Picking out our 10 favorite songs this week was the most difficult such conversation in a very long time. In fact, it felt reminiscent of the heated battles over choices and rankings that happen around “Best of the Year” time. Simply put, this week delivered. Hip-hop heads will get their fix with Jay Rock and ShowYouSuck, Lane 8 and Dan Snaith’s Daphni heat things up for those looking for something to dance to, and Julia Holter and Birds of Passage dig deep into their emotions with enchanting new tracks. Dig in and enjoy!
10. ShowYouSuck – “Wrong Name in the Deathnote”
Under two and a half minutes long, “Wrong Name in the Deathnote” is a geeked-out one-off pieced together from three tangential motifs. As explained by Chicago rapper and pop-culture savant ShowYouSuck, “[it’s]something that me and my longtime producer, Mike Jaxx, usually do … where we take an hour and try to make three songs in that amount of time and whatever we end up with gets put together. It’s a lot of fun to do and I wanted to try that technique with Professor Fox.” This selection contorts from DJ Shadow hyphy toward melodic trap and twists back to the West Coast with some jazz-tinged, Brainfeeder-esque instrumentals. The track’s title draws influence from an anime, but the rhymes about pizza most definitely remain. So trade in those verses about bands and bottles, and just split a pie and share some laughs with ShowYouSuck. –Derek Staples
