State Champ Radio first stream
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Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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This week, Miley Cyrus grows with “Flowers,” Shakira doesn’t hold anything back alongside Bizarrap, and Sam Smith recruits two pals to keep evolving. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Throughout her career, Miley Cyrus has remade her image and sound at the start of a new album era, from the grown-up synth-pop of Can’t Be Tamed to the audacious hip-hop influence of Bangerz to the pensive country-pop of Younger Now to the homage-paying guitar-rock of Plastic Hearts. As a sleek, disco-adjacent midtempo pop track, “Flowers,” the first taste of upcoming album Endless Summer Vacation, doesn’t tip its hand and reveal a radical sonic reinvention for Cyrus — but that lack of transformation actually benefits the superstar, who sings of changing course and finding self-fulfillment after a breakup, in this context. Singing with wisdom and a steady sense of space on “Flowers,” Cyrus shows that she can still conjure pop magic, but can also feel comfortable in her own skin.
Bizarrap & Shakira, “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”
“This is for you to be mortified, to chew and swallow, swallow and chew,” Shakira declares on volume 53 of Bizarrap’s acclaimed (and increasingly popular) music sessions — and indeed, the collaboration is intended as an evisceration, with several haymakers directed at Shakira’s ex-husband, soccer star Gerard Piqué, already making the rounds on social media. However, don’t let the tabloid fodder outshine Shakira’s most vibrant single in years: “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” is rich with hooks, beat changes and invigorated singing, as if dunking on her ex has unlocked the most dazzling version of an all-time superstar.
Sam Smith feat. Koffee & Jessie Reyez, “Gimme”
The Sam Smith Renaissance continues with “Gimme,” a lush dancehall riff on which the singer-songwriter, having recently tinkered with their microphone persona on the sweaty hyperpop smash “Unholy,” downplays their crooning for a more subtle, sensual delivery, to great effect. Instead of sacrificing the intimacy of a sexually charged song like “Gimme,” guest stars Koffee and Jessie Reyez switch up the song’s chemistry and make every second of the track, from the chiming refrain to the bumping second verse, as impactful as possible.
Moneybagg Yo & GloRilla, “On Wat U On”
Give Moneybagg Yo and GloRilla, two rock-solid Memphis rappers increasingly crucial to mainstream hip-hop, a bass-heavy beat with a menacing piano line, and the results are probably going to be stellar. Yet “On Wat U On” represents more than a reliable head-knocker from the CMG label mates: as the pair justify their kiss-offs while cosplaying in an unstable relationship, they form a symbiotic relationship of loners who know what they want and can toss in the right ad-libs to demonstrate as much (GloRilla earns extra points for dropping “Hate yo’ ass!” to punctuate a line).
Margo Price, Strays
In the summer of 2020, during the throes of the pandemic, Margo Price and her husband/collaborator Jeremy Ivey spent six days in South Carolina taking a ton of hallucinogenic mushrooms and furiously penning the album that would eventually become Strays; that backstory explains the inhibited songwriting at the heart of the country-folk mainstay’s fourth album, but also underscores how nuanced the album can be in between more free-wheeling moments. Tracks like the kicky “Been to the Mountain” are balanced out with “County Road,” a poignant message to a young victim of a car accident, and “Lydia,” a powerhouse ballad about abortion that stands among Price’s best work.
PartyNextDoor, “Her Old Friends”
About 95 seconds into new single “Her Old Friends,” PartyNextDoor locks into a groove that reminds casual fans why he’s still such an exciting presence in popular R&B: his voice floats up then twists back down, and stacked vocals circle in and out of harmonizing, as if a ghostly chorus can’t decided whether or not to support him. The new track follows singles like “Sex in the Porsche” and “No Fuss,” hinting at the first PND full-length since 2020… but regardless of when that arrives, moments like that in the middle of “Her Old Friends” are worth savoring.
Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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This week, YoungBoy keeps his prolific streak alive, Popcaan and Drake re-team with a new mission, and Shania Twain keeps us dancing into the new year. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
YoungBoy Never Broke Again, I Rest My Case
YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s output is not only mind-boggling — four mixtapes, one album and a compilation album in 2022, the majority of which reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart — but also serves as a simple way to track the Baton Rouge native’s gradual rise as a musician and lyricist: YoungBoy generally gets more discerning and ferocious with every new project, and I Rest My Case is one of his strongest full-lengths to date. The album’s momentum snowballs from the opening bodyslam of “Black,” “Louie V” and “Swag On Point,” and ends with an affecting open letter, “Hey Pops”; in between, YoungBoy suggests that, if last year had nonstop highs, 2023 could be even bigger.
Popcaan feat. Drake, “We Caa Done”
From “Controlla” on Drake’s Views to “All I Need” on Popcaan’s Fixtape project, the hip-hop superstar and dancehall king have proven reliable collaborators for more than a half-decade — and now, ahead of Popcaan’s album Great Is He, they’ve re-teamed for a triumphant start to the new year. “We Caa Done” functions as a raised glass after overcoming tribulations, with Drake crooning in patois, Popcaan demonstrating a flow that’s long been hypnotic, and the percolating beat helping both along the way, setting up what’s sure to be a club staple across borders in 2023.
Shania Twain, “Giddy Up!”
The story of modern country-pop could not be told without Shania Twain, and as she embarks on a big year that will include a new album and sprawling tour, the legendary singer-songwriter is still serving up crossover singles designed to get hands clapping and butts out of seats. “Giddy Up!” will lead forthcoming album Queen of Me and is indeed a party-starter, all call-and-response problem-shedding and frothy lines written for Friday night gatherings; by the time the acoustic strumming has segued to electric riffing, you’ll find that you, too, would like to shout “Giddy up.”
Yahritza Y Su Esencia, “Cambiaste”
Anyone paying close-enough attention to the rapid rise of Yahritza Y Su Esencia last year understood that the Regional Mexican trio’s TikTok success would probably not be ephemeral — the talents of Yahritza Martinez, and her older brothers Armando and Jairo, were too distinct to ignite and then dissipate. New single “Cambiaste” relies heavily upon Yahritza’s pleading voice and Mando’s 12-string guitar, but that formula remains effective — if not even more emotionally harrowing, especially as the song circles around and then hammers down during the finale.
Skrillex feat. PinkPantheress & Trippie Redd, “Way Back”
After returning earlier this week with “Rumble,” a teeth-smashing dance-rap track featuring Fred again.. and Flowdan, Skrillex has kicked off 2023 with another intriguing three-artist summit: “Way Back,” with PinkPantheress and Trippie Redd, sizzles in the places that “Rumble” shimmers, with Trippie handed hook duties and PinkPantheress weaving a compelling story within a single verse. Both songs are relatively short — “Way Back” clocks in at under two minutes — but are satisfying enough to raise hopes that the year will bring more tunes from a rejuvenated Skrillex.
Ice Spice, “In Ha Mood”
“I’m proud that I’m still gettin’ bigger / Goin’ viral is gettin’ ’em sicker,” Ice Spice raps on the victory-lap single “In Ha Mood.” The Bronx rapper, fresh off of gaining well-deserved fame for her Internet sensation “Munch (Feelin’ U),” serves up another drill track with a refrain that’s primed for TikTok users to feast upon — but “In Ha Mood” is also snappier and more lyrically dense than Ice Spice’s past offerings, allowing her to swoop down upon her naysayers with a sharpened sword.
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Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, The Weeknd trumpets the arrival of Avatar: The Way of Water, Cardi B offers an extra shot of espresso to a Rosalía hit, Little Simz drops a surprise follow-up album to her acclaimed 2021 LP and more. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
The Weeknd, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)”
The Weeknd is no stranger to big movie soundtrack singles, having previously scored Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits from Fifty Shades of Gray (“Earned It (Fifty Shades)”) and Black Panther (“Pray for Me” alongside Kendrick Lamar). Still, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” is perhaps his biggest soundtrack look yet, as the theme to the longer-than-long-anticipated sequel Avatar: The Way of Water. The bombastic ballad, co-written and co-produced by Abel’s buddies in Swedish House Mafia, matches the size of the assignment, with thundering drums, anthemic backing vocals, and a refrain that’s reminiscent of Gerard McMann’s “Cry Little Sister” from ’80s cult classic The Lost Boys.
