Welcome to Insult to Injury, the Noisey editors’ weekly round up of all the garbage they’ve been listening to. This was a very Bieber-heavy few days for the editors so let’s see what they were blasting in their leopard-print Audis while yelling “Fuck Bill Clinton!” (Also, above is a pizza cake.)

Isaiah Toothtaker – “La Mer”
Friend of the Blog Isaiah Toothtaker made a Rap Squats-themed music video for his track “La Mer,” a standout track from his ИOTHING EP with Jacob Safari, and it’s great, from the chain that’s literally hitting the floor to Safari’s Nine Inch Nails-sampling beat to Toothtaker’s self-reflection on a life of violence to OH YEAH THE FACT THAT HE DELIVERS MOST OF THE SONG FROM A HELLA CHILL RAP SQUAT STANCE.

Drew Millard, Features Editor
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Popcaan – “Everything Is Nice” Where We Come From

Eric Sundermann, Managing Editor
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Geto Boys – “Gangsta Put Me Down” Noisey Twitter

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Miranda Lambert – Platinum
Like Eric, I’ve been digging the Popcaan album, but this week I’ve been most obsessed with Miranda Lambert’s new album, which is basically the Beyoncé of country albums. This shit is seriously perfection, and I’ll be damned if “Holding on to You” hasn’t made me tear up a little a couple times the last few days. Albums that deliver this kind of depth, pop appeal, and level of polish are few and far between.

So I’m going to challenge you, person who doesn’t listen to country because you think it’s lame or one-dimensional or hasn’t been real since Johnny Cash or whatever lame excuse you have, to listen to Platinum all the way through. What you’ll find is one of the smartest, most entertaining albums released this year in any genre. The lyrics are nuanced and, particularly, filled with fully developed female characters. The album sounds modern, progressive, and yet fully in keeping with tradition all at once. There are pop songs (“Little Red Wagon”), a bluegrass song (“All That’s Left”), and songs that kind of shred, like “Hard Being Sober,” above, which has the sickest snarling outro about why we all drink (around 2:50). For me personally, “Smoking and Drinking” and “Another Sunday in the South” are basically instant nostalgia trips back to North Carolina summers, something I think about a lot this time of year given that I’m living in a place where the feeling of “summer” is synonymous with the smell of hot garbage. Wow, that is not the image I wanted to end this blurb on. Imagine the chillest porch you’ve ever hung out on, the most fun country drive you’ve ever taken. There’s your image for this album. Listen to it.

Kyle Kramer, Guest Editor
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Masked Intruder – “Almost Like We’re Already in Love”
An acapella song on a pop punk album. A bold choice. And I dig it.

Dan Ozzi, Editor
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Prince – “Raspberry Beret”

Three things:

1. I DJed one of my dearest friend’s weddings this past week. We were in a barn in Buckinghamshire. People kept putting their drinks on the speakers which would then vibrate so hard the glasses would drop off like lemmings on the edge of a cliff. (That lemmings mass suicide thing is a myth btw.) We must’ve smashed 46 glasses that night. Drunk people are not terribly observant. I love weddings because everyone is hammered and happy and wants to dance no matter what you press play on. Later that evening I watched a dude body slam a girl on the dancefloor—he was that excited. Anyway, “Raspberry Beret” is among my favorite tunes of ALL TIME: it’s a no brainer floor-filler.

2. I’m typing this from Minneapolis, which is where Prince is from, duh. See you at Paisley Park at 7 PM tonight, Prince. I’ll bring the Prosecco.

3. Why has the audio been blocked from every YouTube video of this song? The quality of the video above is appalling. Sorry about that. Does he hate the video? Prince, do not deprive the world of your fluffy cloud blazer—it is glorious!

Kim Taylor Bennett, Style Editor

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Kevin Gates – XXL Freshman Cypher
See Kevin Gates and his children rap. It’s amazing how, even though he’s grouped with the most talented young rappers in the industry and August Alsina, Kevin still manages to stand a head above. In the 50 seconds that it took for Kevin to rap his verse, Gates guides you through a painful tour of his life, complete with gambling problems, the heartache of a child without a parent, and revenge murders. The rest of this cypher is great too, don’t get me wrong. Vic Mensa and Isaiah Rashad talk about dicksux, August Alsina provides the most generic hook possible, and Chance recycles a verse while dressed like a cool farmer. But seriously… Kevin Gates for president.

Slava Pastuk, Canadian Editor
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