A fine mix of old and new this week! Sadly, Meek Mill doesn’t make the cut.
T. Dot Fasheeze feat Kendrick Lamar — “Hub’s City Wild Side”
New Kendrick! Well, sort of — the exact provenance of this track is unclear, given that it surfaced on Reddit this week but appears to be a few years old, most likely dating from before Lamar’s 2011 debut Section 80. It’s a curious artifact, with Lamar’s instantly recognizable vocals appearing over a curious Three Six Mafia-ish beat. Sterogum opines that the mysterious T. Dot Fasheeze is one of Lamar’s production aliases, but look, whatever the case, it’s a Kendrick Lamar track the world hadn’t heard before this week, so rejoice!
Miss Kittin and the Hacker — “Leather Forever”
Those of us of a certain age will feel like it’s 2001 all over again hearing this, but even those who don’t remember electroclash the first time around should be downright impressed by just how good this rediscovered First Album era track is. It’s quintessential Kittin/Hacker action: squelching beats, lewd synth sounds and a monotone Miss Kittin monologue about BDSM and Berlin.
Chemical Brothers — “Wo Ha”
Tom ‘N’ Ed’s unexpected renaissance continues with this track, which appears on a new deluxe edition of the excellent Born in the Echoes. There’s something electroclash-y about this track, too: could this herald a full-fledged electroclash revival? Bring back Kokie’s!
Air Waves feat. Jana Hunter — “Horse Race”
We’re generally all for anything involving Lower Dens’ Jana Hunter (including this excellent editorial that she wrote for Pitchfork earlier this week, and this collaboration with Brooklyn band Air Waves is no exception. It plays, curiously enough, like a latter-day indie companion piece to Pearl Jam’s “Rearviewmirror”, speaking of escape and liberation, “find[ing] a man” and skipping town in a big ol’ Cadillac.
Drake — “Back to Back Freestyle”
The Drake/Meek Mill beef has been covered ad nauseam here and pretty much everywhere else — but when it’s all said and done (which, y’know, hopefully it is), this is still a pretty great track. Who’d have thought that a feud with a man who could, presumably, obliterate him in the flesh might spur Drake to such heights? Or maybe his ghostwriter just had a good day. [Stop it — Beef Ed.]