2016 REWIND: NEW DISCOVERIES

• Jamila Woods: HEAVN (From HEAVN. Closed Sessions)
• NoName: Forever (From Telefone)
• Chance the Rapper: How Great (From Coloring Book)
• Kanye West: Ultralight Beam (From The Life of Pablo. G.O.O.D. Music)

Ordinarily, I might chalk up to having these many new artists coming from the same city as coincidence but it feels like Chicago’s music scene is the midst of some kind of glorious moment right now. Musically, the Jamila Woods, NoName and Chance projects share much in common but it’s also about collaboration since every artist above has worked with at least 1-2 other people.

Woods’s “HEAVN” is suitably sublime, given its name, and there’s so many layers of meaning at play here. It’s about love rising within and against violence, history, tragedy, resistance and liberation. All that and an amazing polyvocal hook plus a Cure shout-out for all the ‘80s kids.

The NoName album sounds like it was made with a roomful of children’s musical toys and I mean that as a compliment in the best possible way.

I didn’t love Chance’s Coloring Book as much as others but it had these moments of transcendent magic, especially the on “How Great” when the track shifts from the gospel choir to the sample crafted from their singing. Plus, it made sense to throw it into the mix here, paired with “Ultralight Beam.” I feel like I’ve said this elsewhere but I don’t think The Life of Pablo will improve with time (not to least of which is because of Kanye’s antics) but “Ultralight Beam” stays stunning.

• Kendrick Lamar: untitled 06 l 06.30.2014. (From untitled unmastered.Interscope.)
• Schoolboy Q: That Part (Black Hippy Remix) (Original version from Blank Face. Interscope.)

I think we can all agree that 2016 could have used more Kendrick yet even between two tracks, he still managed to leave quite the impression. “Untitled 06” owes as much to Cee-lo as it does KL but together, they create a groove so good that it’s hard to believe this was left on a cutting room floor originally. Meanwhile, Kendrick’s verse on the “THat Part” remix mandolins your mind so thoroughly that you may need a guide to follow every rhyme he layers in there.

• A Tribe Called Quest: Black Spasmodic (From We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. Epic)

I don’t have much more to add that I haven’t already said except to repeat that the very existence of this album feels like a miracle and a gift. This track, in particular, will have me bouncing well into the new year and beyond.

• Anderson .Paak: Might Be (From Venice. Steel Wool, 2014)
• Frank Ocean: Pink + White (From Blond. XL)
• Lizzo: Good As Hell (From Coconut Oil. Nice Life)
• Beyonce: Formation (From Lemonade. Columbia)

Technically, “Might Be” should be listed as a “discovery” since it’s two years old but as much as I thought Malibu was a solid effort, no Paak song got more rotation from me this year than “Might Be,” after I heard it on Wynter Mitchell’s “Summer of Wynter” playlist earlier this year.

But in terms of current R&B jams, Frank Ocean’s “Pink + White” had me zoning out like practically no other song this year. Even if I agree that Blond felt form-less at times, sometimes, vibe > songs.

Lizzo’s “Good As Hell” goes in a completely opposite direction: a big big sound that wants to raise the roof, burn it down and then get everyone to pitch in to rebuild it. How this wasn’t a smash hit of the summer, I’ll never understand.

But let’s just be real: Beyonce managed to find some next level of dominance that I would never have guessed was possible unlike “Formation” blew in and up. I very much want to see how artists like her and Kendrick perform (literally and figuratively) over the next few years.

• The Jack Moves: Being With You (From Jack Moves. Wax Poetics, 2015)
• Charles Bradley: Things We Do For Love (From Changes. Daptone)
• Frankie Reyes: Flor de Azalea (From Boleros Valses y Mas. Stonesthrow)
• Frightnrs: Gotta Find a Way (From Nothing More To Say. Daptone)
• Bobby Oroza: This Love Pt. 1 (From 7″. Timmion)
• Lee Fields and the Expressions: Never Be Another You (From Special Night. Big Crown)
• Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings: I’m Still Here (From Miss Sharon Jones! Daptone)