New Music Mondays: The Up & Up

The Up&Up, The Change-Up’s music podcast, will update weekly Spotify playlists to show our favorite artists some love. (Chase Manze)

Henri is a Change-Up writer and co-host of the new podcast The Up & Up. His New Music Mondays series will feature several themed playlists, updated monthly, alongside a biweekly refresher playlist on the best new music out at the moment.

New semester, new tunes. This is the first edition of The Up & Up's editors’ picks of the week's best new music. The playlist includes hits and slow jams from a multitude of genres, including hip-hop, pop, alternative, R&B and more. This week features big names in the music industry like Alicia Keys and John Legend alongside popular young artists like Juice WRLD and Rex Orange County. Some lesser known musicians are also represented like indie folk band Hand Habits and up beat rock group Tacocat.

More often than not, my evenings end with me staring up at my ceiling, searching for shapes and listening to Frank Ocean’s Blonde. If that sounds anything like you, then check out The Up & Up’s “U Up”? This playlist is a collection of our editors’ preferred tracks for a late night of sad and sappy R&B. Turn on your fairy lights and relax while the tunes of talented sadbois and sadgirls from the world over take you to emotional peaks and valleys. The musical assembly consists of some of the biggest names in R&B including Daniel Caesar, Khalid, and Frank Ocean and some of their rising contemporaries like Summer Walker, Odie and Top Dawg signee Zacari.

Pump Up’s name is a double entendre for a reason. These high-energy hip hop bangers are perfect for pumping some iron at the gym or pumping up the crowd at a party. The Up & Up’s editors put together their favorite songs from artists all across the hip hop spectrum, from trap stars to London grimers to SoundCloud rappers to West Coast gangsters. Our emphasis this week was on new music, not only from the big names like Drake, Future and A$AP Rocky, but also on younger, rising artists like Boogie, Comethazine and IDK.