Temperatures are dropping however the R&B/hip-hop warmth nonetheless persists. This week we’ve acquired a set of songs by genre-benders (Omar Apollo and Tai Verdes), rising rap stars (Luh Tyler, Audrey Nuna and Huge Bratt) and an R&B staple (Kyle Dion) that will help you energy by this final week of August.
Don’t overlook to share the wealth and take a look at our August picks within the Spotify playlist, linked under. Keep tuned for September!
Freshest Discover: Omar Apollo, “Ice Slippin”
This week’s freshest discover goes to Omar Apollo for “Ice Slippin,” his emotional ballad concerning the time he got here out to his household. “‘Ice Slippin’ is about reliving the ideas I had passing by my thoughts the winter I got here out to my household,” Apollo shared in a press assertion. “Receiving chilly judgment versus the acceptance I felt I deserved. This track is a mirrored image and response of all of the feelings I needed to face earlier than and after I made a decision to go away the icy streets of Indiana.” “Ice Slippin” will seem on Apollo’s upcoming EP Stay for Me (out October 6).
Luh Tyler, “Rapper of the Yr”
“I ain’t by no means wrote a track, no, I don’t want no pad or pen,” is the boastful intro line to Luh Tyler’s new monitor “Rapper of the Yr.” The Florida teen rapper has been making a reputation for himself in rap together with his witty bars and quivering circulate. “Rapper of the Yr” is the intro monitor on his new three-song EP ROTY.
Tai Verdes, “All White”
Tai Verdes’ “All White” is a bass-forward monitor impressed partially by what he describes because the “second-generation Black mindset of placing tradition in your shoulders and shifting ahead.” The Chicago artist has mastered making mild and ethereal pop songs, although “All White” arguably barely crosses into R&B territory with its groovy bass line.
Kyle Dion, “Boyfriend Denims”
Leaning absolutely into R&B is Kyle Dion, whose new single “Boyfriend Denims” seamlessly infuses his creamy falsetto with funky 2000s R&B components. After taking a full yr off following the discharge of his 2022 deluxe album SASSY, the L.A.-based crooner is again with a track “a few fling with a woman and getting caught in an ever-endless cycle of toxicity between her and her boyfriend,” he shares in a press launch. “Each time they combat and break up, she’d come working again to me.”
AUDREY NUNA, “locket”
Audrey Nuna samples the late rapper Huey’s 2006 hit “Pop, Lock and Drop It” for her new single “locket.” The New Jersey rapper additionally pays homage to late French filmmaker Valentin Petit, who handed earlier this yr and directed the track’s video. “When it got here time to construct out the visible universe for my new undertaking, I got here throughout Valentin’s identify by my good friend and reached out on-line. After two months of making ready over the cellphone, we shot ‘locket’ in Paris in April of 2023… it was a surreal week,” she shares in a press release. “Although I solely knew Valentin for a sum of three months, I discovered on this quick time that every thing that drew me to his movies clearly stemmed from the blueprint of his soul and who he was at his core.”
Fridayy, “Stand by Me”
On his self-titled new album Fridayy, the baritone Philly singer is telling his story in addition to the story of these round him. “It’s a undertaking for us, by me,” he says. “I need folks to connect with their experiences as they hear mine. I’m speaking about hope and inspiration as a lot as I’m speaking about trials and tribulations. You possibly can’t speak concerning the dream with out speaking concerning the ache. These life features are common, so I’m hoping it touches as many individuals as doable as they see themselves in me.” Standout monitor “Stand By Me” hears him backed by a choir, crooning about righting his wrongs and wishing for his folks to sticky by him by thick and skinny.
Huge Bratt, “Actual Stand Up Bxtch”
Huge Bratt needed to “minimize them hatin’ b–ches off ’trigger that they had totally different visions” — rightfully so. The Chattanooga, Tennessee rapper proved that she’s a “Actual Stand Up Bxtch” on her new single which was launched beneath Slaughter Gang Leisure (21 Savage) and Boominati Worldwide (Metro Boomin).
