I wanted to try and get this list out before the June 25th album bomb that's coming, so this list would likely change significantly in the next few weeks. Either way, everything here is great and I would highly recommend it. The tracks here are sorted by alphabetical order by track title, and only one song per artist. Every song in the list is at the bottom in a Spotify playlist, as well as every track individually linked as well.
Pop Smoke - “AP”
This is actually the first of two movie soundtrack hip hop bangers on here, this one being for Pop Smoke's appearance in the movie Boogie. “AP” is the single and headline track for the movie, and it’s apparent why. Of course, it’s another drill track, but it balances the hardcore drill and mainstream hip hop that Pop Smoke was able to make, just in one track this time. The skittering hi-hats still rattle around the headspace, there’s an eerie vocal sample that adds some melody, but the way the 808s hit is super unique. They seem to have been played at random and must’ve given Pop Smoke a bit of a challenge to actually find a pocket. A song can’t be on here without a great hook, and this one has it, even with the subject matter being really dark knowing how he died. This still doesn’t make me excited for another posthumous Pop Smoke album, but it proves once again that he would have made some special music in the coming decade.
Listen: Spotify
St. Vincent - “Down”
The third single from St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home is a perfect introduction to the project. Sure, this track is a bit more upbeat than the average song on Daddy’s Home, but it contains all the weird quirks that makes the album stand out. The groove for the track is impeccable, and contains the wide-ranging amount of instruments that make up this album. There are organs, clavichords, multiple types of guitars, drums, and even the sintar in just this one song. The vocals also are just as quirky as the album’s, especially with St. Vincent’s ad-libs bouncing around the music during the chorus. The backup singers also add so much texture to everything she says. This is also one of the only tracks on Daddy’s Home that would fit in perfectly with today’s alt-radio stations, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s currently getting played to death on there. Just a straightforward 70s-influenced indie-pop track with every aspect done to perfection.
Listen: Spotify
Brent Faiyaz - “Gravity” (Feat. Tyler, the Creator & DJ Dahi)
I wish that most of Brent Faiyaz’s music stuck with me more, but this song is nothing short of amazing! It’s not that unique in the grand scheme of R&B and hip hop, especially considering Tyler is on the track. It just makes the influence of Flower Boy really come through really strong. These bright synths come together nicely with Brent’s chopped and screwed vocals. The hook on this track is absolutely insane, especially with how catchy it is. There’s no reason why this track should be as infectious as it is, but it really is something special. Ironically, even though it sounds a lot like Tyler’s material, Tyler doesn’t add too much to the track with his verse. I do wonder if Brent Faiyaz is going to continue down this combination of Houston-influenced vocals and smooth synth lines, because this sound could be the one that makes him stand out among the genre.
Listen: Spotify
Isaiah Rashad - “Headshots” (4r da locals)
Isaiah’s debut single back may not have given fans what they wanted, but “Headshots” definitely does. “Lay Wit Ya” is a traditional southern-fried banger with a feature from Memphis star Duke Deuce, but this track encompasses why people really love Zay. This word is overused when it comes to music, but Zay is the absolute king of vibes. There’s something special about the whole concoction of sounds that Zay provides here that leaves the listener in a trance. The beat here is extremely straightforward on the surface, but there’s so many layers underneath that add to the atmosphere. As usual for his music, Zay’s voice is put through a filter that helps it blend into the beat more effectively. The subject matter on here isn’t anything special, which is kind of disappointing for someone like Isaiah. That’s the only thing I would improve on here, but hopefully there will be some of that on the album. “Headshots” is the return to the limelight that us Zay fans have been waiting for.
Listen: Spotify
Paris Texas - “Heavy Metal”
Unique music is always underappreciated, and for a young group to be this unique makes them worth a listen. “Heavy Metal” being their first track ever released on streaming services is crazy, especially for how polished this song feels. Let's get the negative out of the way; the subject matter here is extremely basic and requires no thought for any dissection. But sonically, their combination of noise rock into hip hop is unlike anyone else. Even with the pioneer group Death Grips, they combine it in two very different ways. Death Grips create these all-encompassing atmospheres of noise for MC Ride to do his thing over, while Paris Texas leave the instrumental pretty bare bones. There aren’t even any words for the chorus, but rather a heavy guitar riff and loud hi-hats. Although their full project left me a bit unfulfilled, there’s no denying that this is one of the most creative songs of 2021 so far.
