Cardi B Does a Quirky Freaky Collab With El Alfa, Carly Rae Parties Solo, and Is That D'Angelo?
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Si, si, si, si, I’m dyingggg!: El Alfa feat. Cardi B, “Mi Mami” – Acolytes of Dominican dembow, the best music in the entire world (Cardi agrees), are well familiar with El Alfa El Jefe, one of the genre’s most charismatic figures who has for years lent his baby-voiced dirty missives to a string of relatively massive hits. Cardi, who’s exceedingly smart about choosing the best collaborators and uses her industry clout to bring forth some of the best in Latinx pop music, is a no-brainer on this. “Mi Mami” feels to me like dembow under bisexual lighting, not as hard or aggressive as a lot of the genre, but still as nasty and brashly sexual as it often requires, even with a sheen of romance. El Alfa, of course, comes with his quirky freaky shit: “Cuando tú me da’ ese pan, le pongo el salami,” and “Cuando estamos en la cama, me come como Kentucky.” I am never going to stop playing this incredible song! Give us a whole collabo album! —Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
D’Angelo, “Unshaken” – D’Angelo climbed out of his quiet, soulful tortoise shell to record a song for the soundtrack of Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a video game about ??? redemption??? Here his vocals flow from a cool and steady falsetto to the baritone of a hardened storyteller, with a crackly Western melody that conjures images of a dusty duel. Leave it to D’Angelo to premiere his first new song since 2014 on a record-breaking video game I’d never heard of until now (don’t @ me). —Clover Hope
Still nah: Halsey, “Without Me” (music video) – Even when Halsey releases a tune that feels like a bad parody of more energized songs in her repertoire—which happens frequently—you can bank on the music video being compelling and metaphorical. (That’s a rarity these days! Music videos are often boring as hell!) However, “Without Me” is a breakup anthem about rapper G-Eazy, and her carousing partner in the visual is a G-Eazy lookalike. I wonder what she’s trying to tell us? I won’t stick around to find out. —Maria Sherman
Kinda, yeah: Sia, “Sing For My Life” – When it comes to Christmas music, I’m of the “Don’t fix what ain’t broke” camp. Why write new tunes for the most nostalgic time of the calendar year? I think Sia’s heartbreak anthem, that just happens to be about Christmastime, “Sing For My Life,” has changed my mind. But that might just be because it’s a big, fun, Sia-sized pop anthem. Something tells me you could listen to it at any time of the year, which is good, because it was uploaded on Halloween. —MS
AH YES: Mariah Carey, “A No No” – A fact I know to be true deep in my heart is that there’s a Mariah Carey song for every single possible emotion. Digging deep through her catalogue, one can certainly find a record that encapsulates the feeling of saying no to someone who really needs to hear it. However, “ A No No,” her latest single, really brings that sentiment home in a way that I didn’t know I desperately needed!! This is the Mariah I have always known and loved, as evidenced succinctly by the outro, which sees Mariah saying no in French, Spanish, and, stunningly enough, Portugese. There’s a beautiful interpolation of Lil Kim’s “Crush On You (Remix)“ that makes me feel both young and old—wonderful. Please play this song at top volume for the next man, woman, child, or aggressive garbage can that looks at you sideways. You won’t regret it. —Megan Reynolds
Y: Karol G & Maluma, “Créeme” – In this video, I am reminded that Maluma now has the same tone of blonde in his hair as Karol G, and that I am a complete sucker for a Colombian accent. Both things I’m mad about. This is my favorite Karol G song yet, a complete 180 from “Mi Cama,” and a perfect way for her to kick off her tour. I’ll admit that when I heard this collab was happening, I didn’t know what to expect since they’re two very different artists, but it more than works. —Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo
