XXL’s Songs of the Week (March 7

After a hectic month or so, things slowed down in the hip-hop world this week. As we gear up for releases from Kendrick Lamar, Action Bronson, Kanye West and others, this was a seven-day span that allowed more breathing room and, with it, chances to appreciate gems from newcomers like Post Malone and members of the old guard, like AZ. These are the XXL staff's picks for the best songs of the week that ends today, March 13.

T-Pain Feat. Kardinal Offishall, "Disa My Ting"

T-Pain seems to be at the beginning of a minor renaissance; "Disa My Ting" could well be the catalyst for a full-on swan dive back into the deep end of the Top 40 charts. With "hoes in the back room, kissing my ring," the rapper turned singer turned distant memory turned NPR sensation promises to help break beds and dance floors this summer with the Kardinal Offishall-assisted, patois-tinged single. Who knows some bartenders in Toronto?

Pell Feat. White Sea, "Runaway (Remix)"

This is rap your parents will play at summer cookouts that doesn't make you cringe or buy white sunglasses. New Orleans' Pell reworks his 2014 hit of the same name (off of his Floating While Dreaming project), making for a fuller, more fully realized picture with a thousand verbs. Pell is currently on tour with Kindness and will be playing at his hometown's upcoming Buku Fest. "Runaway" promises to be in heavy summer rotation.

The Game Feat. Meek Mill, "The Soundtrack"

Once Compton's great hope, the knock on The Game used to be that he would name drop his elders ad infinitum, stringing together verses about Dr. Dre and Biggie and even his friends and collaborators. But as his career has gone on, that reverence has manifested itself in different ways, primarily in his ability to act the chameleon, parroting back the stylistic tics of rappers with whom he shares the booth. On "The Soundtrack," he distinguishes himself as one of the few MCs who can match Meek Mill's intensity, and the product is a massive, anthemic Philly-to-LA connection.

AZ, "Vintage"

"Fuck shades and fancy jackets/ Just, jeans and Js, that hat be backwards." AZ is not one to lose sight of what made him, him. The perpetually overshadowed Queens rapper returned this week with "Vintage," which lives up to its name only ostensibly. Sure, it could have been lifted from 1995, but it's not revivalism--AZ raps with vigor, those improbably high numbers of rhyming syllables still spilling out the corners of his bars. The song will appear on producer Rodney Hazard's upcoming compilation, Victim Volunteer.

Post Malone Feat. 1stDown, "Tear$"

Though the exact biographical details (and industry connections) of Post Malone are still hazy, his Soundcloud is hard to miss. The Texas rapper is cashing in on the post-808s & Heartbreak/Drake wave of sad songs sung in Autotune; "Tear$" is a slow bloodletting about fucking girls and buying Supreme. The rampant consumerism might be symptomatic of the millennial struggle to find meaning in parents' credit cards--or maybe not. It's thinly-veiled rockstar fantasy masquerading as an emotional breakdown.

Filed Under: XXL's Songs Of The Week