Listen: Spotify
Jensen McRae - “Immune”
From a joke on twitter to her most popular track, “Immune” shows how Jensen can offhandedly make fantastic indie tracks. This was originally a joke she made about Phoebe Bridgers’ songwriting style that went viral on twitter and while it was blowing up, she made a preemptive cover that got almost as much traction as the original tweet. It took less than two weeks before the full thing was released, and here we are with the all-around superb track “Immune”. As the original tweet states, “Immune” is about hooking up in a car while getting vaccinated in Dodger Stadium, but fleshing out the concept to three verses allows Jensen to add more subtleties and meaning to that seemingly simple concept. The only thing I was hoping for was for Phoebe herself to provide some sort of vocals, as she acknowledged the original tweet and cover before they became a full song, but Jensen did stray away from Phoebe’s sound for the full track, so her exclusion makes sense. Either way, this track went on Jensen’s EP and hopefully her debut album is sooner rather than later.
Listen: Spotify
Little Simz - “Introvert”
Hip hop albums are one of the biggest ways to create a moment in music these days. Besides a hip hop album by an icon or a huge pop star releases, must see moments are hard to come by. With this track, Little Simz has created a larger than life moment with this six minute epic. The opening operatic moments sound fit for a royal entry, and Little Simz proves herself as the queen with her impeccable lyricism and flow. It’s not a surprise that Little Simz has the incredible flow, but production like this is only able to be tackled by a few artists. Even though there are a few rappers I personally prefer to Little Simz, I wouldn’t want most to even attempt a track like this. It’s so grand and unheard of in hip hop that it immediately makes her upcoming album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, to one of the most anticipated of 2021! I haven’t even mentioned the Cleo Sol chorus, or The Crown star Emma Corrin providing a spoken word outro. Also, the fact that Little Simz was almost the first rapper I ever saw on stage is mindblowing, especially with her going from opening for Ab-Soul to creating masterpieces like this. Even while listening to the song as I’m writing this, the outro instrumental and speech are giving me chills. I highly doubt there will be a more cinematic or incredible opener to an album this year than “Introvert”.
Listen: Spotify
Tkay Maidza - “Kim” (Feat. Yung Baby Tate)
Even with her new project coming out next month and multiple new singles released after this one, “Kim” always stuck with me the most. I’m not even sure why, it’s not a complicated track. There’s an extremely repetitive hook, a quotable verse from each rapper, and a hard beat. All of those things are nice, but there’s a million songs that fill those three requirements. I think the reason “Kim” stands out to me is all the little things the track does. For example, even during the under three minute runtime, the beat switches a plethora of times, especially during the second half. Their verses aren’t just flowing nicely, but filled to the brim with clever and hilarious quotables. The video is also an allusion to the famous Kim's in the world, mainly Kim Possible, but also outfits from Lil' Kim and Kim Kardashian. I have no doubts that Last Year Was Weird Vol. 3 will live up to the previous project.
Listen: Spotify
Silk Sonic - “Leave The Door Open”
I mean, this was an obvious one. It’s not only one of my favorite tracks this year, but one of the most popular tracks as well. I knew that Bruno Mars would immediately make anything huge, but I wasn’t expecting this straightforward R&B track to have this much longevity. “Leave The Door Open” sounds directly out of the 70s, end-of-Motown era of R&B and they execute it perfectly. The only thing that annoys me about this track isn’t about the track itself, but rather what they’re doing with it. I’m glad it’s getting all the acclaim, but the hype level I had when they announced the group and single is nowhere near matchable after they’ve been announced for almost four months. Don’t get me wrong, whenever they choose to release it, it will likely be one of the best projects of that year, but if it were me, this project would’ve come out a month after the single, max. I know Bruno likes to do this super drawn out, traditional album release cycle, but it’s annoying as someone highly anticipating this project. Either way, give us the album now Silk Sonic, this one song won’t do.
Listen: Spotify
Maria Isabel - "Love Song"
Maria’s been someone I found about a year ago, and even though her brand of smooth R&B were really good, it was still missing the extra step. This song feels like the extra step that she needed. It may not be the step that Deb Never made in 2021 (spoiler alert), but it’s probably Maria’s best track so far! Her songwriting here is easily the most relatable and poignant of her entire career. Instead of being a traditional love song about another partner, she also looks into who she is and how she determines her own self love. The first verse especially shows how she sees herself and her view on life with only four short lines. The chorus is fairly straightforward, but it works perfectly, “I’m doin’ the best I can, I hope it’s enough. Maybe you can’t keep me safe, but keep me loved.” This track gives me a bit more hope that Maria can drop a project full of tracks this great.