After some thought, yes: Carly Rae Jepsen, “Party for One” – On her latest big single since “Cut to the Feeling,” Carly Rae Jepsen maintains her reputation as a maker of breakup bops. The details in “Party for One” don’t really confirm that a breakup took place, but as is usually the case with Jepsen’s work, the song is really about the spirit of getting dumped, the feeling of rejecting that stings and lingers even as you decide to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go. In any case, songs like “Cut to the Feeling” sound like being in a jungle gym, “Party for One” sounds kind of like cruising on roller skates—it’s more level, perhaps a bit more restrained than we’ve known Carly to be. But it’s still fun, it’s still danceable, and the chorus is still very belt-able, should you choose. And that’s sort of the point. —Frida Garza
D’Angelo, “Unshaken” – D’Angelo climbed out of his quiet, soulful tortoise shell to record a song for the soundtrack of Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a video game about ??? redemption??? Here his vocals flow from a cool and steady falsetto to the baritone of a hardened storyteller, with a crackly Western melody that conjures images of a dusty duel. Leave it to D’Angelo to premiere his first new song since 2014 on a record-breaking video game I’d never heard of until now (don’t @ me). —Clover Hope
Still nah: Halsey, “Without Me” (music video) – Even when Halsey releases a tune that feels like a bad parody of more energized songs in her repertoire—which happens frequently—you can bank on the music video being compelling and metaphorical. (That’s a rarity these days! Music videos are often boring as hell!) However, “Without Me” is a breakup anthem about rapper G-Eazy, and her carousing partner in the visual is a G-Eazy lookalike. I wonder what she’s trying to tell us? I won’t stick around to find out. —Maria Sherman
Kinda, yeah: Sia, “Sing For My Life” – When it comes to Christmas music, I’m of the “Don’t fix what ain’t broke” camp. Why write new tunes for the most nostalgic time of the calendar year? I think Sia’s heartbreak anthem, that just happens to be about Christmastime, “Sing For My Life,” has changed my mind. But that might just be because it’s a big, fun, Sia-sized pop anthem. Something tells me you could listen to it at any time of the year, which is good, because it was uploaded on Halloween. —MS
AH YES: Mariah Carey, “A No No” – A fact I know to be true deep in my heart is that there’s a Mariah Carey song for every single possible emotion. Digging deep through her catalogue, one can certainly find a record that encapsulates the feeling of saying no to someone who really needs to hear it. However, “ A No No,” her latest single, really brings that sentiment home in a way that I didn’t know I desperately needed!! This is the Mariah I have always known and loved, as evidenced succinctly by the outro, which sees Mariah saying no in French, Spanish, and, stunningly enough, Portugese. There’s a beautiful interpolation of Lil Kim’s “Crush On You (Remix)“ that makes me feel both young and old—wonderful. Please play this song at top volume for the next man, woman, child, or aggressive garbage can that looks at you sideways. You won’t regret it. —Megan Reynolds
Y: Karol G & Maluma, “Créeme” – In this video, I am reminded that Maluma now has the same tone of blonde in his hair as Karol G, and that I am a complete sucker for a Colombian accent. Both things I’m mad about. This is my favorite Karol G song yet, a complete 180 from “Mi Cama,” and a perfect way for her to kick off her tour. I’ll admit that when I heard this collab was happening, I didn’t know what to expect since they’re two very different artists, but it more than works. —Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo
After some thought, yes: Carly Rae Jepsen, “Party for One” – On her latest big single since “Cut to the Feeling,” Carly Rae Jepsen maintains her reputation as a maker of breakup bops. The details in “Party for One” don’t really confirm that a breakup took place, but as is usually the case with Jepsen’s work, the song is really about the spirit of getting dumped, the feeling of rejecting that stings and lingers even as you decide to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go. In any case, songs like “Cut to the Feeling” sound like being in a jungle gym, “Party for One” sounds kind of like cruising on roller skates—it’s more level, perhaps a bit more restrained than we’ve known Carly to be. But it’s still fun, it’s still danceable, and the chorus is still very belt-able, should you choose. And that’s sort of the point. —Frida Garza
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