My summers memories are always decorated with a particular kind of texture – the lingering feeling of grass cuts along my legs, the sting of sunburnt shoulders beneath a backpack full of empty rosé bottles, the soft and smooth goo of half melted ice cream on my tongue, skin sticky with sweat but refreshed with a summer breeze. Berlin-based duo Gurr pieces together these fleeting, surreal moments of summer debauchery in the video for their newest single, “Hot Summer.”
Laura Lee and Andreya Casablanca wrote the song on a foggy day in London, and as such, its theme takes that romanticized, freewheeling ideal of summer perfection, then haunts it with a side of disaster. It’s the band’s first single since the late 2016 release of their IMPALA award-winning debut In My Head, acting like a booster shot of the catchy, Go-Go’s indebted guitar pop they’ve become known for across Europe. As summer anthems go, this one comes with the reminder that life’s not always a beach – sometimes it’s sticky, hot, miserable, anticlimactic, or just plain weird.
Though she’s been busy with movie, television, and fashion projects, time hasn’t slowed this early 2000s chart-topper’s ability to create a hit. Uniting J Lo with another Latina powerhouse from the Bronx, Cardi B, this glamorous clip shows who’s really making money move in the music industry – Lopez reportedly donned $4.5 million worth of diamonds from Tiffany & Co to give the track a little extra shine.
Princess Nokia navigates a new musical character on her latest mixtape A Girl Cried Red, which was released on April 13th. This new incarnation revives a Gwen Stefani-esque aesthetic circa No Doubt’s early days and a rock sound that differs from the hip-hop influences fans have previously come to know from Nokia.
Mysterious Toronto-based artist Brahny just released a video for his song “Bloom.” Much like the song, the video is simple and clean – mostly comprised of a single shot following a variety of people throughout a city night, the revelers eventually end up in a laundromat where Brahny himself is performing.
Coming off a week in the spotlight after calling out Cardi B for allegedly dumbing down the conversation around women of color, Azealia Banks released a new video for “Anna Wintour,” a single from her upcoming sophomore record Fantasea II: The Second Wave. The track has a distinctive ’90s house vibe, with Banks rapping, singing, and using textured vocal manipulations over its relentless beat. Though the lyrics mention “diamonds and dreams,” there’s no sign of J Lo’s bling here – Banks vogues across an empty warehouse in little more than cutoff shorts.
