State Champ Radio friday music guide
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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.
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This week: Getting Closer to the full picture with Tate McRae, flying high again with the Wicked: For Good soundtrack and hearing Stray Kids Do It to ’em one more time.
Tate McRae, So Close to What??? (Deluxe Edition)
“Don’t know what country I’m in, but I know how I’m feeling,” testifies Tate McRae to kick off “Trying on Shoes,” the first track on her newly reissued So Close to What??? — yes, now with three question marks — deluxe edition. It feels like a snapshot release for the still-rising superstar, with some of the most detailed writing and specifically pitched performances of her career. Likely adding inspiration: Her recent split with fellow pop hitmaker The Kid LAROI, who of course is thought to be the subject of her top five Billboard Hot 100 hit “Tit for Tat,” and who appears to make his presence felt here a couple additional times, particularly on the spiteful “Anything But Love” (“My dad hates you, my dog hates you, my brother hates you, and I do too…”)
Wicked Movie Cast, Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good — The Soundtrack
Happy Wicked: For Good release day, everyone! The much-anticipated second half to the John M. Chu-helmed film adaptation of the legendary musical — whose first half was greeted with robust box office and major acclaim, particularly for stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — is out now, along with the 11-track soundtrack. Of particular note for fans in this back half is the introduction of two brand-new songs to the musical’s world, penned by original composer Steven Schwartz: the bitter-but-resilient Erivo solo “No Place Like Home,” and the soaring Grande showcase “The Girl in the Bubble.”
Stray Kids, DO IT
It’s only been three months since Stray Kids released fourth Korean-language studio album Karma, but the octet is back this week with new release DO IT. The five-track release is being officially branded as a mixtape — the group’s first since last year’s Billboard 200-topping HOP — and features two versions of its explosive title track. The big question for chartwatchers with DO IT: Will this be the release that knocks Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, currently in the midst of a six-week run atop the Billboard 200, from its No. 1 perch? History would certainly say not to bet against the group, who in seven charting releases has never missed the top spot.
Tainy & Karol G, “Ünica”
After dropping her Tropicoqueta album in June, Latin pop superstar Karol G is checking in at leat one more time before the end of the year, with “Ünica,” her new collaboration with A-list producer Tainy. The song, whose title of course means “Unique” in Spanish, Karol recalls a night of passion that still burns singularly in her memory, casting any past or future lovers in its shadow. The song’s gentle reggaetón shuffle is augmented by some lovely harp plucking, and backing vocals that seem to be sighing in agreement.
BigXthaPlug, I Hope You’re Happy (Deluxe)
A couple days after making his CMA Awards debut, rapper BigXthaPlug is back with the deluxe edition to his first full-length country release, I Hope You’re Happy. The set adds three new songs: the hard-hearted “Cold” with fellow recent country convert Post Malone (which feels like it could be “All the Way” Pt. 2), the acoustic, fame-ruing “Holy Ground” alongside top 40 regular Jessie Murph, and the set’s first totally solo track, triumphant closer “From the Bottom” — which drops most of the Nashville, but ends by reminding: “I just made me some millions off country.”
The Kid LAROI, “A Perfect World”
What timing: Right as Tate McRae releases her So Close to What??? deluxe — with multiple Earth-salting tracks firmly turning her back on her past relationship — here comes The Kid LAROI, perhaps dreaming about a reconciliation: “In a perfect world/ We’d have it all figured out, baby, you would be my girl.” It’s not exactly a take-me-back song, but it’s definitely an I’ll-stick-around-just-in-case ballad, as LAROI reminds his ex, “Coz I’m still here, for what it’s worth, baby.” Hopefully he’s not checking out Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist this week.
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This week: It’s Over and out for Summer Walker with the third and final album in her signature series, Kelsea Ballerini is taking stock of things with a new EP and Miley Cyrus rises from the ashes with a big soundtrack single.
Summer Walker, Finally Over It
It’s been a four-year wait — but Finally Over It is, well, finally here. The third and presumed final entry in R&B star Summer Walker’s Over It series, the follow-up to 2021’s Still Over It features 18 tracks spread over two discs, and follows a wedding theme — with the two discs titled “For Better” and “For Worse,” and the album art and visuals seeing Walker marrying an elderly white man, implying a hard exit from the world of dating and unsatisfying romantic relationships. The star-studded album features guests ranging from old collaborators Chris Brown, Bryson Tiller and 21 Savage to new friends Sailorr, Brent Faiyaz and Doja Cat, but Walker is arguably still best keeping it simple and solo, as on the unequivocal “No” and the wrenching “Situationship.”
