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, Young Thug takes care of Business, Peso Pluma steps fully into the spotlight, and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice reinvent a pop classic. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Young Thug, Business is Business
More than just serving as Young Thug’s follow-up to 2021’s wide-ranging Punk, Business is Business represents a show of support from the hip-hop community — as the groundbreaking MC remains incarcerated after being arrested as part of a RICO sting last year, rap’s best and brightest stop by the full-length to pay homage, with Metro Boomin executive producing and Drake, Future, 21 Savage and Lil Uzi Vert contributing guest spots. Business is Business may be a symbolic gesture featuring reanimated material more than a bold new creative endeavor, but hearing Thugger’s elastic voice stretched across an impressive new collection of beats still satisfies as a stopgap until he’s home and back in business.
Peso Pluma, Génesis
At 24 years old, Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, better known as Peso Pluma, has spent this year helping to bend the pillars of North American popular music toward his sound, as Mexican music and its decades-old hallmarks have been refurbished for a fresh generation and, from a charts perspective, have exploded well beyond the wildest expectations of the genre’s supporters. Pluma has become the de facto leader of this new school, thanks to smashes like “Ella Baila Sola,” “La Bebe” and “Por las Noches”… and the fact that none of those songs appear on the track list to his rollicking new album Génesis illustrates his confidence that his earthy instrumentation and high, prodding croon will keep spreading beyond a handful of hits.
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice with Aqua, “Barbie World”
Nicki Minaj has scored some of the biggest hits of her career while sampling classic singles like Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” and Rick James’ “Super Freak,” so when the leader of the Barbz announced that she had reworked Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” (alongside new BFF Ice Spice) for the upcoming Barbie soundtrack, the pairing made all too much sense. Yet “Barbie World” surprises with its structure: instead of letting their verses dance around Aqua’s iconic hook, Minaj and Ice Spice trade lines relentlessly for under two minutes, a giddy rap assault in which the best lines (“I’m a 10, so I pull in a Ken,” Nicki sneers) need to be run back a few times.
Kim Petras, Feed the Beast
Kim Petras boasts two distinct fan groups as she releases her long-awaited debut album: the day-one diehards who have streamed every mixtape, guest spot and themed EP, and the “Unholy” crowd, who caught wind of the pop star when her chart-topping collaboration with Sam Smith yielded a mainstream breakthrough. Both audiences will love Feed the Beast, a dance-pop opus with plenty of potential hits — the turbo-charged “King of Hearts” is going to highlight plenty of club nights this summer — as well as the type of idiosyncratic fun that Petras has specialized in since 2019’s Clarity, particularly in the sexual liberation of the album’s second half.
Portugal. The Man, Chris Black Changed My Life
The story behind Chris Black Changed My Life is crucial to fully appreciating the return of Portugal. The Man, who scored the type of crossover smash single that most bands can only daydream about with “Feel It Still” in 2017, then proceeded to have their lives upended due to professional false starts and personal trauma. While Chris Black Changed My Life is the definition of a hard-fought album — the title honors a dear friend of band leader John Gourley and his untimely passing — the full-length also isn’t overly heavy, as songs like “Grim Generation,” “Ghost Town” and lead single “Dummy” invite the type of sing-alongs that helped Portugal. The Man break through six years ago.
Bizarrap & Rauw Alejandro, “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 56”
Bizarrap has been on a tear: just three weeks after linking up with Peso Pluma for Volume 55 of his viral YouTube collaboration series, the Argentine producer has recruited Puerto Rican superstar Rauw Alejandro and quickly turned around Volume 56. The magic of the series rests in the way that Bizarrap can contort his musical foundation toward the strengths of his collaborator while also not betraying his tone; “Vol. 56” plays out like a particularly crackling Alejandro summer jam, but Bizarrap’s fingerprints are all over its shape-shifting percussion and breathless sonic flourishes, a master bringing another A-lister into his craft.
Editor’s Pick: Militarie Gun, Life Under the Gun
A string of promising EPs over the past three years suggested that, like Turnstile before them, Los Angeles quintet Militarie Gun had a shot at bringing an accessible brand of hardcore to the masses, especially if their sound could coalesce on a full-length. Life Under the Gun is exactly that album — driving and jaggedly catchy, the collection of 12 songs pummels the listener with chunky riffs and brash hooks, and Ian Shelton knows exactly how to deliver a soaring melody while also sounding like he’s about to swallow the microphone whole.
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, Doja Cat demands your “Attention,” Gunna contemplates a new reality, and Queens of the Stone roar back after too long away. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Doja Cat, “Attention”
Following a commercial run that has included a string of huge singles and an indelible mark on pop music, Doja Cat can go anywhere she wants — and on highly anticipated new single “Attention,” the multi-hyphenate flaunts her power by crashing sounds into one another and cutting off anyone trying to crash her party. After an intro that combines harp and finger-picked guitar, the melodies and rhythms of “Attention” snap into place, and Doja rattles off a pair of highly impressive rap verses; Doja had been teasing a more hip-hop-leaning project to follow 2021’s Planet Her, and here, she combines influences like Tyler, The Creator’s internal rhyming and Eminem’s wordplay into molten-lava bars about the balance of body image and artistic gravitas. “I am not afraid to finally say s–t with my chest,” Doja proclaims — a sentiment that “Attention” makes abundantly clear.
