"23"

Mike WiLL Made-It, “Est. in 1989, Pt. 3”

The fun and trap-inspired beat by Mike WiLL Made-It is mostly ruined by clumsy verses from Juicy J, an especially catatonic Wiz Khalifa, and, in her rap debut (if we don’t count “Hoedown Throwdown”—and honestly I kind of do), Cyrus. For her part, Cyrus does her best Young Money impersonation, momentarily capturing Future’s flow from “Karate Chop” and singing a somewhat catchy though verbally boneheaded (“With my hands in the sky / I wave ‘em from side to side,” etc.), chorus. Ostensibly an ode to wearing Air Jordans, the track is surprisingly light on references to the legendary baller; basketball shoes and smoking weed have a minimal thematic relationship, and one can’t help wishing that a few of the familiar ganja rehashes (pun most definitely intended) could have been about Scottie Pippen or “Space Jam” instead.

"All Me"

Drake, "Nothing Was The Same"

Drake’s rollicking single from his highly anticipated third album “Nothing Was the Same” had built a buzz on the artist’s ever-expanding Soundcloud channel before it officially dropped last weekend. The track, replete with gong-heavy production that sounds almost like “Enter Sandman,” contains features from G.O.O.D. Music veterans 2 Chainz and Big Sean, who rap relatively derivative “Cruel Summer”-esque verses. Sean’s is more interesting, with hints of a new flow and a hilarious shout-out to his “Glee” fiance Naya Rivera. Drake is the star, though, offering a bravado and staccato statement about how he’s “got everything,” while musing about his difficult-to-track finances and sexual exploits with former babysitters. A nice moment of respite on an album of largely introspective tracks, “All Me’’ is an egocentric and intensely bumpable song.

"Monster"

Imagine Dragons

The new single by Imagine Dragons is the most musically psychedelic thing they’ve ever put out. Originally recorded for the video game “Infinity Blade III,” the track embraces drippy electronic elements that evoke the “Final Fantasy” soundtrack. The woozy piano that opens the track is so trippy that it would have been welcome throughout the entirety of the song. Vocalist Dan Reynolds tries to recreate the vulnerable, Coldplay-style vocals he debuted on smash hit “Demons” earlier this year.  The arena template takes over here, however, and Reynolds soon drops the quiet emotionalism for a bombastic chorus that sounds a bit too much like “Radioactive.” The cop-out chorus doesn’t entirely overshadow the exciting instrumental textures, but it stops “Monster” from being a true step towards increased creative complexity for the band.