"Let Me Live My Life, Let Me Live My Life"

Is it me or does ZHU and Tame Impala's new one sound a lot like deadmau5's Strobe? Given, Strobe is one of those DaVinci type, EDM classics that can't really be recreated, but boy does My Life channel it's vibe. Those vibrant, airy chords are equal parts vibrant and relaxing, which isn't an easy mood to produce. Tame Impala's quiet, melodic vocals provide just enough of a soothing compliment to the rhythmic chill emanating from the speakers. When the beat layers on top of the synth progression, that's when the track kicks into whole new level of awesomeness. Oh and just in case you forgot, ZHU also does vocals too, but you'll need to wait until after the four minute mark to get a taste of his ad libs. Given the 5 minute length and similarities to one of my favorite electronic tracks of all time, there's very little worry about the replay value of the on below...#MyLife



ZHU & Tame Impala - My Life

"No Matter What They Say It's My Day"

This has to rank in the top three of collaborations so far in 2018. Not only do we get another stellar Hip Hop beat from the Mello man, it's Logic who got the chance to do lyrical gymnastics all over it. Everyday is a slow-rolling, positive affirmation special. Like the majority of Logic's tracks, there's a clear underlying message in his verses. This one just so happened to be grind hard and don't let anyone stop you. It's a big reason why Logic continues to stand out in a crowded crop of mumble rappers who always seem to fill entire tracks with empty, substance-less bars. His delivery is consistently coherent, sharp, and tinged with motivation. Shoot he's even mastering the sing-songy rap right before our eyes. He may not yet have the swagger of a young Drake, but there are plenty of positive comps to Logic and Drizzy circa 2010...#Everyday



Marshmello & Logic - Everyday

"When You're in My Heart, I'm Out My Mind"

Taking a step back and looking at EDM as a whole, the combination of acoustic guitar and synths might be my favorite offshoot of modern day electronic music. I've waxed poetic many times about how Avicii pioneered the sound and now other talented artists like Tritonal are carrying the torch forward. Out My Mind represents the latest example of how well the instruments mix together. There's a mellow ebb and flow to the track that allows Riley Clemmons' vocal performance to really stand out. It's as euphoric as you'd expect from Tritonal, but rather than the chord progressions taking you to a different state of mind, they went with a more pop, vocal driven sound. It really doesn't matter how they achieve their mellow sound because it goes down easy no matter how you device to slice it. Give it a look on Spotify or iTunes for those of you who prefer to buy rather than rent...#OutMyMind



Tritonal feat Riley Clemmons - Out My Mind

"And Yeah, the Sails Have Set, But I'm Not Dead Yet"

Hearing that Matt and Kim have a new album on the horizon is at the top of list of end of week surprises for me. Almost Everyday is the title of the next album and it'll contain their recent single Forever and their brand spankin' new one below.

Like I Used to Be is interesting progression for the dynamic duo. The 42 sec lead in sounded a lot like something Odesza would put together. The synth heavy, ethereal vibe was different, but in an interesting way. It's a lot more controlled than a lot of their music, which can be a good or bad thing. As per usual, Matt chipped in some mellow vocals and Kim's energetic drumming is present, but this time Kim stepped up with some mellow vocals of her own. There's plenty of sing-along opportunities and even a quirky beat breakdown the 2:40 mark. It's the epitome of a fun track, which is all you can ask for when unwrapping a new Matt and Kim track. Can't wait to see what they come up with next as they slowly lead us down a path toward their new album...#LikeIUsedToBe



Matt and Kim - Like I Used to Be

"I'll Always Be Calling You Home"

Holy euphoric Dubstep, Batman! Seven Lions has always been at or near the top of my short list of go-to artists when I get that itch for heavy, melodic drops. His new one proves exactly why he deserves that distinction. Calling You Home has a dreamy feel from the start, marked by angelic vocals from Runn. It isn't until shortly before the drop when the tempo picks up that you get an inkling that there's some treasure at the bottom of the next peak.