Rosalía & Cardi B, “DESPECHÁ RMX”
“DESPECHÁ” already stands as Rosalía‘s biggest hit as a lead artist to date, hitting No. 63 on the Hot 100 and spending 12 weeks on the chart. But as she’s previously proven to Bruno Mars and GloRilla, nothing helps a song’s commercial fortunes like landing Cardi B on the remix. The Bronx bomber shows up for an always-welcome guest verse on “DESPECHÁ” this week, spitting, “You’ve been trying too hard not to watch my stories/ I’ve been shakin’ this ass, better not report me,” and of course signing off with a little español: “But I’m good though, ¿Cómo estás?”
Little Simz, NO THANK YOU
British rapper Little Simz was a fixture on 2021 year-end lists with her stellar LP Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, securing the No. 19 spot on the Billboard staff’s own ranking. Earlier this week, she surprised fans with the arrival of that set’s previously unannounced follow-up, the 10-track set NO THANK YOU. The LP ranges from the tender to the tense to the triumphant, Simz changing lanes in her bimma with a true professional’s ease, aided in navigation by regular producer Inflo and backing vocalist Cleo Sol. The late release hasn’t kept it from landing on yet more end-of-year lists; Rolling Stone just named it one of the year’s 25 best hip-hop albums. “‘Play the game, play the game,’ is what they scream/ You can play the game, I don’t see the need, no,” she offers on opener “Angel.” Hard to argue with at this point.
Juice WRLD, “Face 2 Face”
The latest one-off posthumous release from the late rapper Juice WRLD — whose devastating death just passed its third anniversary earlier this month, with a second annual Juice WRLD Day being celebrated in his Chicago hometown — is an acoustic trap ballad, led by a disarmingly gentle and compassionate unplugged riff. “Everytime I go to fall to sleep/ These demons haunting me/ Facing my fears face to face as we meet,” the artist born Jarad Higgins wails in the particularly signature-sounding chorus. As comforting as it is to still hear his voice on new music this long after his passing, it’s just as disconcerting to feel like not even death has freed him from grappling with these issues.
FLO, “Losing You”
British vocal trio FLO has built a lot of buzz this year for their run of 2022 singles calling back to classic R&B girl groups of the ’90s and early ’00s, even scoring one of our staff’s top 100 songs of 2022 with the kiss-off “Cardboard Box.” The girls score another winner this week with the “Since U Been Gone”-themed ballad “Losing You,” as they realize they’re better off without the trifling dude they’ve been saddled with for too long. “Losing you was easier than I thought it’d be/ I’m happy on my own/ It’s the first time that I finally feel at home,” the trio sings on the Stella Quaresma-led chorus, over warm ’90s synth chords and a snappingly sympathetic beat (co-produced by U.K. hitmaker MNEK).
PinkPantheress, “Take Me Home”
Though she’s yet to release an LP follow-up to her breakthrough 2021 debut LP To Hell With It, PinkPantheress has still had a very productive 2022, releasing a series of excellent singles like “Where You Are” (with Willow), “Picture in My Mind” (with Sam Gellaitry”) and “Boy’s a Liar.” This week, the U.K. phenom caps her sophomore year with “Take Me Home,” a pulse-racing synth-pop banger with drum-n-bass accents and a typically arresting chorus: “It’s sad that I/ Prepared to be so young till the end of time/ I realized/ When I struggled to get out of my room last night.” Closing with a half-time coda, the single breaks new ground for PinkPantheress length-wise: at a full three minutes and twenty seconds, it’s basically her “Free Bird.”
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Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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See latest videos, charts and news
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This week, SZA’s SOS marks the return of a queen, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie fights inner demons and Lana Del Rey has a beautiful-sounding fun fact for you. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
SZA, SOS
Five years after dropping a jaw-dropping debut with Ctrl, SZA has finally returned with a follow-up that somehow sounds both pored-over, the product of endless hours in the studio sharpening edges and refining ideas, and as natural as the R&B star’s inherent gifts as a vocalist and songwriter. No one else could sing the words of SOS with an ounce of the personality that SZA brings to each track — in part because these songs are breathtakingly intimate, photographs of years of personal evolution as relationships scale up and sometimes crumble — but mostly because SZA is just that special of a performer, with every syllable on SOS popping out from the dense, varied production. SOS takes plenty of time to unpack across its 23 tracks, but whatever expectations you may have had for SZA’s second album probably weren’t high enough.