Kelsea Ballerini, Mount Pleasant
Two years after her well-received Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP — and one year after the full-length Patterns — country star Kelsea Ballerini is back playing the mini-album game with the six-track Mount Pleasant. The abbreviated release is meant “to capture a moment in time,” says Ballerini in a statement, with “six songs I’ve written throughout the summer, marking a chapter of heavy self-examination, longing and stepping further into who I am as a 32-year old woman.” The EP moves quickly but hits hard, with songs of jealousy, heartbreak and frustration written with Ballerini’s typically vivid detail and delivered with her usual bite and tenderness.
Miley Cyrus, “Dream as One”
Miley Cyrus has expressed a particular connection to the themes of the upcoming Avatar sequel Fire and Ash, after losing her Malibu home in the 2018 Woolsey Fire: “Having been personally affected by fire and being rebuilt from the ashes, this project holds profound meaning for me,” Cyrus shared on Instagram, thanking director James Cameron “for the opportunity to turn that experience into musical medicine.” She does so this week with the new ballad “Dream as One,” a stately anthem of love and endurance that refuses to ascribe the concept of “home” to any particular building or place, as Cyrus sings to her partner: “You are my home/ No matter where I go.”
Lewis Capaldi, Survive EP
It’s been a big moment for U.K. pop in the past couple months, with the global breakout of Olivia Dean, a big new RAYE. hit and the return earlier this week of Charli XCX, with two new songs from her upcoming soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation. Into this moment steps Lewis Capaldi, the formerly Billboard Hot 100-topping singer-songwriter and supreme balladeer — who took the better part of the last two years on a break from touring and recording, for the betterment of his mental health — with his four-track Survive EP. There’s no major swerves with the new release — “It’s…… songs,” was Capaldi’s helpful description of the EP on The Graham Norton Show — but it is rousing with its pervasive sense of perseverance, even through heartbreak on the climactic lighter-waver “Almost.”
Jessie Murph, Sex Hysteria (Deluxe)
July’s Sex Hysteria album marked something of a commercial breakthrough for Jessie Murph, making the top 10 of the Billboard 200 — helped by the success of breakout single “Blue Strips.” This week, the retro-minded 15-track set gets an eight-track bonus disc on the set’s official deluxe edition. The new tracks include the gently soulful and rueful “I Stay I Leave I Love I Lose,” the Amy Winehouse-like, hungover and heartbroken “Easy Sunday Living” and the previously released kiss-off “I’m Not There for You” — already another Hot 100 hit for Murph — and should get fans who’ve finally calmed down from the original Hysteria all good and bothered again.
Dominic Fike, “White Keys”
The always-buzzy Dominic Fike has a big weekend coming up, making his debut as one half of Geezer (alongside Kevin Abstract) at Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival. In advance of the performance, Fike today shares “White Keys,” a new-old song that was a formerly unofficially released fan favorite, produced by John Cunningham. “I had forgot about this song and the internet somehow dug it up for me,” Fike commented on the playfully shuffling, lightly forlorn mini-banger in an IG post announcing its release. Abstract showed up in that post’s comments to proclaim: “gay boy returns.”
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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.
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This week: Rosalía releases one of the year’s (decade’s? century’s?) most ambitious pop albums, Kehlani keeps the classic R&B flowing, Katy Perry and Hilary Duff offer two very different new songs about their respective exes and more.
Rosalía, LUX
“It’s like an album she wrote to God — whatever each person feels God is to them,” Afo Verde, chairman/CEO of Sony Latin Iberia, said of Rosalía’s LUX in Billboard‘s cover story on the Spanish singer-songwriter this week. “This is an artist who said, ‘I want to walk down a path where few walk.’” Now that the album is out, it’s clear this wasn’t empty hype: LUX is staggering, drawing from countless different languages, genres, styles and eras for one of the most expansive and singular pop releases in recent memory. “Pop” doesn’t even necessarily feel big enough for the album — the songs here are more likely to resonate in your city’s opera house or symphony hall than on your local top 40 station — but it still feels accessible and personality-driven like the best pop music, Rosalía’s voice too mighty to ever crumble under the weight of her artistic ambitions.
Kehlani, “Out the Window”
It’s good times to be Kehlani: After a decade of cult stardom that saw her forever tapping on the door of the mainstream, the R&B singer-songwriter has enjoyed a long-overdue crossover breakthrough with her Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Folded,” an irresistible R&B kiss-off. This week she follows that surprise smash up with another classic-feeling ballad — though this time, she’s the one doing the begging, as she admits “I’m to blame, I played n your face,” but nonetheless pleads of her lover to keep the faith in their relationship: “Don’t throw it out the window.” It feels like the right song at the right time for her, and should just continue her winning streak.
