Best Songs of the Week

"Never Goin' Broke" is the last song of the new HBK mixtape, Gone Forever, which you can download for free here. While the whole tape is a pretty solid collection of fun West Coast hip-hop of the same style, "Never Goin' Broke" has quickly become the jam. Try to listen without bobbing your head back and forth like a damn parrot. Perfect weekend soundtrack addition. - Confusion

In a year's worth of furor surrounding Death Grips—from their contentious split with Epic Records to their recent high profile no shows—it can be easy to forget that the duo of Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett and Zach Hill only have a platform from which they can piss people off (or piss on them, depending on your perspective) because their musical output has remained frighteningly refreshing, divisive, and viscerally thrilling since their inception in late 2010. Surprise release "Birds" marks another notch in the group's vital output, a collection of typically rugged textures, fragmented vocals, obtuse lyrical abstractions, and occasional, jagged beauty (the breakdown 35 seconds into the song sounds like a melting music box in a burning home). It's restrained in comparison to the songs that scorch their striking debut Exmilitary and their official Epic album The Money Store, but it's a welcome reminder that, even amidst confusion, Death Grips' art rests firmly on the shoulders of their music. - Jon Tanners

13 SONGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK

With what sounds like it could be a sample, but is actually the rich, soulful voice of one of this London duo's mysterious members, "Through The Fire" starts with a bang, and doesn't once let the energy drop during its short but sweet sub-three minute length. In a whirlwind of bright synths and that funky, elastic bass Arkon Fly have given us a perfect Friday night heater. - Constant Gardner

Sam Smith's is completely hypnotizing. Rich, emotive, and powerful, it possesses the type of depth that draws you in further with each subsequent listen. But this reaction hasn't ever been as immediate as it is on his latest "Nirvana." The song contains almost spiritual production, with melodic instrumentation that leads up to this euphoric chorus that seems better suited for a church sermon than the speakers in my bedroom. And while it doesn't quite reach the level of inspiration that R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" does, it's certainly up there. - Katie K

The swirling synth loop that makes this song go round is as versatile and opaque as a soap bubble. Floating up and away even as the grim rhyming keeps the track on the ground, it's that bubble-light synth in the background that balances out sawing noisemakers, crunchy beats and the slinky flows of World's Fair, Queens-based collective. Sure, the track gets explicit, but the places it goes on the way—L.A., Trinidad, wherever your girl is hanging out with them—are worth the explicit details. - harmonicait

Flipping jazz and pop into a tangled mess of piano-jams and hi-hats, Lolo knows how to make an entrance. The 25-year-old Tennessee native caught a buzz earlier this week when Zane Lowe of BBC Radio 1 co-signed her, and once you hear the stuttering piano sample at the beginning of this song, everything else falls away. Her funk-hearted vocals kick in over an old-school record-skip sample, but there's soul here that makes the sonic elements seem secondary. This is one that'll get us through the rest of the summer, but still be in heavy rotation well into the rest of the seasons, just like her lyrics predicted. - harmonicait

While we often clamor for rappers to push things forward, sometimes in taking a step into the past is even more satisfying. Over a distant, soulful sample and goosebump-inducing bassline, EarthGang's Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot wax nostalgic, philosophical, and righteously indignant on "No Peace." Like Outkast's crackling "Wailin'" nearly a decade prior, "No Peace" roots itself in the warmth of the past, but uses its melancholy source material as a paired down foundation ("simple" is the wrong word; it's layered but reserved, built with purpose) for the duo to deliver their sharply observational stream of consciousness raps. It's a sound that would fight right in during the mid to late '90s. In the chaotic teens, "No Peace" provides a vibe as necessary as ever, a reminder to lean back and reflect, even as the world burns. - Jon Tanners

STREAM EARTHGANG'S ALBUM SHALLOW GRAVES FOR TOYS

Mikky Ekko's "Kids" didn't leave a very strong impression on me—that is, until I heard this Djemba Djemba remix of "Kids." The original, while a solid offering from Ekko as it is, doesn't offer the same spark as this upbeat rework, which multiplies the song's catchiness tenfold. Sure, Djemba Djemba did this in an effort to mock an outdated subgenre, but the end result works so well that it's making me reconsider my feelings about the original. - Joyce

Sweeping, soaring, and totally individual, London producer and vocalist Jagga's "Out Of Control" has more than one way to stun you. Whether it's the untamed vocals, the grandiose orchestral production, or the sudden upswell of rich bass, this song is impressive across the board, and suggests that Jagga's decision to part ways with his major label was the right one. - Constant Gardner