A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Me vs. Myself
If Me vs. Myself, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s fourth studio album, ends up being the final major rap release of 2022, the NYC rapper will end up closing out the year on a triumphant note: his latest full-length meets the local-to-national hype that A Boogie has been incubating for years, and features the most complete songs of his career. That list begins with the Lil Durk team-up “Damn Homie,” which augments both rappers’ melodic instincts, and also includes the solo showcase “Ballin” and “Water (Drowning Pt. 2),” a sequel to A Boogie’s recent collaboration with Kodak Black that improves upon the original.
Lana Del Rey, “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd”
The Jergins Tunnel, the passageway in Long Beach, Calif. that was abandoned in 1967, is a closed-off tunnel to a California beach — perfect lyrical fodder for Lana Del Rey, who sings on her stirring new track, “I can’t help but feel somewhat like my body marred my soul / Handmade beauty sealed up by two man-made walls.” The title track to her next full-length, “Did you know…” marries Del Rey’s sweeping approach to orchestral pop with an ideal subject, upon which the singer-songwriter can translate her longstanding curiosities with faded American beauty.
Polo G, “My All”
“I’m just tryna drop a hit and make the club jump / But I hate that I was too deep in so young,” Polo G admits at the end of the chorus to “My All,” a new single to close out the year before it appears on his much-anticipated new project dropping in 2023. Most popular rappers wouldn’t close out a hook with a moment of such succinct honesty — at 23 years old, Polo G is already a veteran who has the ability to entertain the masses yet has witnessed too much personal strife — but vulnerability has always been the key to his mainstream appeal, and “My All” sets the stage for more intricate stories to be unfurled next year.
Paramore, “The News”
Five years ago, Paramore preceded their album After Laughter with “Hard Times,” a brilliant bit of sociopolitical satire on which Hayley Williams begged to be excluded from reality’s narrative. Ahead of follow-up album This Is Why, the band grapples with everyday life in more serious fashion: “The News” questions how much space in our minds our modern atrocities, specifically wars in far-off countries, can take up before we explode with uselessness, as the band locks in to a jagged groove and Williams oscillates her tone between jittery and outraged to sell the song’s concept.
Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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This week, RM presents a bold solo vision, Metro Boomin ends another big year with a superstar affair, and Lewis Capaldi’s latest will turn your frown upside down. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
RM, Indigo
Even with the context of every recent solo project from the members of BTS, which have presented their millions of listeners with individual aesthetics and ideas, RM’s official solo debut Indigo ruptures with artistic ambition from the opening minutes, where he raps about his humanity over a buttery R&B beat before Erykah Badu slides in with a majestic pre-chorus. Indigo wriggles free of easy classification, much like its creator: the moment one tries to peg the project as a mainstream hip-hop effort, a song like the arena-ready sing-along “Wild Flower” or the forlorn strummer “Lonely” upends expectations. RM’s curiosity balances out his natural talent on Indigo, resulting in an accomplished, multi-faceted solo step.
Metro Boomin, Heroes & Villains
From Future to 21 Savage to The Weeknd, Metro Boomin has helped mold the sound of some of the biggest mainstream stars of the past decade as a producer and songwriter — so when he releases his own projects, they (and many others) naturally show up to pay homage. Heroes & Villains, the long-awaited follow-up to the Atlanta studio whiz’s underrated 2018 opus Not All Heroes Wear Capes, is a star-studded heat check before the end of the year that allows superstars to operate over slow-rolling beats (“Trance,” a bleary-eyed team-up between Travis Scott and Young Thug, is a highlight), as well as engage in some rollicking genre exercises (“Creepin’” joyfully re-creates Mario Winans’ “I Don’t Wanna Know” with The Weeknd and 21 Savage).
