Spring is springing, and Summer is just around the corner. That means it’s time to refresh your playlists. Out with the old, unless it’s truly a hit that sticks like grits, and in with the new, at least until something better comes along. While I trust that you’ll be able to find the inevitable Top 40 notables on your own, here are other artists who might very well deserve radio play, but may not be getting it.
Producer Louis Futon took his own stab at putting out an album, à la DJ Khaled, called Way Back When, and this song is surely one of the standouts with over 3.4 million streams. He recently released the accompanying music video starring who I hope will be pop’s newest up-and-coming star, Keiynan Lonsdale. (Remember him from The Flash and Love, Simon?) “It’s about learning to let go of fear, of perfection, and allowing yourself to just enjoy life freely with the ones that make you feel loved and connected,” Lonsdale said about the track.
Leon Else has the perfect track to bring the chicken head dance back into vogue and also help you cope with leaving your ex. A melancholic bop with just enough bass, “Change Up” is his first song as an independent artist. “The first step in processing an end to a relationship that consumed” him, he says the song provided him a “sense of healing.”
The act of standing flat-footed and sanging is a lost art among many in the music industry. But songstress Asiahn might be the one to bring it back. (Fast forward to 3:14 in the video to see what I mean.) Her R&B banger, “Like You,” off her album Love Train 2 which debuted at the top of the year, is the moody, vibey track you didn’t know you needed. And she’s a three-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter so you know it’ll have you in your feelings in the best way possible.
As he preps to release his first album in seven years, noted R&B crooner Rahsaan Patterson is back with the vocals and smooth groove that made us first fall in love with him in the late 90s and early aughts. Having received praised from icons Chaka Khan, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, and Brandy, his current single is “Sent from Heaven.” It’s a sound that you young kids might not be familiar with, but true talent transcends generations. His album, Heroes & Gods, releases May 17.
I’ve never heard someone call their sound “hopeful-electro-soul,” but after one listen to Cor.ece’s music, it all makes sense. The singer-songwriter from St. Louis blends genres to create a sound that is at once deep-fried, wistful, and at home in a warehouse party. His latest single and video, “Belong,” is a “complicated nod to a relationship that survived nearly a year because we only got along being high,” he said.
And if you haven’t seen his visual short, Between Something and Nothing, do yourself a favor and click here.
Admittedly, I still can’t get VINCINT’s The Four performance of Radiohead’s “Creep” out of my mind. In the words of the great Purple One, his mic was on! But the vocal powerhouse recently released his single “Please Don’t Fall In Love,” and the music video directed by Jasper Soloff. I’m pleased to say that it doesn’t disappoint. While a far cry from “Creep,” the dance track is similarly emotional and hella selfish — which is sometimes the best form of self care. It’s perfect for those drunken late nights when you want to throw yourself to the wind.
With Glee behind him, actor-singer Kevin McHale recently released his debut single “Help Me Now.” “This is another facet or extension of that,” he said comparing his time on the Ryan Murphy show and what fans can expect now. “I was forced to sing really high, like higher than I was comfortable with on Glee. On this, I’m probably a lot more tame, because that’s my preferred singing style.”
