As the bird with the quickest heart rate, the Hummingbirds never skip a beat or some heat. Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for the Mag’s weekly roundup of what’s popping in music. Looking for other weeks? Click here. Here are Spotify and Apple Music playlists.

Albums

Madlib – Sound Ancestors

Weezer – OK Human

Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams

Songs

Brent Faiyaz & DJ Dahi – “Gravity (feat. Tyler, the Creator)”

For the song “Gravity”, a collection of young black music-makers came together to create a simple tune. Brent Faiyaz, DJ Dahi, Tyler, The Creator, and even Steve Lacy contributed to this track. It’s a song that explores the life of someone famous as they’re trying to be held down by a significant other amidst all the attention they receive. This is the first time Faiyaz and Tyler have been on a track together, and it sounded effortless the way they matched so naturally. Tyler’s short verse reminds the person they dedicated the song to that they won’t get lost in all the fame and that they will stay grounded. 

Since he dropped Fuck The World last February, Brent Faiyaz has been featured in a number of songs as well as recent commercial for Calvin Klein directed by PG Lang, Kendrick Lamar’s creative company, where Faiyaz featured a preview of a new song “Solo”. Tyler, on the other hand, has also been dropping guest features from time to time including artists like Lil’ Yatchy and Channel Tres. 

NAO – “Antidote (feat. Adekunle Gold)”

English R&B artist NAO collaborated with Nigerian singer-songwriter Akendule Gold to make a simple love song called ‘Antidote’. This is NAO’s first take at afrobeat, and she pulled if so well. The lyrics are easy to follow, the beat is simple yet fun to dance to, and their vocals layer smoothly. This single is one part of an upcoming project, I predict, due to the fresh & grounded music that NAO has been releasing. 

dvsn – “Use Somebody”

Toronto-based R&B duo dvsn released a new two-part album titled Amusing Her Feelings. Of the many intense and sensual tracks, “Use Somebody” stands out as one of the top songs. The duo covered the 2008 hit by the Kings of Leon, adding their own creative spin on the song. Rather than a cry for help that the original song illuminates, Daniel Daley & Nineteen85 morphed it into a romantically suggestive ballad. This is the first project released by anyone in October’s Very Own, with Drake’s Certified Lover Boy potentially coming next. The Canadian music group is known for making music that fits the times. So, for us listeners to get warmed up with an elemental project of rhythm & blues only excites us for what’s to come.