Lewis Capaldi, “Pointless”
Lewis Capaldi became a star on the strength of sorrow: his singles “Someone You Loved” and “Before You Go” grew into unlikely top 10 Hot 100 hits while embracing heart-wrenched balladry, as the singer-songwriter bet on unbridled emotion as a commercial vehicle and won handily. “Pointless,” the second taste of his upcoming sophomore album Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent, taps into another rush of feelings, but this one could soundtrack a wedding dance instead of a tearful night in bed: “Everything is pointless without you,” Capaldi sings, the intensity of his voice and stabs of piano drawing the listener into his love story.
Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (Sampler)
After nearly two years of watching his Dangerous: The Double Album become one of the biggest commercial LPs of the past decade, and rebuilding trust in and out of Nashville following some high-profile controversies, Morgan Wallen is setting himself up for a major 2023, with a recently announced international stadium tour accompanied by a three-song sampler of an upcoming studio project. “One Thing at a Time,” “Days That End in Why” and “Tennessee Fan” don’t try to reinvent Wallen’s appeal, instead augmenting the long-running juxtaposition between his rustic, lived-in voice and sparkling, sophisticated country-pop songwriting, while also suggesting that fans will have plenty to look forward to in the new year.
Latto feat. GloRilla & Gangsta Boo, “FTCU”
From the moment you realize that the acronym “FTCU” stands for “f-ck the club up” in the new collaboration between Latto, GloRilla and Gangsta Boo, you hope that the trio can come as correct as Three 6 Mafia and Waka Flocka Flame did on their respective destroying-the-club anthems from different generations of hip-hop. Fortunately, they deliver: “FTCU” is pure, menacing fun, with Latto dropping threats with efficiency and GloRilla relying on her drawl to accentuate punchlines like “Walk up in your party, make that bitch my party, ayy.”
Arcangel, Sr. Santos
Sr. Santos, the new project from former Arcangel & De La Ghetto leader Austin “Arcangel” Santos, will likely draw most of its attention toward the explosive Bad Bunny team-up “La Jumpa,” which sounds ready to dominate clubs for the foreseeable future. Although Arcangel’s new album gains strength from its high-wattage collaborators — Bizarrap, Myke Towers and Duki all swing by — the reggaetón veteran also sounds reinvigorated on the project, surrounding the guest-heavy portions of the projects with sizzling solo tracks like “La Roca” and “PortoBello.”
Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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This week, Pharrell Williams tosses out another major collaboration, Nicki Minaj and Maluma headline a World Cup anthem, and Saweetie toasts to the single life. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Pharrell Williams & Travis Scott, “Down In Atlanta”
In addition to producing tracks for artists ranging from Rosalía to Kendrick Lamar to Omar Apollo this year, Pharrell Williams also dropped “Cash In Cash Out,” a masterclass from 21 Savage and Tyler, The Creator with one of the most icy-cold beats of the year. Like “Cash In Cash Out,” new single “Down In Atlanta” finds Williams ceding the floor to a fellow superstar — in this case, Travis Scott, who mixes zonked-out warbling with tales of luxury and fills each line with his larger-than-life persona — while the multi-hyphenate focuses on making each drum-and-synth interaction tingle the listener’s senses.
Nicki Minaj, Maluma & Myriam Fares, “Tukoh Taka”
It’s World Cup season, and to celebrate the 2022 kickoff in Qatar, Nicki Minaj, Maluma and Myriam Fares have joined forces for a frenetic single that is the “Official FIFA Fan Festival Anthem” and sung in English, Spanish and Arabic. “Tukoh Taka” moves swiftly and tries to score efficiently: around the jittery hook, Minaj raps about a girl’s night out (with some soccer references tossed in for good measure), Maluma croons about scoring a goal in the 90th minute of play, and the beat throbs with the intensity of the tournament that the song is designed to celebrate.
Saweetie, The Single Life EP
Saweetie is winding up for a major 2023, but before this year comes to a close, the ascendant MC demonstrates the combination of her current star power and artistic potential on the six-song project The Single Life. The California native sounds collected and charismatic on tracks like “Don’t Say Nothin’” and “Bo$$ Chick,” but it’s “Handle My Truth” — on which she opens up about staying single over throwback, G-funk-informed production — that reminds us of the lyrical depth that Saweetie is capable of achieving in addition to hits like “Best Friend” and “My Type.”