Katy Perry, “Bandaids”
Katy Perry’s first new song since splitting with her longtime partner, actor Orlando Bloom, is sure to be viewed through the lens of that relationship. And though parts of the explosive pop-rock single, it does sound like she’s not overly pleased about the way things ended: “It’s not what you did, it’s what you didn’t/ You were there, but you weren’t.” But on the climactic bridge, she accepts it all and offers grace: “If I had to do it all over again I would still do it all over again/ The love that we made was worth it in the end.” Fans of Perry’s “Never Really Over” will find a whole lot to love about this new one.
Hilary Duff, “Mature”
“She looks like all of your girls but blonder/ A little like me, just younger,” Hilary Duff sings on “Mature” — not lamenting her man’s new younger girl so much as singing to herself from the past, when she got into a regrettable age-gap relationship. Duff’s first single since signing to Atlantic is a searing indictment of said ex, over an irresistible early-’10s turbo-pop groove reminiscent of the finest moments from Carly Rae Jepsen’s debut LP Kiss — perhaps unsurprisingly, since CRJ’s then-collaborator/paramour Matthew Koma writes and produces on the track. It’s a hell of a start to Duff’s much-awaited pop comeback.
Danny Brown, Stardust
The always fascinating and shape-shifting Danny Brown returns this week with new album Stardust, his delving into the world of hyperpop. Leadling lights of the scene like Jane Remover, Frost Children and underscores — the latter of whom has its own dope new release today — help Brown achieve liftoff here, as the rapper sounds perfectly at home within his glitchier (and at times house-ier) new sonic environs. Whether the start of a full new chapter for the rapper or a one-off detour, Stardust reinforces the idea that, even newly sober, Brown remains one of the most exciting and least predictable artists in hip-hop.
Gorillaz feat. Idles, “The God of Lying”
The latest from Gorillaz’ upcoming concept album The Mountain features English post-punks Idles, with frontman Joe Talbot posing a series of rhetorical questions, most likely in the mirror to himself: “Do you beg that truth will set you free?/ Are you shackled by the keys?/ Well if I was you, I’d stay strapped in/ Cause all you got is me.” The self-laceration is done on Damon Albarn Time, though, as Idles’ usual anxious guitar rave-ups are slowed and stripped here to a skipping, reggae-ish crawl, as synths squeak in the background and Albarn offers support via his forever-distant, disembodied backing vocals.
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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.
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This week: Tricks and treats from Florence + The Machine’s howling latest, an early Mother’s Day gift from Tyler, the Creator and a right-on-time R&B love song from Brent Faiyaz.
Florence + The Machine, Everybody Scream
We all scream for Florence + The Machine’s latest, an appropriately titled album for a Halloween release, certainly. The horrors here are not necessarily of the jump-scare variety, but more the realities of life as both a veteran pop-rock star not always given her due and as a woman facing double-standards in the music industry — one who recently endured a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, as she detailed in a recent Guardian profile. But regardless, Florence is no Final Girl, and Everybody Scream evinces the mighty strength she’s developed as a singer, artist and person: “Come on, come I can take it/ Gimme everything you got/ What else?” she goads in “Sympathy Magic.” Besides, as she attests in “Witch Dance,” “Your threats and your promises, they don’t scare me/ After all, there’s nobody more monstrous than me.”
Tyler, The Creator, “Mother”
Tyler, the Creator apparently considers his newly released bonus track “Mother” such an important of his CHROMAKOPIA experience that his new CHROMAKOPIA+ sticks it in the middle of the tracklist, not just at the end. A sympathetic song about his mom’s experience having him, raising him and trying to teach him life wisdom, the track even includes an interlude of said matriarch warning him not to get arrested, because she had no intent of bailing him out of jail. He also holds some grace for his father: “Father told me nothin’/ F–k it…. I hold no grudges, I heard he a fan.” The beat and the backing grunts are tense (and intense), but the electric piano is warm and tender.
Brent Faiyaz, “Have To.”
In what’s turning out to be an excellent year for crossover R&B, it’s a perfect time for the return of hitmaker Brent Faiyaz. Especially with a song this irresistible: “Have To.” is an immaculately produced love song about Faiyaz doing whatever has to do to be where he needs to be: “I’m in a race with time to get where I belong/ ‘Cause it feels so right after all these nights alone.” Sweetly urgent but never overly insistent — and winking enough to avoid any undue sweatiness, including multiple vocal tracks of a pitch-altered Faiyaz basically dueting with himself — “Have To.” is another big winner for Faiyaz.
