7 Songs You Need In Your Life This Week

If you don’t have time to absorb all of the sweeping, sci-fi Silicon Valley event that is Miguel’s Wildheart this weekend, settle for “FLESH.” That hard-then-soft refrain—where Miguel grunts woman, before adding in a glimmering falsetto, put me right where I belong—captures a perfect glimpse of the album’s essential contradictions. At once playful and rough, masculine and feminine, serious and silly, the record is a masterpiece of sexual tension, and “FLESH” is just the tip of the iceberg. — Aimee Ciff

Drake is probably never gonna get hit with the R.I.C.O., but it's entertaining as hell to hear him imagine it. On "R.I.C.O.," track off of Meek Mill's Dreams Worth More Than Money, Drizy reinvents his usual yuh nuh like us, we nuh like yuh neither stance as a perfect intro for Meek's actual Feds-evading lived experiences. After calling Nicki Minaj his "dream girl" and proclaiming her to be as "rich as a Beatle," Meek closes out his verse by being very, very real: We really was doing shit/ I can hear echoes from Feds on this beat from informants/ I think they recording. — Raiwya Kameir

When I first thought about songs I really wanted to hear while kicking it on a rooftop this July 4th weekend, my mind darted to some undeniably fun, obvious places: "Cheerleader"? Skepta? New Carly Rae? But then "Sparks" happened, the stupidly beautiful first leak from Beach House's Depression Cherry, a song that we can only assume is named for the late-great alcoholic energy drink brand. I realized that this is more my celebratory speed, and maybe yours too: neither way up nor way down, but in some self-reflective place between the two. If you need me I'll be laying on my back and staring at the sky, "Sparks" on full volume, not actively looking for fireworks—just looking up. — Patrick D. McDermott

Fetty Wap is, like, the nicest guy ever. From "Trap Queen" to "My Way," he sings a lot of earnest, genuine compliments to the women he's interested in. His latest, "D.A.M," is no different. On the operatic-sounding track, it's him and his girl versus the world. They've got matching white Benzes, she's on his mind all the time, and he's grateful to have her in his life—all facts he delivers in his trademark warble. Relationship goals, basically. — Rawiya Kameir

When Janet Jackson’s All For You dropped, I was 6 years old and violently dancing around in my basement in a purple swimsuit trying to memorize the her latest video's choreography. Fast-forward a few years, both me and the pop star have matured; I’m fully clothed and Janet’s suggestive lyrics have become slightly more ambiguous while remaining innately sexy. The song does not stray far from her typical soft-spoken demeanor and, if this single is any indication, she has clearly returned to put the rhythm back into R&B. — Amira Rasool

In the wake of Donald Trump's heinous comments about Mexican and Latin American immigrants last month—he called America a “a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems,” amongst other shining examples of hate speech—Billboard's Leila Cobo wrote that Latin music stars were largely being silent on the issue. Step forward Ecuadorian-American artist Helado Negro who has a simply strummed, beautifully delivered message for the 2016 Republican presidential candidate: young, Latin and proud. — Ruth Saxelby

Gucci Mane's current iteration is almost Black Mirror-ish: proof that with the promotional tools of the web, a rapper doesn't even have to be physically logged in to do the independent legwork of prolific releases, of-the-moment collaborations and deft navigation of social media. Gucci's latest tape, Trapology, clocks in features from new names like Fetty Wap and Father, who were barely known when Gucci first went in. Whatever digital wizardry is making these concept collabs happen and keeping Gucci's name hot, we hope it doesn't go dark. — Matthew Trammell