Disturbed, Divisive
Overlook Disturbed at your own risk: the long-running, multi-platinum hard rockers are still catering to genre fans as well as a large group of casual listeners who can’t get enough of their inventive pummel. Divisive, their eighth studio album, contains all the hallmarks of a Disturbed project — in addition to the head-banging material, there’s also an effective ballad, this time a team-up with Heart’s Ann Wilson titled “Don’t Tell Me” — and is also a blast to listen to, regardless of how down with the sickness you may be.
Brockhampton, The Family and TM
If new album The Family and surprise release TM represent the final works of the audacious hip-hop collective Brockhampton, who have been hinting at a going of separate ways for some time, then the group will have gone out with a creative bang: instead of getting lost in contemplation and wobbling toward new beginnings, Brockhampton uses both projects to get back to what made them captivating upon their breakthrough, from zany sing-alongs (the Nickelodeon homage “All That”) to R&B and dance riffs (“Man on the Moon,” which checks both boxes) to hardened bars about who they are and what they want to accomplish (the stirring coda “Brockhampton”). Safe to say that, no matter what happens next, Brockhampton’s music and character will endure.
Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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This week, Rihanna has another stirring soundtrack single, Bruce Springsteen covers some hand-picked classics and Wizkid is as cool and collected as ever. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Rihanna, “Born Again”
Rebirth as a metaphorical concept has been a lyrical trope in popular music for generations as artists shed their creative skins and begin new eras, but “Born Again” — Rihanna’s second single from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, following the stark ballad “Lift Me Up” — takes that idea and turns it literal, swelling from a somber reflection of someone who’s passed into a thundering new beginning thanks to an extended choral outro. The end of “Born Again” is purposely unrecognizable from its beginning, but Rihanna’s graceful approach serves as the connective tissue; she’s been gone for years, and we’re not taking her for granted now that she’s back.
Bruce Springsteen, Only The Strong Survive
Although cover songs have always been part of the Bruce Springsteen live oeuvre, Only The Strong Survive, a collection of the Boss’ interpretations of older and slightly obscure soul tracks, is his first studio covers collection since 2006’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, and following a prolific recording period that includes 2019’s Western Stars and 2020’s Letters To You. Because Springsteen can set his songwriting aside and focus on his voice with this project, Only The Strong Survive comes across as delightfully free-wheeling, with producer Ron Aniello helping construct snappy renditions of songs like “Nightshift,” “When She Was My Girl” and “Turn Back the Hands of Time.”
Wizkid, More Love, Less Ego
Wizkid’s fifth studio album arrives with expectations unlike anything the Nigerian superstar has experienced before — particularly in North America, where his Tems collaboration “Essence” became a slow-growing top 10 smash last year, and where Wizkid will headline New York’s Madison Square Garden next week. Yet More Love, Less Ego sounds utterly free of professional pressure: the Lagos native may be flaunting a bit more braggadocio on the mic and inviting some new guest stars into the fold (Don Toliver and Skepta are among those who stop by), but Wizkid’s confidence sounds effortless across the project, as if international superstardom was a natural next step.
Rauw Alejandro, Saturno
Rauw Alejandro may have found in urbano music before Saturno, but the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter’s new project accentuates every aspect of his aesthetic across 18 thrilling tracks: this is a euphoric yet personal dance project, full of bleary synth lines, rumbling percussion and the echoing voice of someone who knows how to command the moment. Alejandro has had plenty of memorable moments in popular Latin music prior to Saturno, but this is his most accomplished project to date, and a full-length that sounds essential to understanding the current moment in the genre.
GloRilla, Anyway, Life’s Great…
Anyway, Life’s Great… is the cherry on top of a whirlwind year for Memphis rapper GloRilla — following a breakout hit in “F.N.F (Let’s Go),” a label deal with CMG, and recently a top 10 Hot 100 hit with the Cardi B team-up “Tomorrow 2” — and as such, the nine-song EP basks in the MC’s enviable run while also laying the foundation for an even bigger future. Songs like “No More Love” and “Unh Unh” utilize GloRilla’s microphone tenacity in different ways, the former focused on post-fame betrayal and the latter on mid-stardom flexing, but throughout the project, she sounds ready for an even bigger stage in 2023.
