This week’s Campus Tracks features my only exposure to Mary J. Blige, a name that I know is super legendary, but I’ve never really listened to. I’ve also got a song that will become an all timer by one of my favorite artists, and a 10/10 recommendation.
Kendrick Lamar ft. Mary J. Blige “Now Or Never“
I heard this one on a friend’s aux a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a try around the beginning of last week. It absolutely stuck. I love the positive nature of the song. As mentioned before I’ve heard the name Mary J. Blige so many times before but I couldn’t name a song of hers. If you count this one I can now. Her chorus on this song is amazing and I love her bridge from Kendrick’s final verse into her final chorus where it’s basically just straight vocals from her. I know it’s cooled off weather wise but this is the perfect warm sunny day song and I’m kind of sad that I’m discovering it at this time of the year. Kendrick Lamar provides solid verses as well, but it is definitely Blige who brings me back to this song. I’ll be taking Mary J. Blige recommendations this week.
Gunna “On One Tonight“
For the past four or five years Gunna has been one of my favorite artists. I have a weird relationship with his music where when I don’t like as many songs from his projects as I used to, but the ones that I do like are so good I still consider myself a big fan of his work. This song is by far his best song off of his latest album and has become one of the biggest songs of the year. I see it all over my social media but I wouldn’t consider it a Tiktok song by any means. His flow is what he’s become so successful for and that trend continues on this song as he slides through a beat that features a little flute melody throughout. Gunna isn’t necessarily known for his lyricism but there’s a couple lines on this song like “ain’t no human being determine my fate” that really stick. My only complaint about this song is that I want it to be longer. The song is only 1:30 and there is totally enough room on it for another verse. When I have it on repeat it sucks having to run it back so often.
6LACK “Let Her Go“
6lack is an artist that I’ve seen around but I’ve never really taken a deep dive into his music. It was recently recommended to me so I listened to his 2018 album “East Atlanta Love Letter” which I’m still working through but I hit a road block when I listened to this song. It stuck out to me on first listen and after a couple more I just put it on repeat. The beat on is super intense and plays along really well with the chorus of indecisiveness. The chorus verse is also the favorite part of the song saying “If I let her go, will I regret it will I forget it that’s just something I don’t know” and of course I find it super catchy.
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