Music fans have been absolutely inundated with new music today, so keep up with these fifteen standout projects that dropped this week.

Future – HNDRXX

Self-described as the album he always wanted 2014’s Honest to be, Future’s second album in two weeks doesn’t have the Chance feature I predicted, but it does include appearances from both the Weeknd (following up their “Low Life” and “All I Know” collabs) and Rihanna (in their first collaboration since 2012’s “Loveeeeeee Song”). Last week’s FUTURE showed off the aggressive, drug-dealing, 56 Nights side of Future, and HNDRXX contrasts with the laid-back, drugged-out, Monster side of the same man. Riffing off his Future Hendrix nickname, this really plays like a double album for the ages that each show off a different side of the same artist. If FUTURE was the Atlanta MC’s soundtrack to stealing your girl, HNDRXX is the soundtrack to everything he’s going to do with her afterwards.

JBan$2Turnt – Promise Land EP

As part of Lil Yachty’s Sailing Team collective, JBan$2Turnt first appeared on Yachty’s Summer Songs 2 mixtape, featuring on “For Hot 97” and posse cut “All In” (they’ve since also collaborated on “22” and “The Run Around”). Promise Land is Jban$’ first project, a quick five-track EP that features Yachty and 19-year-old Texas rapper Evander Griim.

 

 

 

Karriem Riggins – Headnod Suite

Stones Throw producer Karriem Riggins was everywhere last year, from working on Kanye West’s “30 Hours” to executive producing the entirety of Common’s Black America Again album. Today, Riggins returns with Headnod Suite, his second full-length project. Clocking in at 29 tracks, Headnod Suite is a heavily jazz-influenced, ambitious outputting from the Detroit native.

 

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana

Props to King Gizzard for not only having the most imaginative names in modern rock, they also have probably the most ridiculous album name of the year so far. Flying Microtonal Banana is the Melbourne psychedelic act’s ninth album, and the band seems to be in period of prolific output: it’s been only ten months since the release of their critically-acclaimed, award winning concept album Nonagon Infinity, and King Gizzard is expected to drop their tenth album, Murder of the Universe, later this year.

Los Campesinos! – Sick Scenes

Seven-piece Wales-based indie rock band Los Campesinos! blew up in 2013 with No Blues, their fifth album, and then proceeded to take a four year break with barely any musical output. Preceded by exciting singles “Flucloxacillin” and “I Broke Up In Amarante”, Sick Scenes is a rousing return for the group, and finds them once again teaming up with legendary indie producer John Goodmanson (whose credits include Harvey Danger, Death Cab for Cutie, Sleater-Kinney, and last week’s Dude York album, to name a few).

Nav – Nav

Toronto rapper Nav had one of those strange come-ups where he featured on a couple of relatively high-profile projects, somehow developed a massive following out of nothing, and then waited a while before dropping a debut project. His appearances on Travis Scott’s “Biebs in the Trap” and Belly’s “Re-Up” illicited a lot of excitement, and after signing to the Weeknd’s XO label, he’s arrived with a self-titled debut about, mostly, doing drugs (making him a fitting addition to XO). The Punjabi-Canadian rapper also apparently has a collaborative project with Metro Boomin arriving later this year, and if Metro’s last collaborative project is any indication, Nav is a name you’ll be seeing a lot of in the near future.

Oddisee – The Iceberg

Mello Music rapper/producer Oddisee has somehow never really made a transition into mainstream consciousness, but he’s been dropping frankly incredible records since 2009’s In the Ruff (released as part of the now-defunct rap trio Diamond District). 2015’s The Good Fight and last year’s Alwasta started getting Oddisee some much-deserved attention, however, so hopefully his latest project can help his upward momentum. The Iceberg is one of the DMV rapper’s most exciting albums to date. Preceded by singles “Things”, “Like Really”, and “NNGE”, the 12-track project features not just some of Oddisee’s best narratives to date, but his incredible knack for production seems to only be growing stronger with age. Toine and Olivier St. Louis are the only features on The Iceberg, giving Oddisee ample opportunity to flex his skills as one of the smartest rappers in the game.

Pouya & Fat Nick – Drop Out of School

Pouya’s been one of the underground internet hip hop scene’s most prodigious voices for a while now, attracting the attention of Sir Michael Rocks (the two recorded a joint EP in 2014), among others. His promotion and collaborations with $UICIDEBOY$ has been a major factor in their meteoric comeup, and he’s worked closely with up-and-comers Rich Chigga, Shakewell, and Germ. Drop Out Of School is Pouya’s long-awaited collaborative project with Fat Nick, a fellow Florida rapper, that’s been teased for over a year now.

