Friday, March 20, 2015

Songs of the Week: Jhene Aiko, Scarface and Black Milk

Bob Levey / Larry Busacca, Getty Images / YouTube

Another Friday is upon us and that means another edition of Songs of the Week, where we present three standout tracks you may have missed out on during the last seven days.


Last week’s lineup was a murderous row of talent and definitely served as one of the best editions of SOTW in recent memory. We got a dose of two tracks with the potential to run through most of the warmer months of the year, including Snoop Dogg and Charlie Wilson’s stone cold groove, “Peaches N Cream;” and Jamie Foxx’s new Chris Brown-assisted single, “You Changed Me,” which has “smash hit” written all over it.


Our picks for this week may fall a bit short in quality compared to the last, but they’re still more than deserving of a listen. Featuring new heat from Black Milk, Jhene Aiko and newcomer Mayalino — who phones in Pusha T and Scarface to finish the job — we’re sure these cuts will suffice and become instant additions to your playlist.








Detroit native Black Milk returns with his latest one-off, "I Guess," in celebration of his upcoming Play Like Hell tour, which kicked off Thursday night in Dallas. This song is the first release since his last LP, If There's a Hell Below, touched down a year ago. "I Guess" is a mid-tempo number that finds the Swiss Army Knife of a talent giving us some some airtight bars. "I tell them bad days goodbye, adios / The kid with the knotty 'fro and the snotty nose/ All of my homies got high cause of being low / Wasn't no Jordan's IVs getting copped or designer clothes, never," he raps, toying with the beat, which he also cooked up himself.


"You can say I'm putting on, put my heart in every song, I guess / N----s tryna be the best, wouldn't go for nothing less, you can say I'm in the zone, I guess," Black rhymes on the hook. He's focused on going for the gusto, grabbing the third slot on this week's lineup.








2



"Living Room Flow"


Jhene Aiko





Jhene Aiko comes in at the No. 2 spot this week with her new release, "Living Room Flow." Produced by Fisticuffs, Aiko decides to unleash this unreleased track for our listening pleasure and we're lucky she did -- we may have missed out on some dope R&B and that would've been a shame. "I'm so glad you called right on time / You must have just read my mind," she purrs. Aiko has lust on the brain and is looking for a little sexual healing from her lover, using her breathy vocals to get her point across.








1



"Kilo Champ"


Mayalino Feat. Pusha T & Scarface





Houston rapper Mayalino seems to have quite a few friends in high places. He's able to get heavyweight spitters like Pusha T and Scarface, which is one hell of a feat for a relative unknown, and the end product is enough to make you O.D. "36-0, kilo champ, I'm undefeated / 36 them O's, triple beam, that's underneath it / Dope all in my flows, day one, you best believe it," Pusha T raps, wasting no time catching wreck. He turns in a monstrous verse and shows us why he's regarded as a top tier lyricist in the game.


Mayalino comes through with a steady verse of his own. "I'm from the south, talking crack in our mouths / Put that gold all in our mouth, put that pistol right in 'yo mouth / Whatchu say? / You ain't selling bricks, you ain't popping clips, you ain't buying whips / You ain't got no chain, you ain't got no watch, you a p---- bitch, I live this s---," he delivers before Scarface takes it home with his closing 16. "Undefeated in dope talk, run up talking that s--- bitch, you hoes to get broke off / I been selling that dope soft, raw as f--- with that white bitch / I get bread in a drop head, shoe-boxes of that life s---," Face spits, blessing his young H-Town comrade with a verse of uncut D-Boy talk. This helps Mayalino grab the top spot of the week.