Best Songs of the Week

Låpsley wowed us with "Station" in 2014, pitch-shifting her vocals and creating a delicate dreamworld with her production. Since then, she's signed to XL Recordings, and this week released her four-track Understudy EP. "Brownlow" is the standout, with intricate electronic production that gives a little more with each listen and more direct lyrics like, "I wouldn't say that I was always comfortable in my own skin." Låpsley's still young and still improving. We're sure to be hearing a lot more from her in 2015.—Constant Gardner

Brownlow | Listen for free at bop.fm

Who else thought Rae Sremmurd was destined to be one-hit wonders after their first single "No Flex Zone" blew the fuck up this summer? But then they followed that up with "No Type," an equally—if not catchier—song that proved us all wrong. By the time they dropped "Throw Some Mo'," it was official: Rae Sremmurd was a definitely thing, and they were here to stay.

The duo released their debut album SremmLife this week, and the record is an expansion of the energetic party vibe they've already made their own. The strongest of the collection is the Mike Will Made It-produced "This Could Be Us," a track with a pop-inspired melody that shows the duo have the ability to dominate not only the hip-hop charts, but mainstream as well.—Katie K.

Villain Park is a crew of Los Angeles kids with a '90s sound and young energy, and so far, everything they've released is on point. It's hard to imagine them making a breakthrough hit or competing with hip-hop's modern crossover stars, but if you grew up on shit like Hieroglyphics, People Under The Stairs, and Living Legends, you're going to love this.—Confusion

I was all set to wax prose about "Get Down" making a guy who used to smoke a lot of weed and dabble occasionally in other things feel some of those highs. That's not a lie, but I deleted it all. I knew of Lxury as a producer who was chasing that future bass beast, and to hear more of his house side enter into the picture, dropping tunes that still maintain some of the quirks you can employ when churning out more downtempo tracks, I'm all over it. The vocal sample is worked into a hypnotic, emotional frenzy, and the way the sample is accented by those kicks is money in the bank. He may be on to something.—khal

To be completely real, I'll probably be sick of this song by the end of the month. Like Fetty Wap’s last hit, "Trap Queen," this one has an extremely catchy, extremely repetitive melody that gives it a hypnotizing effect. It's dangerously addictive, and that probably means I'm going to overplay it for the remainder of the month. By the end of January, I might be sick to death of it. For now, "RGF Island" is the jam.—Confusion

Although this track is on Rome Fortune and OG Maco’s joint mixtape YEP, “Riot” is technically just an OG Maco song. But it’s like the prize at the end of the tape. At first listen, the beat and Maco’s energy will immediately catch your attention. On the surface it might sound like just another song made to get you amped up. But this is not a party song at all, Maco wants you to get amped up about something that actually matters and motivate you to go out and do something.

Once you actually listen to the lyrics, you’ll fully understand that the energy you’re hearing is actually frustration, not excitement. In under four minutes, topics like gentrification, racial inequality and violence are all brought up. OG Maco projects his own emotions so intensely onto the track that there’s no way you won’t immediately feel like starting a riot by the time track ends.—Adrienne Black

As soon as that scratchy-ass voice cuts through the opening steam whistle, Aesop Rock is front and center. This is his first solo work in a bit, after spending most of 2014 with a couple worthwhile collaborations. But Aesop is at his best when the beat is his and his alone. He is a wordsmith, a storyteller who seems to have only expanded his vocabulary with time.

"Cat Food" is the title track off this new EP. It oozes confidence immediately: Aesop is a "food hoarder, communes with the flora, computes in cahoots with beauty and brute force." As usual, Aesop Rock does not let up from there, a signature mix of whiplash rhymes and wit restored to music.—Graham

Action Bronson’s success is built on the release of much-loved mixtapes and an incredible live show, but in 2015 he is finally releasing his major label debut album. Although he's proved again and again that he can make funny, food-referencing, imagery filled songs, the pressure of making a "proper" album is a different one.

From what we've seen so far, Bronson's making the right moves to make this album stand out, working with new producers (Mark Ronson, Drake's producer Noah "40" Shebib on this song) and dropping the incredible "Easy Rider" video. "Actin' Crazy" bumps, with a refined beat backing Bronson's comfortably boastful bars, and we can't wait for the rest of the album to be out in the wild.

Mr. Wonderful drops March 24.—Constant Gardner

It's been quite a while since we last heard from Heems, with his last solo project dropping in late 2012. After a crazy year during which Das Racist disbanded, Heems kind of just disappeared for a while, only resurfacing for a brief EP with Riz MC and a bizarre Japanese Vitamin Water commercial. During that time it was easy to forget that Heems is more than capable, offering one of the most unique voices and perspectives in hip-hop. "Sometimes," however, makes sure to remind us of these points, pointing out just how much of an underrated rapper Heems really is.

His album Eat.Pray.Thug. is out March 10. Read our interview with Heems here.—Joe Price