Rated by The Face: a weekly playlist

The best contemporary music – refreshed weekly.

There’s a daunting amount of music out there and we know it’s hard to keep up. But rather submitting yourself to an algorithm for new music recommendations, try this lovingly curated playlist that The Face will be updating every week. Check it out below.

Read about last week’s playlist additions here.

Normani – Motivation

After releasing duets with singers like Khalid, 6lack and Sam Smith, Fifth Harmony alumni Normani has struck out with this solo single, and everyone’s going wild for the video. People keep calling Normani the new Beyoncé’, which is probably a bit annoying for her. Check out The Face’s interview with the rising star here.

Doja Cat – Juicy ft. Tyga

Considering that her biggest hit to date is single-turned-meme Mooo!, no one was in a rush to take Doja Cat particularly seriously. While there’s plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour here, Juicy is actually a good tune, one that’s neither improved or impaired by a trademark smutty verse from Tyga.

Jorja Smith – Be Honest ft. Burna Boy

Burna Boy’s just released one of the best albums of 2019, so Jorja and her team must have felt pretty smug knowing they’ve had this red hot collab in the bag and ready to drop.

Rosalía & Ozuna – Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi

Following her recent amazing two track release Fucking Money Man and a hit with J Balvin, Rosalía is continuing her 2019 winning streak by teaming up with Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Ozuna, and it’s destined to get millions and millions and millions of YouTube views.

Headie One – Back to Basics ft. Skepta (Floating Points remix)

Remember when The Face was on the Back to Basics video shoot with Headie One and Skepta? No? Well you can revisit the photo gallery here. FloPo has now reworked the track into a no-frills UK garage tune. Skepta’s flow works a little better than Headie’s on this version, probably because UKG is in grime’s DNA, but overall we’d consider this a success.

Pop Smoke – Welcome to the Party (remix) ft. Nicki Minaj

Following remixes by the likes of Skepta and Rico Nasty, Nicki Minaj has hopped on Pop Smoke’s summer anthem. The breakthrough Brooklyn rapper works with UK drill producer 808melo, so this is the closest we’ll get to hearing Nick spit on a UK drill beat for now.

Charli XCX – Cross You Out ft. Sky Ferreira

After delivering an absolute banger with Gone, featuring Christine & The Queens, Charli’s dropped her tune with Sky Ferreira, who broke a musical hiatus with a gothic slow-burner earlier in the year. Cross You Out feels more like a grower rather than a radio-friendly single, prowling along stylishly at its own pace.

MUNA – Stay Away

Harry Styles-approved LA trio MUNA have shared this excellent third single from forthcoming album Saves the World. It all seems to be going very well for them.

M.T. Hadley – Rattle

This guy puts out very little music. Rattle, a ballad written to a newborn baby to tell them how grim life’s going to be, is his first new song since 2016. Somehow he always manages to cut through all the noise. Something special going on here.

Taylor Swift – Lover

Taylor Swift’s new one sounds like Mazzy Star – and it’s really pretty good.

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