Week of April 4, 2025

Dylan Green

04 Apr 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.

My latest piece for Hearing Things is an essay about how two recent albums–Will Smith's Based on a True Story and LL Cool J's The Force–are great examples of rap retrofuturism. 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 9th episode of season 5, featuring Bronx rapper Hester Valentine, 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.

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.

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