Music of the Month: 14 Standout Songs from November

Our final month of autumn was packed with tons of great projects, including standout releases from The Weeknd, Frank Ocean and FKA twigs. Artists like Trippie Redd, Berhana, Johnny Utah, Doja Cat, Allen Stone and Flipp Dinero also delivered compelling songs. Here are the best songs released in November 2019. 

After a one year break, The Weeknd is back with “Heartless.” For any OG fan, the track will feel vaguely familiar, with lyrics about sleeping with models and using drugs to deal with pain. The song opens with a very Metro Bommin’-esque beat, leading into Abel's braggadocious wordplay about his financial success and favorable persona. With no talk about an album yet, reactivating his Instagram page to announce “Heartless” suggests one is in the works. Stay tuned.

Frank Ocean is no stranger to taking breaks, but in November he blessed fans with another single to make up for the wait. “In My Room” comes just one month after his single “DHL.” In this song, Frank brags about his jewelry, finances and excessive shopping. Upbeat production, speedy wordplay and a catchy outro resonated well with fans. The track peaked at No. 85 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

It’s been an entire year since Awolnation released its third studio album, Here Come the Runts, and nine years since “Sail” changed the band’s popularity status forever. “The Best” is a dark and dreamy track with light electronic touches weaved into the post-chorus. The single’s lyrics explore striving for confidence amid insecurity and never achieving it fully. 

“Who Needs Love” is the third track on Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter to You 4 album. The project dropped on Nov. 22 and gained popularity instantly. In the song, the Ohio-born rapper verbalizes his disinterest in chasing love, a theme he’s explored in previous projects. Not afraid to admit that he’s going through it, Tripped Redd combines vulnerable lyrics with a melancholy beat, giving fans a lucid look at his inner feelings.

“Mary Magdalene,” a harmonically rich song with quotable lyrics, is the fifth track on Magdalene, FKA twigs’s second studio album. She explores the different historical perceptions attributed to Mary Magdalene, Jesus’s right-hand woman. FKA seduces listeners with her transcending and soft vocals, easily making this song an incomparable musical experience.

The original “I Been” was released as the fifth track on Berhana’s first studio album, HAN, in October. The song has been revamped with a new verse from Compton, California-born rapper, Boogie. Joining forces for the first time, Berhana and Boogie blend their respective feel-good lyrics with a poetic solo, making for a satisfying collab. 

With a fire feature from Atlanta rapper Lil Baby, “How I Move” is a boastful look inside Flipp Dinero’s financial success and luxurious purchases since rising to fame. Flipp Dinero became popular in 2018 after the release of “Leave Me Alone,” a track that went gold just two months after its debut and platinum a month later. “How I Move” is the second track from Brooklyn-born artist Flipp Dinero’s Love for Guala.

In “Touch & Go,” singer-songwriter Tinashe and rapper-singer 6LACK come together for the first time to discuss attempts to mend a broken relationship without really putting in the effort to do so. The song is from Songs for You, Tinashe’s first studio album as an independent artist after her breakup with RCA Records. This smoothly produced, lyrically rich track with classical violin melodies will transport you to a late night R&B club with ease. 

Johnny Utah is an artist on the rise, back to prove he isn’t a one-hit-wonder. His single “Honeypie” grew a fan base and caught the attention of Genius earlier this year. “4Tounce” gives weight to the singer’s storytelling abilities as the lyrics focus on Utah’s desire for real, meaningful love as opposed to a meaningless casual encounter. This emotionally rich track is arguably Utah’s most passionate release yet. 

Singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor’s “Workin’ on It” is an ode to self-love and believing in the compliments people give. The lyrics are not only extremely quotable but also highly relatable. “Workin’ on It,” accompanied by vocals from Lennon Stella and Sasha Sloan, was released alongside “No Excuse” and “Wave,” giving fans a sneak peek into Meghan’s upcoming third album, Treat Myself, which drops Jan. 31. 

With a voice comparable to a mix of Stevie Wonder and John Mayer, R&B singer-songwriter Allen Stone blends upbeat funk with soulful ambiance. “Brown Eyed Lover” is the first track on the Washington-born musician’s third record, Building Balance. Combining sentimental lyrics with harmonious melodies and gospel-like background vocals, this love ballad is indulging and engaging, even if your lover doesn’t have brown eyes.

In “Cyber Sex,” an empowered Doja Cat is outright straightforward in wanting to have cybersex with a lover. The first track from her second studio album, Hot Pink, is dripped in invigorating lyrics and playful beats. In the song’s NSFW video. Doja plays a pornstar-turned-engineer who manufactures her ideal suitor. Doja is not one to sugarcoat her desires and sexual desires. “Cyber Sex” is just one of the many tracks on Hot Pink that showcases her fearlessness. 

If you aren’t from Texas, you might not recognize the name Trapboy Freddy, but the Dallas-born rapper is soon to be on your playlist after recently signing to Young Thug’s label and the release of his new single “Lil Quita.” Trapboy Freddy pays homage to his neighborhood Oak Cliff and the streets that raised him. The song samples a freestyle that went viral in the 2000s, creating nostalgic memories for anyone who grew up in neighboring Dallas cities during the time. With a similar production that can be credited to the D-Town boogie era, Lil Quita is a perfect example of a classic southern sound with a modern spin.

“Watermelon Sugar”—Harry Styles’s second release in 2019—gives fans a hint of what to expect on his sophomore album, Fine Line. The lyrics, which have not been denoted an exact meaning, recall a summer fling, involving delicious fruit. He is known to act on surprise, randomly dropping the song less than an hour before he performed it on Saturday Night Live.