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The Round-Up: Best Songs of the Week - ft. Gang Starr, Earl Sweatshirt, Sudan Archives and More
The Round-Up: Best Songs of the Week - ft. Gang Starr, Earl Sweatshirt, Sudan Archives and More

The Round-Up: Best Songs of the Week - ft. Gang Starr, Earl Sweatshirt, Sudan Archives and More

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.

This week's haul is a masterclass in slow raps and luxurious bars.

Happy Friday, good people. A rap-happy Release Day unto you. With Fright Night out of the way, it's officially the first day of the holiday season. And the drops are stacked high, so let's get to digging before "All I Want For Christmas" runs these algorithms ragged.

Top of the long-play ledger, DJ Premier's revival of Guru on the posthumous (and sporadically potent) Gang Starr album, One of The Best Yet. NYC's Akai Solo and the venerable Pink Siifu cross streams on their blunted and beautiful collaborative project, Black Sand. Stone Throw's Sudan Archives wields a symphonic edginess and fearless experimentation on her debut full-length album, Athena. From the mighty midwest, Apollo Brown tips his hat to Hitsville with a soulful boom on Sincerely, Detroit. And with his second project in a year, Earl Sweatshirt rallied MAVI, Mach-Hommy, and Alchemist for the abbreviated, yet stark and luxurious, Feet of Clay. 

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On the singles side, there's Young Dolph's seasonal send-off, Tame Impala's resplendent anthem of the washed, Randy Mason and Homeboy Sandman's dizzying and inspirational standalone, a swung and slurred gem from Dijon, and a grip of dance-floor daggers from Planet Giza, Van Jess, and Juto. But that's just half the script.

Hear it all in this week's episode of The Round-Up below. Hit the link to subscribe to Okayplayer's Spotify channel and never miss another true note.

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