17 Songs You Need In Your Life This Week

1. SZA’s been tunneling through men her entire career, so it fits that one of the standouts from her long-time-coming debut CTRL is “Doves In The Wind,” the one in which she sings about the strength of pussy and bests Kendrick Lamar. Kenny, we love you, but SZA doesn't need you here.

2. Chief Keef’s new tape’s opener, “Alone (Intro)” is a Game Boy-sound-encrusted heartbreak cruiser. "You should wanna go and live your life,” he sings in his candy-coated voice.

3. On “Rain Come Down,” Vince Staples and Ty Dolla $ign turn money-making into a jittery slow jam.

4. "Dark Blue" by Makonnen sounds like a sleepy hybrid of Britpop, krautrock, trap, and soul. Skepta’s lean, synth-based production doesn't hurt things either ;)

5. Ray BLK's bouncy, advice-riddled “Doing Me” is basically the musical equivalent of what you talk about in a friends-only group chat when you’re feeling fly.

6. The year’s most left-field infectious hit, SahBabii’s “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick," just got a lil more boost with a remix that features Young Thug.

7. Toro Y Moi’s foggy and sweet new one, “Girl Like You,” sounds just like a summer-love daydream feels. "Keep me 'til the Sun comes up/ Crack a Pellegrino/ From the bottle no cup."

8. J. Balvin stays making summer jams. "Ahora Dice," his song with Ozuna, Arcángel, and Chris Jeday, is made for all types of heat.

9. The stunner twins of Ibeyi contemplate the world's destruction on “Away Away,” a radiant pop song surrounded by Yoruba chants.

10. Zafi B and Maleek Berry's new afropop smash, “See My Baby,” sounds like the first hints of love: effortless and wiggle-inducing.

11. Toronto came to L.A. on Big Lean and G Perico's very hard collab, “Stealth Bomber,” which comes with a video of Lean and Perico kicking it.

12. Daniel Caesar's “We Find Love" is a gorgeous, choir-backed reminder that breakups can sometimes be akin to a religious crisis of faith.

13. The standout from U.K. soul singer Jacob Banks's debut EP has to be “Mercy," on which his clear, intense vocals are fortified by bursts of fuzzy guitar.

14. For a track from his already-award-winning Good Time movie soundtrack, Oneohtrix Point Never teamed with Iggy Pop for the slow-burning, purgatorial “The Pure And The Damned."

15. With a cavernous-sounding atmosphere, Jelani Blackman's "Not You" is extremely catchy — especially for a song that's hinged on such brutal soul-searching.

16. Zola Jesus is back to her freaky cinematic self on “Exhumed,” which sounds like a mournful, four-minute psychological thriller.

17. N.Y.C. trio Lexie, which counts Frankie Cosmos's Greta Kline as a member, forsake linear storytelling for bleak quips — like "Graveyards are pretty in the sun/ It's ok that someday I will be one," from one of their debut album's standouts, “It’s Nothing.”