Welcome to “Cut Through the Noise,” an Entertainment column from the St. Louis Park Echo covering new music releases. Every week, a different Echo staffer takes on the role as writer, reviewing recent single releases from a variety of artists.

Let It Fly (feat. Travis Scott) – Lil Wayne  ★★☆☆☆

Lil Wayne’s new track “Let It Fly” comes off as repetitive and annoying. Although Wayne’s lyrics are cleverly strung together through repetition,  the song is hard to follow and not entirely cohesive. Feature Travis Scott added a lot to the song, with heavy autotune on his voice he makes the song stick out from others, considering the current state of hip-hop is very one-dimensional. Scott’s lyrics in the song seem to flow much better than Wayne’s and make the song overall more fun and exciting. The backtrack for the song sets a mysterious and elusive tone that keeps the song stuck in your head. Altogether, “Let It Fly” is unsuccessful at bringing anything new to the rap scene, but it can still be a fun and catchy to dance to.

Shallow – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ★★★★☆

The first song released off the soundtrack of the upcoming coming movie, “A Star Is Born” featuring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, is filled with distinct vocals and gripping lyrics. Gaga and Cooper create a good partnership as their vocals blend in a unique duet. Although Cooper is clearly not a trained vocalist, his voice is soothing and impressive for his lack of training. Gaga effortlessly sings this ballad with grace and passion. The acoustic instrumentals create an intimate experience which makes the song very enjoyable to listen to. Gaga and Cooper’s distinctive voices come together to make a beautiful and original piece.

YSIV – Logic ★★★☆☆

Logic’s six-minute title track “YSIV” is riddled with pop culture references ranging from Frank Sinatra to Bob Marley to “Dirty Dancing.” His lyrics are clever and quick but often come across as arrogant and conceited. The song also serves as a tribute to recently deceased Mac Miller, who was a big inspiration to Logic as his career was getting started. This brought a more sentimental and emotional attachment to the song, which made it much more likable. However, the song’s switch from its attention on Miller to Logic’s own self-praise makes the main purpose hard to understand. Overall, “YSIV” is a well thought out song with a good beat and witty lyrics, but gets lost with its general message.