Episode #3 of Infinite Shuffle! I hope everyone is hanging in there and enjoying the recommendations. Feel free to tweet at me what songs you keep. I also found out that my mom reads this newsletter. Hello mom. Miss ya. Call your parents and tell them you love them. I need to get better at that, you can always get better at that.

Artists of the week: MANILA GREY

For those of you that know me or have paid attention to the newsletter, you’ll notice that I gravitate towards dope beats and chill vibes. MANILA GREY fills both of those boxes. The Filipino-Canadian group is quickly becoming one of my favorites and I only stumbled upon them 2 weeks ago. The duo consists of Neeko and Soliven, two dudes who seem chill as hell. Their best quality has to be their synergy. Even though Neeko and Soliven have different singing/rapper voices they each always seem so comfortable on a beat. This is also thanks to their main producer Azel North, who makes great instrumentals to accompany the two.

Another thing that impresses me is their epic music videos.

They’re shot and edited so well that you just keep coming back to them over and over again. They also have ‘slowed + reverb’ and ‘Chopped & Screwed’ versions of certain songs, if you like song alterations as I do.

Album of the week: NO SAINTS UNDER PALM SHADE

Their 2017 effort only has six songs on it, but all six are a great introduction to the group. The project starts strong out of the gate with ‘Timezones’ and doesn’t look back.

My favorite songs on the project are that and ‘Youth Water’ and ‘Disco Eyes’. Give this group a try. They’re honestly super talented and give off versatile vibes. Give them a shot. They also have their 2019 project “No Saints Loading” which is also constantly in my rotation now.

Now here are your songs of the week.

In the Party - Flo Milli

If you need some energetic music during this pandemic, then Flo Milli got you. The up-and-coming Alabama rapper is going to be a STAR in this league let me tell you. I think that she should have been an XXL Freshman this year, and hope she makes the list and destroys everyone in her cypher next year. (If she was invited this year and turned it down then okay).

After playing two songs you’ll just find yourself saying “Flo Milli Shit” in random conversations. Life is better that way.

I Can’t Sleep - POORSTACY (feat. Iann Dior)

The rock/rap crossover is one of my favorite categories of music to listen to. I have a playlist just for rap songs with strings in it that I’m happy to share with you guys. When it comes to this style of music I like Lil Peep, Juice WRLD, Landon Cube, POORSTACY & Iann Dior. The last 2 combine to make this song ‘I Can’t Sleep’.

Dior and POORSTACY work so well together and I hope they make a collab project sometime soon. They often go from Nick Mira beats to collaborating with Travis Barker. Love the range.

“Rockstar lifestyle, might don't make it” - Gucci Mane

Crazy - Zac Greer

Zac Greer is another Overcast newcomer and the dude is talented. His new EP ‘Headaches’ is a must-listen in my opinion. His singing voice paired with such varied production makes every song a new adventure honestly. He has a small sample size so far, but I’m excited to see what else Greer has in store for the future. The potential is definitely there.

Me against myself - Kamaiyah

I haven’t gotten around to Kamaiyah’s 2020 project ‘Got it made’ yet, but I’m sure it’s heat. ‘Me against myself’ is from 2017, which is her flowing effortlessly on a beat that feels like it’s for 10 minutes but it’s a 3-minute song. Kamaiyah truly has one of the more unique voices in hip-hop and I’m glad she released a new project that I will check out immediately after hitting send on this newsletter.

Margie - Matt Watson

You may know him from SuperMega, but Matt Watson just dropped an EP and it’s dope. My favorite songs off of it are “Come Over” and “Margie”. The music gives me major Zack Villere vibes and that’s always a good thing.

This also slaps still.

Revolution Deathsquad - Dragonforce

PREPARE TO ROCK OUT!

You may know about ‘Through the Fire and the Flames” from Guitar Hero, but Dragonforce has many more bangers and Revolution Deathsquad is just as good in my opinion. This song may have come out in 2006, but it is still great music to put on whenever I need energy cleaning my apartment… or just waking up honestly.

3:15-6:45 is three and a half minutes of epic metal. This shit makes me want to rob my own apartment.

Halfway to nowhere - chelou

Chelou is a new artist for me, but the one thing that stands out to me is the way this song seems to calm me down for some reason. It really lulls me into a trance that makes me feel like I’m completing a chill RPG quest or something. I’m really surprised that this song isn’t spammed in car commercials everywhere.

Sample of the Week: NEVER BEEN

Video games often have incredible theme music and soundtracks, and with that have inspired some of the best beats of all time. You have Donkey Kong levels that have been sampled in Drake and Childish Gambino songs. You also have sounds from Minecraft and Super Monkey Ball landing in Lil Uzi songs.

But I really want to talk about my favorite Wiz Khalifa song, Never Been. It’s hard to tell that a sample comes from a video game if you haven’t played the game before. That’s what happened here for me. Never Been’s producer, Sledgren, sampled Schala's Theme from the 1995 SNES game Chrono Trigger. I was born in 1995 and have never played a SNES so this was a big surprise for me. This sample alone got me interested in finding the game and buying it on steam.

The original theme is spectacular, and Wiz FLOATS on the beat as only he can. In fact, the Yasunori Mitsuda sampling went so well for Wiz Khalifa that Sledgren did it AGAIN for Never Been Part 2.

Where he samples “Mystery of the Forest” from the same game. I love it.

That’s all for me this week. Stay cool, be nice, and as always… Shuffle Mode Encouraged.