Reneé Rapp, “Lucky”
Frisky, poppy, lightly grungy alt-rock certainly seems to be the musical sweet spot for Reneé Rapp, as evidenced first by her impressive August sophomore LP Bite Me, and now from her new song “Lucky.” Recorded for the Now You See Me: Now You Don’t soundtrack — sure — “Lucky” features Rapp bragging about her charmed life over propulsive guitars and occasional synth flares, even throwing in a little meta-nudge with the bridge’s “It’s almost like I’m Reneé.” Extra points for actually working the film’s title into the lyrics.
Sub Focus feat. Grimes, “Entwined”
Grimes ‘n’ Bass! As the wait continues for the follow-up to 2020’s Miss Anthropocene, Grimes has been busy with one-offs and collabs — most recently teaming up with the U.K. producer Sub Focus for this week’s “Entwined,” whose moaning, growling, frequently shape-shifting beat is the perfect bed for the Canadian alt-pop star to wail over. It might not be explicitly spooky-scary, but if you happen to be one song short on your Halloween playlist for this weekend, it’s unsettling and intense enough to be a fit.
Oklou, Choke Enough (Deluxe)
Speaking of Grimes — rising French electro-pop singer-songwriter Oklou arrived with heavy Claire Boucher vibes earlier this year on shimmering debut album Choke Enough. If that 13-track set understandably left you craving more, the artist born Marylou Vanina Mayniel reissues the set this week with four bonus cuts, including the previously released fka Twigs collab “Viscus,” the gorgeous synth ballad “What’s Good,” and the uncharacteristically acoustic (but still satisfyingly warped) “The Fishsong Unplugged.”
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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.
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This week: Megan Thee Stallion returns with a song for the lovers, Leon Thomas and Daniel Caesar hold it down for tactile, live-feeling R&B and Bruce Springsteen revisits the same era on record probed by a brand-new Boss biopic.
Megan Thee Stallion, “LOVER GIRL”
It’s been a relatively quiet 2025 for Megan Thee Stallion, but the rap star is back this week with the loved-up anthem “LOVER GIRL.” Riding an always-appropriate sample of ’90s R&B group Total’s swooning love song “Kissin’ You,” Megan makes plenty kissy sounds of her own, while spitting about how your guy and hers are not the same: “Your n—a fantasy/ My man reality.” It’s a little bit early for Valentine’s Day — especially for Megan donning Cupid’s bow and arrow on the single cover — but if you’re in need of a cuffing-season anthem, it might just be right on time.
Leon Thomas, Pholks
It’s already been a triumphant 2025 for Leon Thomas, with a viral NPR Tiny Desk set, a big breakout win and performance at the BET Awards, and a huge crossover hit with the Billboard Hot 100 top 20 smash “Mutt.” Now, he’s capping his year with the seven-track Pholks EP, showing off even more of what he can do — including the pinched, almost D’Angelo-esque funk of “5MoreMinutes,” the woozy, early-Tame-Impala-like psych-rock of “Trapped” and the jazzy, frenetic garage rock of “Baccarat.” Wherever the music goes, it feels like it’s just spilling out of Thomas at this point, as he sets himself further apart from the R&B pack with each new release.
Daniel Caesar, Son of Spergy
Between Thomas and Daniel Caesar, it’s a big week for lush, organic-sounding new releases from R&B singer-songwriters. Caesar’s Son of Spergy (Spergy being his father’s nickname) is his first release since 2023’s Never Enough, and ranges from the delicate, pleading soul of “Have a Baby (With Me)” to the grungy fuzz-rock of “Call on Me” to the gentle, insecure acoustic balladry of “Who Knows.” Alt-folk stalwart Bon Iver shows up to bless a couple tracks, the dreamy “Moon” and the swirling, piano-led “Sins of the Father.”
Demi Lovato, It’s Not That Deep
Coming three years after her stellar rock detour set Holy Fvck, Demi Lovato‘s latest set It’s Not That Deep doesn’t take long to establish that she’s changed direction yet again: The pulsing beat and hedonistic lyrics of “Fast” showcase her once again driving in the turbo-pop lane, and sounding like she’s having a blast doing so. This isn’t an early-’10s top 40 throwback though — the rollerskating synths and tense vocals of “Here All Night” are pure Flashdance synth-rock, while “Frequency” and “Kiss” approximate the winking sung-spoken club energy of Period-era Kesha and “Sorry to Myself” is pure cathartic, Robyn-dancefloor release.
