New Songs: Pop Smoke, Lil Baby, Bootsy Collins, Toots, more

So many artists, so little time. Each week we review a handful of new albums (of all genres), round up even more new music that we'd call "indie," and talk about what metal is coming out. We post music news, track premieres, and more all day. In these concertless times, that includes daily livestreams and live concert videos we love. We publish a monthly playlist of some of our favorite tracks. Here's a daily roundup with a bunch of interesting, newly released songs in one place…

POP SMOKE - "MAKE IT RAIN" (ft. ROWDY REBEL)

Pop Smoke's posthumous album was originally set for today, but was pushed back to July 3 "out of respect for the movement," and instead this new song is out today. It's all the proof you need that Pop was only getting better and better when his life was tragically cut short.

BETTYE LAVETTE - "STRANGE FRUIT" (BILLIE HOLIDAY COVER)

"It really is horrifying that nearly 80 years later, through Billie’s lifetime and now my 74 years, the meaning of this song still applies," Bettye LaVette writes. "It might not be men and women hanging from trees, but these public executions are now on video and it feels like they’re doing it for sport. I hope the song will be a reminder that we have had enough, and I support the Black Lives Matter movement." Bettye's cover of this tragic, iconic song is off her upcoming album Blackbirds, due August 28 via Verse, which is entirely made up of songs by black female artists who inspired Bettye.

BUDDY - "BLACK 2"

In 2018, Compton rapper Buddy released the song "Black," in which Buddy celebrated his blackness and referenced Trayvon Martin, Huey P. Newton, "Strange Fruit," and more, and in the wake of George Floyd's murder, he released a sequel. "Feel like Malcolm X, peekin' outside my window / Everybody wanna be black, but don't nobody wanna be a n****," he raps on the hook, and the artwork references that iconic Malcolm X window photo as well.

RMR - "WELFARE" (ft. WESTSIDE GUNN)

RMR went viral after releasing "Rascal," and then he released the singles "Dealer" and "I'm Not Over You" that really proved he's a great singer and not just a gimmick, and now his debut EP Drug Dealing Is A Lost Art is out featuring those three singles and a few other songs. One of them, opening track "Welfare," features Griselda's Westside Gunn who's been on fire lately.

BOOTSY COLLINS - "STARS" (FT DR. CORNEL WEST, STEVE JORDAN, BÉLA FLECK, EMISUNSHINE)

Bass legend Bootsy Collins, who has played with James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Dee-Lite and more, just released this new single featuring a disparate cast of collaborators, including philosopher Dr. Cornel West, drummer Steve Jordan, banjo legend Béla Fleck, and EmiSunshine & Olvido Ruiz. “'Stars' reminds us that none of us made the other and that our planet is our ship through time and space,” says Bootsy. “The opportunity to reset and respect our land, our people, and everything in it comes from Star Children many Moons away. You all are 'Star Children' so come shine with us!”

TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS - "GOT TO BE TOUGH"

Reggae icons Toots and the Maytals will release Got to Be Tough, their first album in 10 years, on August 28 via Trojan Jamaica. He sounds in fine form on the album's title track.

THE ACACIA STRAIN - "ONE THOUSAND PAINFUL STRINGS" (ft. COURTNEY LAPLANTE) & "EARTH WILL BECOME DEATH"

The Acacia Strain have been dropping two-song singles all year, many of which feature guests (including members of Mortality Rate, Jesus Piece, and Left Behind), and today they released two more songs and revealed that these, the recent tracks, and a few others will make up their new album Slow Decay, due July 24 via Rise Records. One of the new ones features Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox, and they're both hefty dose of dark, gloomy metalcore.

CHUCKY73 & FIVIO FOREIGN - "NILI"

Bronx Latin trap rapper Chucky73 and Brooklyn drill rapper Fivio Foreign join forces on "Nili," which brings together two of the latest developments in New York rap and sounds great doing so.

DABABY - "ROCKSTAR" (ft. RODDY RICCH, BLACK LIVES MATTER REMIX)

DaBaby has released a rework of his hit "ROCKSTAR" with new lyrics inspired by the recent nationwide protests against police brutality.

LIL BABY - "THE BIGGER PICTURE"

Lil Baby has released a new protest song, with proceeds going to the Bail Project, the National Association of Black Journalists, and to Breonna Taylor’s legal team, his reps confirmed to Pitchfork. "I guess that mean hold him down if he say he can’t breathe," he sings.

TYLA YAWEH - "TOMMY LEE" (ft. POST MALONE & TOMMY LEE)

Recent tourmates Tyla Yaweh and Post Malone link up on this ode to Tommy lee, which also actually features contributions from the Motley Crue drummer that it's named after. "Tommy Lee just doesn’t give a fuck and I love that," Yaweh told NME.

TEYANA TAYLOR - "WAKE UP LOVE" (ft. IMAN)

Teyana Taylor is gearing up to follow K.T.S.E. with her new album, THE ALBUM, and this great, airy new single features her husband, NBA player/rapper Iman Shumpert, and they reveal in the video that they're expecting their second child. Congrats!!

AZEALIA BANKS - "BLACK MADONNA" (ft. LEX LUGER)

Azealia Banks is often more in the news for controversy than for music, but every now and then she drops a song that's undeniably good and reminds you why you fell in love with her music in the first place. This is one of those songs.

