Ka, "Summer"

Will this be this year’s Song of the Summer? No, probably not. It’s not that kind of song. In fact, for a song called “Summer,” it’s awfully cold. It sounds a bit like that razor blade must feel, the one that Ka — a veteran rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn — flips around his mouth and hides beneath his tongue in this video he directed for himself. He produced the song, too, and all the songs on the widely acclaimed album he released in February, Grief Pedigree. Which, he should also be applauded for not following the advice of Ludacris, who, upon hearing that title, surely suggested he change it to Pedigrief. (I don’t think that actually happened.)