Let Anderson Paak, Katy Perry, and Frank Ocean Guide You Through This Week In Music

By Joel Arbaje , May 19, 2017

The sheer volume of new and worthy music coming out right now is giving us a certain amount of decision fatigue here at Fast Company. Last week alone saw HAIM push out the recorded verison of the Right Now trackParamore dropped a new album, their first record since 2013; Harry Styles took on the Classic Rock genre with his gem; and there was so much more from Miley Cyrus, Swet Shop Boys, Snoop Dogg, J Hus, Calvin Harris/Future/Khalid, Bryson Tiller with Young Thug. We even got to experience Justin Bieber speaking in Spanish.

What’s in store for this week? Here are our playlist recommendations to get you through the week ahead.

Track 1. Anderson .Paak, Ty Dolla $ign, and Schoolboy Q – Come Down (Remix)

This is the sound of summer seventeen–everything old is new again, when James Brown-style vocals meld with hip-hop in Anderson Paak’s latest. This outstanding track is originally from his 2016 full length album, Malibu, and he remixed it for 2017.

Track 2. Francis and the Lights, and Chance the Rapper – May I Have This Dance (Remix)

Most Creative Person Chance the Rapper shows off his dance moves along with guest vocals from–is that Phil Collins? Strike that… Francis Farewell Starlite of Francis and the Lights. Looks like Chance was born with two right feet.

Track 3. Selena Gomez – Bad Liar

This track, from the executive producer of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why (oh and she’s also a pop star), is good because it’s a pop departure, more reminiscent of Talking Heads and classic rock than early Katy Perry. While we are on the topic, I’m wondering what Selena Gomez and Chance the Rapper have in common? I have no clue but Petra Collins has been cranking out photo series with the two of them lately. The photographs are a must see.

 

Track 4. Xxxtentacion – Looking for a Star

The debut track from Xxxtentacion, 19, was an angry club smash with ego, titled “Look at me.” This week we got a preview of the range he is capable of with this emotional jam off Xxxtentacion’s 18 minute EP “Revenge“.

Track 5. Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj – Swish Swish

The production on this Katy Perry track was haunting me. Every write up mentioned the Fatboy Slim “Star 69” sample, which is a “I Get Deep” sample in itself. Something else was going unmentioned, then when Nicki Minaj came on the track it hit me… “Truffle Butter“, which samples “What They Say“. This track is a beauty Frankensteinesque creation.

Track 6. Liam Payne, Quavo – Strip that Down

The One Direction fellas went all over the musical map. Zayn went RnB, Harry went classic rock, Niall went Folk, and now Liam is here with Trap. Its lovely. Curious to see if Louis puts anything out, and what genre it may fall under.

Track 7. Frank Ocean – Biking (Solo)

 

Frank Ocean is a mysterious poet, that we are all grateful just to have. Lately he has been dropping tracks like Beyoncé–completely unannounced. On May 15, surprise, there was a new track listed under Ocean, “Biking (Solo)” which is not to be confused with his other track Biking, and Solo… and (Solo Reprise). How do the lyrics to Seigfried go again… “Dreaming a thought that could dream about a thought That could think of the dreamer that thought.”

Track 8. Lil Yachty, and Evander Griiim – X Men

Lil Yatchy is just a consistently good addition to the party playlist, this track is all fun.

Bonus Track. Katy Perry, and Migos – Bon Appétit

Bon Appétit” is such an earworm.

We went ahead and added all these new music standouts into a neat playlist below. Be advised we will be updating this Spotify listing every Friday, so it may not be evergreen. Follow the playlist on Spotify, and come back to Fast Company every Friday for our weekly updates.

A few songs we’re recommending this week.

The sheer volume of new and worthy music coming out right now is giving us a certain amount of decision fatigue here at Fast Company. Last week alone saw HAIM push out the recorded verison of the Right Now trackParamore dropped a new album, their first record since 2013; Harry Styles took on the Classic Rock genre with his gem; and there was so much more from Miley Cyrus, Swet Shop Boys, Snoop Dogg, J Hus, Calvin Harris/Future/Khalid, Bryson Tiller with Young Thug. We even got to experience Justin Bieber speaking in Spanish.

 

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