What's Good (Week of 7/5/26)
Welcome on in to your weekly dose of What's Good, my new music blog that serves up heat to you on every Friday, and we've got a doozy for this edition, including:
New Albums
- Another Planet (Phiik & Lungs) & steel tipped dove
- Baby Rose
- Chuck Strangers
- Kelela
- FATHERS
- Raz Fresco
New Singles
- Haruomi Hosono
- The Koreatown Oddity
- Michael Christmas, Chris Crack, & Girl Talk
- Nick Hakim
- Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal
- Remy Banks
As always, if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe so you get the blog sent to your inbox as soon as I hit publish.
Playlists
TIDAL
TIDAL: What's Good Playlist - Week of 7/5/26
YouTube
Bonus Beats
Son Raw
Son Raw goes long on Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt and how it birthed the mythos of Hova at its 30 anniversary for POW MAG.
On Reasonable Doubt, Jay is already world-weary and desperate: he makes it perfectly clear that drug dealing is a life he wants out of but cannot escape, drawn in by the seductive pull of its material benefits even as the inevitable bloodshed destroys him. Back-to-back burners “Feelin’ It” and “D’Evils” best illustrate this. The former turns piano bar jazz into an ode to the high life before DJ Premier uses the same instrument on the later to showcase crime’s hidden costs: violence, alcoholism as a coping mechanism and, above all, the corruption of one’s soul that comes with betrayal and being betrayed. This was not Ice-T getting a rise out of frightened parents or Ice Cube making a political critique: it was a man coming to terms with his own trauma, and realizing that there was no going back to being the young kid rapping about a Hawaiian girl. That this life story resonated so profoundly with an entire generation revealed just how widespread such experiences were, and just how profoundly they had scarred those who had endured them.
Naomi Clément interviews Kelela on this week's new avatar, talking what led to the sonic shift on the new LP, her desire to express R&B as a space for exploration and experimentalism, and more.
Dylan Green
In the wake of Sir Render, Navy Blue sat down with Dylan Green for Hearing Things to talk the songs that move him. Rest in peace Ka:
I knew when I heard Days With Dr. Yen Lo, it was special, but Honor Killed The Samurai took me to a different place. Honor did for me what The Giver by Lois Lowry did for me as a child. I was like “Oh, this is what a book can do. I’m in these pages.” I truly felt like Honor was mine. I listened to that album so much, I barely knew the titles of the songs; I just knew the album. I wanted to highlight an outro because this one felt like something special. The simplicity of that statement—”I wish we didn’t have to live like this.” I could feel the pain. He meant that. It wasn’t just a rhyme. I know he was someone who felt deeply about that; that the world was tough, a sad place to have to exist in. I could feel what he’d been through without the explanation. Having “Death Poem” in parentheses to put a point on what he’s alluding to, too. Such a poetic and romantic way for a samurai to admit defeat. That guitar on that song and the way the cymbals are riding. I have this imagery of a samurai riding into his last battle. Such vivid imagery.
When I heard “I Wish,” it took me back to when I first knew I was a Ka superfan when I heard “30 Keys.” “I wish we didn’t have live like this” felt so connected to “Fuck your family, somebody got rich off mine/That’s the truth, dinner was instant soups.” He’s talking about being hungry: “I was bitter as the ripest lime/Saw the only niggas living lived a life of crime/Jumper wasn’t wet enough, too rushed to write a rhyme/Since I was the only son, it was time to shine.” “I Wish” took me back to that. In light of his passing, you take it for what it is.
redveil returns home to the D.C. area for his very own Tiny Desk, with a set from last year's sankofa, as well as a brief trip back to his debut niagara.
Yaeji lit up a dry cleaner in Koreantown LA for goyo club's electric cleaners series.
