A Present From The Villain Himself

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist “Love Me Not”

“Love Me Not” is a song that is in large part about waxing your bush and ends with a skit in which Erykah Badu endures a particularly painful waxing appointment, but there’s a lot more going on in the song besides that. It’s mostly about Badu confronting what she’s willing to put up with for love. The bush-waxing is one thing, but what about when he doesn’t give you real affection? What about when it’s clear that you’re making all the compromises and he always gets what he wants? It’s not an angry song, though. She’s mostly shrugging and laughing and wondering why she allows this to happen. But you can hear the ache in her voice, especially when she sings the counterpoint to the “love me, love me not” hook: “That’s when I really fell in love.”

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats “UPS”

Denzel Curry makes a sly reference to MF Doom in the chorus of “UPS,” but that’s about as much as this song is lyrically about him. Musically, that’s another matter entirely. Kenny Beats and Curry do their best to channel Doom’s style as both a producer and rapper on the track, and the late MC’s work seems to be so deeply embedded in their psyches that it feels natural rather than tacky or affected. In their case, imitation is indeed sincere flattery, and Doom’s eccentric aesthetic is a formal challenge rather than a style to bite.

Buy it from Bandcamp.