Friday Five: Lil Yachty goes Oprah, a balm from Kacy Hill, and more best tracks of the week
Every Friday, EW’s music team runs down the five best songs of the week. In today’s edition, Lil Uzi Vert puts a new spin on a trance anthem, Lil Yachty pays compliments via Oprah, Kacy Hill releases a soothing balm, Kehlani warns us about a fraught relationship, and Grouplove just wants us to dance.
"Got The Guap" — Lil Uzi Vert feat. Young Thug
For a minute there, it seemed like Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake would never come out. Uzi seemed perfectly content to leak songs to YouTube, all but guaranteeing a future of disorganized archiving. But last week Eternal Atake — quite possibly 2020’s first cosmic rap record — was released. Almost immediately after, Uzi teased an entirely new second album. Luv vs. the World 2 features a number of exceedingly joyful songs on its back half, including “Got the Guap,” a miniature sped-up trance anthem in which Uzi and Young Thug croon and croak their way through three minutes of blissed-out music box plinks. It’s the perfect voluntary quarantine anthem. —Sam Hockley-Smith
“Oprah’s Bank Account”— Lil Yachty feat. Drake and DaBaby
The production Lil Yachty is drawn to incorporates plenty of bouncy, unexpected noises. On "Oprah's Bank Account," it’s the opening piano riff from producer Earl On The Beat, which sounds like it was taken from an '80s sitcom theme. The pickup line — “You look as good as Oprah’s bank account” — gets points for originality, but the best part of the hook is “City girl straight from the South,” an Easter egg for those in the know about Yachty and Earl’s involvement making the City Girls banger “Act Up” last summer. —Marcus Jones
“I Believe In You”— Kacy Hill feat. Francis and the Lights
Going into what’s bound to be a hard couple weeks for many, Kacy Hill’s new single feels like a soothing balm. The former G.O.O.D. Music signee keeps the track simple with a few sustained atmospheric notes and a light backbeat. With an assist from the enigmatic Francis and the Lights, Hill’s gentle mid-tempo bop explores finding comfort in the little things that make us feel good, whatever or whoever they may be. —MJ
“Expectations” - Grouplove
There’s a line of 20 or so people in front of me at the market right now. I’ve been caught with my pants down. I didn’t stock up or get in on the Coronavirus pandemic panic buying. I worry about the physical and mental crash that will result from the adrenaline of it all. One temporary reprieve: The sounds of Grouplove's "Expectations" in my headphones. The feverish rhythms and words of Hannah Hooper (“Just dance just dance/take off all your clothes/We’re gonna step into the fire”) are the sounds of resistance and resilience. Hooper and her band have faced down personal health problems and lineup changes in the past, and it feels unfair that they should have to put their new album Healer out into an uncertain economy. But selfishly I’m grateful it’s arrived. Enjoy it. I promise it helps. —Eve Barlow
"Toxic" — Kehlani
The Oakland-bred R&B singer's new single is an intoxicating slow-burn about a noxious relationship. Over sparse tones and spacey whistles that fade in and out like shooting stars, Kehlani sings of trouble on both sides of the fence: "Damn right, we take turns bein' grown/I get real accountable when I'm alone." But don't look for a resolution here; she's just stating the facts: "All of this love is toxic... You a damn drug, you're toxic" —Alex Suskind
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