Best Songs of the Week

It's hard picking a standout song from the new Lucki Eck$ project. Lucki's not like other rappers. His songs sometimes blend together like the hours of your life that you spend outside of your own head. This isn't to say they all sound the same, just that they roll along fluidly, and if you find yourself trying to describe one of them, you'll probably find that the description works pretty well for all of them.

The 18-year-old Chicago artist knows how to write a hook, but these aren't the kinds of choruses that stick in your head like radio pop. They live in your subconscious like a dream you can't completely remember. The second you listen again, it rushes back to you like a word stuck on the tip of your tongue. It's a satisfying feeling, and it's the reason why instead of getting tired of Lucki Eck$ songs after a few plays, you get hooked. If there's one thing Lucki knows, it's how to keep the fiends coming back for more. Biggie knew it, and Lucki's figured it out too: the lessons picked up while dealing drugs apply to life in more ways than one. Like his last album, drug rap is still a big focus on this tape, but if you're taking everything at face value, you're missing the point. Listen carefully to the melodic "Count On Me 3" and you'll realize that the best parts of Lucki's creations are sometimes found between the bars.—Confusion

Read our interview with Lucki Eck$ here.

The strength of a remix relies not on its ability to reimagine the original, but to make it better. If it's not an improvement, it's probably not worth doing. For a song as good as Beyoncé's "Flawless," Nicki Minaj could've just added a verse at the end and everyone would've still liked it. But this is Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj we're talking about, and the bare minimum is something neither of them have ever gone for. When the two joined forces they completely reworked the song to include new lyrics from Bey as well as an absolute fire verse from Minaj. It improved a song I didn't think could be improved, and reasserted both women as the queens of their respective genres.—Katie K.

Ryn Weaver came out of nowhere this summer, more or less. She was born in Los Angeles, relocated to New York, and somewhere along the line, connected with an all-star team consisting of Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Charli XCX, and Michael Angelakos to build a body of work from the ground level.

The first offering was "OctaHate," which went zero to a million streams on SoundCloud real quick, and the second came this week in the form of "Promises." It's a beautifully crafted record powered by warm synths and an epic, emotive hook, and Ryn's vocals are captivating from start to finish. She released her brand new Promises EP last night, so expect the 21-year-old singer's promising future to arrive even faster than we expected.—Tim Larew

Mike WiLL Made-It may be best known for his big club bangers ("Bands A Make Her Dance," "Mercy," Pour It Up" etc.), this new one with Atlanta's Young Thug proves he can still get a bit weird. What's probably most satisfying about this song, though, is hearing Thug on a properly mixed and mastered song, but still being as experimental and out there as he wants to be.—Constant Gardner

Although we haven't had a solo album from Nicolas Jaar since 2011's Space Is Only Noise, it doesn't mean he hasn't been busy. There was his Darkside project with Dave Harrington, a bunch of remixes, and his record label Other People, which is releasing a compilation called WORK on September 25.

Visuals song "A Pixel," which is produced by Nicolas Jaar, comes from that compilation, and is a wonderfully bubbly, unique pop song.—Constant Gardner

I'm going left-field this week, but I have to. I have some weeks where it's hard to be like, "Wow, this was my JAM," but when I first got this dirty UK grime-induced cut that featured a random Ultimate Warrior promo interview from the Wrestlemania VI days, the absurdity of it all had me hitting rewind on it. It almost sounds like the cavernous space jungle that must've resided in the Warrior's brain during those peak years in the WWF. Or maybe I'm just a pro wrestling enthusiast who longs for those days when I was a kid, but filtered through the musical interests of old man me. Whatever. "SHOVE THAT CONTROL INTO A NOSE DIVE, HULK HOGAN!!"—khal

Action Bronson is at his best when he's having fun. Linking up with Party Supplies once again, "Easy Rider" features Bronson showcasing all of the qualities that make him so unique. Taken from his upcoming full length debut, Mr. Wonderful, it's a brilliant reminder of what Bronson is capable of when his production is in good hands. There's the goofy jokes, bizarre non-sequiturs, and outlandish bursts of braggadocio that we've come to know; but it all feels more polished than it has before. No one is doing hip-hop exactly how Bronson is doing it, and he always makes sure to remind us of that with his signature "it's me" ad-lib.—Joe Price