Steve Lacy – Steve Lacy’s Demo

First Matt Martians, then Syd, and now Steve Lacy: The Internet said they were all releasing solo projects before dropping the followup to 2015’s Grammy-nominated Ego Death, and they’ve made good. Lacy took a break after Ego Death to finish high school (he’s somehow only 18), but he’s now returned with his debut project, which he describes as a “song series” rather than an album or EP. Steve Lacy’s Demo shows off all the easy, laid-back style that’s established him as not just an essential part of the Internet, but an artist to watch out for in his own right. With carefree, breezy vocals and a virtuosic command of minimalist, soulful, sun-drenched guitar, Demo is a brief yet rich project with instant replayability.

Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer

When “Shut Up” dropped in 2015, it took London’s grime scene by storm (pun intended). Here was a 21-year old newcomer, standing in the middle of a gang of hype-men as he aggressively tears down his haters over an absolutely infectious beat. Fans have been clamoring for an album from the acclaimed MC ever since, and Stormzy spent the next couple years crafting a masterpiece. Kehlani, Ghetts, Wretch32, and more all have stellar appearances on the album, but Stormzy’s very clearly the star of the show. Juxtaposing pure aggression (“Cold”, “Return of the Rucksack”) with surprising tenderness (“Velvet”, “100 Bags”), Gang Signs & Prayer shows off a myriad of skills and proficiencies that’s solidifying his imposed position as the “future of grime”. Stormzy’s debut has been a long time coming, but when the project is as remarkable as this, it’s clearly worth the wait.

$UICIDEBOY$ & Germ – DirtierNastier$uicide

After dropping off three projects last year (including Eternal Grey, $UICIDEBOY$’ first full-length album), the Florida horrorcore duo has returned with a new six-track collaborative EP, this time teaming up with Germ. With a profoundly unsettling album cover and a Lil Ugly Mane reference in the track listing, $UICIDEBOY$ are sticking to their brand of aggressive, Bone Thugs-influenced punk rap, and why not: it’s clearly working, and their fan base continues to grow outside of the just the rap internet underground.

Taylor Bennett – Restoration of an American Idol

2015’s Broad Shoudlers proved that Taylor Bennett is so much more than just Chance the Rapper’s little brother, and this year he’s returned with what he describes as his “best work yet”. Restoration of an American Idol is a sunny, intelligent album that roots itself deep in the Chicago traditions of politically-charged neo-soul, but Taylor isn’t afraid to take the opportunity to open up about personal relationships. Chance makes an appearance alongside Jeremih on “Grown Up Fairy Tales”, a piano-driven Mike WiLL ballad originally slated for one of the producer’s solo projects, that would’ve disappeared into obscurity if Taylor hadn’t requested it for his own project. Lil Yachty, Supa Bwe (of Hurt Everybody), Kyle, Jordan Bratton, and more appear on the young Bennett’s 9-track project, but the album’s best moment is during the back-and-forth duet “Nobody Tell A Name” that finds Taylor Bennett trading bars with Raury, an artist we’ve heard far too little from lately.

THEY. – Nü Religion: Hyena

LA-based duo THEY. have been on the come-up for a while, attracting attention from their Nü Religion EP and appearing on ZHU and Skrillex’s “Working For It” (which recently received a stellar remix from Rich Chigga). Nü Religion: Hyena incorporates the tracks from their EP into a fully-fledged, 14-track debut album that shows off their eclectic, infectious ability to mix R&B, electronic, pop, and rock music into a totally unique sound.

 

Thundercat – Drunk

LA-based multi-instrumentalist Thundercat has been injecting funk into hip hop for ages, working with the likes of Childish Gambino, Mac Miller, Erykah Badu, and Flying Lotus, but his monumental work with Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp A Butterfly (especially on the Grammy-winning “These Walls”) brought his name to the mainstream consciousness. Following up 2015’s critically acclaimed The Beyond/Where Giants Rome EP, Thundercat’s third album, Drunk, is a sprawling, 23-track prog-funk opera, with some interesting features: Kendrick, Wiz Khalifa, and Pharrell all sound perfectly at home over Thundercat’s funky production, and Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins somehow successfully resurrect ‘yacht rock’ on “Show You The Way”, Drunk‘s first single.

Xiu Xiu – Forget

Experimental art rock/noise pop group Xiu Xiu are thirteen albums in, and they’re showing no signs of stopping. Frontman Jamie Stewart continues to display a Joy Division/Cure-esque proclivity for subdued yet evocative vocalisations, and the band’s unconventional style and experimental production cements Forget as one of the most unique albums to drop this year.

 

 

Also released: Blac Youngsta, Illuminati; deadmau5, stuff i used to do; De La Soul, …And The Anonymous Nobody Instrumentals; Dirty Projectors, Dirty Projectors; Half-A-Mil, Half-A-Mil 2; Jet Life, Jet Life All-Stars; Kingdom, Tears in the Club; Knxwledge,  GREENTXTS.V1; Milano Constantine, The Way We Were