When it comes to the best new music, there is way too much new music dropping every week to pretend anybody catches all of it. Albums arrive at midnight, singles get buried by Friday afternoon and projects that deserve a real listen disappear behind whatever the algorithm decides to push next. This is our attempt to slow that down and show you some of the best new music available today.
This edition of RMR’s “In Case You Missed It” best new music series moves through Los Angeles rap, Latin music, pop, alternative and indie rock. AZ Chike has the most important West Coast release of the group. Feid added another chapter to the Ferxxo universe. Shakira and Maluma reunited without trying to remake “Chantaje,” and Rauw Alejandro reached back toward the rougher reggaeton sound of the early 2000s.
Best New Music Released in September 2026
AZ Chike — No Rest for the Wicked
Let’s start in Los Angeles. AZ Chike has been putting in work long enough that calling him a new artist does not feel right. He is new to a much larger group of listeners, especially after jumping all over Kendrick Lamar’s “Peekaboo,” but people following West Coast rap already knew about the voice, timing and personality.
Chike raps like the conversation started before the beat came on. His delivery bends around pockets other rappers would ignore. He can sound funny, irritated, disrespectful and completely relaxed within the same stretch of a verse.
That unpredictability is the sauce.
No Rest for the Wicked gives Chike 14 tracks to show that his moment is bigger than one Kendrick feature. The album includes “Lamb Truck Keys” and “Packed Up,” with iHeart’s Rap Rising coverage also highlighting the added attention surrounding collaborations connected to Travis Scott and BigXthaPlug.
The biggest win is that Chike still sounds like Chike. He did not clean everything up to make himself easier for a national audience to understand. The music still feels regional. The slang, bass, humor and stop-start delivery all come from the world he was already building.
That is what Los Angeles rap needs right now. More artists breaking through because of what makes them different, not after somebody sands those differences away.
If “Peekaboo” was your introduction, No Rest for the Wicked is where the deeper dive begins. No brainer to include in this week’s list of best new music.
Feid — El Club de las 19 Flores
Listen to El Club de las 19 Flores on Spotify
Feid knows exactly what world he is building. The green. The glasses. The handwriting. The number 19. The slang. The balance between heartbreak, nightlife and music that sounds best when the night has already gone on too long.
El Club de las 19 Flores adds another chapter without tearing down everything that already works. LOS40’s coverage of the project points to appearances from Bad Gyal and Yandel, two collaborations that make sense for completely different reasons.
Bad Gyal fits the current club world Feid moves through. Yandel connects the project to a generation that helped build the foundation beneath it.
Feid’s music works because it can move between the club, the car and the headphones without forcing a different personality for each setting. He can make something big enough for a festival without losing the feeling that the record belongs to a specific night, relationship or bad decision.
This project is not some dramatic reinvention. It does not need to be. Feid has a lane that is entirely his, and he continues finding room inside it. Another must-include for best new music, in case you missed it.
Shakira and Maluma — “Agua”
Listen to Shakira and Maluma on Spotify if you want some of the best new music for your playlist. Shakira and Maluma linking again was always going to get attention. The better news is that “Agua” does not sound like two superstars trying to manufacture another “Chantaje.”
The record leans into merengue and Caribbean rhythm instead of settling for another safe pop-reggaeton crossover. It feels lighter, warmer and more alive because of it.
HuffPost España’s report on the collaboration connects the sound to the Colombian roots shared by both artists and credits Hannah Lux Davis with directing its video.
“Agua” also lands during a moment when more Latin artists are looking backward without getting stuck there. Merengue, salsa, plena and other Caribbean sounds are not being dragged out for nostalgia nights. They are being pulled into current records by artists with enough reach to put those rhythms in front of millions of younger listeners.
The names make “Agua” an event. The bounce makes it worth keeping.
Rauw Alejandro — “Macacoa 2000”
Rauw Alejandro can make glossy crossover pop whenever he feels like it. “Macacoa 2000” heads somewhere dirtier.
The record pulls from the raw reggaeton sound of the early 2000s, when the drums hit harder and the music did not feel obligated to explain itself to pop radio. That approach fits Rauw better than people might expect. His catalog has always moved through reggaeton, R&B, electronic music and different periods of Latin pop.
The song also carries a ridiculous amount of potential reach. According to LOS40, “Macacoa 2000” is connected to the Grand Theft Auto VI soundtrack.
Anybody who grew up discovering songs through GTA radio already understands what that can mean. Those soundtracks do not sit quietly behind the game. They become part of the experience and introduce records to people who may never search for them independently.
Rauw riding an old-school reggaeton pocket inside one of the biggest entertainment releases on Earth feels like the right kind of placement. This was another no-brainer to include as part of the best new music list.
Empress Of — Dream House
Dream House comes with a story that hits differently in Southern California. Empress Of created the project through a period shaped by loss and rebuilding after the 2025 Eaton Fire. Pitchfork’s album coverage describes an album tied to grief, rebirth and everything that happens when the life surrounding an artist suddenly changes.
