Pharrell sits on the list of producers of all our album release picks for July. Coincidence?

By Haikal Abu Bakar

Jay-Z: Magna Carta Holy Grail
Scheduled Release: 4 July

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Artists are getting crafty with social media these days. The full tracklist to Jay-Z’s 12th studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, was released a couple of days ago via a scavenger hunt across Brooklyn, after details were revealed on Twitter. No collaborators have been confirmed yet although producers Pharrell Williams, Swiss Beats, Timbaland and Rick Rubin were spotted in a promotional video by Samsung (see video below). Interesting fact: one of the tracks in the album will contain lyrics from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, for which Jay had to seek approval from Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love.

1. Picasso Baby
2. Heaven
3. Versus
4. Tom Ford
5. Beach Is Better
6. FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt
7. Oceans
8. F.U.T.W.
09. Part II (On The Run)
10. BBC
11. La Familia
12. Jay-Z Blue
13. Nickles & Dimes
14. Holy Grail (Bonus Track)
15. Open Letter (Bonus Track)

Mayer Hawthorne: Where Does This Door Go
Scheduled Release: 16 July

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Mayer Hawthorne’s third studio album, Where Does This Door Go features a host of top producers, including Jack Splash (Cee-Lo Green and Alicia Keys), Oak & Pop (Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj) and the iconic Pharrell Williams, who seems to be involved with the production of every major album these days. One of the main highlights of the album is a sizzling collaboration with hip-hop’s biggest star of the moment, Kendrick Lamar. The singer/producer/songwriter admits that while he felt obliged to maintain his Detroit roots in previous albums, this album allowed him to explore other musical influences from hip-hop to funk and metal. We expect great things from Hawthorne this time around. His previous album How Do You Do reached #7 in the US iTunes Chart and garnered critical praise from the media and fellow musicians, including Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, John Mayer and Snoop Dogg.

1. Problematization
2. Back Seat Lover
3.The Innocent
4. Allie Jones
5. The Only One
6. Wine Glass Woman
7. Her Favourite Song
8. Crime feat. Kendrick Lamar
9. Reach Out Richard
10. Corsican Rose
11. Where Does This Door Go
12. Robot Love
13. The Stars Are Ours
14. All Better

Robin Thicke: Blurred Lines
Scheduled Release: 30 July

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It seems Thicke is pushing hard for his 6th studio album, after his underwhelming Love After War album in 2011. His single “Blurred Lines” debuted in an unedited NSFW music video which featured topless models (along with collaborators Pharrell Williams and T.I). Despite the controversy, “Blurred Lines” has been sitting pretty on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks.

1. Blurred Lines” feat. T.I. and Pharrell
2. Take It Easy On Me
3. Ooo La La
4. Ain’t No Hat 4 That
5. Get In My Way
6. Give It 2 U feat. Kendrick Lamar
7. Feel Good
8. Go Stupid 4 U
9. 4 The Rest Of My Life
10. Top Of The World
11. The Good Life

Earl Sweatshirt: Doris
Scheduled Release: End July 2013

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Details on the album cover and tracklist have been sketchy but the 19-year old Odd Future emcee has previewed a handful of tracks from the LP over the past seven months. In late 2012, he premiered the song ‘Chum’ and released the music video to his track “Whoa”, which features a cameo from Tyler, The Creator and other members of Odd Future.

Earl also debuted a number of new tracks while performing live as a special guest of producer Flying Lotus at his LA club, Low End Theory. The rapper dropped two new songs titled ‘Hive’, “Guild” (feat. Mac Miller) and “Burgundy”, with the latter being produced once again by Pharrell Williams.

Watch the music video for “Whoa” below, directed in typical Odd Future style.