In Rotation

This week scattered across different moods. Jazzy Jeff and Ayah’s Back For More is soulful and frictionless—the kind of album that Ayah’s voice carries without anyone noticing she’s doing the work. It’s free, which feels right.

CREEP’s mixtape hit different. Two Laurens from New York, same exact taste, and they’ve assembled Gil Scott-Heron next to Jamie XX, slipped in Nosaj Thing, even Einsturzende Neubauten. It should not cohere but it does, and it makes you listen rather than asking permission first.

Zoot Woman’s Living In A Magazine won’t stop playing. It’s synth-pop that sounds simple until you realize the work underneath—every synth line placed exactly right, lyrics about cars and romance and what media does to your brain. It’s Automatic is the kind of song that just exists without apology.

Lil B’s I’m Gay does what it says on the label—provocation, entertainment, and this strange meditative undertone that actually works. This is what happens when you spend years multiplying yourself across the internet and somehow convince Kanye and Wayne to pay attention.

Pigeon John made Dragon Slayer entirely alone—wrote it, produced it, played it. Songs like The Bomb have hooks that grab without feeling desperate about it. The kind of thing that makes you move even when you’ve decided not to.

The Cool Kids’ debut finally landed. The hype from years back is gone, but the boom bap’s still there—Ghostface Killah, Bun B guesting, all the caliber you’d expect from people who’ve already done the work. It’s summer music, and there’s still something about boom bap that makes sense when the heat’s on.