By the Nuance Editorial Team

Welcome back, Tastemakers. You know what day it is and you know what means. Call up your boy Guy Fieri because its Friday and we are going to give your ears a feast. Well, more of a light meal compared to last week, but its a refined taste. Let’s dive in.

First things first, this week in the mainstream music world. Kanye West dropped Donda 2 this week, but none of us can afford the streaming system, so we aren’t going to talk about it. We have, however, been enjoying the free entertainment Kanye provides on social media for us. Sort of kidding, but seriously, we hope the album is fire so that something good will come out of this for him. On that note, seems like a good time to mention: if you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to connect with a trained counselor. The service is free, 24/7, confidential, and available across the United States.

Moving on to the good stuff, some of our issue 02 artists popped off this week with some quality new stuff. First on that list is Johnny Yukon with his latest single, “Keys”. This melodic masterclass should honestly be against the law given how catchy it is. Seriously, its like the “Nationwide is on your side” type of shit that you mindlessly hum to yourself while making a peanut butter & jelly or sing to your cat replacing the words you don’t know with the cat’s name. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, just listen to it, go about your day, and get back to us.

Next up, Joe Trufant released a little six-song project called Cross My Heart. This joint is somehow simultaneously laid back and hype? The beats are ambient but good golly do those drums do something. It’s hard to decide whether to jump up in down or just lean back, but either way it’s just lyrically and melodically effortless, just floating through the air like a really nicely blown cloud or smoke ring or something. Like the kind from Lord of the Rings when Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf are blazing up and Gandalf makes a little boat out of smoke and lets it sail through the night sky. Yeah, it feels like you’re riding on the bow of that little boat with Rose or Leonardo DiCaprio or whatever your preference is.

We digress. Along with the above-mentioned, we also took the liberty of adding this little banger to our Nuance Radio playlist. The banger in question is “Nothing At All” by NCognita. This one goes out to those rap fans that just like straight, clean bars. Her flow is silkier than my pajamas and the hit harder than Troy Polamalu in his prime. Rock that one while rolling through a rich neighborhood with your windows down on a sunny day pretending like you made it and two of those mansions are actually yours.

Okay, last three and we will wrap this up. No descriptions, just suggestions. First one: “Little Story” by Kehlani. Next one: “Don’t Trip” by Justus Bennetts and GAYLE (music video above). Last one: “Scuba Diving” from Mooski, preceding his Music Therapy 4 the Broken mixtape due out March 11. Thats it from us, make sure to keep up to date on Nuance Radio and our other Spotify playlists to stay ahead of curve. Until next time.