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“This is the logical excruciating endpoint of the ‘terror plugg’ style, a 75-second jolt of producer karakuli’s maddening beat-screeches,” the 808s said, when asked for comment. “Yuke weaves through the mix like a secret agent swerving around enemies, undaunted by the clamor. It could be the song of the summer in hell.”
OFFICIAL 808s DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH MEMO: For safety’s sake, avoid listening if you have a nervous disposition or are over 25.
–Kieran Press-Reynolds
Chappell Roan: “Good Luck, Babe!”
Sure, the relative ubiquity of something on my FYP isn’t the same thing as popularity in the real world. Still, it’s felt right to watch, over the past several months, as Chappell Roan went from the subject of every third video in my feed to a genuine mainstream success. It’d be unfair to pin her meteoric rise solely on her campy, ’80s-inspired summer hit, “Good Luck, Babe!,” but all its component parts—its bratty-but-earnest perspective, the vocal acrobatics of its Kate Bush–lite bridge, the exaggerated drama of its slow-fade outro—capture what keeps her songwriting so infectious.
–Marissa Lorusso
Girl Ultra: “Rimel”
You know those early days of summer, when the last cold snap of spring has passed and you find yourself going a little too hard after being cooped up for the past six months? Girl Ultra’s “Rimel” feels designed for that moment: clean, sparkling club-pop that will rejuvenate the serotonin desert your body has become. Over a throbbing four-on-the-floor foundation, the Mexico City singer Mariana de Miguel captures the thrill of one of those first nights out in vivid detail, singing of smeared eyeliner, bass pounding in her chest, and purple light dappling the dancefloor. The track is punctuated by irresistible little flourishes, like squelching acid house loops and a cheeky hook about not falling in love with your fling. I can almost feel the too-sweet tequila slushy in my hand and the concealer melting off my upper lip in the club heat.
–Isabelia Herrera
D.Silvestre: “Taka Fogo em Kiksilver”
“Lobotomia do Funk.” “Funk Diferenciado.” “Built Different.” I have yet to hear a down-to-Earth description of Pimenta Bueno’s fast-rising funk anti-hero D.Silvestre. Even within a genre as staggering as Brazilian funk, it feels like this kid came from an alien asteroid. From its gritty, Blair Witch–ass video, to kicks that feel like they’re coming from Satan’s timpani, to the spiders-crawling-up-your-back eeriness of it all, his track “Taka Fogo em Kiksilver” feels like a communication from the beyond.