WOODKID - "PALE YELLOW"

"If Goliath, the first single from my new album, summons the massive, the titanesque, 'Pale Yellow' is more about the machine inside, the inner monster," Woodkid says of the atmospheric, cinematic second single off his upcoming sophomore album. "This is a song about the shape of chemical addiction and the power of resilience against self-destruction."

JOE VANN (FROM INDIAN LAKES) - "SHUFFLE AROUND"

From Indian Lakes main member Joey Vannucchi has released a new solo song as Joe Vann, which finds him more in singer/songwriter territory than usual. Cool stuff.

IT ONLY ENDS ONCE - LOST IN MY OWN HOLLOW

Houston screamo/black metal/post-rock blenders it only ends once released chasms will never be filled earlier this year, and today they followed it with yet another soaring, majestic record (via Middle-Man Records). All proceeds go to Black Lives Matter Houston.

GELD - "INFRASOUND"

Melbourne's GELD make raw, venomous, whiplash-inducing hardcore, as you can hear on "Infrasound," the first rager released off their upcoming album Beyond The Floor, due June 26 via Iron Lung Records.

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - "LET YOU GO" (ACOUSTIC)

Bombay Bicycle Club have a new EP featuring acoustic reworks of songs that will get gradually rolled out across June and July, and it's available on a pay-what-you-want basis with proceeds benefiting Chineke and Youth Music. "Just like when we made Flaws ten years ago, we’ve been recording in our bedrooms and capturing every chair squeak and car engine outside," the band writes. The first taste is this gorgeous rendition of "Let You Go."

ANIKA PYLE - "PRAYER FOR LONELY PEOPLE"

Anika Pyle (Katie Ellen, Sheena Anika & Augusta, Chumped) shared a new solo single, "Prayer for Lonely People." "The intention behind this song, written in November 2018, was meditation for all the people who are lonely, hurting, grieving, who I don’t know or will never know, or am far away from," she writes. "A loving-kindness practice in song form." She continues, "The video for ‘Prayer For Lonely People’ was filmed during the middle of our stay-at-home orders and features many of those dearest to me. It’s meant to be a time capsule for this strange pandemic moment and a conduit to connect with loved ones, holding space for joy. Thank you to EVERYONE who leant their smiles and dance moves! I couldn’t edit it without crying."

SELF SCIENTIFIC - "SELFISH PRIDE"

LA rap vets Self Scientific (MC Chace Infinite and DJ Khalil) are back with their first new song in 11 years, which was actually written in 2014 after the death of Eric Garner and not released until now, and it feels as urgent now as it would have felt then (sadly).

RICO NASTY - "DIRTY"

The season four finale of Insecure airs this Sunday (6/14) on HBO, and it'll feature this undeniably fun new song by Rico Nasty.

ARRE! ARRE! - "MAKE IT RAIN (SFP2)"

Hailing from Malmö, Sweden, quartet Arre! Arre! make razor-sharp garage punk and are set to release the Heavy Breathing EP on August 14 via PNKSLM. "Society and the media often act as if a woman’s entire existence and self-image depend on how fuckable they are, according to a very narrow standard," say the band of the intent behind this snarling new single. "We’ve had enough of it. Heavy Breathing is a celebration of women who make no excuses for their sexuality, their body, their lifestyle or their opinions. We want to champion female sexuality owned by women themselves. The sexuality that’s full of cellulites, laughter, self love and free will! Through our music we’re saying F*ck You to the media’s and societies distorted image of us. You do you. Literally - buy an sfp2 and make it rain.

CHRIS GARNEAU - "NOW ON"

New York musician Chris Garneau has just this spare piano ballad. "On the surface, this song is about leaving a relationship, but ultimately, it’s about leaving shame behind and finding out what’s underneath," says Chris. "While this can often be more painful than the cover, it’s more rich, it’s who we really are - it’s our wealth and it belongs to us. Finding that truth within is truly healing and can set you free - freedom doesn’t always look like winning but finding it can leave you feeling unafraid. The joy, the gold...that comes later, in bursts, in waves, if ever." All proceeds from Bandcamp sales of benefit GLITS.

YOUNG EJECTA - "CALL MY NAME"

Synthpop duo Young Ejecta returned late last month with the first single, "Crayon Cactus," off their upcoming album, Ride Lonesome. Here's the second, the minimal "Call My Name."

NEIL YOUNG - "VACANCY"

Neil Young"s "lost" mid '70s album Homegrown -- the "unheard bridge between Harvest and Comes a Time" -- finally sees the light of day next week (6/19 via Reprise), and here's another single from it, which you can read more about here.

JOHN PRINE - "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING"

Before he passed, the legendary John Prine recorded this one last song (with producer Dave Cobb), and it was released alongside the virtual guest-filled John Prine tribute event. Read more and watch the two-hour tribute here.

BARFBAG - "PORNOCRACY"

Barfbag is the socio-political hardcore band fronted by music industry vet David Bason (who signed The Strokes to RCA and The Dresden Dolls to Roadrunner), and it also features The Dresden Dolls' Brian Viglione on drums and Kenny Carkeet (who used to be in AWOLNATION and has produced/engineered albums for Anti-Flag, The Used, and more) on guitar and production. You can read more about this new rager, released just in time for Flag Day, here.

BUJU BANTON - BLESSED

Reggae and dancehall great Buju Banton will release Upside Down 2020, his first album in a decade, on June 26 via Roc Nation.

Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.

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29 New Songs Out Today