It’s heating up out here in New York, and it’s a perfect time to catch up on the best music of the last three months, while looking forward to a glorious summer of music. Leggo.

How to Dress Well: “Precious Love”
I could have picked a handful of the tracks from Tom Krell’s gorgeous third album and the only realistic challenger to the Koz’s beautiful Benji for Album of the Year, but I went with the clear-eyed, “Sittin’ Up in My Room” vibes of “Precious Love.” It is perhaps the greatest indicator of HTDW’s remarkable maturation from the hermetical, closed curtains magic of Love Remains to the open, unabashed, pure pop of What is This Heart? Genius.

Metro Thuggin: “The Blanguage”
Young Thug has spent most of the last 18 months making the establishment uncomfortable, and his collaboration with rising producer, Metro Boomin, is one of the truly breathtaking tracks of the year. Boomin’s twinkling keys and off-kilter drums are the ideal canvas for Thugger’s spastic, elastic flow. There’s not really verses or a chorus, but when you’ve got this much ability, who needs em’?

Real Lies: “North Circular”
The moody Londoners’ gorgeous single captures the muted ennui and delicious longing of growing up in suburbia. It’s the kind of track that simultaneously reminds you why you left your hometown and why, no matter where you go, it will always be home. “How many late nights does it take you to change?” In. Fuckin’. Deed.

Copeland: “Advice to Young Girls” (f/ Actress)
I’d like to imagine that ex-Hype Williams bandmates Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland have a sort of friendly rivalry. Like, Inga heard Dean’s ridiclously excellent, The Redeemer, last year, and was like, “alright, Dean. I got somethin’ for ya.” That something is the incredible, Because I’m Worth It, and it’s lead single is a modern, brazen call to arms for a generation of smirking, texting, free thinking girls, who already know that the city is theirs.

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