Friday Music Guide: New Music From Sam Smith & Madonna, Rosalía, Niall Horan, BTS and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Sam Smith gets “vulgar” with the Queen of Pop, Rosalía stays active in the studio, Niall Horan presents his latest solo vision and BTS salutes ARMY. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Sam Smith with Madonna, “Vulgar” 

As “Unholy” became the first Hot 100 chart-topper of Sam Smith’s career last year, the Kim Petras collaboration doubled as their most unlikely hit to date, its sweaty electro-pop chants a far cry from the elegant vocal showcases that made Smith a superstar. “Vulgar,” then, represents a logical next step into that sound, as well as an exciting proposition as a Smith-Madonna team-up: a throbbing, purposely provocative banger that challenges all haters (“Say we’re ridiculous, we’ll just go harder!” Smith and Madge declare in unison), the single uses backlash as fuel, lets Madonna flip off the world, and potentially gives Smith another club-thumping hit.

Rosalía, “Tuya” 

Although Rosalía released her acclaimed MOTOMAMI album a little over a year ago and has been traveling the world in support of the full-length, the Spanish superstar has continued one of the most prolific recording periods of her career with a handful of one-off tracks, as well as her RR project with Rauw Alejandro. New single “Tuya” crystallizes her sonic aspirations: the slithering track mashes up reggaeton with the Japanese instrument koto underneath Rosalía’s trademark vulnerability, showcasing an artist who continues to expand her profile but refuses to rest on her laurels.

Niall Horan, The Show 

Three quarters of a decade removed from the last One Direction album and three albums into a subsequent solo career, Niall Horan has, at long last, settled into himself. After 2017 debut Flicker kick-started his solo artistry with some surefire radio hits (“This Town,” “Slow Hands”) and 2020’s Heartbreak Weather featured a handful of sonic chances (“Nice To Meet Ya,” “Put a Little Love on Me”), The Show, Horan’s best album to date, tells us what type of long-term career he wants to fashion by splitting the difference and achieving consistency.

Click here to read a full review of Horan’s new album.

BTS, “Take Two” 

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of BTS, a group that revolutionized the reach and perception of Asian pop artists in North America and around the world — and as their downtime continues and various members score solo hits, the collective has offered fans a reflective new single that hopefully sets the stage for their second act. The best moments on “Take Two” involve two BTS members harmonizing, their voices intertwined as they croon about youth and their shared gratitude; the solo projects have been satisfying in recent months, but the power of a fully aligned BTS remains singular.

J Hus feat. Drake, “Who Told You” 

If “Search & Rescue” — a downbeat single, released in April, about wanting to be saved by a monogamous relationship — served as Drake’s springtime smash, “Who Told You,” a new team-up with British rapper J Hus, may very well become his summer hit, an upbeat, Afrobeats-adjacent take on the idea that too-cool-for-school guys need to report to the dance floor, too. Drake changes up his flow to match his collaborator and beat, but still relies upon his tough-guy charms and melodic rap skill set, making “Who Told You” a throwback to his guest spot days of yore, when he was assisting artists like Rihanna, 2 Chainz and French Montana on party hits.

Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure 

After spending so much of her recording career constructing narratives and multilayer concepts, Janelle Monáe wants to party on new album The Age of Pleasure, a well-deserved celebration that may also be the most front-to-back satisfying listen in her catalog. Although the ambition of her previous projects remains, it’s pointed at straightforward R&B grooves and immediate pop hooks: songs like the boisterous “Champagne Shit,” swaying “Water Slide” and sexually charged “Lipstick Lover” invite the listener to get lost in their sensual worlds, while Monáe acts as a tour guide to her beautifully messy desires.

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