Let's just say the drop and subsequent chord progression was well worth the price of admission. The high-pitched, dreamy synth progression is enough to make a unicorn on Molly blush. It's instantly become one of my favorite Seven Lions tracks for all the reasons listed above. If you're as smitten as I am, follow me over to iTunes or Spotify to run a few laps...#CallingYouHome

Seven Lions feat Runn - Calling You Home

"Baby, Tell Me Where Your Love Lies"

Is it me, or has every member of 5th Harmony done big things when they decided to jump off into their own solo career? If you're not up on all things 5th Harmony, Lauren Jauregui's recent collabo with Steve Aoki was 🔥 and I don't need to tell you about how successful Camila Cabello has been this year. Now it's time for Normani Kordei to do her own thing and she picked a hell of an artist to collaborate with on her first record. Khalid is about the only thing R&B has going for it right now, which makes every one of his releases that much more exciting.

Love Lies is set to appear in the new movie Love, Simon, due out in theaters in about a month of March 16th. The track has a playful ebb and flow, mixing mellow harmony over a snappy beat. It's a chill, repeatable duet that has a ton of replay value. Still trying to figure out how this fits into the overall vibe of the Soundtrack that has a lot of new music from Bleachers. Time will tell, but in the meantime, this one will give us plenty to chew on until the full album drops on the day the movie debuts...#LoveLies



Khalid feat Normani Kordei - Love Lies

Marshmello's Official Friendzone Anthem

It's generally, a sad, lonely place, but the Friendzone is real. If you're a man who has been Friendzoned, it's likely you've spent entirely too much time wishing, hoping, and praying you'd one day make it out of the dreaded "you're such a good friend" place. As if the prospect of being F-zoned wasn't enough, Marshemllo went ahead and made an anthem for you to (pretend) to be happy about.

FRIENDS is all capped for a reason. It implies that the guy isn't listening, so the woman needs to make it super clear that WE'RE JUST FRIENDS. Might be a little corny that they actually spell it out in the song, but the bleeped out F word followed by the word sh*t is pretty comical. It's much more pop than we'd normally get from Marshemllo, but if you were an EDM artist would you consider doing a pop track that could make you a ton of money. No need to answer that rhetorical question, just head on over to iTunes or Spotify if you want a nice slice of angsty nostalgia...#FRIENDS



Marshmello feat Anne-Marie - FRIENDS

Oshi and Baauer Are Cold Blooded

Want to know what instrumental greatness sounds like? Oshi and Baauer recently combined powers to put together a vocal-less, symphony of noise in Frozen. The dramatic, vibrant chord build up that comes crashing down with heavy bass and ominous horns make for a surprisingly chill, but energetic listen. It's not an easy task to tell a story without words, but there's such a fun ebb and flow to the track that I felt like I was being taken on an adventure through haunted woods. Take that for what it's worth, but hopefully it underscores the instrumental majesty below between two of EDM's most talented artists...#Frozen

Oshi feat Baauer - Frozen

"I Am Not a DJ, This is Not a Replay"

When I think of Keys N Krates, I think of hype, high pitches samples and bangin' trap music. That's not to say their new album isn't that, but Cura strikes me as much more melodic and break-beat heavy than I'm used to. It's as if they're trying to channel their inner DJ Premier with more Hip Hop sounding beats that are sprinkled with live instrumentation.

Music To My Ears epitomizes the whole live instrumentation generalization I made above. The high-pitched strings and soothing vocals of Tory Lanez produce an overwhelmingly jubilant, feel-good vibe on the track. It's much more mellow than some of my favorites from Keys N Krates like Treat Me Right, but I can appreciate how their style has evolved over the year. Their trap sound has always done a solid job of mixing both Hip Hop and EDM flavors, so the fact that their new album slants a little more heavily toward Hip Hop is all good with me. Check it on iTunes or Spotify if you're as intrigued by their ability to exist on the wide spectrum from EDM to Hip Hop...#Cura



Keys N Krates feat Tory Lanez - Music To My Ears

Goldlink Gets It Right This Time With Diplo & MØ

You're probably already taken a fair share of laps around Diplo and MØ's recent banger Get It Right. But you may not have realized that it still hadn't reached its potential as a track. The playful, Future Bass vibe is addicting, but this new Goldlink verse on the remix took it up a few more levels. Leaning heavy on the Gospel-style piano beat that would even make Macklemore slow clap, Goldlink's verse fit in seamlessly with the soulful vibrance of the original. Goldie has a hardcore following at his shows, but the mainstream still hasn't caught on en masse to his ability as a lyricist. Hopefully this 🔥🔥🔥 remix changes that so he can grow that following to what it should be...#GetItRight



Diplo & MØ feat Goldlink - Get It Right (Remix)

Louis the Child and Whethan Make Sweet Honey Together

Listening to Louis the Child and Whethan's new mixtape affirms something I've always believed. When talents artists decide to tour together, good things happen. And what I mean by good things is more good music for all of us to enjoy that we wouldn't have been privy to if they didn't spend so much time on the road together.

