Music

Noname Lets Her Thoughts Fly With The Wind On Her Introspective ‘Rainforest’ Single

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Noname has yet to fail on the musical front. The Chicago rapper has given fans great bodies of work with her Telefone and Room 25 albums in addition to a collection of impressive guest features and standalone singles. With that being said, this fall will mark three years since Room 25, but hopefully, by then the rapper will have released her third album, Factory Baby, a project she announced back in 2019. As we await an official release date for it, Noname returns with what could be the project’s first single in “Rainforest.”

The single fits perfectly with much of the music in her catalog. It’s backed by production that carries a slight groove while Noname lets her thoughts about a number of topics, including her displeasure with billionaires and the people who support them. The track arrives after she announced it in a very nonchalant way earlier this month. “lmao i don’t even know how to promote myself as a rapper anymore but my song Rainforest drops in a few weeks,” she wrote in a tweet.

The song is her first release since last year’s “Song 33,” a track she dropped in response to J. Cole’s controversial “Snow On Tha Bluff” record. As for Factory Baby, it remains to be seen when the album will drop, but when it does, it could be Noname’s last album as she revealed in 2019 that she would quit music after its release because her “heart isn’t fully in it anymore.”

Check out the song in the video above.

Tinashe’s ‘I’m Every Woman’ Cover Is A Towering Homage To The ’70s Classic

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As part of a new project with ESPN’s The Undefeated, Tinashe has released a cover of the classic empowerment anthem “I’m Every Woman.” First popularized by Chaka Khan in 1978 — it was the lead single off her debut album Chaka — the track was later popularized in the ’90s by Whitney Houston, who turned it into more of a pop hit than the original funk and disco vibe.

Tinashe has obviously heard both versions of the song, and seems to pull from both artist’s legacies in her own version, working in funk and disco alongside itchy house beats, but including plenty of dramatic belting that’s rare for the R&B star’s vocal style. Dramatic belting doubles as an ode to Whitney whenever it’s done well, and Tinashe pulls it off with surprising ease here. Last year she spoke to us about bringing live shows into people’s living rooms during the pandemic, this year, she’s catapulting herself into the realm of disco and funk with a truly superb cover. Check out the song above.

Other artists involved in The Undefeated’s Music For The Movement Volume II project, a part of Black History Always, also includes offerings like Tobe Nwigwe’s take on Melvin & The Blue Notes’ (Featuring Teddy Pendergrass) “Wake Up Everybody,” Brent Faiyaz contributing an original new song, “Eden,” and Freddie Gibbs doing Gil Scott Heron’s “Winter In America.” The first EP, Music For The Movement Volume I, featured Rapsody, Jensen McRae, Terrace Martin, Alex Isley, Robert Glasper, and Keedron Bryant.

Freddie Gibbs And Joyce Wrice Are Sprung In Love On Their Groovy ‘On One’ Collab

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Freddie Gibbs has lent his rap talents to a number of other hip-hop artists throughout his career, but tonight he’s working with a rising R&B star instead of a rapper. Adding a new entry to that list, the Alfredo rapper joins rising singer Joyce Wrice on their new single, “On One.” The track is a groovy number with both artists detailing the passionate relationships they find themselves in. No matter how hard they try to break it off, they end up returning to their partner for another dose of the love they tried so hard to run away from.

The track will appear on the singer’s upcoming debut album, Overgrown which is due for a release on March 19. Listeners will catch contributions from Lucky Daye, Westside Gunn, Kaytranada, Masego, Devin Morrison, and UMI on the album. While the track is Joyce and Freddie’s first collaboration together, they both appeared as guest acts on Westside’s 2020 album, Pray For Paris. On Freddie’s side of things, “On One” is his second track of the year following “Gang Signs” with Schoolboy Q. That song proved to be a much more relaxed effort than the potential song fans expected from the rappers.

“On One” comes after Freddie made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast where the two held a four-hour conversation. It was here that the rapper claimed to have shot a crackhead nine times, an action that didn’t have too much of an effect on his target according to Freddie.

Listen to “On One” in the video above.

Overgrown is out 3/19. Pre-order it here.

Freddie Gibbs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Pop Smoke’s ‘AP’ Single Arrives Ahead Of His Posthumous Acting Debut On ‘Boogie’

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Pop Smoke was just getting a taste of stardom when it was all ripped away from him in early 2020. The Brooklyn rapper was tragically shot and killed during a home invasion in Los Angeles. While his musical talents and impact were undeniable, we recently learned that Pop had so much more he wanted to prove to his supporters. In just a week, the rapper will make his posthumous acting debut for Eddie Huang’s basketball film, Boogie. While fans will still have to wait for the arrival of that film, they can enjoy some new music from Pop thanks to his “AP” single.

The new track finds Pop Smoke thriving in the drill rap pocket that brought him a massive wave of supporters in his unfortunately brief career. Throughout the nearly three-minute song, the Brooklyn native flaunts his lavish lifestyle and raps about his jewelry, money, and more. The track is the also official lead single for the Boogie film. In it, Pop will play a character named Monk, one who rivals the movie’s main character Alfred “Boogie” Chin (played by Taylor Takahashi) on and off the basketball court.

