R. Kelly ft. Kelly Rowland, “All the Way”

“All the Way” is the latest of newly released tracks from R. Kelly’s forthcoming album, Black Panties. Given the album title, we all understand that the LP will most likely be a millennial 12 Play, right? Good. “All the Way” features R. Kelly and diva Kelly Rowland trading sexy verses back and forth about getting it popping—that’s right, they’re going all the way. And to add even more scandal factor, they’re singing about an illicit affair. (Y’all know R. Kelly is a fan of creepin’ songs.) Hopefully it eventually comes with a video/mini-movie, because R. Kelly’s visuals tend to be just as amusing as the music. Black Panties is due out December 10.

Listen here.

Lil’ Kim, “I Am Kimmy Blanco”

Sounds like Lil’ Kim is starting to get her footing back… a little. “I Am Kimmy Blanco” features Lil’ Kim doing what she does best: being a fictional, materialistic mafia princess. There was no shade in that description at all, especially since this is the version of Kim we like. Sonically, it’s a simple song driven by sinister but repetitive chord progressions and drums.

“Y’all bitches kinda hot/We hell, Scarface in them new red heels,” Kimmy raps as she continues to emcee about “fictitious bitches” whom she “made real” (cheers to Nicki Minaj) and getting keys from syndicates, yadda yadda. Admittedly, the song is on the trite side of things, but it’s not the absolute worst. Plus, this means there’s hope that Kimmy Cakes will get her act together for real, for real and come at us like she used to.

RaVaughn, “Just Another Holiday”

This is the perfect track for the lonely Grinches of the world. RaVaughn’s “Just Another Holiday” is a sad love song about spending Christmas without the one you love (because in this case, they broke your heart). The Compound Entertainment artist sings, ”Since you’ve been gone away, it will never be the same without you here/It’s just another holiday.” It’s lackluster holiday cheer over a traditional R&B instrumental. Lyrically, the song is a drag, but sonically, it’s still nice to listen to. They say that pain makes for the best art, right? 

RZA, “Destiny Bonds”

RZA happened to be in the midst of recording his own music around the time he got the tragic news about his friend Paul Walker’s death, and so he created a tribute song to the late Fast and Furious star.

“As all physical things will decay and wither away, film, art and music remain longer than the vessel that delivered them. In this vein, the one thing we can’t take away or give back is time,” RZA wrote on his SoundCloud page. “So, thus, time is the most precious gift. I dedicated my time to compose this song with my two sons and new friend Will Wells, who was kind enough to sing and perform it for me.”

Also noted on RZA’s SoundCloud is that the song wasn’t written for criticism. I get it, but I’d like to direct you there anyway because it’s a nice tribute. Aside from RZA’s intro, the rest of the song is Will Wells singing in a lovely falsetto.

Starrene Rhett Rocque is a pop culture junky who often fantasizes about becoming a shotgun toting B-movie heroine, and aspires to save the world from the impending #ZombieApocolypse… In reality she’s a freelance entertainment journalist/blogger who muses about music, TV, movies and love. Follow her on Twitter @GangStarrGirl or at GangStarrGirl.com.