Anthony Melas, better known as A!MS, has spent years crafting his Mediterranean-infused take on UK rap from his base in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. Now he's joined forces with Brighton's ArrDee for "Need Somebody," a track that feels like catching lightning in a bottle while sipping ouzo on a beach. This collaboration represents something fascinating about modern music's borderless nature. Here's A!MS, the former So Solid Crew...

Violet Love has offered up an EP titled "Destined to Fail," and it arrives less like a prediction and more like a pre-existing condition, a medical chart for a soul that’s been diagnosed with itself. The DIY recording quality doesn’t feel lo-fi for aesthetics; it feels necessary, like these songs could only have been born in a sealed-off room where the air was getting...