Listen: Spotify
J. Cole - “m y . l i f e” (Feat. 21 Savage & Morray)
After this track, J. Cole and 21 Savage might officially be one of the best duos in hip hop. Their previous track, 21 Savage’s “A Lot”, won a Grammy and reintroduced 21 to a different audience than his previous murder music had. Now that the hype and surprise is gone from the duo, hearing 21 and Cole combine onto a beat like this should’ve been expected, but what wasn’t expected was 21 actually outrapping Cole. Judging by the concept of the track being about overcoming poverty and gang life, I suppose 21 should be better at that. He’s still straightforward, but the maturity and conviction of lines like, “I pray my past not ahead of me,” and “I got some partners that left this Earth, maybe the pain made a better me,” hit harder than anything Cole said on this track. Also, bringing on Fayetteville's own Morray is a fantastic way for Cole to bring along the next generation of artists from his same neighborhood into stardom. Even yesterday, it was announced that Cole was taking Morran and 21 Savage on tour with him, yet again bringing him more popularity. “M y . l i f e” is the most throughout track from J. Cole in a long time, and 21 Savage proves himself continuing to improve.
Listen: Spotify
The Alchemist - “Nobles” (Feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Navy Blue)
There aren’t many times Earl sounds happy on a track anymore, and it’s understandable why. His father passed away in 2018, his grandmother in 2014, he was sent away to Samoa in high school to get him away from trouble, he was using drugs to help cope with all the pain, and other associated mental health issues he touches on in his music. “Nobles” is a rare moment of happiness with Earl and his childhood friend Navy Blue. Alchemist knew the special occassion and even used a sample from The Neverending Story at the beginning of the track to show how they’re choosing happiness over darkness, “Everyone knew that whoever let the sadness overtake them would sink into the swamp.” Earl and Navy trade bars back and forth for the entire track, while The Alchemist provides some uplifting keys and drums that fit right into the minimalistic pocket they operate in. Even for hip hop fans that don’t love the sound of Earl and the sLums movement, “Nobles” feels like a must listen for anyone.
Listen: Spotify
Linkin Park & 100 gecs - “One Step Closer” (100 gecs Reanimation)
You know you’re getting big when Linkin Park is asking you to do an official remix of one of their biggest tracks. I may not have been old enough to fully appreciate Linkin Park in their heyday, but I remember loving “One Step Closer” since it was in some video game we would play on the Wii, so hearing one of music’s most forward thinking groups doing a remix of it is pretty insane. 100 gecs clearly took a lot of care while remixing this track. They somehow manage to keep all the important moments of the track into a just over two minute mix, and even added some new Laura vocals. Even the outro freakout of the original is here, but ramped up to the traditional 100 gecs levels of almost noise, but somehow extremely musical and emotive. There’s just something about the pure absurdity of this track that makes me love it even more. 100 gecs are the leaders of the hyperpop genre for a reason, and one of the most creative groups in music.
Listen: Spotify
Kenny Mason - “Pup”
This one really had to grow on me to fully appreciate it. Originally, it just sounds like two slightly related songs with a cool beatswitch in the middle, and Kenny’s sharp pen was missing. But for what this song lacks in mind blowing lyrics, it makes up for with the insane experimentation of sound. Once again, he combines the fuzzy rock sound with the trap aesthetics, but this track might be his most experimental yet. The first half of the track is this electronic, sluggish beat that shows Kenny flexing about all the traditional things. What helps the beat switch stand out is that there’s this fuzzed out guitar line, so fuzzed out in fact that they may have not even used a guitar to make it, it just sounds like fuzz. Putting that into a depressed trap beat is completely unheard of, but he somehow makes it work. “Pup” shows how innovative Kenny’s music can be, but I doubt most people could even attempt something like this, let alone pull it off.
Listen: Spotify
Genesis Owusu - “Same Thing”
Genesis released one of the best and most adventurous albums of 2021 with Smiling With No Teeth, but when it came to picking a song of his to put on this list, it was actually his new single that came to mind. This track was released months after the album came out and is a product of those sessions he had for this album. According to Genesis, they made 60 hours of music during those sessions, so he decided to release some extra tracks from those sessions that didn’t make the final cut. Even though I love this track, I can see why it missed the album. It’s not as thematically complex as what’s on the album, and it’s sonically a bit cleaner than the rest of the album. But what it lacks in thematics, it makes up for in an incredibly groovy instrumental and unique vocal performance from Genesis. The bassline especially here reminds me heavily of Prince. He does a sort-of spoken word second verse, while the first one has a melodic hip hop approach. There’s even a really nice synth line during the chorus that helps make it stand out just the little bit more. At this point, Genesis has an unlimited amount of potential for someone who already hasn’t done anything bad yet.
