With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new projects from Kali Uchis; 21 Savage; Kid Cudi; Marika Hackman; Nicholas Craven & Boldy James; Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño; Nailah Hunter; @; and Bruiser Wolf. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
Kali Uchis: Orquídeas [Geffen]
Kali Uchis has said her fourth album “is inspired by the timeless, eerie, mystic, striking, graceful and sensual allure of the orchid,” as referenced by the Spanish-language LP’s title, Orquídeas. Karol G, Peso Pluma, and Rauw Alejandro feature on the record, along with El Alfa and City Girls’ JT on the single “Muñekita.” Read the feature “Welcome to Kali Uchis’ High-Femme Fantasy,” written around the Orquídeas predecessor, Red Moon in Venus.
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21 Savage: American Dream [Slaughter Gang/Epic]
21 Savage cued his first solo album since 2018’s I Am > I Was with a mysterious poster for a supposed biopic starring Donald Glover and Caleb McLaughlin. Soon after, he announced American Dream’s surprise release with artwork alluding to the tumultuous period in which he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before finally becoming a permanent U.S. citizen. American Dream features Burna Boy, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Doja Cat, and more. It follows the Atlanta rapper’s collaborative albums Savage Mode 2 (with Metro Boomin) and Her Loss (with Drake).
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Kid Cudi: Insano [Republic]
Following his 2022 project and accompanying animated Netflix film, Entergalactic, Kid Cudi’s latest is here. Insano, ostensibly a reference to Paul Wight’s character in The Waterboy, is a guest-filled 21-song collection featuring several huge names: A$AP Rocky, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, Lil Yachty, Travis Scott, and the late XXXTentacion among them.
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Marika Hackman: Big Sigh [Chrysalis]
English musician, songwriter, and producer Marika Hackman is back with her first album of originals since 2019’s Any Human Friend. She has described the album as a hard one to make, and, in a recent interview with Stereogum, categorized it as a sad record. “It’s a kind of romantic, visceral sad, I think, and slightly fraught,” she said. “It’s very introspective. I suppose that’s the mood of it—very reflective. Looking into the past and processing things.”
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Nicholas Craven & Boldy James: Penalty of Leadership [Nicholas Craven Productions]
In November, Detroit rapper Boldy James shared a collaboration with producer Nicholas Craven called “Brand New Chanel Kicks.” On the track, he opens up about his condition just days after being involved in a car accident early last year. “Brand New Chanel Kicks” and December single “No Pun Intended” are on the duo’s second collaborative full-length, Penalty of Leadership.
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Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño: Subtle Movements [Leaving]
Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, and Carlos Niño make up the vaunted instrumental trio who closely collaborated with André 3000 on New Blue Sun. With Subtle Movements, the keyboardist, guitarist, and percussionist bring forth a mesmeric California sound based on their time swimming together in the Pacific Ocean, “Vibing, bonding, talking, listening, and riding the Waves,” as Niño put it in press materials. Moods range from oceanic ambient to dazzling, abrasive freak-outs. Strap in.
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Nailah Hunter: Lovegaze [Fat Possum]
Nailah Hunter conjures a hypnotic in-between space on debut album Lovegaze, composing nocturnal anthems with harp, undulating synths, and puckish percussion and melodies. The Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist contrasts gauzy productions with a luminescent vocal performance, drawing the epic out of the ineffable, as evidenced on lead single “Finding Mirrors.” Head to the Pitch and “Meet 10 Contemporary Artists Who Are Rethinking Harp Music” to read more.
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@: Are You There God? It’s Me, @ EP [Carpark]
Victoria Rose and Stone Filipczak are back with a new release from their folk-pop project @. The follow-up to their 2023 debut album, Mind Palace Music, is a five-song EP called Are You There God? It’s Me, @. It features the previously released tracks “Soul Hole” and “Webcrawler.”
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Bruiser Wolf: My Story Got Stories [Fake Shore Drive/Bruiser Brigade]
Bruiser Wolf, the Detroit rapper of Danny Brown’s Bruiser Brigade collective, is back with the follow-up to 2021’s Dope Game Stupid. In addition to the single “Dope Boy,” the album features contributions from Danny Brown, Zelooperz, Chris Crack, Trinidad James, and Fat Ray. Harry Fraud, Skywlkr, Raphy, and Greg Zola are among the producers on My Story Got Stories.
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