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Music Review : Cardi B, Kanye West & Lil Durk, “Hot Shit”.

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After owning the past two years with “WAP” and “Up” and reasserting her presence in the current NY drill takeover with “Shake It,” Cardi B has returned with the lead single for her forthcoming sophomore album. With verses from Lil Durk and Kanye West, “Hot Shit” is little more than a lukewarm offering. Produced by Tay Keith, “Hot Shit” finds the three rappers delivering stale bars about opps, wealth, and sex. At times, Cardi’s flow is reminiscent of “Up,” but her sample of “Electric Boogie” is worth the redundancy. “Pretty when I wake up, I'm a bad bitch at breakfast / Still might slide on a opp (It's electric!),” she spits.

Music Review: Nicki Minaj, “Super Freaky Girl”

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For her most recent hit, "Super Freaky Girl," Queens rapper Nicki Minaj continues to use the same formula that catapulted her into the stratosphere of mainstream pop music eleven years ago with "Super Bass." This is illustrative of the commercial music industry's cyclical nature, the history of hip-hop sampling, and Minaj's rather limited capacity to fully commit to her own artistic development.

Music Review : Chlöe & Latto, “For The Night

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After giving “Surprise” some room to breathe, Chlöe has enlisted Latto for her fourth single as a solo artist, “For the Night.” Written alongside pop music giants like Omer Fedi (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Mood”) and Nija Charles (“Positions,” “Rain On Me”) and produced by London on da Track, Chloe has finally delivered a single that showcases her viability as a pop star without sacrificing what makes her so arresting as a vocalist and performer. Built around a lush combination of strings, guitar, and an 808-laden trap beat, Chloe challenges her lover to let their guard down for a brief moment. It’s a 2000s R&B-indebted soundscape that finds her floating between being flirtatious and feeling forlorn. “And they don't know me like you / All the things that we've been through,” she sings in an attempt to construct a shield of intimacy around her and her lover — who, in the case of this specific song, happens to be none other than Gunna.

Music Review: Victoria Monét & Lucky Daye, ‘Smoke’

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Two years have passed since Victoria Monét released her two stand-alone songs, "F.U.C.K." and "Coastin'." She briefly vanished after that. The three-time Grammy nominee has now enlisted Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucky Daye to help her successfully usher in the Jaguar II era with the help of her new track "Smoke.

Music Review : Rihanna, ‘Lift Me Up

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Rihanna has finally returned to music with her first solo song in six years. “Lift Me Up,” the end credits song from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the lead single for the accompanying soundtrack, is a poignant and heartfelt tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

Music Review : Janelle Monáe, “Float”

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In the time since Janelle Monáe dropped one of the best albums of the 2010s, the Grammy-nominated Dirty Computer, she’s been focused on her acting career. As fans starved for a follow-up to the album that featured such memorable songs as “Make Me Feel” and “Pynk,” Janelle delivered critically-acclaimed performances in films such as Harriet and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — both of which landed Oscar nominations.

Music Review: FLO & Missy Elliott, ‘Fly Girl’

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FLO creates a hot lady song fit for the 2020s based on a flip of Missy Elliott's "Work It" sample that is truly fascinating (a rarity these days). The song is the ideal fusion of modern uptempo R&B production by MNEK with the Y2K aesthetic resurgence. In terms of lyrics, the group borrows from Missy's breakthrough hit's second verse, which goes, "If you a fly girl, get your nails done / Get a pedicure, get your hair done," and updates the bawdy vibe with a focus on independence and self-assurance. They say in the very catchy chorus of the song, "See, you're tellin' me I'm pretty, but it's obvious / I don't need no man to tell me where the party is," Along with the original "Work It" sample, Missy additionally delivers a potent rap stanza.

Music Review: Ice Spice & Nicki Minaj, ‘Princess Diana’

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2023 has been the year of Ice Spice, from the release of Like...?, her debut EP, to the international success of "Boy's a Liar, Pt. 2" (featuring Pinkpantheress). She has amassed a devoted following on TikTok who have called her the "Princess Diana of Gen Z" because to her easygoing charm and aptitude for catchy pop-drill tunes. Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj have collaborated on a remix of "Princess Diana" in a move that is equal parts coronation and business strategy.

Music Review : Usher, ‘Glu’

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We last heard from Usher when he appeared alongside City Girls on their delightfully frothy “Good Love” track last summer. With “Glu,” Usher slows down the tempo several notches to deliver a downright nasty ode to both pairs of lips. Written and produced in collaboration with Lil Jon, Avila Brothers, and Sean Garrett, “Glu” finds Usher walking in the spirit of Prince.