicia Keys “In Common”

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The unveiling of Alicia Keys' new image was greeted with cynicism (can you say "zeitgeist?"). But it also arrived with strong songwriting and adventurous production—courtesy of longtime Weeknd produced Illangelo. While Illangelo's production for The Weeknd could be rhythmically static to an extreme degree, "In Common" is elaborate and nimble, an influence the song's Wikipedia page credits to no less than five genres ("tropical" "dancehall" "latin beat" "afrobeat" "tropicalia-infused").

The anonymous author is not wrong to cover their bases. It is fair to say that the increasing focus on more complex syncopation in popular music was a likely influence—the increasing profile of Afropop, a recent mainstream dalliance with dancehall, the rise of tropical house in Europe, all related phenomena. But in an era where Meghan Trainor, the Grammy's Best New Artist, is simply rehashing old Max Martin records, Keys' graceful record is early in the wave and distinct enough to feel bold, regardless of her industry pedigree. If there's one complaint, it's that her claim to be "messed up" contradicts her default persona of eternal poise.

Russ “What They Want"

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Russ feels like the first in what will be an avalanche of Chance the Rapper-like artists championing their independent spirit while sounding suspiciously similar to Chance the Rapper himself. Not that Russ doesn't bring anything fresh to the table—the chorus melody to "What They Want" is an undeniable earworm, and after several months snowballing, the song's official video dropped last month and already has more than a million YouTube views. Narratively, Russ could learn from Chance a thing or two about show-don't-tell, but musically "What They Want" has earned its place, proof positive that hip-hop's sound has shifted to the Midwest even if Atlanta makes them into hits.

Chris Brown “Grass Ain't Greener”

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Championing Chris Brown singles can't help but feel gross at some level—the guy is not a great person, in case you haven't heard—and he seems unable to strike the right tone on most of his songs, yearning for empathy while offering none in return. ("Loyal," the one exception that was also his biggest record, was typically offensive, but in a way that seemed to acknowledge its scumminess with knowing humor.) "Grass Ain't Greener" is no "Loyal," but it's also one of the better-written songs of his career, with a melancholy edge that can't help but strike a chord, even if you should know better.

Ariana Grande “Into You”

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Ariana Grande is, to make a Lena Dunham reference, a Marnie—a Charlotte, for you Sex and the City Gen Xers. She makes songs which aspire to the center of the mainstream, big-tent pop records a la Katy Perry but, to be completely real, seems...well, a little weirder than she lets on. It's there in her interviews, of course. But it's also the way she's a little bit extra—the unnecessary decorative melisma (very necessary for conveying her "extra" personality), the vocal style of extreme, almost performative poise. Despite the way her latest album lunges for the center, it feels like a bit of a throwback to the pop of yesteryear, the millennial Britney and boy bands pop era. These are subtle, unintended byproducts of her music; when a song "works," they feel essential to its success, as on "Into You," a song about lust which creates an odd, charming dissonance with her polite persona.

Lil Cray “I Got It”

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While not liable to be as huge as "Kyrie Irving," the song which launched Clevelander Cray's career and made his music the backdrop for an infamous meme, "I Got It" is a worthy follow-up (actually, its official single release predated "Kyrie Irving") and should find considerable national success with its unusually smooth post-drill production. It remains to be seen whether Cray has what it takes for a sustained career, but the video does suggest he has a real presence.

YBS Skola “Whole Lotta Money”

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"Whole Lotta Money" is the latest single from Baltimore rapper YBS Skola, an artist who's risen very suddenly to local notoriety in his hometown over the course of the past year. It can be tough to identify what it is that's made him stand out—it's fairly typical of the current moment, with Zaytoven-esque production and familiar subject matter. But his short 2016 full-length No Pen Just Paper is one of the more consistently listenable street tapes released this year, full of catchy little hooks delivered with cocky panache. Singles like "Purple Haze" and "Gettin Money" have also found success locally, but the whole tape manages to do a lot with just a few tools, a great example of the sum being more than the parts.

Chief Keef “Check It Out”

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Chief Keef's output is difficult to keep up with: amidst constant leaks, his best songs get buried, with three-year-old records leaking alongside new ones in a convoluted cloud. Nonetheless, when "Check It Out" first leaked as a snippet in late 2015, the song immediately stood out. A "performance video" of the song from earlier this year has one and a half million views. Over a euphoric Zaytoven beat—one which belongs in his hall of fame alongside Gucci Mane's "Gorgeous" and Scooter's "Fake Rappers"—Keef plays with the "Check It Out" concept, words wrapping around themselves and shifting unpredictably, even gaining unexpected pathos when he raps about his murdered friends: "I check my money, better be right when I count it up/ I go to sleep, what I see? Cap and Blood." It may never hit radio—his music may never hit radio again—but the song is destined to be well-remembered, particularly as hip-hop's sound has shifted behind him.

Joey Purp f/ Chance the Rapper “Girls @”

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Sounding like the long-lost link between A Tribe Called Quest and the glass bottle percussion of the Neptunes, "Girls @" is a great example of how to make a fun party record feel effortless. Thanks to Chance's skills as a writer, rhyming "Ta-Nehisi Coates" with "SpottieOttieDope"—which should, objectively, be way too try-hard—works, grounded as it is in relatable details about searching for an iPhone charger. It's a very modern, very 2016 name-drop. Joey Purp, meanwhile, plays to his strengths, his casual, unbothered delivery making a salute to female fans refreshing rather than forced.

Lil Uzi Vert “P's & Q's”

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Lil Uzi Vert's rap style, by his own admission, owes quite a bit to the 2013-2014 sound of Chief Keef, from his smeared sing-song to his compositional style. It's a more straightlaced iteration, a more accessible, less volatile one, with little of the underlying narrative which drove Keef's rise. But this sound undeniably reshaped popular rap—the biggest rising artists have taken different aspects of his sound in new directions: 21 Savage doubles down on the monomaniacal street focus, while Lud Foe, the biggest street rapper in Chicago, adopted Keef's delivery to more uptempo, Detroit-influenced production. But Uzi Vert has found the most success mainstreaming this sound nationally. This is not to suggest he doesn't hold creative weight of his own; if anything, his efforts to find novel terrain in the style have produced some unexpected gems, like this odd record over an accordion​ sample, shouts to MF DOOM.

Ray Jr. f/ Young Dolph and DJ Yomi Yom “Floatin'”

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While Dolph has become an undeniable force, his biggest records have all belonged to others—from "Cut It" to "California," many of his biggest records only feature him as a guest. "Floatin'" is the latest, a thumping subwoofer test from Cleveland-based rapper Ray Jr. It may remind longtime rap listeners of Big Tuck's classic "Not a Stain On Me," even though it doesn't utilize the same Beastie Boys sample that drove that record to regional acclaim back in 2008.

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