Robin Thicke ft. Nas - Deep ★★
Interscope
"Can't play with your water gun, son, because the police see a seven-year-old as a threat..." With this heartfelt a capella verse, Nas becomes the latest high profile African-American artist – after Beyoncé, Kendrick, Solange et al – to speak out on the issue of controversial police shootings. The mystery though is why Nas chose to do so in a guest spot on the comeback single by R&B singer (and rape culture poster boy) Robin Thicke. Some classier outlets Nas could have chosen include "Nickelback concert", "adult diaper commercial", and "newly surfaced hot mic conversation with Donald Trump".
Harlea - Miss Me ★★★★
Oeoe
Miss Me is the cracking debut single from North London singer Harlea. Reliable information about the 22-year-old is hazy. But based on this evidence, we can assume she has at least a passing acquaintance with the back catalogues of The Kills, Garbage and the Arctic Monkeys. In any case, this is one hell of a calling card.
Kamaiyah ft. YG - F**k It Up ★★★
Rapper Kamiayah Johnson was born in Oakland, California in 1992. Coincidentally, the same year Dre dropped The Chronic. Which, by some strange osmosis, may explain how the 24-year-old's music is so imbued with the spirit of old-school West Coast hip-hop. A straight up party anthem, this F**k It Up video features such G-Funk staples as low riders, braids and whiny synths. Her debut album, A Good Night In The Ghetto, was released earlier this year.
Priests - JJ ★★★★
Sister Polydor
After three critically acclaimed EPs, two years and one single, Washington DC punk rocker's debut album Nothing Feels Natural is finally scheduled for a January 27th release. On this the taster from it, frontwoman Katie Alice Greer – who also directed the video – shrieks ("I wrote a bunch of songs for you… but you'll never deserve them"), snarls and gets pinched in the face. Unhinged and irresistible