Megan Moroney, “Beautiful Things”
Megan Moroney taking on one of the biggest pop-rock hits of the decade with her own spin on Benson Boone’s breakout smash “Beautiful Things”? Not this time: The country hitmaker wrote her acoustic ballad of the same name as a note of comfort to her newborn niece, warning her: “Lies can break a fragile heart, and doubt can crush your dreams/ But honey, just take it from me/ The world is hard on beautiful things.” But Moroney ultimately tells her on the bridge not to despair: “Shine/ It’s gonna be all right/ You’re gonna all right.” It certainly feels like a future live set staple for the rising Georgia star.
Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska ’82
If you’ve been counting the days until the release this Friday of the Jeremy Allen White-starring Bruce Springsteen quasi-biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, you likely also went straight to Nebraska ’82 on your streamer of choice today. The deluxe reissue of Springsteen’s classic stripped-down swerve features not just live and bonus tracks — including an unrecognizably barebones demo version of his later chest-beating protest song “Born in the U.S.A.” — but an entire “Electric Nebraska” disc, featuring plugged-in versions of beloved era highlights like “Atlantic City,” “Johnny 99” and another, even more electric version of “U.S.A.” The whole thing is certainly a better advertisement for the early-’80s-set Nowhere than any of the film’s actual trailers.
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.
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This week, Karol G explores Latin history, Benson Boone’s Heart beats loudly, and Cardi B is ready to take the gloves off. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Karol G, Tropicoqueta
In the lead-up to Tropicoqueta, Karol G has been candid when discussing how 2023’s smash hit Mañana Será Bonito and its coinciding world tour left her wondering what the best next step would be for her long-term future; it turns out that the answer was in the past, as Tropicoqueta reveals more of Karol’s backstory while also exploring and celebrating different strands of Latin music, creating a curious, wholly absorbing new chapter.
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Benson Boone, American Heart
If “Beautiful Things” changed the trajectory of Benson Boone’s pop career, then American Heart, his new album released more than a year after his breakthrough smash, represents the crystallization of everything we’ve learned about the backflipping, big-voiced singer-songwriter in the interim: the 10-song project is relatively short but full of theatrical spunk, as Boone prowls across each song with feeling and determination.
Cardi B, “Outside”
A long-awaited new Cardi B track titled “Outside,” released on the cusp of summer, might be perceived as a new warm-weather anthem from an artist who’s had a few of them — but the single is instead a cutthroat diss track at an estranged romantic partner, with Cardi using her clout and cunning (“Favorite player from your favorite team, he in my DMs!” she exclaims) to move on personally and artistically.
Haim, I Quit
By releasing a new album every four years, Danielle, Alana and Este Haim have been able to take their time expertly crafting the pop-rock melodies that they’ve always traded in, and the overarching themes of the full-lengths that house them. With I Quit, 2021’s masterful Women In Music Pt. III receives a follow-up full of airtight compositions, housed within a full-length statement about moving on from unnecessary details in order to appreciate our limited time on Earth.
Sombr, “We Never Dated”
“I can’t make you love me,” Sombr repeats on new single “We Never Dated,” approaching a time-honored theme in pop songwriting with Beach Boys-esque vocal harmonies and a modern sense of tenacity; with breakthrough hits “Undressed” and “Back to Friends,” the teen star was able to reinvigorate a classic alternative sound for 2025, and “We Never Dated” continues that balancing act with aplomb.
Megan Moroney, “6 Months Later”
Megan Moroney’s songwriting has rapidly sharpened over the past few years, as a line like “What doesn’t kill you calls you six months later” on her new single makes for a devastatingly funny eye-roll toward an ex — but the real attraction here is Moroney’s voice, full of weariness when recalling a breakup and packing smoky, sarcastic personality in each syllable, on a song that the rising country star soundly commands.
Fred again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax, “Victory Lap”
After playing a surprise show together in Brooklyn earlier this week, Fred again.. and Skepta have commemorated the unexpected team-up with a summer-ready single: “Victory Lap” is a restless, scorching dance cut, with the fusion of Fred and Skepta’s respective energies producing a slickly rhymed, garage-adjacent banger that does not stop moving.
