This feature highlights a hand-picked selection of some of the bigger tracks of the week. We have chosen a few of the tracks that landed within our top 25 most played, focusing on those that stood out, and left room for discussion. This edition features Drake, Rick Ross, Pusha T and more! Take a look at the list in the gallery above, and feel free to let us know your own favorite tracks in the comments.
Logic- Two Kings (Feat. King Chip)
The varying drum patterns on the "Two Kings" instrumental give Logic and King Chip plenty of rhythms to mimic and interact with. The result is a constantly moving array of flows and rhyme schemes that rarely repeat themselves.
Jhene Aiko- Bed Peace (Feat. Childish Gambino)
Jhene and Gambino come together for a low-key, well-produced end-of-summer tune. Whether or not this is it, her pop breakthrough is imminent.
Justin Timberlake- TKO
JT and Timbo have their dynamic down at this point, knocking out another mid-tempo number in a similar style to "My Love". It typically changes form about 2/3 through it's runtime, but functions more as a conventional outro than a full beat switch.
rick ross
Rick Ross- My Man (Feat. Meek Mill & Rockie Fresh)
MMG's formula is running a bit thin at this point. However, they can still turn in a banger when they want to. The percussive bounce of "My Man" sets it apart slightly from the conventional Rozay-fronted street track, Meek can still rap his ass off, and Rockie Fresh is still a rapper to watch. The presentation is getting a bit tired at this point, however.
Nipsey Hussle- Checc Me Out (Feat. Dom Kennedy & Cobby Supreme)
The crawlingly-slow BPM on "Checc Me Out" is an interesting setting for Nipsey, who makes the most of the track, as well as grabbing some hot verses from Dom Kennedy and Cobby.
Drake- Pound Cake
Drake adopted the "classic" formula that Jay Z went for with The Blueprint on NWTS. Jay included the extremely hungry Eminem for his one rap feature, which has now gone down as an infamous outshining-- so much that the song's title became a term for getting bested on your own track. Things are different on "Pound Cake," with Drizzy going for a safe, torch-passing moment, where he doesn't run the risk of being out-performed. Putting someone like Kendrick on the song could've turned the heat up a bit, but the track really isn't about fury, and Jay's portion acts as a well placed alley-oop for Drizzy's final 16.
Pusha T- Nosestalgia (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
What Pusha T and Kendrick Lamar have on many other "lyrical" rappers is plenty of personality and animation in their deliveries. With hip hop going in extremely maximal directions production-wise, it takes a lot of charisma to impress on a minimal beat like "Nosestalgia". Paired with their obvious technical talents, Push and K.Dot (the latter in particular) bring enough dynamic to their verses that they'd work as acapellas-- and sound monstrous over the simple, yet menacing beat loop.