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New Music Friday – July 26, 2024

For fans of wild, wordplay-filled hip hop, there is one release this week worthy of being called “The Best of New Music Friday.” Find out what it is below below. Scroll down to hear what else is worth a listen this last Friday of July.

The Best of New Music Friday:

Ice Spice – Y2K!

Nobody is white hot this week like Ice Spice. The 24-year-old Bronx-born phenom just shared her explosive and anticipated official debut album Y2K! via 10K Projects and Capitol Records. The rapper and pop culture sensation rang in the occasion from the top of the Empire State Building last night, lighting the tower up orange. There’s hardly a peak more worthy of showcasing star power in this world. Ice Spice has everyone hooked.

Ice Spice is good for the rap community. Some people posit her as something of a savior figure, a new rap star in a genre that sorely needs one. Strangely, Ice Spice’s non-believers and supporters both reached their conclusions for the same reasons: Ice Spice has a relentless pop focus. “Let’s talk drill / Who bigger than she?” she brags on her debut album’s Gimmie a Light.

Y2K! gets its name from the fashion and chaos that marked Ice’s birthday — Jan. 1, 2000. It capitalizes on the young and feminized concepts that made her a star, and more important, ventures beyond it. In a tight 10-song run that uses her limited range and our shrinking attention spans to its advantage, Ice Spice proves she is here for a good time, not a long time. She’s using what little is left on the clock to focus on who has the thickest body, the dankest weed and the flashiest jewels.

New Music Friday Top Picks:

Bill Callahan – Resuscitate! [Drag City]

Blur – Live at Wembley Stadium [Parlophone]

Cults – To the Ghosts [Imperial]

Empire of the Sun – Ask That God [Capitol]

Moor Mother – The Great Bailout (Deluxe) [Anti-]

Nathan Bowles Trio – Are Possible [Drag City]

Porter Robinson – Smile! [Mom+Pop]

Rakim – G.O.D.’s Network (Reb7rth) [Holy Toledo Productions/Compound Interest Entertainment]

Robber Robber – Wild Guess [self-released]

Wand – Vertigo [Drag City]

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.