With new music flying like warp-speed through the various channels of the Internet, it can be hard to keep up. But worry not! Each week The Fresh Toast will deliver the most-discussed and exciting songs that have recently dropped. Landed. Crashed. And also: soared. Enjoy.
Solange ft. Lil Wayne—“Mad”
“Where’d your love go?” Solange asks, and goodness if there’s not multiplicities in that question. There’s so many possible you’s. “But I’m not really allowed to be mad,” she sings in the song’s outro, after she, along with a dexterous, throwback Lil Wayne (!!), list the many, many reasons they should be.
But this song sounds so far from angry thanks to its gorgeous production: Plinking piano chords, a slow-motion walking bass (it’s got so much stank, man!), and drums that bless with that bounce. Solange slips in and out of this falsetto and it’s so, so divine. You really believe she has wings. I mean, how else did she pull out that verse from Wayne? He hasn’t spit this confident, this graceful, this—yeah—poetic in years.
Overall, Solange’s album vibrates like spring’s first sunrise after a brutally cruel winter. In a year like 2016, it’s not hard imagining why a black woman might feel that way. But her records don’t divide, they heal; they’re like a family quilt you snuggle yourself in during those darkest of nights. Though it’s her struggle laid bare, she invites everyone in. Still so much to unpack, so much worth visiting again and again.
The Weeknd—“False Alarm”
Hm. Hmmmm. Hmmmmmmmm. I’ll be honest: I’m still undecided about this new Weeknd single. It’s certainly one of The Weeknd’s more polarizing songs (which is saying something!). It mostly revolves around that hook: him scream-singing “false alarm!” amidst percussive cacophony. Sensory overload, it is. Not bad, but he seems lacking that Prince gusto to pull off that yell.
Also, an odd choice to drop singles in back-to-back weeks for an album still two months away. This internet era we’re in really isn’t conducive to any expectations whatsoever. Maybe his team thought it best to debut this song ahead of his SNL performance this weekend? I liked “Starboy,” but I just don’t know how I feel about “False Alarm.” Maybe that’s saying more than I intend to.
$ilk Money ft. Andre Benjamin—“Decemba”
Okay is Andre 3000 dropping something or what? Following consecutive years where Dre would descend from the heavens to bless us with one fresh verse a year, he’s been popping up a lot lately. He’s on the Frank Ocean album, Travis Scott’s record, and will make two appearances on Cudi’s upcoming project. Add in those Gucci-fueled OutKast rumors and now delivering these bars that give off that Aquemini-era feeling. Idk idk idk. I don’t want to set up any of us for disappointment. But Andre’s making it real hard not to believe something’s coming.
Metallica—“Moth Into Flame”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHSvxG-F_k
What is the proper response following that performance? Is anyone allowed to play anything again? Should Metallica have just destroyed their instruments, because seriously what’s left after that? Also, man, James Hetfield really hates fame and celebrity if your brain somehow processed his message there (it required two listenings personally). Straight fire, that was. And no, we aren’t adjusting our score for olds.
Gucci Mane ft. Rick Ross—“Money Machine”
Here’s what you need to know about this music video: Servers carry around silver platters of stacks and the candelabra is stuffed with dollar bills instead of candles. I love Gucci Mane so much.
Major Lazer & Showtek—“Believer”
The last Major Lazer record we heard was the Justin Bieber-assisted “Cold Water.” It was a track crafted for radio, and has climbed the charts accordingly. But this new record has no interest in any of that. Instead it’s a classic EDM banger that will rock festivals and various sets this year. You know what they say: Get you a DJ who can do both.