Honey is chalked with instrumental fire from the moment you press play. While Chop It Up is the current favorite of the six tracks, the choppy, slo-mo reggaeton with bass and big horns of Tengo Mas is already growing on me. I don't need to tell you how much you'll like it if you're already a fan of either artist, but for those who aren't acquainted with their music, there's more than enough below to convince you to take a deep dive into both artists' discography...#Honey

Louis the Child x Whethan - Honey Mixtape

"I Only Love My Bed and My Momma, I'm Sorry"

It may not be my favorite flavor of Drake's music, but his new one has a lot of pros. For starters, that beat cooked up by 40 and Boi-1da is straight 🔥🔥🔥. The heavy bottom layered on top of the quiet ebb and flow of the repetitive sample works well. Add to that some sing-songy, repeatable, meem-able bars and it has some replay-ability. In the grand scheme of his discography it's meh at best and certainly not deserving of breaking the single day streaming record once held by Taylor Swift. It's not that I don't appreciate Drake anymore, it's that I liked the rawness of his storytelling of days from the past. Those days seem to be long gone in favor of safer tracks that blend is well with Top 40. If anything, what I learned today was that the music community as a whole is starving for listen-able Hip Hop. I'll second that notion as I continue to play the Hipster who is over Drake since he started selling out arenas role...#GodsPlan

Drake - God's Plan (prod by Noah “40” Shebib & Boi-1da)

"Oh, I Know It Ain't Pretty When Two Hearts Get Broke"

Give me a piano beat and some Macklemore bars and I'll be good for a while. As I continue to slice and dice 2017 GWDJ Favorites into sub-playlists, one of my favorites has been the aptly titled Uplifting. These Days will definitely get added to that playlist as it's about as feel good as it gets. It's got that quietly poetic Macklemore lead-in and a steady clap that builds momentum as the track progresses. Then, out of nowhere Jess Glynne comes in and steals the show with her attention-grabbing vocals that got a choir assist to boot. I'll say the drop was a little underwhelming, but when the horns and guitar come back around it manages to hit its stride again. If you're a fan of Macklemore's style and can get down with a poetic, gospel vibe then you'll enjoy the hell out of this one...#TheseDays



Rudimental feat Jess Glynne, Macklemore, Dan Caplen - These Days

Francis and The Lights Comes Through on Just For Us

In my old age, I feel myself gravitating more toward this mellow, electropop sound that Francis and The Lights are known for. There's a distinctness of Francis Farewell Starlite's vocals reel me in with every new track. Like for example Francis's new one, Just For Us. That 80s style synth backdrop with quiet, marching tempo isn't anything that will get you out of your seat, but it's a perfect canvas for the throwback pop vocals of FFS.

Their new one is the title track off their recent surprise release on December 28th. I can't say I'm a big enough fan of Francis that I immediately ran to Spotify to comb through the new release, but their new one below did everything it could to steer me that direction. If you're as curious as I was after listening to their new one, check it out on iTunes or Spotify...#JustForUs



Francis and The Lights - Just For Us (prod by Cashmere Cat, Benny Blanco, & Bon Iver)

"24 hours in a Day, I Think About You More Than 24 Times"

Keepin' it 100, the temptation was real before pressing play on the one below. Cashmere Cat's quirky electronic style mixed with Major Lazer's bounce and Tory Lanez's passionate vocals? Seems like an odd mix of styles but Miss You turned out to be a dope track. I'd call it a playful ballad with tribal percussion. There are Reggaeton undertones and heavy horns that reek of Major Lazer influence, but it's Cashmere's quiet, bubbly aesthetic that serves as the glue that holds it all together. On top of that, Tory's high pitched vocals mix well with the complimentary styles on the beat. It's already been added to GWDJ Favorites, but feel free and cop it for yourself on Spotify or iTunes...#MissYou



Cashmere Cat feat Major Lazer & Tory Lanez - Miss You

"I Got a Hundred Thou' Then I Freaked It"