Music
RetcH - Martin Luther Six (From FINESSE THE WORLD 2, out now. Purchase: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
twogeebs & Action Figure 973 - That's So Raven (From SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKERS, out now. Purchase: CD via Bandcamp (DO NOT BUY THE DIGITAL HERE) | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Channel Tres - Creatine (From Enigma POV, out on 8/14/26. Preorder: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
AJ Suede - Strawng (From the upcoming Atomic Justice. Purchase "Strawng": Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Darko the Super & MF Grimm - Desktop Eternity feat. doseone (From Beware of Bob, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Larry June & Dj.Fresh - Organic Motion (From Who Coppin, out on 7/17/26. Preorder: Physicals, merch, and digital via Larry-June.com | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
cropscropscrops & Wiser Times - Wild Turkey feat. Jesse The Tree (From Sink Me To Bits, out on 7/16/26. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
CW: Implied masturbation, cadavers in body bags being carried
Chat Pile - PEN I S MALL (From Who Loves The Sun, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via The Flenser, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Kelela - the bridge feat. PinkPantheress (From new avatar, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Other retailer | Other retailer, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Sarah Meth - Horses (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Michael Christmas, Chris Crack, & Girl Talk - Song Title (From Don't Come To My House Sharing Your Location, out on 8/14/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Illegal Art, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Converge - It Used to Matter (From Hum of Hurt, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Convergecult | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
The Womack Sisters - If I Let You (From The Womack Sisters, out on 8/14/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and bundles via Daptone Records | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Bonobo - Fire on the Water feat. Arooj Aftab (From Distance in Static, out on 9/11/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and digital via Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Another Planet (Phiik & Lungs) & steel tipped dove - SHOOT THE SPACE (From People Are Not Your Friends, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Fused Arrow Records)
The Koreatown Oddity - Ragu & Prego (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Haruomi Hosono - Note of Mothership (From Yours Sincerely, out on 9/11. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals via Ghostly International, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Squadda B - Pray 4 Sale (From 600 Wayz, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
DJSCIENCE813
545 (D-Styles, Excess, Mike Boo, & Pryvet Peepsho) - Banana Milk (From EPILOGUE, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)
Apollo Brown - Stranger Things (From No Pressure, No Diamond., out on 7/24/26. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Fa†e - Lostwave feat. Nick Schlesinger (From EVERGREEN, out on 7/17/26. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
12k Gotti - Climax (From MADLIFE, out on 7/23/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | 10k Global | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Show Me The Body - Do What's Right (Happy) (From Alone Together, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Show Me The Body's Official Site | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Nia Archives - Get Me Down feat. Jorja Smith (From Emotional Junglist, out on 7/17/26. Preorder: Vinyl and CD via Island Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Kelsey Lu - Better Than That (Live from Blue Note NYC) (From So Help Me God, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals via Dirty Hit | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Lance Skiiiwalker - Really miss us talking feat. Blvck Spvde (From #invite,sessions,only!!, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal - Watching a Movie Called Freedom By Myself (From DOOMED!, out on 8/14/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals, digital, and merch via Backwoodz Studioz | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana - Hallucinations (From Beneath Lifted Skies, out on 8/21/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Remy Banks - grim. (From the upcoming sole nero. Purchase "grim.": Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Nick Hakim - Endlessly Waiting (From I CAN SEE, out on 7/24/26. Preorder: Vinyl via Nick Hakim's site, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
FATHERS (Nate Smith, Kiefer Shackleford, CARRTOONS) - The Leak (Live from Wonderland Park) (From FATHERS, out now. Purchase: Physicals and digital via Blue Note Recrods | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Rootbeer (Pigeon John & Flynn Adam) - Beach Towel (Out now. Purchase: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Raz Fresco - THE LIVING LIGHT (From WHY EQUALS SELF, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Nao Yoshioka - Shelter feat. Sam Wills (From self, out on 7/17/26. Preorder: Purchase "Shelter" on Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Navy Blue - Crux Ansata / Bleeding Scarlet (From Sir Render, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Brainorchestra - Out of Sight (From Patient Man Rides The Donkey, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Chuck Strangers - Breaking Atoms feat. billy woods & Zeroh (From Glory of the King's Hand, out now. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Lex Records | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Baby Rose - Better (From YEARNALISM, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Secretly Store | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
That does it for this week. If you enjoyed the blog, or found anything new, share it with your friends! Take care of yourselves, enjoy the weekend, and make good choices.
Comments ()