The Round-Up: Best Songs of The Week – ft. Ari Lennox, Thundercat, Madlib, and More

This week’s haul features blunted bars, planet-jumping funk, wobbling lo-fi disco, and so much more.

The 2020 calendar is filling out and the prospective drops are already a little brain-rattling. So let’s get to the weekly before these cuts pile up too much higher.

The long-play ledger is a formidable one, spanning rap’s venerable and a new vanguard. Brothers in beats and blood, Madlib and Oh No, share their debut collaborative project as The Professionals. J. Cole revamps his smash Dreamville compilation with a pair a dozen previously unreleased songs from the collective, including new tracks from Ari Lennox, EARTHGANG, and others. Pink Siifu and YUNGMORPHEUS’ cerated and sedated Bag Talk is finally free of its Bandcamp exclusivity. And Bay Area breakout, ovrkast, keeps the year-long stride going with a stellar, heavy-swinging nine-track tape, Try Again, with appearances from Mavi, Navy Blue, and more.

READ: A Brief But In-Depth Dive into the 40 Year History of UK Hip-Hop and Rap

But the loosies and one-offs are promising signals of what 2020 will bring. Thundercat launches his new album campaign with a planet-jumping funk romp, featuring Steve Lacy and the legendary Steve Arrington. Brooklyn’s Medhane laces a soulful loop with blunted bars on his latest single, “DOLOMEALS.” Benny Sings returns with a sweet and buoyant new single. LA Priest is back with a wobbling lo-fi disco jaunt. BbyMutha puts one up for the unflinching scammers of our day with an oscillating anthem. But that’s just half the script.

Hear it all in this week’s episode of The Round-Up below. Hit the link to follow our Spotify channel and never miss another note.

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