City Rain has released a new video of their latest track, "The Optimist." The meaning behind the song can be connected with Ben Runyan's multiple devastating experiences, including the loss of loved ones and medical issues, and the persistence involved in the triumph over struggle. According to City Rain's SoundCloud, everyone "was born knowing that we are all terminal. But despite the fate of our demise, we find one thing to recognize. It’s our fulfillment." City Rain Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Members: Ben Runyan, Scott Cumpstone [...]

This Miami emcee has been on my radar for the longest and his previous project have shown great promise, but Ghoswridah's forthcoming Flu Game is lining up to be the defining project of his young career. In "Buckets" you can hear the hunger in his rhymes and the confidence in his voice, a great one-two combo that also benefits from a soulful instrumental produced by Don Cannon.

Both Tha Guyver & iLLeeT are the homies and they have great potential to break into the local scene in the next few years. If you need to be introduced to their music, "Yung Allah" is a great first listen. Tha Guyver still has to polish more his flow and the song could've used some better mixing, but the passion is heard and the talent is there. [soundcloud url=" http://api.soundcloud.com/trac ks/93101801" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
It's not all that often we come across a piece like this... Truly a special jam and one that could easily help define our summer. I'll do us all a favor and let the music and visuals do the walking, so sit back and breathe in one of our favorite summer jams of 2013. Touch Sensitive Location: Sydney, Australia Passion Pit on: SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter

Hollywood, FL's Beach Day revealed another song from their upcoming debut, Trip Trap Attack , out June 18th via Kanine Records . "Stay" has heavy influence of 60s girl groups such as The Shangri-La's, The Ventures, and The Ronettes with some surf rock mixed in. Think a more poppier Best Coast or Dum Dum Girls. Listen to the song below and the previously released "Boys" here .

"In The Zone" from Airbird & Napolian featuring Erika Spring is one our favorite jams, recently. YOu can bet it will be making several appearances over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Everything about the track screams warm weather and summer. On the other side of that single is the b-side "Special." With this song, we get more of a chopped-up house track. "In the Zone" b/w "Special" is out now via Cascine . Listen below.

I really love all of these tracks Jhene Aiko has done with No I.D. since she signed with Def Jam Records. The legendary producer molds his instrumentals to fit perfectly around Jhene's voice and she never fails to deliver a passionate record. Listen below.

History from Stockholm's Molly Nilsson was one of the more grossly unappreciated albums from last year. Her music paints in cold tones and her vocals are reminiscent of Nico or even a female Matt Berninger of The National. In fact, her sound as a whole has many of the same elements of The National. On June 21st, Nilsson will be releasing her fifth and latest album The Travels via Dark Skies Association/Night School. The first single from the LP is pleading [...]

To really get a feel for what Zongo Junction is about, you might just have to see them in person. It sometime late in 2010 when I first got a chance to experience it. Ten or eleven deep, and backed by a tidal wave of brass, Zongo ripped through a powerful, hypnotic repertoire of sprawling afrobeat jams, from Fela covers to their own originals. For that hour or so, a sizable chunk of the crowd was transformed into a sweaty, vibrating mass, situated squarely in the palm of Zongo's proverbial hand. A few years later, the Brooklyn-by-Berkeley outfit [...]

Smoko Ono 's work with Dally Auston and Jarred A.G. has cemented his place as one of my favorite up-and-coming producers, his beats are too crisp and truly unique. He recenlty linked up once again with his brother Jarred and to celebrate that Summer is just around the corner (although the weather today might have you thinking otherwise), the two have put out a new single entitled "Golden Noose". I'm not sure where this joint will land but in the meantime you should definitely download his Luxury Tax EP, if [...]

