Circular picks, May 17
Welcome back!
By now you should know the score. A months worth of our favourite music, in one playlist. Last month we brought together One Acen, Sonder, Fredwave, House of Pharaohs, and more, for Circular picks, Apr 17.
Continue on for our latest instalment, bringing together another bunch of gems for your listening pleasure 💎
Once again, this month has blessed us with some great new music. Rejjie Snow released The Moon & You, J Hus dropped his debut Common Sense, and Plan B brought an end to a 5-year hiatus with In The Name Of Man. Let’s not forget new projects from Bryson Tiller, Lil Yachty, James Vincent McMorrow, and Amber Mark.
Let’s get into some of the tracks 🚀
Anyone
Young Kye, Wiley and Reds come together for Anyone. Young Kye hit Hendrix’s radar by way of Manga Saint Hilare sharing his music.
Young Kye on the opening verse, Wiley on the hook, and.. well.. Reds on the closing verse. I mean. Reds hasn’t Tweeted in three years so everything he said is believable.
(Listen in the gym)
Cell Therapy
During a HipHopDX video about the origin of Mumble Rap, Justin Hunte discusses The Dungeon Family and a track produced by Organized Noize — Goodie Mob’s Cell Therapy.
What. A. Banger. With some of the coolest flows from all members of Goodie Mob (notably Khujo on the opening verse) and one of the catchiest instrumentals in Hip-Hop history, this can get bumped in a multitude of settings — gym, a summer day out, smoking, chilling, et al.
City Lights
Having first come across Jesse James Solomon — on Vicktor Taiwo’s Digital Kids — a few years back, he’s steadily been releasing some of the nicest sounds out of the UK. Special mention to JFSE, Before Patrick and The Ride Home.
JJ’s latest offering City Lights is of a similar ilk to previous tracks (linked above).. a smooth instrumental produced-by-felix laced with mellow raps about inner-city living. (Ps. Son of the Ends ft. Suspect just released too)
🗣 Jesse James is a national treasure.
Shout it from the rooftops!
Don’t Look Back In Anger
As an homage to recent events in Manchester, one of our users wanted this Oasis track included this month. What more as a fitting tribute, and an excellent song, too? The fifth track from (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? is as Oasis as it gets, Don’t Look Back In Anger is a classic!
Monsoon
Hailing from NYC, Amber Mark recently released 3:33am — her debut! Seven golden tracks that give us the impression Amber Park is at the gates of Heaven to greet you upon entry.
Monsoon is an early stand-out track (with a video to match). While touching on a difficult subject, Monsoon still manages to be uplifting.
Think About Me
When dvsn announced via Twitter that they were due to release “some ‘text your ex’ music”, there were mixed opinion as to what this would mean, whether it was necessary, and whether anyone even wanted to be reminded of their ex.
Well. Let us tell you. Nineteen85 — the producer at the helm of dvsn — is a wizard, and Daniel Daley is an angel. Think About Me was the return (after the briefest of absences) that dvsn needed to remind the world they’re next to take R&B by the neck.
This Way
HOMESHAKE is as cool as a bottle of Smartwater. His latest (of three) album Fresh Air was released in February and This Way is one of the smoother cuts.
In a time we’ve been blessed with the likes of Spooky Black, HOMESHAKE is a welcome addition to this crop of artists delivering atmospheric melodies over minimal instrumentals.
(Psst. some of you might know of HOMESHAKE a being in Mac DeMarco’s band once-upon-a-time)
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