Louis Tomlinson, Faith in the Future
A press release for Louis Tomlinson’s Faith in the Future touts his sophomore solo album as “a collection of songs designed for the live environment,” and indeed, the soaring pop-rock tracks on display here certainly keep the deafening crowds that packed One Direction’s stadium shows in mind. Yet Faith in the Future offers a hopeful vision of Tomlinson as an adult singer-songwriter, carving out a sound after a few years of experimentation — a song like “Silver Tongues,” driven by sprightly piano and shouted hooks, points toward a defined, agreeable aesthetic.
Billboard’s First Stream 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.
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This week, Drake and 21 Savage expand their collaborative streak across a full-length, Selena Gomez gives us a peek inside her “Mind,” and Joji makes good on his artistic promise. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss
Drake and 21 Savage have always pushed each other: while 21 Savage’s menacing flow has challenged Drake to sharpen his bars on their past collaborations, Drake has brought 21’s dense delivery onto some pop-crossover stunners, like their recent No. 1 smash “Jimmy Cooks.” With that dynamic in mind, the joint effort Her Loss functions exactly how you’d expect, and hope — punch and counterpunch, Drake returning to hip-hop braggadocio following his dance sojourn with Honestly, Nevermind, 21 Savage less concerned with pop culture references than ripping beats in half. It’s a focused, slightly chilly, largely riveting effort that ends both artists’ big years on a high note.
Selena Gomez, “My Mind & Me”
“All of the crashin’ and burnin’ and breakin’, I know now / If somеbody sees me like this, then thеy won’t feel alone now,” Selena Gomez sings as an epiphany on her searing new single. With the release of her new documentary My Mind & Me, Selena Gomez has released an accompanying song that captures the issues of sharing yourself with the world (especially as an ultra-famous artist) in the social media age, as well as the conclusion, over stately piano notes, that every struggle has been worth it if it had helped someone else in the process.
Joji, Smithereens
“Glimpse of Us,” the quietly devastating Joji single that became one of the year’s biggest breakthrough hits, may have introduced the 88Rising singer-songwriter to a much wider audience, but anyone familiar with Joji’s dulcet tones and emotionally revealing lyricism could have predicted that he’d become a solo star. New album Smithereens allows Joji to capitalize on a major moment with more melancholy and contemplation, but more accomplished vocals and songwriting than featured on 2020’s Nectar — a song like “Die For You” continues to refine his craft, taking the high of “Glimpse of Us” and pushing further upward.
Various Artists, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From and Inspired By
Curated by Kendrick Lamar, the 2018 soundtrack to Black Panther was a blockbuster, with multiple crossover hits (“All The Stars,” “Pray For Me”) and a perfectly orchestrated intermingling of superstars and rising artists. The soundtrack to the upcoming sequel boasts similar firepower — its opening track is “Lift Me Up,” the first new Rihanna single in six years, after all — as well as an impressive cross-section of artists either adjacent to or dominating the Afrobeats world, from Burna Boy to Tems to Fireboy DML to CKay, creating another high-profile, powerful showcase of Black culture.
P!nk, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again”
P!nk’s last two albums, 2017’s Beautiful Trauma and 2019’s Hurts 2B Human, were led by singles (“What About Us” and “Walk Me Home,” respectively) that veered away from the pop star’s party-starting image — less “Raise Your Glass,” more raising the emotional stakes, as it were. So while “Never Gonna Not Dance Again” serves as a defiant ode against wasting time and self-seriousness, the song also gives P!nk another chance to operate at a faster tempo and groove over a nu-disco hook, setting up a welcome return to the dance floor.
Lindsay Lohan, “Jingle Bell Rock”
Interested in the Lohanaissance, playing Christmas music multiple weeks before Thanksgiving, and Mean Girls nostalgia? Lindsay Lohan has got you covered with her take on “Jingle Bell Rock,” from the resurgent singer-actress’ upcoming Netflix film Falling For Christmas, which leans into its good-spirited kitschiness and will be at home on any holiday streaming playlist (plus, everybody in the English-speaking WORLD knows this song!).
