New Music: Beyonce, “7/11”; Wu-Tang Clan, “Necklace”; and more

The past week, quite a few of your favorite artists came out of hiding to bless us with new music. Well, the holiday season is upon us — artists need to get some Christmas money in their pockets, I guess.

Let’s see if these new songs are worth your time.

The Wu-Tang Clan, “Necklace”

The Wu’s new album, A Better Tomorrow, drops in just a couple of weeks but, sadly, most of the singles have been pretty bland so far. “Necklace” changes that. Cappadonna, Raekwon, Ghostface and GZA weave a tale revolving around a simple necklace. The verses are sharp, the atmosphere is appropriately threatening and the sample (“brother, I think that necklace is causing you too much trouble”) is just perfect. I’m finally looking forward to the album.

Thumbs up

Pusha T, “Lunch Money”

King Push has been uncharacteristically quiet lately, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him return here. While Push never disappoints lyrically, Kanye’s beat is just a mess. I’m sure Ye stans will scream at me for not understanding the genius that went into crafting it, but I’m sorry, it sounds like three different video games playing at once. It’s a horrible distraction, drowning out Pusha’s lyrics. It just doesn’t work.

Thumbs down

Ghostface Killah featuring AZ, “Double Cross”

GFK’s new album 36 Seasons will drop Dec. 9, a week after the new Wu project. Ghost’s album will feature a revenge motif, which means aggressive lyrics over no-nonsense beats. Just like I like my hip-hop. Here, Tone gets set up and plots his revenge. Both Ghost and AZ are masters of painting portraits on wax — this is yet another track for them to get their Rembrandt on.

Thumbs up

Beyonce, “7/11”

So King Bey’s looking to squeeze a few more coins out of her loyal subjects on Tuesday with the re-release of last year’s self-titled album. For about $14.99, you can get the same ol’ songs you got last year, plus two new ones – including the single “7/11.” And what a nightmare it is. Instead of continuing to be a trendsetter, Bey follows the same sad formula as most of today’s club hits — embarrassingly repetitive lyrics, lazy call-and-response and, of course, autotune. Yes, I know it’s just supposed to be fun but it has ZERO creativity. It’s the kind of song that only appeals to women who put weave on layaway.

But the biggest offense? She doesn’t even mention Slurpees. What a waste.

Thumbs WAAAAY down

What do you think of these new tracks? Let us know below.