French Montana

All right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to start your week again in style. Push Play Monday is back with another collection of straight fire to warm you up on these cold autumn days. This week, we have a pretty high ratio of house party bangers to slow jams, providing the energy you need to get to class on those chilly mornings. Just bundle up and push play.

1. “I’m That N—-” by tshawntrusst

Released back in February, this song just found its way from this rapper’s SoundCloud onto Spotify and iTunes. The Toledo, Ohio, native is still mostly underground, but you should expect to see him on the rise in the coming months. In the meantime, enjoy this banger, produced by popular SoundCloud artists Chris McClenney and Rvdical The Kid.

2. “Power”by French Montana feat. Fetty Wap 

The collaborative mixtape between French Montana and Fetty Wap dropped out of nowhere. Fetty’s first studio album is only a month old, yet Coke Zoowas suddenly live when everyone woke up Oct. 26. The tape is full of unsurprising features by Chris Brown and Kid Ink, who toured with the two main artists this past summer, leading many to believe the mixtape was recorded on the road. This is one of the five pieces from the mixtape that French and Fetty actually made together, and quite honestly one of the very few worth listening to.

3. “Almighty Dollar” by Pell 

Jared Pellerin (Pell) has been mistaken for Chance the Rapper on his own tracks on more than one occasion. Although he’s from New Orleans, his self-proclaimed “dream rap” has way more Chicago influence than NOLA. This summer he toured as the opener for Kehlani’s sold-out shows across the U.S. His sophomore album, LIMBO, is set to release this week.

4. “Probation” by Felly

Over the last four years, Connecticut-born rapper and producer Felly has managed to garner more than 40,000 followers on SoundCloud. The 20-year-old makes his music in Los Angeles and tours promoting nothing but good vibes and a hearty dose of fresh beats. If you like this little track, he has loads more waiting for you online.

5. “All My Friends” by Snakehips feat. Tinashe and Chance the Rapper 

Tinashe and Chance the Rapper have been teaming up on songs for years now, and the finished work never disappoints. Snakehips, the producers of their newest track, have a rather immense following on SoundCloud with about 220,000 followers supporting their music. The message of this song is one that almost anyone can relate to at some point during young adulthood. 

6. “New York City” by The Chainsmokers

You might recognize this group’s name from its insanely famous EDM song from 2014, #Selfie. However, The Chainsmokers, New Yorkers Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, have come a long way since that release. Their first EP, Bouquet, is a wonderfully composed transition from their work with “#Selfie” to a more audience-pleasing electro house sound. According to their SoundCloud, “100 versions of this song [“New York City”] were made” after getting too caught up in how they wanted it to sound and having their computer crash on them. The end product features vocals of a hardly known artist named Victoria Zaro, whose own work can be found on her SoundCloud.

7. “Raggamuffin” by Selah Sue

This Belgian singer has a sound that most people can’t really describe. It’s soul, it’s jazz, it’s a little bit of Amy Winehouse. She is heavily influenced by reggae and the works of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. Her sophomore album, Reason, dropped back in March, but this 5-year-old song still stands to exhibit how eclectic and uplifting her music is today.

8. “Ch-Ching” by Chairlift

After being gone for three years, Chairlift is back with its newest single. The original version of this song premiered back in 2013, but the officially released song features a reworked piece. The songwriter and vocalist half of this duo, Caroline Polachek, actually co-wrote Beyoncé’s “No Angel” for her famous self-titled 2013 album. Chairlift’s next album, Moth, is set to release early next year.

9. “Hyde” by Astrid S

This 19-year-old Norwegian pop artist has the face and voice of a fairy. Astrid S’ hauntingly beautiful vocals can be found on the two singles she’s released as Astrid S, and “Shattered,” the song she released under original stage name Astrid Smeplass. She is also featured on Vine-famous acoustic artist Shawn Mendes’ first studio album in his song “Air.” There is no talk yet on her releasing a studio album of her own, but she’s got a growing audience hoping for more music soon.

10. “Over and Over Again” by Nathan Sykes

Nathan Sykes has been featured on the Push Play Monday playlist before, but he’s earned himself quite the return with his newest single. It’s still unclear whether Sykes is working on an album of any kind, but he released a music video for this single that has major Notebook vibes. He is also set to support Little Mix on their Get Weird Tour in 2016.

11. “Hello” by Adele

Finally, the world is once again blessed by the angelic vocals of British beauty Adele. After being absent from the music scene for more than three years, she has come back with the announcement of her third studio album, 25, set to released late this month. Her newest single garnered so much popularity when it dropped that the music video broke a Vevo record with 27.7 million views in just 24 hours. Give this haunting masterpiece a listen … or five. 

There have been a rather surprising number of comebacks to the music scene lately. I wonder when we’ll see the rest of the MIA artists release their much-anticipated work — yeah, I’m talking to you, Frank Ocean. Channel Orange is more than three years old, man; where’s that sophomore album at? Can I get some kind of a signal, or better yet, a single? In the meantime, I’ll keep coming back every Monday with a playlist to amp up your week in the best way possible.