Editor’s Pick: Lorde, “Hammer”
The third and final pre-release single from Lorde’s Virgin begins with what sounds like out-of-focus chatter, before the pop star’s voice barges in to provide clarity: “There’s a heat in the pavement, my mercury’s raising / Don’t know if it’s love, or if it’s ovulation.” Lorde has long been a wry, literary songwriter, and throughout “Hammer” — the album track, which she described as “an ode to city life and horniness” — she once again captures universal feelings in striking, singular fashion.
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.
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This week, Sabrina Carpenter torches a former flame, Lil Wayne continues to surprise, and Addison Rae makes a grand debut. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”
Although Sabrina Carpenter still has multiple hits from her Short n’ Sweet era hanging around radio, she’s returned more quickly than expected to eviscerate an ex: “Manchild,” which Carpenter created with her collaborative cohorts Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff, functions as a colorful, country-tinged bookend to her No. 1 hit “Please Please Please,” allowing the pop star to take down the man she begged to not embarrass her with lines like, “Why so sexy if so dumb?”
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Lil Wayne, Tha Carter VI
Hip-hop may have changed around Lil Wayne since he kicked off his mega-selling Carter series more than 20 years ago, but Weezy accounts for that evolution on Tha Carter VI — which features relatively new stars like Jelly Roll and BigXThaPlug — while also remaining a singular voice in popular music, capable of warbling a Weezer hit (“Island Holiday”), placing his voice next to Andrea Bocelli’s (“Maria”), and, of course, stringing together gonzo rhymes for minutes on end.
Addison Rae, Addison
It’s time for the doubters of Addison Rae’s musical chops to be bid adieu: on debut album Addison, the former influencer turns in a tour de force of personality and pop know-how, breathing each syllable and gliding over every synth riff with enough detail to give the listener a glimpse inside her world, and the confidence to sell her artistic vision.
Turnstile, Never Enough
Even though Turnstile represents one of the biggest hardcore breakthroughs of the past decade, their long-awaited new album Never Enough is not a hardcore project — instead, the Baltimore quintet experiment with horns, synths, song lengths and sonic textures on the follow-up to 2021’s Glow On, although the head-banging hooks remain immediate enough to satisfy longtime listeners.
Mariah Carey, “Type Dangerous”
As she’s returned to the top of the Hot 100 for multiple years in a row with her holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey has concurrently tinkered with her traditional approach to rhythmic pop, and “Type Dangerous,” a sultry new R&B single that samples Eric B. & Rakim’s “Eric B. Is President,” finds the legend continuing to innovate instead of resting on her laurels.
Ed Sheeran, “Sapphire”
Ed Sheeran continues to explore different musical cultures on “Sapphire,” a free-spirited new anthem that, like recent single “Azizam,” looks east for inspiration: with backing vocals and sitar from Indian superstar Arijit Singh, the song doubles down on the growing trend of South Asian production reaching Europe and North America, in the name of a type of love without geographical boundaries.
KATSEYE feat. Ice Spice, “Gnarly (Remix)”
KATSEYE’s recent single “Gnarly” leapt off the speakers with an irresistible audacity upon its release, and now that the song has gone viral for the global girl group, Ice Spice has gleefully hopped aboard to compare herself to LeBron James in his rookie year and sneak in some brand promotion (“No soda, the ceiling is Starry!”).
Editor’s Pick: Little Simz, Lotus
The creation of Little Simz’s excellent new album Lotus may have been tumultuous — ““I got to a point where I lost my sense of purpose,” the British rapper recently told Billboard — but the result is on par with her 2021 breakthrough Sometimes I Might Be Introvert in terms of lyrical dexterity, and with even more luxurious production — these grooves, combined with Simz’s nimble delivery, are worth sinking into for hours.
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.
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This week, Miley Cyrus finds new pop beauty, Lorde upends expectations and Tate McRae revs up for F1. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Miley Cyrus, Something Beautiful
Drawing upon classic pop influences while also letting her freak flag fly, Miley Cyrus offers a singular accomplishment on Something Beautiful — moving on from 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation, which included the biggest hit of her career in “Flowers,” with her most satisfying front-to-back listen to date, unbothered with trying to recreate radio success but still finding revealing hooks along the way.
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Lorde, “Man of the Year”
In the past, Lorde has liked to preview a new album with an uptempo lead single and a ballad-leaning follow-up — think Melodrama with “Green Light” and “Liability,” or Solar Power with the title track and “Stoned at the Nail Salon” — but “Man of the Year,” which comes after the fleet-footed “What Was That,” is actually a red herring, starting off as a sparse reflection over bass plucks but then widening its stance, and ending with a fuzzed-out boom.
