MC’s MUSIC LOUNGE: Tyla’s Sophomore Era

The road to the release of Tyla’s sophomore album has been a long one, but it finally arrives on July 24^th. This week she’s dropping the third of a relatively successful string of singles leading up to the record. The album is called A*POP which stands for African Pop, a reference to both her South African roots and devotion to music. The new single will follow “CHANEL” and “SHE DID IT AGAIN” which both performed respectfully on the charts. Can she avoid the infamous sophomore slump?

In Tyla’s promo clip she describes A*POP as “dance, African, unapologetic, fun, for you, confident and global”. Basically it’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby., except Tyla is actually African and embracing her own culture and, well, Gwen Stefani is not Japanese. Oh, 2004. Tyla’s recent singles “CHANEL” and “SHE DID IT AGAIN” are a lot more pop than the majority of the songs on her previous album. She was first introduced to the public as an Afrobeats artist, in fact, both of her Grammys are in the Best African Music Performance category. There have been debates by fans and other artists who have been nominated whether she should have been submitted in the pop categories instead. The argument always was that her songs were still rooted in Afrobeats, and to some degree that is true. This new album, however, has a lot more pop influence than her previous work and the album’s title recognizes that. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the album sounds, but it’s already giving main pop girl character energy.

There’s always a ton of pressure put on an artist to avoid a sophomore slump. But the thing with Tyla is that aside from “Water” and “PUSH 2 START”, the rest of the singles from her debut effort didn’t even chart, meaning that from a singles perspective, the new record is already as successful as the first and it hasn’t even been released. We live in an age where many songs remain in the conversation but don’t make movement the traditional ways. I feel this allows artists to relieve a little bit of pressure when continuing to create. In a social media world, if you stay in the conversation, there’s always a chance for the next hit to be right around the corner. During the three years since she broke, she has been a presence on every red carpet and all over our feeds - just in time for her music to become the headline again. The power of a good team, it’ll make all the difference.

Next week, expect a new dance anthem from Jennifer Lopez and Alok. After taking over the streaming charts with “On The Floor”, Jen is hoping to re-ignite with an electronic song. The teaser is promising. This week, Tyla is joined by Myles Smith, Madonna with Honey Dijon, Chlöe and Timbaland, and Key Glock. Plus, a 2016 Mac Miller song has teens all over the internet professing their first loves to the world.

Listen on…

MC’s PICKS OF THE WEEK

“IS IT LOVE” by Tyla

Not your typical Tyla track, “IS IT LOVE” strays away from the Afrobeats box that she was first marketed in with her first album. The song is an R&B/pop gem that is more reminiscent of something you’d hear from JoJo or Ciara in 2006. It sounds like it came straight out of the prime days of the McBling era where pop songs sounded expensive and playful with big, glossy pop hooks. It was a time in music when hip-hop and R&B became the foundation for pop music and made for some of the most timeless hits of the 2000s. Think Rihanna, Fergie, Nelly Furtado, PCD, and Beyoncé. Tyla new album sees her becoming the popstar that she was always meant to be. Where Olivia Rodrigo is bringing us back to the alt-grunge era, Tyla is doing the same but for the sultrier girlies. Lyrics like “Is it love if you don’t cry?” feel like some kind of mantra for someone who is so used to heartbreak that they almost don’t feel like love can even be present without a little bit of pain. It’s all a little masochistic but some of the best pop songs come from that place. The video is equally dramatic, complete with shattered glass and a seductive blue glow that illuminates her in all the right ways. If this song doesn’t become a staple on Top 40 radio, I fear that we have failed as a society. That could just be my gay pop loving soul speaking.  

“Heaven” by Myles Smith

Myles Smith is one of music’s brightest rising stars. His tunes are a little bit of folk, pop and country all mixed in one emotional Petri dish. He rose to prominence in 2024 with his mega hit “Stargazing” (which currently has 1.1 BILLION Spotify streams) and has since released multiple singles all teeing up his debut album My Mess, My Heart, My Life which just dropped Friday. “Heaven” is the standout for me, particularly because of how much I personally relate to the song’s lyrical content. Myles sings about watching close friends navigate the beginning of new chapters in their lives which include getting married and starting a family, and all the changes that occur with those milestones. It’s about watching your loved ones find peace and meaning in another human life and realizing that heaven isn’t always necessarily a place, but it can also be a person – “Heaven is you”. The song, while still a folk-pop ballad, has some country bounce to it which will certainly do well on radio stations. Myles is currently serving as the opening act for Ed Sheeran on his LOOP Stadium Tour and I expect this song to be one that has everyone in the audience holding up their lighters – I mean, phone lights.

