BOPS AND FLOPS OF THE WEEK 29/08/2026: Erykah Badu, Denzel Curry, Tinashe and more…

From celebrity deaths to flash floods, it’s been a grim couple weeks. Below are a few tunes to distract from the doom and gloom. Artists featured this week include Erykah Badu, Denzel Curry, Tinashe, Claptone, Bodega and Stella Lefty.

THE BOPS:

‘Witch Doctor’ – Erykah Badu & The Alchemist

Queen of neo-soul Erykah Badu has teamed up with legendary producer The Alchemist to deliver this single titled ‘Witch Doctor’. It's not a David Seville cover. No ooh-eee-ooh-ahh-ahh-ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bangs here. Instead we get Badu incanting smoky vocals over a smooth jazzy beat that occasionally breaks off into hypnotic tribal percussion. It's cool, mysterious and a bit eerie. The track comes off the pair’s upcoming joint album Before The World Blows.

‘Gone Fishing’ – Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats

Rapper Denzel Curry and producer ‘Kenny Beats have dropped a new collaborative album titled ii  - the sequel to their 2020 joint album Unlocked. ‘Gone Fishing’ is one of the best tracks on it, featuring some reliably fiery rapping from Denzel Curry over an unhinged beat made of chopped up distorted guitar. As Kenny Beats explains: ‘I hope when people hear ‘Gone Fishing’ they think ‘aye, what the fuck is that beat?’’

‘Melatonin’ – Tinashe

I first featured Tinashe on the blog 11 years ago and was complaining about how she was underrated then. Finally, she seems to have scored a hit with ‘No Broke Boys’ – a song that I unfortunately find to be a bit repetitive and annoying. This is not the case with her new single ‘Melatonin’, which is an absolute banger. It’s a futuristic house track with a beat that transforms several times throughout the song (wait until that bassline comes in at 2:18!).

‘Doing The Disco’ – Claptone & The Mekanism ft. Jorge Bezerra

Masked EDM artist Claptone has dropped this new sizzling single centred around a driving house beat, tropical bongos and a jazzy sax riff. I can picture myself in a swanky Mediterranean beach bar sipping sangria to this.

‘Weather Me’ – Bodega

Off their forthcoming album All Inside Aquarium, Brooklyn rock band Bodega deliver this groovy post-punk number. According to singer/percussionist Nikki Belfigo, it's a 'track about living in an information kaleidoscope full of everyday grievances alongside very real problems. If you don't know who or what to prioritise, this kaleidoscope can fracture your everyday existence. You must stand strong and weather the current.'

THE FLOPS:

‘Summer You Were Mine’ - Stella Lefty

She’s not ripping off Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season’ this time. Instead, the nepo baby final boss has committed an even greater sin with this new single: it’s boring as hell.