Duh, it’s great: Jungkook, “Still With You” – It’s BTS’s maknae Jungkook, solo for the first time ever, praise be this day! “Still With You” is a romantic R&B ballad about loving someone forever, most likely his fans, and the opening sample feels ripped straight from a Kandi Burruss song written for TLC. Should I even go on about that jazz piano and upright bass? Naturally, I’m smitten. Others will be, too. —Maria Sherman
YES: TWICE, “MORE & MORE” – Nine member K-pop girl group TWICE’s latest comeback, “More & More,” leans into the excess the title suggests: there are countless harmonies here, stacked with psychedelic EDM drops. I imagine this is what Jess Glynne’s personal utopia would look and sound like were she invested in deconstructing fairytale imagery and reframing women as the protagonists, all while demanding “more and more,” over a song that could very well be multiple songs strewn together. Or something. Either way, I’m in. —MS
Sure: Queen Naija, “Butterflies Pt. 2” – I’m not sure anyone is falling in love these days (eHarmony and Match.com covid-19 commercials be damned), but Queen Naija’s “Butterflies Pt. 2″ is an escapist fairytale meant to elicit the sensation of falling in love for the first time, delivered at a time when a romance feels like a frivolity—there are bigger movements to address. Still, the wholesomeness of her breathy chorus, “I still get butterflies / Crazy how we vibe / Even when we fight / I still get butterflies,” is as charming as a teenage crush. —MS
Yea: CupcakKe, “Lemon Pepper” – CupcakKe is always deliciously raunchy, and on “Lemon Pepper,” she goes as far as to literally season that D. “I need some lemon pepper and mild sauce on that dick / If your dick taste plain, then I’m throwing a fit / My pussy only taste like water cause you thirsty as shit,” she cheers on the chorus, not long after making the only acceptable covid-19 reference I’ve heard all year: “Legs ’bout to spread like corona.” I welcome her joyful ode to mouthwatering fucking, and her pledge to donate half the proceeds to the Minneapolis freedom fund. —MS
Shygirl and Arca, “Unconditional” – South East London singer Shygirl is known for her dark, brooding dance music, but this latest track made with producer Arca is a vulnerable reflection on finding “strength in adversity.” “You poison all the roots of me till I’m only the stem,” she sings through Arca’s distorted production. If you buy it on Bandcamp today you can name your price, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Black Lives Matter and the UK charity Inquest. —Hazel Cills
YES: TWICE, “MORE & MORE” – Nine member K-pop girl group TWICE’s latest comeback, “More & More,” leans into the excess the title suggests: there are countless harmonies here, stacked with psychedelic EDM drops. I imagine this is what Jess Glynne’s personal utopia would look and sound like were she invested in deconstructing fairytale imagery and reframing women as the protagonists, all while demanding “more and more,” over a song that could very well be multiple songs strewn together. Or something. Either way, I’m in. —MS
Sure: Queen Naija, “Butterflies Pt. 2” – I’m not sure anyone is falling in love these days (eHarmony and Match.com covid-19 commercials be damned), but Queen Naija’s “Butterflies Pt. 2″ is an escapist fairytale meant to elicit the sensation of falling in love for the first time, delivered at a time when a romance feels like a frivolity—there are bigger movements to address. Still, the wholesomeness of her breathy chorus, “I still get butterflies / Crazy how we vibe / Even when we fight / I still get butterflies,” is as charming as a teenage crush. —MS
Yea: CupcakKe, “Lemon Pepper” – CupcakKe is always deliciously raunchy, and on “Lemon Pepper,” she goes as far as to literally season that D. “I need some lemon pepper and mild sauce on that dick / If your dick taste plain, then I’m throwing a fit / My pussy only taste like water cause you thirsty as shit,” she cheers on the chorus, not long after making the only acceptable covid-19 reference I’ve heard all year: “Legs ’bout to spread like corona.” I welcome her joyful ode to mouthwatering fucking, and her pledge to donate half the proceeds to the Minneapolis freedom fund. —MS
Shygirl and Arca, “Unconditional” – South East London singer Shygirl is known for her dark, brooding dance music, but this latest track made with producer Arca is a vulnerable reflection on finding “strength in adversity.” “You poison all the roots of me till I’m only the stem,” she sings through Arca’s distorted production. If you buy it on Bandcamp today you can name your price, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Black Lives Matter and the UK charity Inquest. —Hazel Cills
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