Every two weeks Highsnobiety Soundsystem reflects on the culture's best music releases. Whether it's the latest from your faves, newcomers you need on your radar, or secret gems from global music, our Highsnobiety Soundsystem 50 playlist has got you covered. Tune in to the tracks on Spotify, but first delve into our top 5 picks below.
The Best New Music You Need to Hear (& Why)
1 Nigo - Punch Bowl (ft. Pusha T & Clipse) - Nigo's album I Know NIGO is perhaps the hip-hop debut with the most clout. Just take this song as an illustration, the BAPE-founder and overall icon reunited Clipse – brothers No Malice and Pusha T – over a The Neptunes production. On "Punch Bowl," the iconic Virginia hip-hop duo trade raps about their hustler past and the luxurious life they've earned for themselves.
2 Vince Staples - ROSE STREET -You never know what you're gonna get from Vince Staples, but he always delivers. This time around, ahead of the release of his forthcoming album Ramona Park Broke My Heart , the Compton rapper gives us a reluctant love song over a bumping beat from producers Tommy Parker and Saint Mino. If this track is any indication of what's to come, Staples has another shining body of work on his hands.
3 Rema - Hold Me (ft. 6LACK) - Last week, we reached another milestone in the development of Afrobeats. And it's all thanks to the genre's wunderkind Rema who dropped his sophomore album Rave & Roses. "Hold Me" is encapsulates the 16-track album, which merges Afropop, trap, R&B, and punk, serving as a torch for the second generation of Africa's beloved musical export: Afrobeats.
4 Doechii - Persuasive - With this record, Doechii, Top Dawg Entertainment's newest signing, proves just why she has the rapping chops to take the legendary hip-hop imprint into the future. With "Persuasive," the rapper and singer signals her transition from internet-domination to legacy-making.
5 Freddie Gibbs - Ice Cream (ft. Rick Ross)- His forthcoming album S.S.S. (Soul Sold Separately) due later this year, Freddie Gibbs enlists Rick Ross for his new single “Ice Cream.” The production makes use of frequent-collaborator Kenny Beats, who samples Raekwon’s 1995 song of the same name, while Gibbs and Ross give us their best dope-inspired bars.
