OOPS! 2023 / #15 – 11: Some City Girls, A Queen and Aussie Hip Hop

We are nearing the final 10 songs of the OOPS! series and 2023 was a solid year for music. Not the explosive year of 2022, but a very solid year with some great tracks. We also have some tracks that are setting up 2024…always be on alert for the featured artist on someone else’s track. Let’s get into it!

15. City Girls ft. Usher: Good Love

I don’t know much about City Girls, but I am a big Usher fan, so I was excited to hear this track. It is like if you took a classic Usher R&B track about sex and had it hook – up with a Cardi B track. In other words, it’s a match made in heaven. Bars by the City Girls are tight with a great flow, while usher shows off his vocals as we quickly approach his Super Bowl halftime show and future record. A great sexy track that is a ton of fun.

14. Corinne Bailey Rae: New York Transit Queen

This sub two minute track has this great punk energy reminiscent of both 70’s CBGB’s and the Riot Grrrl era rolled into one. Crunchy guitar riffs, with hand claps and Rae’s punky vocals make for an intoxicatingly catchy track. It is about a woman who owns the New York subway and uses that power to be free of social constraints. There may not be a more catchy track in 2023.

13. MSPAINT: Acid

This blistering 2:45 punk track is an interesting mix of a few sub-genres. It is sort of like if Youth of Today was gifted a Casio keyboard and were really excited to showcase it on their album. It’s like a mix of late 80s / early 90s hardcore straight-edge sound with a New Order new age synth. On the surface this sounds like mixing Crest toothpaste with orange juice, but MSPAINT pulls it off. The hardcore stuff is well done and the syth is not gimmicky, but plays a supporting role filling out the track. An interesting fusion that is worth checking out for both punk and non-punk fans alike.

12. P.J. Harvey: The Nether Edge

Harvey’s record I Inside the Old Year Dying is her follow-up to her 2016 record The Hope Six Demolition Project. Harvey said in an interview that much of this record is improvisational and about growth and rebirth. Throughout the record, and this track, she explores the cycle of nature of death and rebirth as the seasons pass. It is a beautiful track full of keyboard and some really compelling vocals by Harvey. The producers add some interesting effects to her vocal and a deep thumping electro synth line to the track, which gives it a futuristic feel. This record is in line with Björk’s later work, which is to say that it is equal parts beautiful and equal parts dense. This is probably the most accessible track on the record and rewards your effort with a song that will linger with you for days.

11. Tkay Maidza ft. Flume: Silent Assassin

Tkay is a hip hop artist born in Zimbabwe who moved to Australia when she was 5. She has recently opened for Lizzo during her Australian tour and is quickly gaining notoriety in Australia’s hip hop circles. Her smooth and sexy flow is paired well with Australian EDM heavyweights Flume. This is the lead single, which ushered in her debut LP Sweet Justice. She warns you not to sleep in her throughout the track, which is good advice, because at over 2 million listens she is quickly going places.