Weekend radar: new singles

Bow Down / I Been On
Beyonce
7/10

The Return of the King: This week, King B came back with snippets of her first two singles in years, dishing out something that went against the grain of what we usually expect from her. If it’s not too bold to say, Beyonce seems to have taken a page out of Azealia Bank’s book (with whom she’s been recording for her upcoming album) in releasing Photoshopped cover art for a track exclusively on Soundcloud. Voice-alteration is at the forefront and lady rap makes its eager way into the second snippet. Repping for Houston and demanding respect, the angry diva pounds into the refrain of “Bow Down,” singing, and I quote, “Dis my shit / Bow down, bitches.” It is her old manifesto trumpeted with several new instruments. With the “I Been On” segment: a deeply distorted voice, electronic dance, some trap clack, bounce, opera, dub — all of it chopped and screwed. A little bit of a lot of scattered things.

That being said, it is both commendable and reproachable for Mrs. Carter to release a track that is unlike anything in her entire discography. With the release of “4,” the leading lady of pop R&B sought to challenge her listeners with more than radio-friendly junk food. “Bow Down / I Been On,” however, is a completely new playing field. Co-produced by Hit Boy and Timbaland, respectively, I heard Beyonce audibly out of her comfort zone. Even if Bey is merely providing a sample platter of what’s to come for this album, I still hope she keeps to what she does best, for there was little belting or danceability in this mixtape morsel.
By Francisco Tirado

Yung Rapunxel
Azealia Banks
7.5/10

Dropping a few weeks ahead of schedule, Feud Baroness Azealia Banks released a focused spitfire seapunk torrent, dance-fueled, but impressing few critics. “What is a Yung Rapunxel, anyway?” says Entertainment Weekly, so poignantly. I find the track to be exactly what it wants to be — a mish mosh of ’90s house-bouncing intensity, keeping pace and immune to haters. Not denying that Azealia’s career is slowly dwindling, but the track is jumpin’ and we’re totally into it. Scary, sure. Aimless? Certainly not.
By Francisco Tirado

Whoa
Earl Sweatshirt
8

Earl Sweatshirt, the youngest member of OFWGKTA, at 19, released “Whoa,” for his upcoming album “Doris.” OFWGKTA’s frontman, Tyler the Creator, introduces the track, saying it won’t be anything like Sweatshirt’s first, very personal single “Chum,” but more like “that old fuckin’ 2010 shit.” But “Whoa” speaks for itself. Sweatshirt is making his own way in the rap game. Sweatshirt maintains the shenanigans the OFWGKTA clan is known for in my personal favorite line, “Steaming tubes of poop and twisted doobies full  of euphemisms.”  Keep doin’ you, Earl.
By Avery Walts