Tate McRae, “Just Keep Watching”
Continuing a year in which she’s leveled up as a pop star — as well as a week where she earned her first career Hot 100 chart-topper, alongside Morgan Wallen on “What I Want” — Tate McRae hops into the F1 soundtrack mobile with “Just Keep Watching,” a fast-moving club track with the type of quick-twitch percussion that could inspire more kinetic choreography if McRae incorporates the song into her live show.
Leon Thomas, MUTT Deluxe: HEEL
“MUTT” may have marked Leon Thomas’ arrival as a compelling new voice in popular R&B, its host album of the same name was just as sumptuous as its standout hit; now, MUTT contains even more acrobatic vocal takes by Thomas on its deluxe edition, which includes team-ups with Kehlani and Big Sean, as well as engrossing new solo cuts like “HEEL” and “NOT FAIR.”
Mt. Joy, Hope We Have Fun
The 2020s have seen indie rock quintet Mt. Joy continuously graduate to bigger touring venues, culminating in a Madison Square Garden headlining gig on their last live trek — and instead of simply acting as another excuse for the group to hit the road, new album Hope We Have Fun translates the band’s live energy to the studio, with songs like “Highway Queen” and “Pink Lady” jangling forward with blissed-out style.
Clipse, “Ace Trumpets”
In the 2000s, Virginia hip-hop duo Clipse would regularly release Pharrell Williams-produced bangers that made their listeners scrunch up their noses in delight; then, Malice quit music to explore religion, and his brother Pusha T moved on to solo stardom. Now, Clipse (and Pharrell) are back, recapturing the magic on “Ace Trumpets,” the head-knocking first track from long-awaited new album, Let God Sort Em Out.
Ava Max, “Lovin Myself”
Across pop hits like “Sweet But Psycho,” “My Head & My Heart” and “Kings & Queens,” Ava Max has prioritized electro-pop fun while offering a streak of self-empowerment; new single “Lovin Myself” doubles down on the second half of that equation, with the singer declaring, “I don’t need nobody, I’m lovin’ myself!” as warm synths rain down on her voice.
Editor’s Pick: Yeule, Evangelic Girl is a Gun
If Yeule’s 2022 album Glitch Princess was their critical breakthrough, Evangelic Girl is a Gun is the first time we receive a full glimpse of the daring singer-songwriter: the hyperpop from years past has morphed into trip-hop, alt-rock and affecting balladry, but across the most vulnerable lyricism of Yeule’s career, they still toss out mesmerizing pop ideas, as their song craft serves as a foundation for their roaming spirit.
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.
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This week, Joe Jonas gives us a long-awaited solo project, Reneé Rapp returns on her own terms and Alex Warren is far from “Ordinary.” Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Joe Jonas, Music For People Who Believe in Love
Fourteen years after the last album released under his own name, Joe Jonas is a lifetime (and several new hits) removed from the rhythmic pop of 2011’s Fastlife, and that personal and artistic growth is the foundation of Music For People Who Believe in Love, an earnest and surprisingly personal pop-rock project that includes both radio fodder (“Honey Blonde,” “Work It Out”) and a few unexpected collaborations, like the touching family reflection “Hey Beautiful” with Louane and Tiny Habits.
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Reneé Rapp, “Leave Me Alone”
Even if you didn’t know that Reneé Rapp’s “Leave Me Alone” is the first taste of an upcoming sophomore album titled Bite Me, you could probably deduce that the riotous new single represents a new beginning for a singer-actress who’s found her artistic footing: “Leave Me Alone” has made headlines for the tossed-off lyric about The Sex Lives of College Girls, but the real story here is Rapp’s embrace of slightly heavy guitar-rock, with the feedback buzzing as she forgoes all pop norms.
Alex Warren with Jelly Roll, “Bloodline”
A lot is riding on “Bloodline” for Alex Warren, considering that the song is his first new music since “Ordinary” conquered the charts around the world — so to ensure that his next step forward was a successful one, the singer-songwriter tapped Jelly Roll, one of the more reliable presences in popular music, for a stomp-clap anthem with the same reassuring tone as Warren’s current smash.
Burna Boy feat. Travis Scott, “TaTaTa”
As Burna Boy preps for the July release of new album No Sign of Weakness, fans have been given a thumping new Travis Scott collaboration to kick off their summer: “TaTaTa” is all slick rhymes and layered drums, with both MCs exuding star power and playing off of the beat by using the chorus as a percussive tool rather than a catchy refrain.