Listen: Spotify
Conway the Machine - “Scatter Brain” (Feat. JID & Ludacris)
I mean, do I have to say much with this lineup? Conway has already dropped two of the best hip hop projects of the year, JID is the best up-and-coming rapper currently out and is getting ready to drop his new album, and whether we like it or not, Ludacris is likely considered a Southern hip hop legend. Conway and JID teamed up for a loosie last year from JID, and this track is completely different. Instead of the traditional Griselda sound, this track has a heavy trap beat produced by Don Cannon, which instantly makes it one of Conway’s most accessible tracks. Both of their flows are lightning quick and full of both clever one-liners and other lyrical wonders. Ludacris does end up slightly behind the other two, mainly because of the awkward start to his verse, but seeing him on a track with these two is entertaining enough. As great as this track is, I expect both Conway and JID to release better songs by the time 2021 is over.
Listen: Spotify
Deb Never - “Someone Else”
Emo indie songwriter sounds like a pretty niche genre, but this generation has turned it into one of the most widespread descriptions of music out. I’m not sure if it’s the overarching pessimism of this generation that’s causing this sound to shine, or the amount of people now consuming influences from every genre due to how music is more accessible. Either way, Deb Never has always been someone who had the one of the most potential out of this sound, and she’s now growing into that potential. The songwriting, catchiness, maturity, instrumental build, combination of sounds, it’s all been upped multiple levels for this track. She couldn’t have picked a better lead single for her new project next month. Deb Never’s potential is now fully realized and it’s her time to claim the throne of a top level emo indie songwriter.
Listen: Spotify
21 Savage - “Spiral”
By now, I think I have to consider 21 Savage one of my favorite rappers. Ever since his 2017 collab project with Metro Boomin and Offset, he’s been improving significantly with every project. This track isn’t even for an album of his, but it’s another time he’s had one of the best bangers of 2021. As anyone who listens to it can tell you, this track is made for the new Saw movie. The production is full of samples to the original movie theme and unsurprisingly, it fits 21 perfectly. Having the murderous themes that 21 usually raps about fits the horror movie aesthetic perfectly. Instead of someone having to act about knowing these terrible things, 21 grew up in neighborhoods where all these crime and gang violence stories were happening first hand, and that perspective is something rare for someone as skilled as 21 Savage. “Spiral” is another addition to 21’s ever-growing discography of trap bangers.
Listen: Spotify
Iglooghost - “Sylph Fossil”
“Sylph Fossil” is easily the most aggressive track on Iglooghost’s new project, but the layering of beautiful sonics is absolutely incredible. The frantic percussion that drives the track is reminiscent of his early material, but they haven’t always had the beauty above it. For example, there’s some beautiful violin playing that can both match the energy of the percussion with some fast, screechy playing, but it can also contrast the harshness gorgeously with some elongated notes. There’s also some interesting vocal samples that Iglooghost toys with throughout the five-and-a-half minute runtime. Even though everything on his project doesn’t have a strict structure at all, this is the best example of a track that progresses wonderfully without a hitch. Hopefully Iglooghost progresses with this type of music over the next few years into something incredible.
Listen: Spotify
Danny L Harle - “Take My Heart Away”
PC music has been the single most influential movement to electronic music since dubstep, and Danny has been on the forefront since it started. They have the aggressive, experimental bangers of someone like SOPHIE, but they also specialize in extremely bubbly, sugar electro-pop songs like “Take My Heart Away”. If this song isn’t playing in the background of the next Rainbow Road update, then they’re doing something wrong. The explosion of color and light is perfectly encapsulated by the cover art. Danny is only on the production here, but he’s still the focal point of the track. The instrumental keeps building until it implodes on a gargantuan wall of synths and computer sounds. Karina Ramage takes on the upbeat female vocals and does a pretty solid job at it, even if the vocals don’t normally matter much for a pc music track. Hopefully the rest of pc music is somehow able to carry SOPHIE’s legacy with tracks like this.
Listen: Spotify
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