Rising pop vocalist Brian Chinn released on the most chill singles this week with his new single “Not The Plug.” The South Korean immigrant has a minimalistic aesthetic but continues the complexity in his music without being held to one idea. Brian focuses on balance and variance when creating music, carrying a consistent contrast, both within the melodies and the lyrics. Brian’s songs are intended to be accessible and infectious, diverse ears will notice musical influences and references ranging from blues to classical orchestration. The majority of the time Brian is not only singing, but producing and engineering the majority of his work. His new track, “Not The Plug” is no exception and this song could grow on people over time. With a good push, I believe this could turn into Brian’s most successful single to date. Check out Brian Chinn’s refreshing new single “Not The Plug” below.

Cleveland, Ohio rapper Freshie continues his strong showing in 2019 with a new collection of songs entitled NeverSorryAgain. After already dropping an album earlier in the year with ‘Sooner Than Later’ this new project serves to keep the momentum going. NeverSorryAgain is three-track summer pack of a variety of songs. The singles, “2nd Grade” and “Everything Dirty.” serve as two fast-paced and heavy based songs that are short but are very high in replay value. The last song, and what turned out to be my favorite, is the single “Jet Li.” While still featuring a heavy hitting 808s this “Jet Li” features a melodic and hypnotic production that hits home. This last single also features fellow Cleveland emcee Troop of Lost Tribe who compliments Freshie well on this outro. Stream Freshie’s new pack of singles ‘NeverSorryAgain’ after the break.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for since January is here, J.Cole and his Dreamville posse have dropped their highly anticipated compilation album Revenge Of The Dreamers III. 2019 has been a huge year for Cole and it seems him and all of Dreamville is going to be on our necks all year. This album is the final product from the mythical and legendary Dreamville sessions that took place in Atlanta, Georgia back in mid-January. Even though I’ve only been through the project twice so far you can tell the energy in these rooms were special. It’s really hard for me to pick a favorite track this early on but they’re a lot of people and moments that stood out to me. Some of the MVP’s of the album from my perspective were JID, EarthGang, Buddy, Guapdad 4000, Lute and Yung Nudy. A couple of songs that I found myself gravitating to this early on were “Under The Sun”, “1993”, “Self Love”, “Sunset” and the standout single “Down Bad.” The Dreamville troop were successful in trying to mix and match different styles and talent and weave and integrate them together to create which is probably their best album in the …

Zack Cokas is a rapper coming out of Raleigh, North Carolina who dropped a promising project recently entitled ‘Young Cak’. The first stumbled on Zack’s music on an Instagram actually, being the music miner that I am clicked on the video snippet of the song to check it out. Initially, I wasn’t blown away by the snippet but one thing I did notice is that his combination of flow and sound were intriguing to me. This caused me to dig a little deeper in his catalog to check out more songs in his discography. The first time I played “Work 4 It” my ears perched up the instrumental is wild, this is probably my favorite cut from the EP. Some other tracks that stuck with me were “Kill Bill” and “Explosive.” Even though it’s still early in his career I can definitely see a lane for Zack and his sound moving forward as he continues to sharpen his sword. Stream Zack Cokas’ six-track project ‘Young Cak’ for yourself below.

The queen of upstate New York Che Noir is back with an impressive new body of work entitled ‘The Thrill Of The Hunt 2’. We are only a few years removed from the conversation of there not being enough ladies in rap. Fast forward to now and it seems like women are making their presence felt in the rap game more than ever before. Che Noir is an emcee from upstate New York that’s all about gritty wordplay with a current sound that still has a lane today. I was watching an episode of Everyday Struggle and heard one of the host Wayno mention Che as one of the women who were up next in rap. I decided to take a listen and just off the first couple songs Noir just made me want to go get a bag to be honest. The closest thing I could compare her to would be fellow upstate rising rapper Benny The Butcher. There’s no doubt that Che can spit, so we’ll look to see how she can continue to improve her sound as her music career continues. Check out some of Che Noir’s clever wordplay on her new project ‘The Thrill Of The …

West Covina, California crooner K.Cero’s makes his Lyrical Lemonade debut with a new single entitled “Mine.” The Noden-produced single is a fun, bouncy song that is perfect for this summer season. The track is about seeing the girl of your dreams and having an internal battle with yourself on how to approach and how to make a good impression on her. The things a guy would do just to be able to call this girl, “Mine”. Initially, when I played this song, the instrumental brought me back to when I first heard Goldlink on SoundCloud back in 2015. K.Cero has a different cadence and the overall mood of the song isn’t the same. However, like Goldlink, I can see K.Cero fall into a future bounce R&B wave that has been made popular by other acts like Soulection, Smino, and more. Stream K.Cero’s vibrant new single “Mine” below.

Charlotte, North Carolina songbird Cyanca makes her first drop of 2019 with her three track EP, I’m Staying Home. If you’ve been following her plight up to this point, then the release of new music from Cyanca should come as a relief. For many artists, following up a standout single can be extremely tough, but this Charlotte vocalist was able to rise to the challenge. Cyanca jumped on to the R&B scene with here smooth single “New Phone, Who Dis” last year, and she very well may have her next standout in the I’m Staying Home project. Out of the three singles, the one that I keep coming back to and gravitating to the most is “Patti Mayonnaise.” Not only is the name perfect, but the song could possibly be an absolute hit if the right people catch on to it. Don’t just take my word for it, though — stream Cyanca’s short-but-sweet extended play, I’m Staying Home, after the break.

Nerika is an independent Caribbean singer/songwriter based out of New York that dropped some amazing visuals for her single entitled “Leave Me Alone.” Finding Nerika’s music was kind of crazy because it was absolutely by chance. The young vocalist was actually asking me a question about the music data and networking platform, Indify. This leads to me listening to a couple of her singles and inquiring on if she had any material she was releasing soon. When I saw “Leave Me Alone,” I was probably more impressed on how great the video looked and how well she was able to execute it without help from a manager or a label. I’ll admit when I first heard the song on Spotify I liked it, but the visuals really bring the narrative Nerika is trying to relay to life. Nerika gave me a little insight on this new single via email and stated: “I wrote this song in hopes to redefine the stigma of dismissing unwanted energy in the name of self-love, highlight the normal feelings of uncertainty that comes with dating, and celebrate exploration on one’s own terms.” Watch Nerika’s Kamau Wainaina-directed music video for “Leave Me Alone” below: