Courtesy of Major League DJz; photo by Alec Hirata; Adam Alonzo
Each week, The FADER staff rounds up the songs we can’t get enough of. Here they are, in no particular order. Listen on our Spotify and Apple Music playlists, or hear them all below.
Playboi Carti, “Like Weezy”
My early pick for song of the summer, “Like Weezy,” is an ecstatic merging of Atlanta’s past and present. The track samples “Bend Over” by Rich Kids, one of city’s most beloved hits that will send ATL expats of all ages straight to the dance floor, no matter the city they’re in. Perhaps motivated by his love of the original song, Carti moves with the energy of someone reunited with an old friend, flexing how he’s “big like Bieber” and spitting out his “P’s” like Daffy Duck. I wasn’t sure what to expect from MUSIC, but I can honestly say Carti giving us a Fetty Wap vibe wasn’t anywhere on my list. —Jordan Darville
Nettspend and xaviersobased, “Impact”
To Nettspend’s credit, he’s unafraid to give flowers to his influences. None are more integral to the rise of the teenage star (as well as the sound of countless other SoundCloud rappers) than xaviersobased, the NYC rapper and producer who pioneered a sound combining Lil B’s BasedWorld, ambient, and jerk. “Impact” is their most polished yet, with twinkling final boss synths and steely angst making for a catchy, irresistibly flexy combination. —JD
Zuro, “Hey”
One of my favorite electronic music projects last year was The weight of the world by Syzy, a fresh take on dubstep and EDM with the disposition of a tilt-a-whirl set to dangerous speeds. The beat for “Hey” by Virginia’s Zuro has a similar sparking texture that’s been passed through the deep fryer of rage rap. As confrontational as Zuro is on the track, its cheerful synths cut his anger into something sweeter and more dynamic. —JD
Viola Odette Harlow, “Porn Star” (feat. Chloe Cherry)
The title track from Los Angeles-based singer Viola Odette Harlow’s new album is a sexy and sad ballad that, if I had to make a comparison, is very LDR Ocean Blvd-coded. I say that because midway through, Chloe Cherry, the adult actress turned Euphoria star, blasts through Harlow’s gorgeous reverie with a disaffected rap verse that can’t help but remind me of the change up on “A&W.” It’s to Harlow’s credit she genius-ly pulls it off. —Steffanee Wang
Mei Semones, “I can do what I want”
There is a defiance to Mei Semones’ “I can do what I want,” a sentiment that’s present in its title and lyrics (“I am going to do this the way I wanna do it,” she sings), but also in the song’s brilliant arrangement, a slow-fast, orchestral-rock odyssey that captures the sensation of flight. I can’t stop going back for another listen. —SW
Major League DJz, “Come With Me” (feat. Jorja Smith)
Jorja Smith shines the brightest when she’s in her club anthem pocket and that’s what “Come With Me,” by the breakout amapiano DJ duo Major League DJz, is. The steady bpm of the log drum creates a meditative trance as Smith offers spiritual guidance: “Come with me, you aint been down this road/ Watch your step that’s all I want you to know.” —SW
Zosha Warpeha & Mariel Terán, “Orbweaver”
“Leaping from a twig, a spider lays a strand of silk in the open air.” So begins “Orbweaver,” a transfixing new track from Zosha Warpeha and Mariel Terán. The song’s silk strands are woven with Terán’s varied arsenal of tonal and atonal Andean flutes, interlaced with pizzicato strings from Warpeha’s hardanger d’amore — a 10-string instrument with roots in Norwegian folk traditions. Together, they form a juddering tapestry, each thread spun in a direction no algorithm could predict. —Raphael Helfand
Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes, “Frica”
Saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Gregory Uhllman, and bassist Sam Wilkes’ debut LP as a trio is enrapturing from start to finish. It’s exactly this quality that gives the three improvisers license to drop a stuttering, unevenly chopped cut at the end of the first act. Wilkes and Uhllman lock into a deceptively disjointed groove at the very start, a pattern Johnson darts deftly in and out of, until about 90 seconds in the rhythm section aligns and the sax settles in, phasing subtly over smooth bass and guitar triplets. —RH
Panchiko, “Mac’s Omelette”
The fourth single from Ginkgo — Panchiko’s second studio album — is a slow and subtly lush ballad, layering mournful guitar licks and serene keys above a steady rhythm section. The revived and revised quintet (featuring a new drummer and a third guitarist) form a foundation on which singer Owain Davies trods dutifully, then soars over with a crystalline falsetto when the hook comes around. —RH
Fib, “PS”
The latest single from Philly band Fib’s upcoming album Heavy Lifting starts out as a dreamy slacker rock jam before shapeshifting halfway through. The group dive into a time machine to deliver greasy proto-punk riffs as vocalist Gage Nelson loses faith in real time, “Need some help getting well/ but I can‘t see it getting better on its own,” he sings as the concept of time and reality melt around him. —David Renshaw
DJ Gummy Bear, “Murder”
DJ Gummy Bear is the moniker Montell Fish uses when his music leans a little darker than his regular lovelorn R&B. This grimy electronic lane suits him. There are undeniable echoes of Jai Paul’s maximal funk in “Murder,” which marries subterranean bass with a hook that gloms onto your ribs and stays put. A DJ Gummy Bear mixtape, titled Purgatory, will follow on May 9. —DR
