5 songs you need to stream this week: Kendrick Lamar, Sampha, and more

By Parker Hall July 9, 2016

best songs to stream july 8 2016 sampha — Facebook

Every week, there are hundreds of thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves. It’s too much for just your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks worthy of a thumbs down click. But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our top 5 songs to stream this week — and remember to subscribe to our Spotify playlist for all of our weekly picks.

Black Hippy — THat Part (Black Hippy Remix)

A fresh remix from Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock — the famed Top Dawg Entertainment crew known as Black Hippy — appeared on the internet this week. The new track is a heavy jam which showcases King Kendrick’s perfectly-placed wordplay. Five minutes in length and packed with enticing verses, the new single is easily the best hip-hop tune to emerge in recent months, showcasing precisely why each member of the Los Angeles crew has become a big-name rapper over the past decade.

Sampha — Plastic 100°C

Sampha - "Plastic 100°C" (Live Performance)

A church-influenced piano-and-vocal number from British R&B singer Sampha, this live recording shows off the sort of overt artistic talent that has drawn luminaries like Kanye West and Drake to collaborate with the lesser-known musician. There’s a vibrant and complex reality behind this performance, creating a space-filled single that’s accented by passing subway cars and the gentle crackle of his voice into a rooftop microphone.

EZTV — High Flying Faith

Brooklyn rockers EZTV recruited none other than Jenny Lewis to sing background vocals on High Flying Faith, a guitar-powered rock song that will be the lead single on their upcoming sophomore release from Captured Tracks. A vintage-inspired outfit that records to tape, the band’s new song shows significant development from their 2015 debut Calling Out, and has us excited to hear the full shebang — called High in Place — when it hits stores late this September.

Ryley Walker — The Roundabout

Between heavy bouts of touring, songwriter Ryley Walker returned to the studio to make Golden Sings That Have Been Sung, developing his jazz-influenced folk music into something deeper and more spacious. On The Roundabout, the second-released single from the much-anticipated record, Walker shows off his road-tested ability on the acoustic guitar, crafting a song that feels like it would be equally well placed on the Firefly or Making A Murderer soundtracks.

Alexis Taylor — Old Friends 4 Sale

Alexis Taylor - Old Friends 4 Sale (Prince Cover)

Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor pays a belated tribute to Prince with a cover of one of the musician’s unreleased B-sides. Called Old Friends 4 Sale, the tune is a passionate and melancholy song which The Purple One inked in the mid-’80s. Taylor’s take is an interesting and deep homage — a ballad which feels like it came a bit more from the heart than the recent covers of Purple Rain which have poured from other musicians worldwide.

That’s it for now, but check back every week for more new tunes to stream!

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…

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