What's Good (Week of 5/11/25)
Another week, another round of new music for you and yours, it's What's Good. You know the drill, I bring you new music from this week, along with news and features from around the web to enjoy. Playlists up front if you're in a hurry, Bonus Beats which feature writing, live performances, and other musical ephemera, and the Music section which features videos and links to stream or purchase. This week, we've got:
New Albums
- 4word (Satchel Brown)
- José James
- Kilo Kish
- Surprise Chef
- Standing On The Corner
- Valee & Harry Fraud
New Singles
- Boldy James & Your Boy Posca
- Five Steez & Son Raw
- Lungs & Phiik w/ShrapKnel
- NxWorries
- Pearl & The Oysters
- Rome Streetz & Conductor Williams
- yeule
And a ton more. Let's get into it.
Playlists
TIDAL
TIDAL: What's Good Playlist - Week of 5/11/25
BNDCMPR
BNCMPR: What's Good Playlist - Week of 5/11/25
YouTube
Bonus Beats
Dash Lewis
Dash Lewis interviews billy woods on his new stunner of an album GOLLIWOG and goes in depth on how personal it is in contrast to (or in concert with) the rest of his work, the influence of horror and speculative science fiction, and its relationship to the current political climate:
Dash: Politics and examinations of geopolitical struggles frequently show up in your work, and this record, coming out in this particular time of fresh U.S. collapse, seems prescient. There’s that line in “Pitchforks and Halos,” “Their time is over, and they know it, that’s why they wildin,'” which feels like an evergreen statement about both revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries. And there’s that very intense “Make America Great Again” sample in “Maquiladoras.” How does it feel to release an album with this subject matter, with this title, in this moment of the U.S.?
billy woods: It would be a mistake for me to say that I knew all this would happen, but I definitely have strong feelings about the moment that we’re in. I think the United States is a huge domino in world order that has fallen. That affects a lot more people than when you see a coup sweep through the Sahel in North Africa, or the election of Javier Milei in Argentina. The United States is, for the rest of the world, like sleeping next to a giant; when the giant starts having a nightmare, you’re in trouble.
I think that the moment that the U.S. is in is part of a bigger moment globally. The collapse of a Neoliberal world order, and what increasingly appears to be its replacement by—we’ve yet to see how it’s going to shake out— a rise in authoritarian, right-wing, nativist movements, some of which deals with, at least in the West and in other parts of the world, issues of migration. Those things are not only from the so-called underdeveloped world to the developed world; you also see it within other state groupings. Something that would be close to me would be looking at South Africa and the rise of anti-immigration, and the nativist feelings that extended out into violence against Zimbabweans who were migrating there due to the collapse of the Zimbabwean state.
Jazzanova brought their debut album, 2002's In Between to the Little Big Beat Studios for a live session recording, with special guest appearances from Clara Hill, Heen Maartens, and Wayne Snow. You can check out the whole show on YouTube, and cop it digitally from Bandcamp and on vinyl from Little Big Studios.
Yukimi performs at the KCRW HQ with selections from her new album For You. Check out her interview with Novena Carmel as well.
Brainorchestra taps in with Soldato Radio for an hour long beat set at their studios.
Music
standing on the corner - Baby (From Baby, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Boldy James & Antt Beatz - Off The Richter (From Hommage, out now. Preorder the vinyl, out on 7/11/25: EMPIRE, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Rome Streetz & Conductor Williams - Rule 4080 (From Trainspotting, out on 5/30. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
8485 - G.I.R.L. feat. Danny Brown (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Joseph Shabason & Dawn Richard - Broken Hearted Sade (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Black Milk & Fat Ray - The Recipe (From The Recipe, out now digitally, vinyl out on 8/1/25. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Tom Misch - Red Moon (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
yeule - Dudu (From Evangelic Girl is a Gun, out on 5/30/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and digital at Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Kilo Kish - enough (From Negotiations, out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Lungs & Phiik - Uber Dents [ShrapKnel Remix] feat. Curly Castro & PremRock (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
NxWorries - Everybody Gets Down (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Radamiz & Fortes - From Nowhere, To Everywhere feat. Jordan Mackampa (From LIGHTMAN, The Album, out 6/19/25. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Propaganda - Don't Mind Me feat. Shad (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Valee & Harry Fraud - Driver's Ed feat. Curren$y (From EGONOMICS, out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Jabee - Prodigal Son feat. Quelle Chris (Out now. Purchase: Included with The Spirit Is Willing, But The Flesh Is Weak on Bandcamp | Mello Music Group, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Subsonic Eye - My iPhone Screen (From Singapore Dreaming, out on 6/11. Preorder: Bandcamp | Topshelf Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Pearl & The Oysters - Sous la lune mandarine (From the Sous La Lune Mandarine b/w Koi Wa Memoir 7 inch, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Stones Throw, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Sofia Kourtesis - Unidos feat. Daphni (From Volver, out on 8/1. Preorder/Purchase: Bandcamp | Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
QRTR - Let's Get Used (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Jericho Jackson - Fair Warning (From I Am Him, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl and casette preorders via Nature Sounds, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
lfarrolas
4word (Satchel Brown) - 598 (From 598, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp Stream: Full live recording via YouTube)
Jaywalk and The Cadillacs (Illa J & Ash Walker) - Take It All Away feat. Frank Nitt (From Whitewalls & Harmonies, out on 9/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl and CD via Kartel Music Group, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Boldy James & Your Boy Posca - Nancy Botwin (From Magnolia Laflore, out on 5/23. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
José James - I Thought It Was You (Herbie Hancock cover) (From 1978: Revenge of the Dragon, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Cassette via Rainbow Blond Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Puma Blue - It's Always You (Chet Baker cover) (From Chet Baker Re:imagined, out now. Purchase: Physicals and digital via Blue Note Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Che` Noir - Who's The Greatest? feat. eLZhi (From The Color Chocolate 2, out on 6/19. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Five Steez & Son Raw - Coming With The Funk (From The Test of Time, out on 5/30. Purchase the single: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
Surprise Chef - Sleep Dreams (From Suberb, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Big Crown Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify | YouTube)
Azymuth - Fantasy '82 (From Marco Passo, out on 6/6. Preorder: Bandcamp | Far Out Recordings, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)
That does it for this week. As usual if you dug anything from the drop, be sure to share it with your friends, and subscribe (or add me to your RSS feed) to get the What's Good delivered to you as soon as it publishes every Friday. Have a great weekend, take care of each other, and make good choices.
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