Kendrick Lamar’s Welcome Return, and 11 More New Songs
Kendrick Lamar’s Welcome Return, and 11 More New Songs
Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new songs and videos. Just want the music? Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes). Like what you hear? Let us know at theplaylist@nytimes.com and sign up for our Louder newsletter, a once-a-week blast of our pop music coverage.
Busta Rhymes featuring Kendrick Lamar, ‘Look Over Your Shoulder’
To invite Kendrick Lamar to record a guest verse is to risk being outshone on your own track — just ask Drake, Big Sean or just about every other rapper he’s shared a beat with. Busta Rhymes certainly holds his own on “Look Over Your Shoulder,” a nostalgic love letter to hip-hop from his long awaited album “ELE 2,” and drops a handful of memorable lines (“When I leave, even my shadow got a sound to it.”) But there’s a moment of sublime weightlessness as Lamar kicks his flow from second to third gear, instantly reminding us how singular his talent is, and how much his voice has been missed. Here’s hoping the follow-up to “DAMN.” is arriving soon. LINDSAY ZOLADZ
Empress Of featuring Amber Mark, ‘You’ve Got to Feel’
“You’ve Got to Feel” starts out as self-help: “You’ve got to feel to let it heal,” it declares. But as the track keeps cleverly juggling its layers of rhythm guitar, bass and beat, Empress Of — the songwriter and electronic producer Lorely Rodriguez — lets her guest, Amber Mark, pivot the song into a denunciation of capitalism and privilege, a system bigger than anyone’s private troubles. JON PARELES
Tierra Whack, ‘Dora’
“Open the door tell them that you ready to explore,” Philly’s hip-hop surrealist Tierra Whack beckons at the beginning of her new song, “Dora” — and from there you’re transported directly into her Technicolor brain. “Dora” is a playful ode to the material world (“I like nice things/Buy me nice things”) that sidesteps cliché at every turn, simply because you never know where Whack’s rhymes are going to land: “Yes of course, I’m in Dior/I think I just might buy me a horse.” The conceptual artist Alex Da Corte has created a perfect visual accompaniment, combining humorous literalism with childlike zaniness — think Lil Wayne’s “6 Foot 7 Foot” video if it were set in Pee-wee’s Playhouse. It’s a Whack World; we’re all just visiting. ZOLADZ
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