Continuing the trend of holding Hip Hop on his shoulders, Kendrick Lamar proved that he's just as capable of dishing assists to his TDE label mates. Jay Rock is well-known name in Hip Hop, but he hasn't released a lot of impact single lately like the one below. Capitalizing on a multi-faceted beat from Mike Will and some subtle vocal help from James Blake, Kings Dead is an attention grabbing track. Evidently a lot of the other Soundcloud commenters share my disdain for Future on this track, but his boat anchor verse wasn't enough to take away from the fire that everyone else brought. Ironically enough, this is the track #9 that I alluded to earlier in the week off the upcoming Black Panther Soundtrack. Similar to the way the Compton Soundtrack was basically a Dr. Dre album, this provides more hope that the Black Panther Soundtrack will be a side release of Kendrick's. The soundtrack is available to stream in full on Spotify and early indications are it's 🔥🔥🔥...#KingsDead

Jay Rock feat Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake - Kings Dead (prod by Mike Will)

"You Can Bring a Bullet, Bring a Sword, Bring a Morgue"

With some many Hip Hop artists continuing to make songs, artists like Kendrick Lamar that legitimately make music are continuing to stand out. The different between the two may lie in the grey area of semantics, but in my eyes there's a level of composition and instrumentation that helps separate K Dot's music from the masses. He and Chance the Rapper are simply operating at a high level than fill in the blank rapper because of how well they're able to blend their skills as lyricists with interesting beats and songs with meaning.

Also worthy of note is that All the Stars will be appearing on the upcoming Black Panther: The Album. No word on what else will be on the album, but I do know that Track 9 is 3:49 mins long 😬...

Shout out to SZA for the pristine hook by the way. I was already looking forward to seeing the movie and now the prospect of a hype soundtrack makes seeing the movie almost a sure thing. Soundtrack drops on Feb 9th and the movie drops a week later on the 16th. Join me in looking forward to all the other music that's going to drop off the soundtrack before then...#BlackPantherSoundtrack



Kendrick Lamar feat SZA - All the Stars

Another Heavyweight OWSLA Collabo in the Books

I've learned to have high expectations every time I open up a new package from anyone in the OWSLA crew. It's widely known what ZHU's capabilities are as an artist, but I'm only beginning to warm up to the talents of Ekali. His loud, excitable style wouldn't seem to mix with ZHU's calm, deep house vibe, but Blame proves all that wrong. You'll get all the ZHU falsetto you can handle in between twinkling synths and rugged drops. It's a fun mix of styles that will stretch and pull at what you'd normally expect from ZHU. Cop it on iTunes or Spotify if you're into the clash of styles as I am...#Blame

Ekali & ZHU - Blame

"Put Your Filthy Hands All Over Me"

It's going to be tough, but I'm going to try really hard limit my excitement and refrain from littering this post with !!! and 😀🙃😃. It's not just the fact that Justin Timberlake put out a new single today and has a new album (Man of the Woods) on the way. Yes, that's dope, but it doesn't take away from the holy triumvirate that is Justin Timberlake/Timbaland/Danjahandz that reconvened on his new track below.

Filthy lives up to its name with a grimy, wobbly, new-age funk beat that will immediately grab your attention and stand out as different. The vibe is best described as what you'd hope for if Daft Punk and Pharrell put together a dance track. The futuristic I, Robot style choreographed dancing robot video seems apropos for the futuristic funk vibe of the track. The beat breakdown around the 3:45 mark is trademark Timbo and Danja too. You feel like you're listing to a new beat, but they blend it with the original instrumental so well that it's clean af. Man...if Justin's new album is going to be filled with exciting new tracks like this one, 2018 is going to be a fun year...#Filthy



Justin Timberlake - Filthy (prod by Timbaland and Danjahandz)

"I Wanna be Your Lover, I Don't Wanna be Your Friend"

It's like clockwork, another Alan Walker remix, another symphony of chords. This time Alan took a swipe at Noah Cyrus's recent single Again with XXXTENTACION. I'm not a huge supporter of anything XXXTENTACION does, but I'll concede the original version of the track has some pop allure to it.

Take that morsel of pop allure and mix it with some melodic progressions and you've got yourself a chill EDM remix. The more I listen to it, the more I appreciate the raspy, Lana Del Rey quality to her voice. If you're a fan of the original, follow the breadcrumbs to Spotify or iTunes to add it to your collection...#NoahCyrusAgain



Noah Cyrus feat XXXTENTACION - Again (Alan Walker Remix)