The Kruse Line’s Current Rotation: July 2026

Written By C Kruse

Darren Xu-Variety, Adam Ritchie-Redferns, DTB, Cedrick Jones-Big Loud, Kevin Mazur-Getty Images, Warner Bros., Gregory Shamus- Getty Images, AMY HARRIS-INVISION-AP-REX-SHUTTERSTOCK

As a site so heavily rooted in a love of music, it’s only right to give a view into what is listened to daily. This playlist has been in my rotation for the past month or so.

  • 16 in LA — Kendrick Lamar

  • @ MEH — Playboi Carti

  • A&W — Lana Del Rey

  • Bad Decisions — The Strokes

  • Blessings (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) — Chance the Rapper

  • butterflies. — Brent Faiyaz

  • Circles — Post Malone

  • Circus Circus Free$tyle — Baby Keem

  • Closer (feat. Halsey) — The Chainsmokers

  • Crooked Teeth — Zach Bryan

  • D.M.B. — A$AP Rocky

  • Daddy Lessons — Beyoncé

  • Dirty Work — Steely Dan

  • DJ QUIK — Vince Staples

  • DON'T BE DUMB / TRIP BABY — A$AP Rocky

  • Donda (feat. Tony Williams...) — Kanye West

  • E85 — Don Toliver

  • Elliot's Song — We Speak in Sounds

  • euphoria — Kendrick Lamar

  • Every N****r Is a Star — Boris Gardiner

  • F**k Your Ethnicity — Kendrick Lamar

  • FATHER — Kanye West & Travis Scott

  • full moon. (fall in tokyo) [bonus] — Brent Faiyaz

  • Gimme Shelter — The Rolling Stones

  • God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty — Mac Miller

  • GOOD BAD UGLY — GIVEON

  • Heavenly Father — Isaiah Rashad

  • House Money — Baby Keem

  • I Lied to You — Miles Caton

  • Johnny P's Caddy — Benny the Butcher & J. Cole

  • july 16th — GIVEON

  • KING — Kanye West

  • Kyoto — Phoebe Bridgers

  • Like a Stone — Audioslave

  • Like That — Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar

  • Loose — Daniel Caesar

  • Love Drought — Beyoncé

  • luther — Kendrick Lamar & SZA

Courtesy of Epic Records

  • Mannequin Challenge (feat. Juice WRLD) — Young Thug

  • Mar-a-Lago — Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

  • Mirror — Kendrick Lamar

  • Mysëlf — Yeat

  • Non-Stop — Hamilton

  • NUMB — GIVEON

  • O.Y.N — Maxo Kream

  • Pure Souls (feat. Roddy Ricch) — Kanye West

  • pure fantasy. — Brent Faiyaz

  • Quik Stop — J. Cole

  • Roxanne — The Police

  • Sacrifices (feat. 2 Chainz & Young Thug) — Drake

  • Same Drugs — Chance the Rapper

  • Shabang — Drake

  • Silver Lining — Lil Yachty & Sauce Walka

  • someone new — Arden Jones

  • STADIUM — S.A.M.N

  • STAY HERE 4 LIFE (feat. Brent Faiyaz) — A$AP Rocky

  • STOP SNITCHING (feat. Sauce Walka) — A$AP Rocky

  • sweet talk — nomi.

  • The Adults Are Talking — The Strokes

  • These Walls (feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat) — Kendrick Lamar

  • Tryna Be — GIVEON

  • TWENTIES — GIVEON

  • untitled 02 | 06.23.2014. — Kendrick Lamar

  • Wait For It — Hamilton

  • Walk on the Wild Side — Lou Reed

  • Who Hurt You — Kashus Culpepper

  • Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story — Hamilton

  • WHISKEY (RELEASE ME) [feat. Damon Albarn & Westside Gunn] — A$AP Rocky

  • Wink Wink — Charli xcx

  • wrong faces. — Brent Faiyaz

  • Yeah Right — Vince Staples

  • The Election of 1800 — Hamilton

Some Notable Inclusions

Any Hamilton song- After years of refusing to listen to any Broadway music, I decided to dive into Hamilton. While there are some very corny Broadway tracks, songs like “Wait for It” make the play accessible beyond the play itself. The biggest highlight from all of these songs is by far Leslie Odom Jr., who is amazing in every second of these songs.

6:16 in LA- The drama that surrounded the Drake-Kendrick Lamar beef understandably took center stage, but it feels like it isn’t talked enough about how great the songs from Kendrick Lamar throughout the beef are, 6:16 in LA being the best in my opinion. While the least impactful outside of all the tracks, it’s sample and Kendrick’s lyrics on looking at who Drake actually trusts leave me constantly with memories of the ‘Calm of the Storm’ this song was.

Someone New- Found originally through an Instagram ad, Arden Jones creates one of the better songs I’ve seen in a while, creating a true environment within the song. The carefree synths move throughout the song like Emma Watson’s arms in a car in Perks of Being A Wallflower.

A&W- I will die on the hill that A&W by Lana Del Ray is one of the more underrated pop songs of the decade so far. The entire song leaves you with a haunting dread that seems to never go away. The beat switch halfway through to turn it into a Lana Del Ray trap song is also one of the coolest moments in music this decade.

Roxanne- The simple answer: Community rewatches. One of the best episodes of the series, ‘Remedial Chaos Theory’ surrounds a bunch of different scenarios, not only is one of the highlights of Community, but it is a constant reminder of how good The Police is. After the 4th replay of Roxanne, I’ve already added it back into my rotation.

C Kruse
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