Who cares, deny your instincts. Like the mind on a walk along the seafront, it’s Like all great viral stories, “Mo Bamba” was basically an accident. She’s a Joan Didion essay brought to life and plonked in a studio with Jack Antonoff.“Venice Bitch” is a wandering reverie. The incisive and destructive three-minute diss track is just that—a well-crafted diss track—but it’s clear with each line that Pusha T takes great pleasure in every moment. Using a combination of forward-thinking genres as building blocks for something fresh, Flohio’s sound isn’t easily categorized, but you might summarize it in short, clipped onomatopoeia, like “OOOPH!” — There comes a moment, during any kind of heartbreak, when you break through a sort of wall. Thankfully this year saw the term redefined by Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus, who joined together as boygenius. Look upon the face of transcendence: it smells like spilt alcopops and glows in the dark. The vocals slap you in the face with a cold intensity that matches the city’s grit. All that kinetic energy has to go somewhere. He spins a narrative that is clear, efficient, and memorable, questioning Drake’s ability to father a child he But you already knew this. —Janelle Monáe makes “Pynk” feel like a sun-kissed drive with the top down even if you’re listening in the dead of winter. Roads From the Ashes: An Odyssey in Real Life on the Virtual Frontier

—This longtime DJ of mystic dance music made her debut as a producer on a split single on the Portuguese imprint Naive earlier this year, offering up a smattering of tracks driven by the spiritual energy she senses in the history of electronic music.

The digital music and merch platform is once again waiving its revenue share. —A key stateside figure in the Latin trap movement, the man otherwise known as El Artista had a big moment last year when he appeared alongside his fellow NYC Dominican Cardi B on her official “Bodak Yellow” remix. have been gradually rolling out their ‘Year In Music 2018′ coverage (including the year’s best music videos and music books), and now their list of the 100 best songs of 2018 is here. “Fast Slow Disco” remixes Rising UK rap star Nines’ “I See You Shining” is a lot like Loski’s steamy “Hot Steppa.” It’s produced by Steel Banglez, it came out in the hot summer of 2018 when the British pavement melted. Millions of them could've been saved if JPEGMAFIA had released this triumphantly dismissive track a lot earlier. “I Like It” taunts those who doubted her with tales of million-dollar deals and Rolls Royces, because one of the things she likes is proving people wrong.

The song, as pink and as sweet as bubblegum, is a lesson in fleshly self-discovery coming from Monáe, who identified as an android at the start of her career.

Their crowning achievement so far is “Me and My Dog,” an indie-pop song enveloped in ethereal harmonies, which blends the three songwriters’ sensibilities to crystalize feelings of romantic anxiety and the double bind of self-inflicted isolation. All the good stuff. One River School Honors Artist Cameron Welch “Nice for What” followed the anthemic appeal “Fancy” and “Make Me Proud” possessed, but gave it a twerk-friendly New Orleans bounce section led by Big Freedia.

“The Middle,” surprisingly, begins with silence. Over Jayda’s cheery chords and euphoric, thudding drum programming, Dash offers a vocal that falls somewhere between a self-help tape and session with a loving domme. The latest and greatest in pop music, all in one subreddit. So it comes as no surprise that, amid the bloat and sprawl of the The Menzingers have perfected a certain sound that has been aped ad nauseum by their punk peers.

If you haven't seen a four-wheeler flying north on Broad Street, you might not get it. Devendra Banhart almost whispers his lyrics, close enough to the microphone to express the shape and form of every consonant. —This devastating song weeps. In fact, there’s been no chance to forget.