Music Roundup: Nav, Future

If you haven’t been keeping up with the latest music, you’ve come to the right place. The past two weeks have been stacked with releases. Get caught up with everything you should be listening to by checking out these projects:

Feb. 17 — Jidenna — ‘The Chief’

A lot of people are sleeping on Jidenna’s album, and it pains me to realize it won’t get the recognition it deserves. Most people only know Jidenna as the guy who sings “Classic Man,” but this album shows just how much of an artist he actually is. Even I’ll admit I didn’t know Jidenna could rap and sing as well as he can. My favorite on “The Chief” is easily “Bambi.” It’s simply a beautiful song.

Feb. 17 — Future — ‘FUTURE’

A year has passed since Future released an album or mixtape, but he quickly made up for that time by dropping two albums in seven days. The first of the two albums is the self-titled “FUTURE,” which is 17 songs in length and isn’t very different from Future’s other projects, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Future found his sound and ran with it. The flute alone on “Mask Off” makes this a dope album.

Feb. 24 — Future — ‘HNDRXX’

Future has gone by several different names, with one of them being “Future Hendrix.” I say that because it’s fairly obvious the two albums Future dropped in a week’s time play off of that name. While “FUTURE” is more rap, “HNDRXX” is more singing. Before Future was spitting straight fire on his tapes “Monster,” “Beast Mode” and “56 Nights,” Future made music that was a mixture of rap and auto-tuned rhythm and blues, which can be heard in songs like “Turn on the Lights.” Personally, I like “HNDRXX” more than “FUTURE,” but what I do know is that they’re both good albums that show Future is on pace to have two different No. 1 albums in two consecutive weeks.

Feb. 24 — Nav — ‘NAV’

Nav is a rapper-producer out of Toronto who has been buzzing on SoundCloud for some time with multiple songs receiving more than 10 million streams. Nav gained a lot of attention when he was featured on Travis Scott’s “beibs in the trap.” Now signed to The Weeknd’s label, “XO,” Nav released his first full project, “NAV,” last week. Honestly, almost all of his songs sound the same to me, but they’re still good, and I’d definitely consider myself a fan. Nav has never performed in concert, but you can see his first-ever performance at Coachella this year.

Feb. 24 — Stormzy — ‘Gang Signs & Prayers’

Stormzy is one the most recognizable and best rappers coming out of the U.K., and he just released his debut album this past Friday. I’ll keep it short and tell you that the U.K. rap scene is quietly changing the rap game, and Stormzy is one of the frontrunners of this movement. Don’t sleep.

Bonus: Feb. 24 — Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos — “Slide”

I couldn’t write this article without mentioning this incredible song. I was looking forward to this single ever since Calvin Harris first teased it on his Snapchat a few weeks ago. Frank Ocean doesn’t do features for just anyone, and getting Ocean on a song with Migos is a collaboration that doesn’t sound realistic. The transition from Ocean to Quavo on this song is flawless, and Offset killing his verse makes “Slide” my favorite song of the year so far.