🎵 Weekly Music Newsletter: Travis Scott is a Kanye West Copycat

Also, Róisín Murphy is queen of the dancefloor. George Clanton’s early-’90s revival. Offset & Cardi B’s family affair. Drake & Central Cee link up.

It was a somber week for the music world as we bid farewell to two extraordinary talents. First, we mourned the loss of Tony Bennett (96), the beloved standards crooner whose timeless voice captivated generations. And then, merely five days later, we said goodbye to Sinéad O’Connor (56), the fiery Irish singer whose unwavering advocacy made her a polarizing yet undeniably influential figure.

Click here for a Spotify playlist with the songs mentioned in this article.

BIGGEST Songs of the Week 📈

Choosing the lead single for an album is a high-stakes decision, often proving to be the most challenging part of the creative process. The lead single holds immense power — setting the stage, igniting anticipation, and striking the perfect balance between encapsulating the album’s essence and captivating a broad audience with an infectious hook. Yet, even with the best-laid plans, artists sometimes miss the mark.

Take K-POP, the lead single from Travis Scott’s highly anticipated album, UTOPIA. The track arrived with a buzz of excitement, featuring two of the music industry’s most creative and viral forces, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. On paper, it seemed destined for success. However, disappointingly, K-POP fell short of Scott’s enigmatic, psychedelic signature and ventured into a more generic soundscape. Abrupt transitions, a barebones beat, and a lack of memorable buildups or drops marred the song. It felt like a forced play to boost streaming numbers, portraying a rather underwhelming glimpse into the world of UTOPIA.

Thankfully, K-POP proved an outlier in an otherwise compelling album. UTOPIA has emerged as a remarkable showcase of Scott’s role as not only an artist but a curator, featuring an impressive roster of musicians and producers, including Drake, Beyoncé, Future, SZA, Pharrell Williams, Yung Thug, 21 Savage, Kid Cudi, Bon Iver, Metro Boomin, and many more, each contributing in ways far more captivating than the underwhelming duo on K-POP.