"Wings" from Brooklyn's Haerts is easily one of the best tracks you will hear this year. All you have to do is listen to our Sirius XMU radio show each Tuesday and you will hear that song as a constant in our rotation. We, now, get another equally captivating song titled "All The Days." Stevie Nick anyone? Expect an album from the group later this year, but in the meantime stream their latest below. Previous:

Giftz ' local hit-record " Nino " was a monstrous collaboration with Tree that became an instant favorite among many listeners, so the remix had a difficult mission to fulfill as it tried to match the quality of the OG. Nevertheless, Giftz called in the best crew in Chicago right, SaveMoney, and they came through with that heat you would expect them to deliver. Joey Purp, Kami de Chukwu, Dally Auston, Brian Fresco & Caleb James all spit a verse and kill it with their own style.
A new track drops from the brotherly, British electronic music duo Disclosure. They've had some incredibly hot singles this year that have some clear influences coming from the worlds of R&B and 90s dance-pop. However, as Stereogum points out, this new cut functions on a much funkier premise, which I like quite a bit. It's actually got me looking forward to the duo's new full-length album a bit more, Settle . Tracks like "When A Fire Starts To Burn," will undoubtedly add some great variety to the poppier tracks on this forthcoming album. Look [...]

The bullrush towards Earl Sweatshirt's highly -anticipated Doris continues with this new song, "Guild." With Mac Miller featured on the song, "Guild" features the two rappers delivering their verses in a lower octave to create a dark tone for the song. Earl continues to display his lyrical growth with every Doris song release. We all had early hyper for him when EARL came out, but it seems like he might be able to meet the lofty expectations he garnered with his debut EP. It's been a good week for Mac Miller [...]
SLSBS ft. Quelle Chris by Metabeats (co-produced by Ed Boogie) A new track from Metabeats, which features some cutting lyrics from Quelle Chris that deal with fame, jealousy, and the music industry. The verses truly capture the sentiments of this track's snide chorus: "SOUNDS LIKE SOME BULLSHIT!" The instrumental is pretty noisy, nutty, and offbeat-and I mean all of that in a good way. If you're digging on this track, look for Metabeats' Caviar Crackle , which will be dropping on June 25th via Associated Minds . Enjoy!

That Thothianna line by P. Rico has been the talk of every single High School in Chicago these past few weeks. Now, Treated Crew's Gzus Piece, Mic Terror & Na$im Williams and affiliates Scoleone, Kennan Coke, Gig Brown & Doc Da Mindbenda give all the Thothiannas out there a shoutout of sorts.

...Like Clockwork // Queens of the Stone Age By Mark Robinson See, the inherit issue with creating two of the finest hard rock albums of the 21st century, is trying to top the bastards. It’s an issue that Josh Homme has attempted to overcome; firstly with 2005’s sprawling but inconsistent Lullabies to Paralyze , and then again with 2007’s Era Vulgaris , which – while patchy – was a tighter, more focused affair. But there’s always felt like something was lost when QOTSA parted ways [...]
WMNSTUDIES are back at it again with another steaming hot "Fuck Jam". Yeah, that's pretty much what we're calling their style these days. WMNSTUDIES, known for mixing classic R&B jams with downtempo electronic beats decided to edge us closer to the dancefloor with this remix as they continue to adopt a more disco sound. Even better, our Canadian friends and captains of the bedroom tune are making their U.S. debute June 21st with us at our SexPop Vol. 2 party in Seattle. Guaranteed to be a sexy, sweaty good time. WMNSTUDIES [...]

Brian Fresco wasn't satisfied with simply dropping an incredible project, so he decided to let loose "Fireworks", a bonus cut that didn't make the cut for the album. This joint doesn't quite fit with the theme Mafioso had going on, so I understand why it is not in there, but Fresco still murked it and it should definitely be added to your iTunes library!

TwoLetterz dropped this new heat entitled "Chi-Town Shit" in our submission inbox and it was too good to not put it up. Besides a stellar verse from TwoLetterz , we also get Tree spitting a surprise guest-verse and production by Roman Flowrs to show you what that "Chi-Town Shit" is all about.