The Round-Up: Best Songs of The Week - ft. Raphael Saadiq, Slick Rick, DJ Spinna and More [Playlist]
The Round-Up: Best Songs of The Week - ft. Raphael Saadiq, Slick Rick, DJ Spinna and More [Playlist]

The Round-Up: Best Songs of The Week - ft. Raphael Saadiq, Slick Rick, DJ Spinna and More [Playlist]

From J. Cole's gifted Dreamers to Saadiq's brooding blackhole r&b -- a scan of Release Day's most worthy selections.

Happy first Friday of the month, good people. Hope you made it out of the fourth with all (or most) of your faculties intact. Independence Day may have partitioned the week, but the release calendar remains unphased.

J. Cole's Dreamville compilation, Revenge of The Dreamers III, is a properly potent showcase of a southern squad on the cusp of a breakthrough. Westside Gunn's Flygod is an Awesome God rallies an elite roster of beatmakers — Madlib included — for yet another grit-and-grime vice rap spectacle. Meanwhile, DJ Spinna presented a nostalgic glimpse at his early pad-pounding days on the 1997 Beat Tape.

PLAYLIST: Okayplayer's Songs of Summer 2019

On the singles side, Raphael Saadiq leads the charge with the second signal from his upcoming album, Jimmy Lee. The mighty Slick Rick proved to be cold as ever on an "Atomic Dog" flip that's ripe for the cookout. Urbano queen, ROSALÍA, unleashed a two-pack of summer smoke. Sam O.B. made lo-fi glisten on his latest mid-tempo r&b trot. Gabe Nandez kept it rugged and raw on a trap-laced triumph. And Ta-ku resurfaced with a warped post-beat-scene wonder.

Hear it all in this week's episode of The Round-Up below. Hit the link to follow Okayplayer's Spotify channel for an endless bag of aux cord ammo.

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