Week of July 18, 2025

Dylan Green

18 Jul 2025 — 3 min read

Keeping track of all the new music that drops every week is a nightmare. I’m here to do it so you don’t have to! Welcome to Nu Musique Friday. Pull up some headphones and stay awhile. Several albums on this list are available on Bandcamp. Today only, 100% of the money spent on music on Bandcamp goes directly to the artists, so consider supporting them by buying any relevant albums today!

My latest piece for Hearing Things is an essay about the art of reconciliation in rap, as reflected in Malice's contributions to the Clipse's comeback album Let God Sort Em Out and California rapper-producer Open Mike Eagle's latest Neighborhood Gods Unlimied.. If you like what my co-founders and I are up to, consider subscribing to the site (and paying for it, if you can). We don't bite, promise.

Check out the Reel Notes podcast, dedicated to exploring the relationship between rap and film. The 24th episode of season 5, featuring Evidence, the California rapper, producer, one-third of Dilated Peoples, and head of Bigger Picture Recordings, is available now. New episodes drop every Monday on my Patreon for paying members and every Wednesday wherever podcasts are sold, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more via Buzzsprout. Reel Notes is also available via my personal YouTube channel, and Podcasts on Vevo. I wanna thank everyone for their support over the last 200 episodes. Way more fun stuff to come in the future.

If you really wanna be tapped in, join the Reel Notes Patreon! For as little as $5/month, you'll gain access to video of every forthcoming Reel Notes interview, our Discord server, exclusive interviews and reviews, early access to new episodes, & more.

My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is out right now! Purchase your digital copy on Amazon and read it on the Kindle app (You don't need a Kindle to read it. Buy the book and download the app or read it on your desktop via Amazon).

Reel Notes stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples of Palestine, the Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, The Palestinian Youth Movement, HealAfrica, FreeTigray, and/or Hope For Haiti. Please also consider donating to The Okra Project, an organization dedicated to helping feed Black trans youth.

Raekwon - The Emperor's New Clothes