XXL’s Songs of the Week (Sept. 5 – Sept. 11)

Before we begin, we should take a moment to appreciate that while he lands no solo songs on this list, Young Thug appears on fully half of the cuts selected by the XXL staff as the best of the past seven days. Even with an album in limbo and drug and gun charges hanging over his head, the savant from Atlanta found time to bless T.I., Tinashe and Travi$ Scott with stellar verses for their own material. Even more exciting is T.I.'s sudden return to form; his EP, Da'Nic, is available now, to tide us over as we wait for new projects from Mac Miller and Big Boi and Phantogram, and as we digest the new offering from Jay Rock. These are the best hip-hop songs of the week ending today, Sept. 11.

Tinashe Feat. Young Thug, "Party Favors"

While she turned heads with Aquarius, Tinashe must have decided it was high time to double down for her sophomore set. The California-bred singer tapped Dr. Luke, Hit-Boy, Max Martin and a litany of other big-name, high-priced producers to construct Joyride, due out later this year. And when it came time to cast out a first single, she turned to Young Thug and Boi-1da, who together helped craft "Party Favors." The Atlanta rapper finds himself buried under more Autotune than he's used to, but by the time he turns up at the end of the psychedelic cut, he's the most normal thing left.

Mac Miller, "Clubhouse"

After breaking on to the scene as a frat rapper in the vein of Asher Roth and his bastard child, Sam Adams, Mac Miller figured it was time to reinvent himself. Watching Movies With the Sound Off saw the Pittsburgh native gravitating to the abstract and the free-associative; his basement has also become the go-to spot for famous and semi-famous rappers in Los Angeles who want to smoke weed and cut a few songs. "Clubhouse," the single from Miller's forthcoming GO:OD AM, catches him sliding comfortably into his new role as wisecrack in chief.

Travi$ Scott Feat. Young Thug and Justin Bieber, "Maria, I'm Drunk"

When the tracklist for Travi$ Scott's anthropomorphic debut album, Rodeo, hit the internet, fans and detractors fixed their eyes onto one song title in particular. "Maria, I'm Drunk" featured not only one of the best rappers in the world at the moment, but one of Earth's most maligned young pop stars; it also sounded like a barked complaint from The Love Boat. The final version of the track is more or less what one might expect--Scott and Bieber doing passable Thug karaoke over a beat drenched in sorrow and label-purchased Ambien.

Jay Rock Feat. Black Hippy, "Vice City"

With Jay Rock's highly anticipated 90059 finally available to stream, download and purchase, one would think that everyone in the TDE camp is exhaling and kicking back for a minute. Of course, you'd be wrong: as "Vice City" evidences, the four MCs who make up Black Hippy have more pressing, existential concerns. The just-released video clip finds Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q and the man of the hour wringing their hands over a gang of strippers who just happened to wander into an abandoned warehouse. Fancy seeing you here!

Big Boi & Phantogram, "Fell In the Sun"

Those who really spent time with Outkast's records know that picking the better member of the group isn't just a fool's errand--it's missing the point. Outkast thrived because of the tension between Andre and Antwan: pimps, poets, players, preachers. And while Big Boi's stellar solo debut, 2010's Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty was a tour de force, the less celebrated half of the duo has spent the time since searching for a new foil. He may have finally found it with Phantogram. Billed together as Big Grams, the trio has an EP dropping Sept. 25 that should reimagine Atlanta as a foreign planet, funkier than the one we inhabit. But of course, Big Boi has done that before.

T.I. Feat. Young Thug and Young Dro, "Peanut Butter Jelly"

T.I. has spent enough time on red carpets. The Atlanta pioneer parlayed his early- and mid-2000s singles catalog into a successful run in Hollywood and on the pop charts, but if the music he's dropped this week is any indication, it's time to go back to the trap. Da'Nic, the EP that landed on your RSS feed late last night, is a stark, furious look at what Tip was like during the Bush administration; appropriately, the standout song employs the newly revitalized Young Dro. But while the "Shoulder Lean" star and Young Thug parse London on da Track's beat with clinical precision, the biggest name on the marquee is still the star.