Jessie Murph feat. Sexyy Red, “Blue Strips” remix
“Blue Strips” has been one of the surprise hits of the year, thanks in part to Jessie Murph’s force of personality and a killer hook; now, Sexyy Red is jumping in on the fun, with a remix that actually shortens the song’s length but makes room for the rapper to warble the chorus and drop vehicular ad-libs over the original track’s still-simmering beat.
Karol G, “Latina Foreva”
Karol G knows that summer is right around the corner, and “Latina Foreva” functions as a warm-weather banger for the ladies: the superstar’s first new single of 2025 celebrates femininity with a fierce reggaeton arrangement, as Karol sounds more than comfortable navigating the speed-ups and slowdowns of the production before letting the beat work its magic at the end of the track.
Rob49, Let Me Fly
The viral hit “WTHELLY” has earned New Orleans rapper Rob49 newfound attention in popular hip-hop after years of grinding on the edges, and Let Me Fly sounds like a well-time artistic triumph, brimming with unhinged energy from the ominous piano keys that open the 22-song project and stretched across various collaborations (Meek Mill, Fridayy, Sexyy Red and Quavo are among the guest list).
Editor’s Pick: mgk, “Cliche”
After dabbling in country-fried songwriting following his pop-punk pivot, The Artist Formerly Known as Machine Gun Kelly has located a sleek little intersection of the two sounds: “Cliché,” along with its accompanying choreo-heavy music video, is an utterly charming new chapter in mgk’s winding story, all Warped Tour-ready hooks and nervy energy aimed at those of us still blasting his Tickets to My Downfall hits on the regular.
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.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, Rihanna unveils a summer Smurf jam, Morgan Wallen pulls back the curtain and Jin continues his solo momentum. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Rihanna, “Friend of Mine”
While Rihanna is no stranger to the soundtrack single, “Friend of Mine,” from the upcoming Smurfs film, does not function like a shiny product for kid’s movie — instead, the song thumps and shimmers with club-ready propulsion, as Rihanna lets the percussion take center stage and serves up what sounds like a long-lost, long-awaited summer jam.
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Morgan Wallen, I’m the Problem
At 37 songs and nearly two hours, I’m the Problem pushes Morgan Wallen’s mega-sprawling approach to full-length projects to a new limit — but if it ain’t broke, then the decade-defining, stadium-commanding country superstar has no reason to fix it, as his latest marks another rustic, self-examining storytelling extravaganza brimming with multi-song runs to be appreciated by different types of listeners.
Jin, Echo
Six months after making his solo bow with Happy, Jin has quickly returned with Echo — but instead of feeling like a continuation of that debut project, the BTS member has already moved on to vibrant new sounds and ideas, ranging from the stately romance of opener “Don’t Say You Love Me” to the punk-inflected YENA collaboration “Loser,” the latter making good use of the cowbell.
Lola Young, “One Thing”
“Everbody wants to know ya / But me? I only want one thing,” Lola Young declares on new single “One Thing,” a slinky sex jam that showcases Young’s ability to oscillate between commanding and yearning; following the smash confessional “Messy,” the ascendant pop star wields this follow-up with hedonistic glee, as if she’s ratcheting down the stakes to have some hard-earned fun.
Avicii, Avicii Forever
Avicii’s 2018 passing still feels crushing all these years later, yet his musical legacy has remained towering in his absence; Avicii Forever — a new compilation featuring the producer’s biggest hits, essential tracks and one unreleased single, “Let’s Ride Away” featuring Elle King — underlines his sonic impact and acts as a handy first step for casual fans looking to dive deeper.
Sebastian Yatra, Milagro
The title of Sebastian Yatra’s new album, Milagro, refers to a miracle that can occur thanks to a slight change in perspective; the idea defines the follow-up to 2022’s Dharma +, as the singer-songwriter tweaks his lyrical approach to dig deeper into ideas of faith, emotional availability and communication across generations, while still providing plenty of melodic heft.
Laufey, “Tough Luck”
“I wanted to reveal an angrier side of myself — a side that this unfortunate relationship brought out in me,” Laufey says of her new single, “Tough Luck,” in a press release. To preview upcoming album A Matter of Time, the rising singer-composer lets her frustration simmer above sighing harmonies and ornate string arrangements, producing a beautifully mad opening shot.
Editor’s Pick: Rico Nasty, Lethal
After spending the majority of her career exploring the ways in which rock music can inform her hip-hop, Rico Nasty pushes toward full-throated pop-rock at times on Lethal, displaying her voice with a newfound vulnerability and expanding her aesthetic in impressive ways; considering that several songs on the new album don’t reach the two-minute mark, Lethal zips by with verve and energy, and sets up an exciting future for Rico.
