7 Songs You Need In Your Life This Week

Vince Staples opens Summertime ’06 with the line, I’m just a nigga, until I fill my pockets, and then I’m Mr. Nigga. The rest of the album is similarly dense with internal rhymes and commentary so incisive it might take a couple of listens to realize what you just heard. “Norf Norf,” an ode to North Side, Long Beach, is cinema verité, all guns and gangs and getting the fuck away from cops. The refrain, spat matter-of-factly over an eery, drone-y beat, says it all: I ain’t never ran from nothin’ but the police. You need this in your life. — Rawiya Kameir

My favorite song on Pageant Material has always been the first, maybe because the ghost-town whistle and sidewinding strings on "High Time" remind me of listening to country music in my parents’ car as a kid. As an opener, it's a sweet introduction to Musgraves’ unfussy attitude and her lauded down-home sound: I’m missing my roots/ I’m getting rid of the flash, she decides early on, before singing one of her famous Mama-always-says platitudes, the first of dozens on the album: Nobody needs a thousand-dollar suit just to take out the trash. I know I don't. — Patrick D. McDermott

Krept & Konan’s “Freak Of The Week” makes the case for a resurgence of two of my favorite genres: dancehall and UK rap. The DJ Mustard-produced, Jeremih-guesting track had two different dancehall references to begin with, but a brand-new remix featuring Beenie Man and Popcaan leans even deeper into song of the summer status. The aspirational line Have you ever eaten McDonalds on a G4? is pretty damn impressive, too. Now where’s my green-black-gold mesh vest at? — Rawiya Kameir

Legend has it that Rick Ross plucked Jamaica's Magazeen from a Miami detail shop after hearing him singing while he worked. Now he's signed to Wale's Every Blue Moon imprint, and this week he put out "So Low," a breezy new single with Wale and Nigerian superstar Wizkid called that bounces along at a BPM slow it barely registers. — Zara Golden

Selena Gomez maybe just dropped the best song of her career. "Good For You" is as smoldering and sultry as it is catchy and fun, and it's got a dose of smeared-mascara-sadness and a verse from A$AP Rocky to boot. It bodes well for her upcoming second studio album—on Interscope, where she signed after leaving Hollywood Records and sacking her manager parents—which could well be one of the year's big pop curveballs. Because here, when Selena sings trust me I can take you there, I believe her. The heart wants what it wants ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. — Aimee Cliff

It doesn’t especially sound like Future of What broke a sweat making Hots, and it’s a really lovely listen because of that. My early favorite track off the brand new EP is the first one, the cheekily titled “Choose Existing.” It's a pristine few minutes of synth-pop, where listening almost feels like eavesdropping on the Brooklyn band's intimate hang out. — Zara Golden

It makes sense that the low-key video for "Super Chef" was shot and edited by Father. If you don't recall, Makonnen's stoned kitchen character was first introduced to the viral rap-loving masses via a still-unbeatable verse on Father's suddenly controversial "Look at Wrist." While a lot has happened for both dudes since "Wrist" hit, the new song feels like a return to form for Makonnen: his elliptic crooning floats characteristically between half-assed and hard-as-hell over a low-end heavy beat.— Patrick D. McDermott