Best Songs of the Week

With so much good music steadily coming through, it's easy to miss out on some of the best. To help prevent this, we've picked some of our favorite tracks from the week. Here are the songs you can't afford to skip, in no particular order.

"Aint nobody gonna be out here sounding like me, ain't nobody gonna be out here doing what I do," Danny Brown told Rolling Stone in an interview a few days ago. It's a claim so many artists make, but it's one that has defined Brown's career. For better or worse, Danny Brown is his own artist, thriving on creating a style of hip-hop that is entirely unique. With experimental sounds, unexpected collaborations, manic beats, and a wild delivery, Brown's shown he's not interested in the status quo, and he's succeeded because of this.

Though we've only gotten two tracks from the album, it appears this is, luckily, yet again the ideology that Atrocity Exhibition is built upon. "Pneumonia" is his latest, a gritty offering with dark, grimy production courtesy of Evian Christ. Over these aggressive beats, Brown raps about his money, his women, and his career with a twist of delusion that make his lyrics captivating instead of uninspired.

It took Brown three years to make Atrocity Exhibition, and from just "When It Rain" and "Pneumonia," it already sounds like it's worth the wait.—Katie K.

"The song is quite immediate," Lully told us of "Slow D's." "No whispering introductions. And it exhibits some of pop music’s finest tropes; a melody, a voice and a beat." She's right—when you have those three factors working together, the hard part's over.

This, Lully's debut track, is as strong an introduction on could hope for. The sound is simultaneously familiar and foreign, full of pitch-shifts, bird calls, and big fuzzy synths. She's partly working in the shadows of Jai Paul and Passion Pit, but there's something undeniably unique about her style (and her poetry) that sets Lully apart.—Graham Corrigan

London road rap legend Giggs' new album Landlord is hard as hell. His gruff, low-key rapping style may not be in your face, but he has a lot to say, and he doesn't hold back on the album, from drugs to guns to bent cops and street realities.

But it's not all darkness—party songs like "Lock Doh" and lyrical flexes like "The Blow Back," with Stormzy and Dubz, break things up nicely. One of the high points is "501" featuring masked rapper CasIsDead. He's one of the very best and most under-appreciated MCs in England. There's talk of these two, whose flows and deliveries compliment each other so well, making a joint mixtape. Imagine that.—Constant Gardner

Mick Jenkins has been teasing fans about his forthcoming debut album The Healing Component for quite some time now, but yesterday he finally delivered the first preview of what's to come. The first single, "Spread Love" features production by Sango that opens up sounding reminiscent of a classic '90s R&B record.

Sango gives the beat a modern flip with an additional ounce of bass and a subtle bounce that sets up the perfect platform for Mick's vocals. As the title would allude, "Spread Love" delivers a message of focusing on what's important rather than letting life's daily evils distract us from our ultimate goal. While Mick continues with lines like, "All that gold is overrated / what do you do with your coin? / we gon' try to spread some love with it," over this soothing rhythm, it's hard to not immediately feel lighter and ready to spread some positivity.—Adrienne Black

Anna of the North knows pop. Since 2014's infectious "Sway," the Norwegian singer has slowly positioned herself as a just hits, no misses artist. "Us," her latest, is a finger-snapping couples' anthem that celebrates love and partnership. The song sweeps through a bubbly mix of breathy vocal samples and glittering synths, a dance floor jam that arrives just in time for summer's final weeks.—Alex Siber

Rae Sremmurd doesn't get enough credit. They're often judged simply as rappers, but the best things about Rae Sremmurd are not their technical rap skills or lyrical ability. It's their hooks, their songwriting, and the production they choose. Who else could pull off a chorus like the one in "Black Beatles"? When Rae Sremmurd raps, it's fun, catchy, and full of charisma, but there's so much more to the duo, and it's on full display on this standout from SremmLife 2.—Jacob Moore

Cadenza keeps impressing us with his collaborations, and "People" is another winner. We were already in love with Jorja Smith, and she floats over the production, which starts off sounding like dub reggae, but ends up as a straight jungle madness. Dre Island comes through with a perfectly timed verse, and Cadenza (who put Avelino and Assassin on the same track), proves to be the master curator once again.—Constant Gardner

This kid is something special. Twelve'len is from Carol City and came up with guys like Denzel Curry, Nell (welcome home!), and Yung Simmie, but found a way to paint a different picture of the same environment. "Star Dust" feels good, sounds great, and the video for it is incredible. A couple seconds into the song I was hooked and knew that this would be a song that would close out the summer for me. The production is groovy and the chorus is simple, all he's asking for is a dance.—Eric

As Frank Ocean built his staircase, another self-isolating artist readied his return. Justin Vernon's Bon Iver has not produced an album since 2011. Chances of another body of work often looked bleak, but odds skyrocketed when a global guerrilla marketing campaign paved the way for Justin's Eaux Claires festival. As his live set (including an entire new album) from this past weekend concluded, two songs from the Wisconsin native hit music platforms. "22" has a sample-heavy ethereality, while the pounding industrial drums of "10" hint at a fresh direction for the falsetto-loving Vernon. 22, a Million will release next month; until then, let these cuts quench that Bon Iver thirst you forgot you had.—Alex Siber