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New Music Friday – August 2, 2024

Rap continues to trend in the right direction with the help of one of its great icons. There’s something for everyone this New Music Friday. Read on to view our top picks for this week. Here’s the best new thing out now:

The Best of New Music Friday:

JPEGMAFIA – I Lay Down My Life For You

Rap music is benefiting from the week JPEGMAFIA is having. He’s quickly released his new album I Lay Down My Life For You. The record is the rap maverick’s first solo release since 2021, but he’s found plenty of ways to stay more relevant than most rappers in the 2020s. Last year JPEGMAFIA collabed and toured with Danny Brown on Scaring the Hoes. Earlier this year he announced a tour. He then shared two new singles, “Don’t Rely on Other Men” and “Sin Miedo.” This week Peggy shared a stylish trailer announcing I Lay Down My Life For You. This kind of rollout is exciting, it keeps fans buzzing, and it was exactly what rap music needed.

Don’t get it twisted though: JPEGMAFIA is an icon rapper, not the other way around. He’s a boasting personality who knows and loves the production game. He makes his own mixes and I Lay Down My Life For You is sample-heavy. All the sounds he plays with on his latest LP and illustrative of an emotion, a sound and an energy that feels fresh. He’s got metal guitar riffs, modern house beats, classic-rap samples and that will sound awesome in the big venues he’s playing soon. People feel all sorts of ways about JPEGMAFIA, but few artists can bring excitement on this level, especially in modern rap.

I Lay Down My Life For You features guest appearances from Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, and Steven Spielberg’s daughter Buzzy Lee. The “Lay Down My Life Tour” begins next week, making stops across North America, Europe, UK, Australia, and New Zealand through March 2025. Check out those dates here. Get a copy of I Lay Down My Life for You here.

New Music Friday Top Picks:

Chrystabell & David Lynch – Cellophane Memories [Sacred Bones]

Jack White – No Name [Third Man]

Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well: Deeper Into the Well [Interscope/MCA Nashville]

Killer Mike – Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints [Loma Vista]

Personal Trainer – Still Willing [Bella Union]

The Smashing Pumpkins – Aghori Mhori Mei [Martha’s Music]

X – Smoke & Fiction [Fat Possum]

Ween – Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) [Rhino]

Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you add to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram!

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Ben Pagani

Music Projects Manager at Beyond The Stage Magazine

Ben is a music journalist living and working in Chicago. They joined Beyond The Stage as an intern and have stayed on the staff for several years. Now serving on the editorial board, Ben is proud to be BTS' Music Projects Manager, coordinating coverage between international record labels and our staff. Ben has interviewed, photographed and written about bands from across the world. Ben has lived all over the United States working in television and media. They are an Emmy Award-winning writer. Ben can be found spinning records as 'DJ Wearing Sunglasses' in clubs and basements across the US.