Sweet Baby, "Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby (I Love You)"
I wonder if there was discussion about the correct number of "baby"s in the title, or if they just went with the line from the song and called it good.
UGK, "Life is 2009"
I don't normally list the "featuring" in the title lines here, but it's important that you all know that this features Oakland legend Too $hort, so of course this rules. I suppose you could have figured that out on your own. Well, whatever!
Deafheaven, "Sunbather"
Deafheaven's 2013 epic, Sunbather, has got to be one of the most listened-to black metal albums of all time. Thanks to a bunch of glowing critical coverage, it broke through into a larger awareness that black metal pretty much never achieves. I remember seeing this album cover pop up in Apple advertising at the time! A key thing which resonated with listeners is that there's an essential beauty in the compositions here that often is missing in black metal, where the primary aesthetic is ugliness. But make no mistake: this is a black metal record, even if it's one bathed in light. It's not a shoegaze crossover or anything. So it's still surprising that it got as much traction as it did. Excellent record, though, and if you like this, there are steps you can take from here to keep exploring black metal.
Snoop Dogg, "Like This"
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment followed R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, which spawned "Drop It Like It's Hot" and positioned Snoop as a crossover artist. The intention here was to return Snoop back to his rap roots, with an intentionally harder album. But to my ears, it doesn't really succeed. It's still a long, long ways from his earlier stuff, or even from 2002's Paid Tha Cost to be da Bo$$, and it doesn't really land with me.
The Smiths, "The Queen Is Dead"
At this point, this is primarily to me an excellent song to belt along with while making dinner. Which is useful!