Best Songs of the Week (May 20th, 2016)

Anonymous London act Seramic only has a few songs out now, and "Found" just took things to the next level. The song starts with a slow build, and you get the sense that something big is coming, but I was not ready for that moment at 54 seconds in. Seramic has a soulful sensibility rooted in funk, gospel, R&B, and pop, but the massive production makes songs like "Found" fit well into the current soundscape of modern electronic arrangements.—Jacob Moore

Earlier this week, Rhode Island rapper Khary dropped his latest mixtape, Intern Aquarium. He dedicated the 16-track tape to all the 20-somethings who are currently struggling to find themselves. Each track hits on topics that are close to home for this latest generation of lost youth, but there’s something intriguing about “2AM Thirst Ballad.”

The track, which finds itself right in the middle of whole project, begins slowly with a rapidly changing stream of thoughts—a familiar feeling for those who find themselves out and about past 2AM. Khary paints the picture of being stuck as the third wheel on an uneventful night out, but as soon as he find a lucky lady willing to keep him company for the night, the production opens and becomes both lighter and happier. Being thirsty for attention in the wee hours of the morning isn’t something to wish upon another, but it happens, and Khary’s got the theme song for just that moment.

The slow-building, bouncy production provided by swell instantly transforms the mood of the song as Khary quickly goes from feeling desperate and thirsty, to ultimately feeling like he won for the night. In a way, “2AM Thirst Ballad” becomes the motivational push need to turn any dull night into something memorable.—Adrienne Black

Sampha, Sampha, Sampha. We've been waiting. And after hearing "Timmy's Prayer," I have to say that all the waiting was worth it. If you're going to keep making music that's this good, Sampha, you can take as long as you damn well please working on it. That said, I don't want to wait another three years for a solo track, but if the British singer and producer's recent note and radio interviews are anything to go by, new music, and maybe even an album, is on the way.

On "Timmy's Prayer," Sampha's instantly recognizable vocals take center stage from the beginning, fragile, certainly, but never hushed. Just as on 2013's Dual EP, the lyrics are poignant and direct, this time describing heartbreak in vividly brutal terms:

My vital organs are beating through / My ribcage opened, my heart ballooned
I... I've lost another one
I'm on the floor trying to dress my wounds / Address the fact it was mine to lose
I... I didn't try enough

While we've certainly heard Sampha backed by electronic production before, especially on SBTRKT's albums, his own solo work has tended towards spare arrangements, often centered around piano and vocals (e.g. "Indecision," "Too Much"). Even from the beginning, "Timmy's Prayer" introduces new sounds (Are those bagpipes in the background?), but by the mid-point of the second verse, things take a surprising turn. A galloping beat comes in, heightening the sense of emotion and desperation as Sampha addresses the song's subject: "If you find me, I wanna tell you I love you so."

This one is special. Sampha is back.—Constant Gardner

Beat master extraordinaire Clams Casino is back. This year, he's already produced three songs on A$AP Ferg's Always Strive and Prosper, following that up with the announcement of a new album, 32 Levels. Although we're excited to find out if any of his past collaborators will feature on the record, "Blast" is a reminder that Clams doesn't need a vocalist to create atmosphere and take his listeners on a journey.—Constant Gardner

2016 has seen hip-hop take a lot of cool experimental turns, so much so that it might be easy to begin to forget what anything other than left-field production sounds like. Luckily, DP is here to wake us the fuck up and remind us exactly what hip-hop sounds like when it's chillingly hard. On his latest, "You'll Be Touched," the Virginia rapper delivers fierce verse after verse over ominous, menacing beats. It's dirty, it's gritty, and it's exactly the jarring outlier today's rap scene needs.

So fuck the auto-tune. Long live the hard-hitting-straight-to-your-bones beats.—Katie K.

Reworks or new takes on super popular songs are always risky. Mostly because when a song is already good, why mess with it? For the most part, it's a good rule to follow. But then you get something like SZA's "twoAM," a rework of PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake's "Come And See Me," which makes you remember how captivating remixes can be when they're done right.

Here, SZA keeps the core feel of the original, but changes the lyrics so she's singing from a responsive perspective instead of the same point of view they had. In doing so, she makes it unique to her without creating an entirely new song. Plus, her vocals are absolutely killer on this. If this is the direction A is heading, we're in for a treat.—Katie K

Joey Purp is the most effortlessly cool rapper out right now. We learned this much at SXSW when he came to freestyle in our backyard. Dude makes rapping sound like a casual stroll, and more importantly, he makes it sound fun.

"Girls @" features a playful, percussion-centric beat by Knox Fortune and Peter Cottontale, and it's the perfect backdrop for Purp and Chance to showcase their charisma. Joey Purp's album iiiDrops drops May 27.—Jacob Moore

Finding Novyon has a had a steady 2016. He dropped the Super Saiyan EP, performed with Allan Kingdom at our No Ceilings SXSW showcase, gave us an interview in LA, and then even found time to reflect on his time at Prince's Paisely Park.

Now the Minneapolis rapper is back with another single, this time teaming up with Sonny Digital for "LET'S GET LIT." Novyon finds himself right at home on the cold, booming, Sonny Digital production. His flow melts onto the beat and creates a smoking-and-driving anthem perfect for a summer cruise with the squad. Throw in some clever word play and an old school Nickelodeon reference ("Kenan and Kel bitch I'm all that"), and "LET'S GET LIT" is, in fact, lit.—John W