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In Heaven

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  In Heaven ALBUM ∙ AMERICANA ∙ 2021 Strand of Oaks
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GNX

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GNX Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2024 Kendrick Lamar If there were any remaining doubts as to hip-hop’s MVP, consider the decision stamped: Kendrick Lamar officially won 2024. There were whispers that Compton’s finest was working on an album in the wake of his feud with Drake, a once-in-a-generation beef that kept jaws dropped for months. (Perhaps you’ve heard of a little song called “Not Like Us,” an immediate entry into the canon of all-time great diss tracks.) After a sold-out celebration at the Kia Forum, an armful of Grammy nods and streaming records, and the headlining slot at next year’s Super Bowl, Lamar ties up his biggest year yet with a bow with his sixth album,   GNX , the most legitimately surprising surprise drop since   BEYONCÉ   in 2013. Named for his beloved classic Buick,   GNX   finds Kendrick wielding a hatchet he’s by no means ready to bury, still channeling this summer’s cranked-to-11 energy. On “wacced out murals,” he’s riding around listening to...
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Tranki, Todo Pasa

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Tranki, Todo Pasa Album ∙ Urbano latino ∙ 2024 Sech “In this moment, I am enjoying everything I do, as if I was starting from scratch,” Sech tells Apple Music. The singer and producer from Río Abajo had not released an album since   42 , in 2021. But now that he has signed a contract with Rimas Entertainment, the same label as Bad Bunny, the Panamanian is at an enviable peak of creativity. “I’ve grown more as a person and have learned not to focus on the negative aspects of life,” he explains. “I’ll try to breathe and get better, focus on my health, mind, and heart. This is a maturity stage.” Sech channels the progressive tendencies of neo-reggaetón on “Picasso,” which complements its futuristic rhythm with a sample of “Rosas,” the pop anthem by Spanish band La Oreja de Van Gogh. On “1-0,” he teams up with ELENA ROSE to explore the textures of Afrobeat, relying on sharp electric guitar lines to support lyrics about heartbreak. On the verge of turning 31, Sech has found a new defini...
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Trill Bill

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Trill Bill Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2024 Kodak Black Despite the rollercoaster that is the Florida rapper’s personal life, Kodak Black’s steady stream of new music never falters. Just a month after the release of a mixtape,   Dieuson Octave , which took its title from his birth name, arrives   Trill Bill , his eighth studio album. For a man still in his twenties with such a world-weary rasp it’s surprising to hear just how nimble his flow can be, with a knack for unpredictable wordplay reminiscent of mixtape-era Wayne. (Kudos if you saw it coming when he rhymes “Make my gat go bang” with “Kurt Cobain” on “Maybach Van.”) Surprising too are   Trill Bill ’s many tender moments—as he croons over sweet piano chords on “One Piece Left” (“I got one more piece of my heart left/And I’ve been saving it for you”), or recounts a meet-cute on “Dirty Revolver”: “She said, ‘You Haitian and a Gemini, boy, I already know you trouble, but LOL, text me.’”
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A Minute... - EP

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A Minute... - EP Album ∙ Singer/Songwriter ∙ 2024 Myles Smith The story has become somewhat familiar by now. A promising young singer-songwriter uploads a handful of covers online, unexpectedly goes viral, amasses a community of fans (among them A-list names) and, eventually, earns a major-label deal. But the fact that Myles Smith’s story has followed a certain trajectory doesn’t make it any less remarkable: In only four short years, the Luton singer-songwriter has gone from hopefully uploading covers to TikTok to becoming a global breakout star thanks, in particular, to his inescapable 2024 track “Stargazing.” “I always believed in the feeling of the track and I always knew there was something special in it, but I think the extent it’s taken off, I definitely couldn’t have predicted,” Smith told Apple Music following its release. “To see the world having a similar, visceral reaction was quite surreal.” The deeply romantic “Stargazing” features up top on   A Minute… , the follow-up...
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