Week of March 7, 2025

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 the score of Barry Jenkins's 2016 masterpiece Moonlight, which A24 recently re-released in theaters. 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 5th episode of season 5, featuring Detroit rapper-producer Black Milk and Detroit rapper Fat Ray, 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.

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).

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.

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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6ix - Homebody

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Apollo Brown - Elevator Music

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Mike Shabb - shabbvangogh

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ANKHLEJOHN x Cookin Soul - The Michelin Man