The production still moves. This is not an album that sits frozen beneath the weight of its background. Empress Of continues making pop music that can feel intimate and physical at once, putting complicated emotions inside records with actual movement.
For Los Angeles listeners, the context is impossible to ignore. The Eaton Fire affected homes, neighborhoods, relationships and entire creative communities. Dream House does not need to document all of that to carry some of its weight.
This is one of the releases here that deserves more than a quick shuffle.
Miley Cyrus — Bass Persuades
Miley Cyrus loves an era. Sometimes the transformation feels natural. Sometimes the concept shows up wearing a louder outfit than the music. Bass Persuades works best when the dance production supports her voice instead of boxing with it.
Miley still has one of the most recognizable voices in mainstream pop. It is rough around the edges, dramatic without much effort and capable of giving a clean pop record some actual dirt.
The album moves through club production, romance and full pop-star spectacle. Not every switch lands with the same force, but the project has enough personality to keep it from feeling like a playlist built during a brand meeting.
Miley does not need help generating attention. The real question is always whether the music survives after the rollout moves on. There are enough moments here to make Bass Persuades worth revisiting once the initial noise settles.
Beck — Ride Lonesome
Beck has spent decades bouncing among folk, alternative rock, funk, electronic music, dusty samples and whatever else catches his ear.
Ride Lonesome lives closer to the stripped-back side of that catalog.
The album gives the songs space. It is quieter without feeling empty and reflective without forcing every lyric to arrive with a giant emotional sign attached.
That restraint separates it from most of the records on this list. There are no obvious attempts to win New Music Friday in the first 20 seconds. The project sounds built for listeners who still let an album settle into the room.
Beck also remains connected to the messiness that makes Los Angeles music interesting. Rock, folk, hip-hop and experimentation have always rubbed against each other here. His career has lived inside that collision.
beabadoobee — Pylon
beabadoobee keeps pushing her guitar sound into heavier territory on Pylon. The ’90s alternative and grunge influences are easy to hear, but the album does not work because it copies an older era. It works because she understands how to bring that weight into songs that still have clear melodies and modern pop instincts.
A younger listener’s playlist can move from shoegaze to rap to indie pop without asking anybody for permission. Pylon makes sense in that environment. The guitars can get thick and distorted without killing the accessibility that helped beabadoobee build such a wide audience.
This is another project worth playing past the first obvious single.
Slow Pulp — Melodie
Slow Pulp’s Melodie is for the people who still want a full album to unfold instead of demanding the biggest idea immediately. The 11-track project includes “Better Man,” “These Days,” “Red Car” and “Slip Away.” When the album was announced, Pitchfork reported that vocalist Emily Massey connected “Better Man” to releasing control and learning to accept herself.
Slow Pulp can keep a song intimate without draining its energy. They know how to let guitars, vocals and small production details build tension gradually.
Melodie is not the loudest release on this list. That might be why it sticks.
Rels B — Fill de la Mar
Rels B brings everything back home on Fill de la Mar. The project pulls from his Balearic roots and carries the coastal, late-day feeling that has always fit his voice. The production moves through hip-hop, R&B, pop and lo-fi textures without turning the album into a genre exercise.
There is confidence in making relaxed music without mistaking relaxed for forgettable. Rels B does not need every record to explode. He lets songs breathe, which is part of why his music travels so well across countries and languages.
Fill de la Mar sounds like an album made with a real sense of place.
A Few More Records to Catch
Tiago PZK moves toward R&B on “Te Gustan Villeros,” stepping outside the harder Argentine trap and urbano sound many listeners associate with him. Elvis Crespo and Beéle connect two generations on “Pa’ Bailar,” another record adding fuel to the current merengue resurgence.
Offset returned with “Something I Need,” giving rap listeners another record to watch while the larger direction of his next chapter comes into focus.
Fenix Flexin keeps the West Coast involved with “Run It Up.” It is an important inclusion because lists like this get boring when regional rap gets pushed aside for the same handful of global stars. These three tracks were personal favs to be included for this ICYMI best new music article .
Best New Music September 2026: What Did We Miss?
These are not supposed to be the only records worth hearing. They are the ones we wanted to pull back into the conversation before the next release cycle buries them. That applies even more to independent artists.
Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Spokane, Yakima and the Tri-Cities all have artists creating music that rarely reaches national release calendars. The same is true across South Central, Compton, Inglewood, Long Beach, the Inland Empire and every other regional scene being compressed into an algorithm.
If you want RMR to pay attention, send more than a streaming link. Tell us who you are, where you are from, what you released and why this particular song or project matters.
Artists can use the Respect My Region music submission page to pitch music, introduce their story and explore additional coverage or marketing support.
Good music gets missed every week.
Run these back, send us what we overlooked and keep us tapped into what is moving in your region.
