New Song 2019

Week in and week out, there are plenty of brand-new rap songs, no matter the time of year. It can be really difficult to stay aware of what's out and also what's hot, so XXL decided to make things much easier for you. Instead of sorting out nearly everything that released this week, we've narrowed it down to strictly the best of the week, saving you plenty of time. Expect to see selections from the established stars, the next wave of new talent, the up-and-comers and everyone else in between. If your song is fire enough to beat the competition, it'll take one of the weekly spots. You can trust us on this one; follow our lead and you'll never get laughed off the aux cord again. Your friends will finally trust you with playlists; it'll be wonderful. In addition to that, you can check back every week for the latest and greatest tracks. You'll always have somewhere to turn to each week, being sure to find some songs you'll dig. Enjoy this week'...

It was the week of June 18, 1977, that Stevie Nicks, a singer born in Phoenix, made her way to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 as the voice of "Dreams," the biggest, most enduring hit on Fleetwood Mac's career-defining "Rumours," a 20-times-platinum triumph that remains one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. In the 45 years since "Rumours," she's emerged as one of music's most beloved entertainers, headlining arenas as a solo artist while continuing to work with Fleetwood Mac. In 2019, she was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a second time for the solo career she launched in 1981 with "Bella Donna," having previously been enshrined as part of Fleetwood Mac. A year later, "Dreams" experienced an odd resurgence when a goofy TikTok video of Nathan Apodaca chugging Ocean Spray cranberry juice from a bottle while skateboarding to the song (and eventually singing along) went viral. "Dreams," of course,...

Queen of Rap also becomes creative director of Maxim Magazine NEW YORK , May 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nicki Minaj, the award winning, most successful female rapper of all time, entrepreneur and media mogul is bringing her artistry and influence to the world of sports betting through a multi-year, global partnership with MaximBet. Continue Reading Nicki Minaj, the award winning, most successful female rapper of all time, entrepreneur and media mogul is entering a multi-year, global partnership with MaximBet. Minaj will work with MaximBet on merchandise, parties, partnerships, fan experiences and branding all designed to bring together entertainment, sports, celebrity and betting. Minaj, who categorically disrupted the male-dominated industry of rap music, is doing the same with sports betting by bringing her style and ethos to MaximBet to illustrate the lifestyle components of the brand while vastly bro...

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When news of a "Top Gun" sequel was announced, questions like "Will Tom Cruise do his own stunts?" and "Will Val Kilmer be in it?" were a little bit down the list of burning ones. Nos. 1 and 2, for certain: "Will 'Take My Breath Away' be in it? Will 'Danger Zone'?" That is the power of the blockbuster 1980s soundtrack: When we look back on the really enduring mainstream movies of the era, it's not the poster art that pops right into our minds first, usually — it's the poster art as adapted into an album cover. The producers of "Top Gun: Maverick" didn't take many chances when it came to trying to come up with a hit album: They enlisted Lady Gaga for a brand new song, to take the place of "Take My Breath Away," but did, yes, also include Loggins' "Danger Zone" to tickle the throwback part of your brain. The chances of this new soundtrack album achieving even a third of the nine-times-...

Screening Room A Teen-Age Girl's Cell-Phone Video Sparks Desire and Coercion in "Sandstorm" The filmmaker sees the double standards around women's sexuality as a struggle faced by women around the world. In 2009, Ghadeer Ahmed, an Egyptian teen-ager, recorded a video of herself dancing in a short dress at her friend's house. It was the type of thing girls would do in private, behind closed doors. She shared the video and some photographs with her boyfriend. Three years later, after they had broken up, he started sending her threats. If she didn't get back together with him, he'd post the video and photos online. It was this story that inspired Seemab Gul, a filmmaker who grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, to make her short film "Sandstorm." Hearing the story made Gul curious to see Ahmed's dance, and when she did it sparked a realization. "It was so innocent and so sweet, and it was so sensual at the same time," she said. "It dawn...

Tate McRae went through a "full identity crisis" as she entered adulthood and slowly learned that life isn't always as pretty in pink as she once saw it as a kid. And with her new album, I Used to Think I Could Fly , out Friday, she squeezed all of the emotions she's felt throughout the past few years as she's navigated life's changes into 13 songs. "When you're younger, life seems very easy and anything seems possible. You live with no fears and no insecurities," she told Rolling Stone from her L.A. apartment last month. "And then you grow up and a lot changes. That's the whole concept of this album: getting hit with harsh reality." As fans got to know the singer — via viral songs like "You Broke Me First" and "R U Ok," and through her recent sold-out tour — McRae experienced the growing pains of moving to a new city and into her first apartment, finding new (real) friends, and writing her first full-...

Spoilers for Stranger Things 4, vol. 1 below. A Stranger Things binge is an instant trip back to the '80s, thanks to the accurate retro outfits, hair styles, set design, and cultural references. (Will we ever think of The NeverEnding Story the same way again?) But the music, of course, plays a huge part in nailing that effect, from the synthy theme song by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, down to the impeccable Journey soundtrack in the official season 4 trailer. In Stranger Things 4 , music plays an important role in the battle against a new evil from the Upside Down. Named Vecna, this villain preys on people who have suffered some sort of trauma; he infiltrates their minds, haunts and entrances them, then brutally kills them. There seems to be no escape for his targets at first, but our favorite Hawkins teens discover that music therapy can surprisingly help: Playing a song the victim loves can wake them and break them free from Vecna's trance before he can destroy them. The...

At more than five decades into his musical career with an untold number of recordings to show for it, Lowell "Sly" Dunbar sails into 70 today, May 10. The drummer and his creative partner, late bassist Robbie Shakespeare, first asserted themselves as a joint force when they shook up the de facto Reggae sound in 1975 with Right Time . Since then, the pair proved that the further they stretched their rhythmic palette, the closer these shifts in the Reggae landscape came to reaching seismic levels. Sly & Robbie's shared viewpoint has always been music-oriented. Coupling a sterling work ethic with a healthy aversion to the status quo, the duo led rhythm where it needed to go, one song at a time. Though the quality of their catalogue is self-evident, the volume of music that the so-called "Riddim Twins" produced prior to Robbie's passing in December of 2021 cannot be overlooked; the duo is often cited as among if not the most recorded musicians in hist...