“Bring Your Love – Twilight Mix” by Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter, Honey Dijon

All my fellow Madonna super fans will know that the queen knows how to make a fire remix. My entire pride playlist is filled with some of her most classic dance mixes from the likes of David Morales and Junior Vasquez. Of course since her upcoming album Confessions II is her promise to return to the dancefloor, it’s only natural that she’s back to releasing fire remixes. This time around she enlists Honey Dijon for an eclectic collection of two remixes of the lead single with Sabrina Carpenter, “Bring Your Love”. Honey Dijon is all over the Confessions II project, having previously made an appearance in Madge’s short film in the “Danceteria” section. You know, the one where she features Kate Moss while singing about party people doing lines of coke in the washroom, lol. If you aren’t aware yet, Honey Dijon is one of the prime DJs on the queer scene in the USA right now and her mixes are always fierce and catered to queer spaces. She was also a co-producer on Beyoncé’s Renaissance tracks “Cozy” and “Alien Superstar”. The “twilight mix” of “Bring Your Love” is a highlight for me, giving total after-hours club vibes. It’s sweaty, it’s loose, it’s a good f-cking time. Madonna wasn’t joking when she said this would be a Pride month to remember.

“Talking Dirty” by Chlöe, Timbaland

There’s something so signature to the sound that Aaliyah and Timbaland created in the late- 90s. Those drums were stuttered and syncopated, and almost sounded off-beat yet perfectly in sync with the vocals. Then there were the unusual sounds, whether it be mouth breaths, finger snaps or most famously … baby cries. Those baby cries can be heard in Aaliyah’s 1998 hit “Are You That Somebody?”, and it’s that song that is most commonly referenced when her and Timbaland’s collaborations are discussed. And that song is interpolated all throughout “Talking Dirty”. In fact, Timbaland singing “dirty dirty” from that very Aaliyah song is interpolated all throughout this collaboration with Chlöe, hence the title “Talking Dirty”.

“Talking Dirty” is beautifully nostalgic for that Aaliyah sound that is so dear to so many of us. The best part is that Chlöe isn’t trying to imitate Aaliyah at all. Instead she brings her own soulful vocals to the track, making for a perfect blend of inspiration and originality, which can always be a fine line when interpolating a song that is so widely known. Chlöe has a tendency to be underrated when it comes to her music, but I have to give my girl her tens on this one. The song is one piece of an entire mixtape collaboration between Chlöe and Timbaland titled Resurrection. If you consider yourself a fan of 90s R&B then I highly recommend giving the entire project a listen.

“FACE DOWN” by Key Glock

This is not the usual thing you’d see in MC’s Music Lounge, in fact, this is straight up music for straight people, but alas, even I can surprise you all at times. The fact is that even straight boy music can be looked at through a queer lens and in this case, it really does boil down to the fact that this song is perfect to shake your ass to. The song features a continuous loop of a woman singing the lyrics “face down ass up” as Key Glock raps over it, and it’s that continuous loop that had me and my girl Alicia throwing our asses back and dropping it low all night this past Saturday. You’d be surprised at what songs get you dippin’ and doin’ it when the tequila hits just right. Some of the lyrics are straight up ridiculous it’s almost comical, such as “Ask her can I nut up in it she said baby please” and my personal favourite, “Getting’ rich with my brothers like our last name was Jonas”. A Jonas Brothers reference in a trap song? Sign me up. When it comes to trap songs, sometimes the more ridiculous the lyrics are, the more fun it is to scream them in the club. Again, tequila is usually involved.

The song was produced by hit-maker Tay Keith who tragically passed last week at the young age of 29 after being found unresponsive in his Nashville home. Tay has produced hits for artists such as Beyoncé, Drake, Future and 21 Savage among others. Tay Keith is also the main producer on Key Glock’s newest record Project X which also dropped this past week. Key Glock took to Twitter to mourn his friend who he named his “fav producer”. This record now doubles as the final work of a producer who truly made his stamp on the world of 2020s hip-hop.

MC’s VIRAL PICK

“Cinderella” by Mac Miller, Ty Dolla $ign

Mac Miller maintains a cherished place in millennial hearts and his memory lives on forever. Since his tragic passing in 2018, his music has endured in many ways, whether it be from posthumous releases or his classic songs finding new life. In 2026, Mac’s music is reaching new audiences due to his 2016 song “Cinderella” with Ty Dolla $ign. Back in 2018, Ariana Grande, who was dating Mac earlier that year and at the time had just broken up with him, talked about how the song was written about her and their bedroom escapades. The lyrics were written at a time when the two were very much in love and the song itself is a dedication to the passionate romance the two once shared.

Fast forward to today and the song has gone mega viral on TikTok thanks to a trend that has teens all over the world sharing their significant others. The trend is a “two-slider” where users post two photos, one with the lyrics “I’ll yell your name Cinderella” followed by a second slide with the lyrics “never gonna find nobody better in my life”. The first slide will generally be the user solo while the second slide will be them with their significant other. Of course in classic TikTok fashion, people have associated the trend with more than just a lover. There’s food, music and pretty much everything under the sun that can be loved. Then there’s the flipside where people post about the longing to be posted to the song or to be featured in the trend.

You can see some of those posts here, here, and here.

The song was never released as a single during its initial release in 2016, but today it has reached a peak of #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it just keeps climbing. This also makes the song Mac’s second-highest charting hit on the summit, and is very likely to become his highest. It’s just too bad he’s not around to watch his art be appreciated the way it deserved to be all along.

The 2026 “MC’s MUSIC LOUNGE” Spotify playlist is live. You can add it here to keep up to date with my weekly picks throughout the year. 

With Love, 

MC