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Summer Walker — CLEAR 2 (SOFT LIFE EP)
Back in 2019, Summer Walker unveiled her 4-track CLEAR EP. Four years later, she returns with the highly-anticipated sequel, CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP, and she says it’s already become one of her favorites.
This time around, Summer delivers more than double the songs. At 9 tracks, this project features guest appearances from J. Cole (“To Summer, From Cole – Audio Hug”) and Childish Gambino (“New Type”).
The former is just a conversation in musical form over soothing piano-laden instrumentation. “Hey, Ms. Walker, thank you for wanting a verse from me,” Cole raps. “Apologies for the wait / Sometimes it’s hard ta / get the distractions up off ya / For enough time to jot ya / thoughts, but f—k it, this morning, I gotsta.”
Walker says this is an important release from her perspective. “For my new listeners I wanna let it be known that CLEAR Projects are my favorite type of music to make, it’s slick the only time I actually have fun making music,” she says. “It’s raw it’s real it’s live. This for my day 1 fans, the rest of y’all will get y’all auto tune packed radio joints when the album come out lol.”
KAYTRAMINÉ — KAYTRAMINÉ
Kaytranada and Aminé form a musical fusion on their brand new self-titled duo album, KAYTRAMINÉ. The summer vibes are plenty as the superstar producer and multi-faceted rapper/singer team up for this 11-track offering.
As if that wasn’t enough star power, the guys call on a few friends to join the party. Snoop Dogg, Big Sean, and Pharrell Williams are among the project’s guests. Elsehwere, Amaarae and Freddie Gibbs join in on the fun too.
Previously, the guys reportedly began working on this project a couple of years ago. After crafting new music, they started to share it with friends. “We threw a huge rager after cranking out tons of songs,” Aminé tells W Magazine. “We played some of them without telling people what they were. It felt like there was no bias—people were just nodding their heads and dancing to shit that they had no judgment about.”
Now, Aminé says he is proud of the results. “It has some of the best Kay beats that he’s ever made, and some of the best singing and rapping I’ve ever done,” he adds. “It really leveled up my artistic capabilities.”
Various Artists — FAST X (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Fast & Furious saga continues to rev its musical engines. Just like the franchise has done since its inception, they roll out a star-filled soundtrack for the latest film in the series, FAST X.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again appeared on the lead single “Won’t Back Down” but the rap stars continue to drive the soundtrack from there. This includes Lil Tjay, G Herbo, BabyTron, EST Gee, Nardo Wick, Key Glock, BigXthaPlug, $uicideboy$, and more.
The action-packed project also includes revamped classics. Myke Towers and Safari Riot retool Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina.” Meanwhile, The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone thugs-n-harmony’s “Notorious Thugs” inspires “Let’s Ride” with YG, Ty Dolla $ign and Lambo4oe.
NxWorries — “Daydreaming”
Anderson .Paak and Knxledge have made names for themselves individually, but when they want to join forces, they unite as NxWorries. Now, the duo is back with another whimsical and stress free collaboration in “Daydreaming.”
Firstly, Mr. .Paak kicks things off with some storytelling skills on this funky collaboration. “I’ll be outside, underneath the balcony,” he sings to his lover. “Knew you was mine when you threw down the key / Up all night, trying all kinds of things / Love of your life, you know that I’m trying to be.”
Furthermore, the trip down memory lane continues with nods to 2003. Directed by Knxwledge, the song’s creative music video also pulls inspiration from nostalgia, taking cues from the “Grand Theft Auto” video game.
Bad Bunny — “WHERE SHE GOES”
Bad Bunny continues to gallop into great success with the release of his newest single, “WHERE SHE GOES.” The Puerto Rican sensation’s music video also makes waves with some familiar faces.
Although the title is in English, Benito mostly sings in Spanish. “Baby, tell me the truth, if you forgot about me,” is the rough translation of some lyrics. “Maybe, I wanted to find in you what I lost in someone else,” he adds.
The MAG-produced track also comes with a Stillz-directed music video. Lil Uzi Vert does his “Just Wanna Rock” dance to match the song’s upbeat production. Frank Ocean also makes a cameo appearance in the dream-like visual.
