“Knees” - Injury Reserve
Someone’s mother whispers “you gonna grow into those baby.” There’s a brief moment where that could be a reaction to new pants, the old jeans scrapped and torn by too many jumps over the fence and through the brush. But the guitar smashes back in like a firework prematurely going off, and reality crashes down. “Knees”’ metaphorical musings on growing pains has little to do with with childhood misadventures. The only thing it has in common with the mind of a child is the inability to understand.
Once a trio, now a duo, Injury Reserve’s rap-dirge By the Time I Get to Phoenix, was a mourning for the sudden death of Stepa J Groggs, the MC who brought levity and wisdom to Injury Reserve’s frenetic stomp. The video for “Knees,” with remaining members Ritchie with a T and Parker Corey staring at the floor of a stage as Groggs’ shadow preforms behind them, the flashes of guitar lighting up the area like heaven’s rays is a gut punch. But, then, so is the song. A disintegrating ode to the catastrophic wake of grief. - NS
“Loving You” - YUKIKA
A warmly intimate radio fuzz opens “Loving You,” presumably from YUKIKA turning the dial while she nervously sits close to the person she’s crushing on. And then the rich lite-funk music comes pouring out to successfully fill the awkward silence in the room. The FM buffer is a cute detail of a noise from an artist like YUKIKA, who has been obsessed with bringing back the sounds and vibes of a bygone pop era, so much so that she has built an entirely analog world within her music. It almost turns “Loving You” into diegetic music, the golden, inspirational disco-era radio hit that inspires the K-pop soloist to finally verbalize her long held feelings. - RM
“Mama’s Purse” - Maxo Kream
Houston legend in the making Maxo Kream doesn’t care if you think he’s tough. Dude is obviously hard as nails, but he’s here to unwind trauma and tell stories first and foremost. “Mama’s Purse” reflects on a youth of stealing and grinding, not just for survival, but an attempt to make his family’s life even a smidge easier. But it all falls down. “I've been splurgin' on my momma / And that's the motherfuckin' problem / It don't help her with her trauma,” he spits. Over a mewling beat, Maxo’s only posturing is cementing himself as a true storyteller. - NS
“No Blood No Sweat” - Mach-Hommy
“Oh word? Your raps braggadocious? / Put this .38 in your mouth, go head spit your magnum opus.” I got nothing else to add.
“ODDTAXI” - Skirt & PUNPEE
Contrary to the titular anime in which their collaboration serves as the theme song, Skirt and PUNPEE obscure the busyness of the big city in “ODDTAXI.” The boom-bap drums mellow out the speed of life while the chilled-out guitar riff levels the pressure. “Really, life is automatic / Communication is just a matter of performance,” PUNPEE raps with a shrug.
But the song slowly reveals itself less as an ode to being carefree than a preemptive surrender to life’s letdowns: you can’t get hurt from losing hope if you already didn’t have hope to begin with. Their perspective may shrink how you see the otherwise vast, colorful city, but Skirt and PUNPEE make embracing this alternative point of view sound liberating. - RM
“Old Hotel” - Ryan Dugre
An eerie peace is the best way to describe Ryan Dugré’s “Old Hotel.” Though by turns gorgeous and warm, the instrumental hovers on the edge of disquiet, odd burbles of guitar poking at the ears, modes and key changes creating a sense of weightlessness that pervades the song. “Old Hotel” rocks back and forth on an ethereal bossa-nova groove, uncanny towards its own genre ambient music, but not for the restful.
“Posing In Bondage" - Japanese Breakfast
As kinky a title as it is, "Posing in Bondage" is a song about unbearable sadness, of wanting a connection with your partner regardless of cost. The narrator is posing "this way alone for hours," "done up and drunk," simply hoping for their partner to come soon. Over the casual throb of synths and a song-closing explosion of bells, Japanese Breakfast has given us a look into a relationship that's not dysfunctional so much as built upon a feeling so many of us know: longing. - Evan Sawdey
“Rocky Trail” - Kings of Convenience
Oh my beautiful Norwegian boys, don’t you dare ever leave me again. After a decade plus of silence, the cooing duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe returned with an even more polished version of their pristine folk tunes. With a meta nod to long suffering listeners (“let’s say you give me one more time”), the lads delivered sublime harmonies and a promise to break our hearts all over again. - NS
“Tha Divide” - Fly Siifu
The winner of posse cut of the year is usually obvious on first listen. And that was apparent on “Tha Divide,” a sprawling but catchy vehicle for a whole host of young space cadets. Zelooperz brings his loopy charisma, Pink Siifu slurs casual insults (“I lost interest soon as you stepped in”) while Fly Anakin and Koncept Jack$on trade chippy bars. The real star is Mavi, who tap dances between sterling genius and impish mischief. If this is an unofficial freshman showcase, we’re in for a good few years. - NS