It’s an all-local slot of awesome music this week. Here are the five best new tracks from Eryn Allen Kane, Whitney, Jamila Woods, Kembe X and ShowYouSuck. We did not include Kanye West’s amazing “No More Parties In L.A.” because we assume you already heard it. Sorry, but really, you should have heard it by now.
5. Kembe X, “Like Elijah”
Man, where was local rapper and the Village member Kembe X during Sunday school growing up? With his icy, precise flow over a simply sweet beat, courtesy of producers Matt Genius and Kennana, I would have probably paid attention to the Old Testament story of Elijah if it had been broken down in terms of “I’m outta this bitch like Elijah.”
4. ShowYouSuck, “One Man (Pizza Party)”
You won’t find a more relatable track than Chicago’s ShowYouSuck self-reliant ode to just being lonely and eating pizza. Over his career, the rapper, whose real name is Clinton Sandifer, has made pizza his logo and calling card, going so far as to pepper the stage of his live sets with cartoonish props of the cheesy meat pies this city was built on. Who else is hungry?
3. Jamila Woods, “blk girl soldier”
Jamila Woods, who you might know for singing (and writing) the hook on Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment’s “Sunday Candy” as well as just appearing on a Macklemore song, has recently signed a deal with Chicago’s Closed Sessions and shared this killer new song. The poet (she’s the associate artistic director of Young Chicago Authors), activist and singer takes the promise she showed on that stellar hook and shows that she’s going to be a force to reckon with on her upcoming debut project.
2. Whitney, “No Woman”
When I saw Whitney open Tomorrow Never Knows fest last week, I told my friend that this Chicago band, which just signed to indie label Secretly Canadian, is probably going to have the best local album of 2016. You could chalk it up to me being in a daze from being out on a weeknight but damn does the final product of this song make me feel like Nostradamus.
1. Eryn Allen Kane, “How Many Times
“How Many Times,” the first single off Eryn Allen Kane’s forthcoming “Aviary: Act 2” EP, seems like the culmination of everything she’s done so far. The apex of her otherworldly soulful vocal flourishes. Its the most emotionally and socially resonant thing she’s written. While her role in Spike Lee’s “Chiraq” and her collab with Prince “Baltimore” shows a young artist concerned with senseless violence, this feels like her most cohesive statement yet.
[email protected], @joshhterry
For more music, click here.
More Top Picks How We Test
Want to learn how to brew beer or make an awesome cocktail? Click here to teach yourself through the RedEye Skillz page.