This week, Lil Nas X gets into the “Holiday” spirit, Billie Eilish doesn’t have time for fake friends, and Lil Uzi Vert and Future form a dynamic duo. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
The Song That Makes For an Unlikely Quasi-Christmas Anthem: Lil Nas X, "Holiday"
Lil Nas X has released music since he took over the world with “Old Town Road” -- after all, his 7 EP was nominated for album of the year at the Grammys, and featured another hit in “Panini.” Yet as his first offering of 2020, “Holiday” gives him the first real opportunity to reflect on his whirlwind success, and hint at what’s to come. “I snuck into the game, came in on a horse / I pulled a gimmick, I admit it, I got no remorse,” he sings, bouncing between giddy concessions and more hooks that could take over pop radio. Lil Nas X is too savvy and musically skilled to be a flash in the pan, and “Holiday” -- which, despite a Christmas-themed accompanying music video, doesn’t really have anything to do with the holiday season -- is another winner drenched in self-awareness.
The Song That Encourages Your Fake Friends To Move Along, Please: Billie Eilish, "Therefore I Am"
The music video for “Therefore I Am” finds Billie Eilish sprinting around an empty mall, brandishing a soft pretzel while lip-syncing, the fluorescent light reflecting off of her green hair. Such is reality for a culture-shifting, Grammy-sweeping pop superstar in the year of social distancing, when the world is your oyster but also shut down for the time being. “Therefore I Am” is ostensibly a Descartes-referencing clap back at clout chasers -- “I'm not your friend or anything / Damn, you think that you're the man / I think, therefore I am,” Eilish sings in the chorus -- yet it’s more joyful than guarded, with Finneas providing a hooting beat that his sister clearly relishes. Eilish has now released a handful of singles following her mega-selling debut album, and “Therefore I Am” is by far the most head-knocking of the bunch.
The Album That Celebrates Two Huge Years:Lil Uzi Vert & Future, Pluto x Baby Pluto
Back in March, just before the United States was about to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hip-hop world was marveling at Lil Uzi Vert’s long-awaited return, first with Eternal Atake and one week later with its album-length deluxe edition; two months later, Future came back to soundtrack our quarantine with another No. 1 album, High Off Life. Although they haven’t been able to showcase their new projects on tour in this cursed year, Uzi and Future are still taking a victory lap in the form of Pluto x Baby Pluto, a surprise collaborative album in the mold of Future’s past full-length team-ups with Drake, Young Thug and Juice WRLD. Uzi is perhaps Future’s most logical foil yet, another gifted line-ripper who similarly adds a warble to every verse; the pair sounds so at ease next to each other on songs like “Drankin N Smokin” and “Stripes Like Burberry” that it’ll make you wonder why they haven’t teamed for an album until now, or if Pluto x Baby Pluto is just the first of more to come.
The Album That Should Be a Country Radio Staple for Months: Chris Stapleton, Starting Over
“Graceful” is a word that sprung to mind while watching Chris Stapleton perform Starting Over’s title track with his wife, Morgane, at the CMA Awards earlier this week: sharing a microphone and only soundtracked by Stapleton’s acoustic guitar, the pair not only elevated the televised awards ceremony to seemed to elevate each other with each passing second. Stapleton’s stately presence in modern country has been rewarding for his many fans post-Traveller, and Starting Over, which follows the two-part From A Room albums, is a focused and rich return, the singer-songwriter’s rumbling voice guiding stompers like “Devil Always Made Me Think Twice” as well as intimate odes like “Joy Of My Life,” then turning into a howl on the goosebumps-inducing "Cold." Simply put, there are few recording artists in country operating at Stapleton’s level, and Starting Over keeps the bar very high.
The Album That Will Satisfy The Old-School Hip-Hop Diehards: 2 Chainz, So Help Me God
“I was an aspiring drug dealer and an occasional thief,” 2 Chainz wrote in an Instagram caption explaining why the cover of his latest album, So Help Me God, is an eighth grade class photo. “If I could tell that person something today I would tell them don’t give up , times is hard , but they don’t last forever.” With that origin story in mind, the career that 2 Chainz, one of the most gifted lyricists in the history of rap, has put together is nothing short of astonishing, and continues in grand fashion on So Help Me God, which breezes by in 49 minutes thanks to the wit and surprising candor of its host. Collaborations with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Lil Uzi Vert and Mulatto will be playlist heavyweights, but the Kevin Gates drug-rap team-up “Ziploc” is catnip for old-school listeners.
The Album That Will Have You (And Your Dad) Headbanging: AC/DC, Power Up
Give AC/DC an ovation for making an album in 2020 that sounds far from phoned-in: Power Up, the band’s first new music in six years, is a more vital listen than 2014’s Rock Or Bust, suggesting a band that is hungry for more stadium sets in the coming decade rather than a bunch of Rock Hall of Famers with nothing left to prove. Credit producer Brendan O’Brien for helping the band find a balance between straying too far from a beloved formula and turning in an album of retreads, as “Shot In The Dark,” “Realize” and “Witch’s Spell” are among the tracks that recall AC/DC’s biggest career moments but still carry an unexpected punch. If you’ve ever loved AC/DC’s shout-along rock, toss on a black t-shirt and turn up the volume.
The Album That Will Make Christmas Time in a Pandemic Seem a Little More Normal: Pentatonix, We Need a Little Christmas
The title of Pentatonix’s sixth holiday release, We Need a Little Christmas, couldn’t be more apt for the current moment, with the coronavirus pandemic still raging and preventing families from spending as much time together this season as they normally would. And although Pentatonix can’t tour the world with their a cappella stylings in 2020, this stocking stuffer does offer familiar, momentary relief: “12 Days of Christmas,” “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Tell Me” and an unexpected “Seasons of Love” from Rent capture the quintet at their most reliable. Blast it with those you’re quarantining with while decorating the tree, or send it over to friends during a Zoom call.
The Album That Makes Good on a Ton of Promise: BENEE, Hey U X
It’s easy to draw comparisons between New Zealand singer-songwriter BENEE and artists like Lorde and Billie Eilish, who each sustained alternative-pop fame before turning 21. Yet one listen to BENEE’s impressive debut album, Hey U X, demonstrates the originality that she values above all: across 13 tracks, BENEE twists and turns, leaning into the sugary brightness of pop songs like “Same Effect” and her breakthrough hit “Supalonely,” sounding like a sullen garage-rock star on “Kool,” entering Grimes’ funhouse on “Sheesh” and ending with some hushed acoustic tones on “C U.” A new artist can become whoever he or she wants to be, and BENEE is clearly still finding herself; until she does, her whip-smart songwriting will steady any genre experiment and keep us entertained.
The Album That May Deliver a Global Superstar To The U.S.: Davido, A Better Time
One glance at the track list to A Better Time, Nigerian star Davido’s third studio album, hints at a full-on American crossover attempt, with Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Nas and Chris Brown all stopping by the project. Yet the sumptuous Afropop project is more complex than its commercial aspirations, as Davido similarly spotlights his fellow African stars and calls for peace amidst civil unrest in his native country. The first six tracks on the album, during which Davido mostly operates alone and surfs a variety of sinewy beats, are stellar, as are the sensual Tiwa Savage duet “Tanana” and the boisterous Lil Baby collaboration “So Crazy” in the back half. A Better Time is an album about hope, with many sounds and strands of ideas that Davido is able to comfortably tie together.
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