“AP” may not be the only song fans hear from Pop Smoke this year. DMX and Meek Mill have both teased records that he is featured on.

Hear the new single in the video above.

Boogie is scheduled for release on March 5 through Focus Features.

Hear Two New Chloe X Halle Songs On The ‘Chrome Edition’ Of ‘Ungodly Hour’

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Last night Chloe X Halle dropped the video for “Ungodly Hour,” the title track off their massive 2020 breakout album. But that wasn’t the only thing they had in store for fans. Since the pandemic has made it impossible for musicians to tour their work, plenty are opting to release a deluxe or revamped version of their records from last year. Chloe X Halle have dubbed theirs the “Chrome Edition” of Ungodly Hour, and dropped the new version tonight. This edition includes two new tracks from the sisters Bailey, and the songs hew a lot closer to gothic pop than the smoldering R&B of the rest of the album.

Not that there aren’t hints of this kind of power on “Tipsy,” but “Hazy” and “80/20” take on an even more confident, swaggering feel — there’s no shying, loved-up narrator on these tracks. Instead, braggadocio and dark beats pepper the new songs, which are ripe for remixes too. And though it’s not fair to constantly compare Chloe and Halle to their mentor, Beyonce, these two songs in particular are reminiscent of some of the more bossed up work she’s been drawn to, especially later in her career. For this duo to already be at that place of extreme confidence at this age? Now that’s the power of a mentor. Check out “Hazy” above and “80/20” below.

Bruno Mars And Anderson .Paak Are Teaming Up For A Whole Album Together As Silk Sonic

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Stop the presses — two of music’s most legendary groovers are collaborating.

In an unexpected Instagram post from Bruno Mars — who has been relatively quiet on the new music front since his controversially won Album Of The Year at the 2018 Grammys — revealed that he and Anderson .Paak have teamed up for what is sure to be one of the funkiest supergroups around. Dubbing themselves Silk Sonic, Mars shared that the two have already made a whole album’s worth of material together, and the first new song will be dropping next week, March 5.

“We locked in and made an album,” Bruno wrote on Instagram. The band’s called Silk Sonic. First song drops next Friday 3/5.”

This isn’t the first time .Paak has worked with another artist for an entire album. His project NxWorries is a supergroup with LA legend Knxwledge, and their 2016 album Yes Lawd! is still a fan-favorite. Bruno isn’t a stranger to working with other big names, he infamously pulled Cardi B onto “Finesse” at the height of her career, and has worked with The Police (!) already. But he hasn’t gone as far as to create an entire album with another artist, so it will be fascinating to see how this plays out. In the meantime, check in next Friday to get the first taste of Silk Sonic.

Saba And Femdot Seek Longevity In Their Optimistic Video For ‘Lifetime’

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Chicago rapper Femdot earned his first big moment in the spotlight in 2019 thanks to his album ’94 Camry Music. Soon enough, his name started to appear more often, appearing on collaborations with Taylor Bennet, Pivot Gang, and more. Femdot returned last November with the tracks “Back Home” and “Lifetime,” featuring Saba. More than three months after sharing the two songs, Femdot and Saba reconnect in a video for the latter.

The rappers’ “Lifetime” collaboration details their hope for career longevity. Together, the Chicago rappers make it clear that want more than fifteen minutes of fame, and in the video they come together in a quiet field to look out to the horizon with the hope that their wishes become a reality.

The new video is the latest piece of content to arrive from Saba in what we hope leads to a new album. After going more than a year without a solo release, the rapper returned towards the end of 2019 with “Mrs. Whoever” and “Something In The Water” alongside Denzel Curry. Two months later, he returned with more music thanks to “So And So” and “Areyoudown? Pt. 2.” So who knows, maybe there will be more.

You can watch the video for “Lifetime” above.

A High School Band Designed A COVID-Safe Way To Bring Back Indoor Practice — And It Kind Of Works

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After the live music industry shut down in 2020, The Flaming Lips’ vocalist Wayne Coyne thought up an inventive way to play live shows while keeping the audience safe: giant plastic bubbles. The band has already proved the method successful with a handful of in-person shows earlier this year. Now as schools across the country begin to reopen, one Washington public school is taking inspiration from Coyne’s plastic bubbles.

Eastmont High School in Wenatchee, Washington has been open since the end of January. The school had to find ways to mitigate the risk of possible infections by staggering student’s class schedules and restricting cafeteria tables. But bringing back band indoor band practice was a bigger challenge — until they came up with a clever solution. According to a report from The Wenatchee World, the school’s band teacher has placed a number of bright green individual tents in their room for students to play their instruments in.

Some tents clearly worked better than others, however. The photos show a number of students able to comfortably play instruments within the cramped space. But for one tuba player, it seems like the tent was not quite big enough.

Even still, the school’s principle Eric Anderson is excited for the students to be back in the halls, and he says the kids are equally as happy. “It is amazing the level of energy in the building, having adults interacting with kids but also the conversations of adults to adults,” Anderson said. “You get kids back in the building, you get a lot of smiles even with masks on. You can tell people are happy.”

Check out photos of the COVID-safe band practice above.

The Flaming Lips is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.