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2. CUBBY ft. Rome Fortune & OG Maco - "Jungle"
Keep your eyes on CUBBY. The producer shared his debut mixtape Pieces earlier this week, with "Jungle," which features Rome Fortune and OG Maco over a wild beat, the most immediately impressive track. Download the whole Pieces mixtape here.
3. Insightful - "Liberate Your Luv"
If you're not familiar with Oakland-based producer Insightful, "Liberate Your Luv" is a great place to start. Dreamy vocal snippets, a glitchy beat, and sub-bass that you will only hear on good speakers or headphones combines to create a hypnotic, gorgeous track. The Soulection camp is killing it right now.
4. Chromatics - "Ceremony"
Johnny Jewel of Chromatics has shared a collection of previously unreleased material and rarities from the archives. Listen to a highlight from Chromatics, the grandiose but entrancing "Ceremony," below, then check the rest of the giveaways on Johnny Jewel's SoundCloud.
5. Ethereal - "Change"
Awful Records member Ethereal released Blackli$t, which he considers to be a "personal assessment of the state of affairs in rap music and a stream of consciousness on the dirty politics of the music industry," earlier this week. Listen to tape highlight "Change" below, and download Blackli$t here.
Related: A Day in the Life of Awful Records
6. Slow Magic - "Waited 4 U (Odesza Remix)"
The first few seconds of Odesza's sparkling remix of Slow Magic’s "Waited 4 U" are probably what magical Disney forests sound like. The rework really finds its footing once the vocals and bassline kick in, working in harmony to create a truly blissful track.
7. ASTR - "Blue Hawaii (Brenmar Remix)"
8. Witty Rock x JuneYa - "Straight"
Witty Rock and JuneYa—who are part of the same 9BMC crew as Baltimore rapper JuegoTheNinety—deliver reflective and honest rhymes for "Straight." Production courtesy of Yamataforever.
9. HWLS - "002"
10. OG Maco & Flippa - "Violent"
There are few songs more appropriately titled than "Violent," which kicks things off with the loud bang of a gunshot. This is followed by OG Maco and Flippa trading verses over an erratic, stuttering beat that includes lots of gun sounds. The song appears on Ca$h Out's mixtape, Kitchen Choppas, which you can download here.
11. Catching Flies - "Quiet Nights"
Catching Flies’ mesmerizing "Quiet Nights" is a nice little departure from aggressive rap and fast-paced electronic music, with mellow piano keys, an acoustic guitar, and gentle vocals that tie everything together.
12. T-Pain - "Buy You A Drink (Mr Gat Remix)"
Producer/self-proclaimed "Bedroom Warrior" Mr. Gat takes the Auto-Tune free vocals from T-Pain's recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert session and adds some extra funk to the beat. The results might have you wishing that T-Pain would release more songs like this.
13. Vic Spencer - "Pork Chops"
Soulful production is the perfect complement to Vic Spencer’s coarse voice. On his latest song, "Pork Chops," the Chicago rapper rhymes about the darker side of Chicago hip-hop over a smooth, piano-driven beat by Tony Stanza.
14. J-Dub - "All I Feel"
J-Dub weaves together soulful vocals and a hyperactive, pounding bassline for "All I Feel," which appears on the recent Teklife x Hyperdub footwork/juke compilation. "All I Feel" is available for free download below, and you can purchase the entire compilation here, with proceeds going towards supporting the late DJ Rashad's young son.
15. Young & Sick - "Songs to Shave to"
Nick Van Hofwegen, better known as Young & Sick, has shared a collection of acoustic tracks and the demo of “American Dreams” as a part of a BitTorrent Bundle. Listen to the incredibly fun "Songs to Shave to" below, and download the BitTorrent Bundle here.
16. Palmistry - Ascenscion EP
The sound of South London producer/vocalist Palmistry's Ascenscion EP lies somewhere between dancehall and the songs of PC Music's Hannah Diamond. It's futuristic pop music, but rooted in dancehall rhythms and production, and provides a glimmering, glistening, softly comforting 30 minutes of music on the nine-track Ascenscion EP. Download in full here.