Gunna, A Gift & A Curse
In the spring of 2022, Gunna was riding high off of his DS4ever album and its standout single “Pushin P,” leading Young Stoner Life alongside Young Thug as a new hip-hop powerhouse. Soon after, YSL was the target of a sprawling RICO case, and Gunna was able to strike a plea deal last December after months behind bars — although many hip-hop fans perceived his release as an untrustworthy sign of cooperation with the authorities. Gunna unpacks his complex circumstances on the aptly named A Gift & A Curse, the formerly vibed-out rapper adopting a somber tone while reflecting on his journey and ultimately finding a semblance of peace in his craft on a compelling, guest-free project.
Queens of the Stone Age, In Times New Roman…
Six years after linking up with Mark Ronson and aiming to dance a little with 2017’s Villains, Queens of the Stone Age are back to what they do best: grand, crunchy rock, with the bluesy exterior and Josh Homme’s innate gift for hook-writing inviting a beer-hoisted boogie. In Times New Roman… follows a difficult period in Homme’s life that included a cancer diagnosis and subsequent surgery, and the painful life experiences have been mined for a batch of snarling, self-produced songs –QOTSA hasn’t sounded this invigorated since 2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze, and Homme deserves credit for guiding this return to form.
Don Omar, Forever King
Don Omar has been a reggaetón pioneer long before the sound fought its way into the U.S. mainstream, and maintained his stature during a recording break following 2019’s The Last Album. With Forever King, however, Omar visits a variety of different sounds, from mambo to tropical to urban, expanding the contours of his reggaetón aesthetic while welcoming a slew of collaborators (Residente, Wisin, Nio Garcia and Maluma among them) and asserting his dominance within Latin music as a whole. Forever King plays out like the perfect type of album from a veteran artist: tasteful experimentation abounds, with plenty for longtime fans.
Read a full review and track ranking for the new Don Omar album.
Carly Pearce feat. Chris Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Anymore”
“This song embodies a place that I think, if we are honest with ourselves, we’ve all felt at some point in a relationship,” Carly Pearce shared in a press release of her new Chris Stapleton collaboration, “We Don’t Fight Anymore.” “The distance that feels heartbreaking, yet you’re also indifferent.” Both country greats bring their A-game to this story of a relationship cold war, but Pearce and co-producers Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne nail the song’s atmosphere: an uncluttered country arrangement is marked by mournful fiddle and guitar, bubbling up as if to remind the voices of the fond memories before once again disappearing.
Asake, Work of Art
Fast-rising Nigerian artist Asake has delivered his second album, Work of Art, to lofty expectations: he’s touring North America in a few months, including a headlining show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn; collaborating with stars like Davido and Fireboy DML; and working with a handful of producers who know how to elevate artists on an international scale. Fortunately, Work of Art addresses the professional pressure with pure joy, a confident synthesis of different African music styles heavy of wide-reaching vocal harmonies and string flourishes, with a few clear hits (“Basquiat,” “Amapiano” with Olamide, “2:30”) headlining the potential breakthrough.
Editor’s Pick: Peggy Gou, “(It Goes Like) Nanana”
Need to physically shake off a long work week? “(It Goes Like) Nanana,” the first new track from dance auteur Peggy Gou in nearly two years, has arrived to inspire uninhibited movement with nods to classic house anthems, ‘90s jock jams and modern club sounds. Gou has long been capturing feelings of bliss, but “(It Goes Like) Nanana” is immediately one of the producer’s most self-contained and accessible singles to date; her first release on XL Recordings and the lead single of a long-awaited debut album, the song precedes an exciting artistic period, as well as a summer full of dance breaks.
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, The Weeknd stands alongside fellow Idols Madonna and Playboi Carti, Foo Fighters pay tribute to a fallen brother and Peso Pluma lays down a session with Bizarrap. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Peso Pluma & Bizarrap, “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 55”
Considering how their respective rises have been similarly meteoric, the pairing of Peso Pluma and Bizarrap, on the latest edition of the latter’s viral YouTube series, constitutes one of the biggest collaborations of 2023, in any genre — an unlikely proposition just a few months ago. Yet “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 55” makes the most of the ascendant Mexican artist’s increasingly ubiquitous croon and the Argentine producer’s knack for letting his collaborators shine, then swooping in with some nifty embellishments: listen to how the team-up takes off into the stratosphere when a trap beat and more production effects arrive in the song’s final minute.
The Weeknd with Playboi Carti & Madonna, “Popular”
This week, one HBO Sunday-night franchise shuts down and another opens up, as the series finale of Succession is followed by the premiere of the controversy-courting music industry drama The Idol, co-starring The Weeknd. On “Popular,” the latest track from the series’ forthcoming soundtrack, The Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carti function like Kendall, Shiv and Roman pre-boardroom drama: what looks like an odd collection of artists on paper complement each other nicely, with The Weeknd and Madonna providing pop flourishes over plinking rhythms and Carti accentuating the song with some clipped bars to polish off what could be a kicky summer song.
Foo Fighters, But Here We Are
A press release for Foo Fighters’ latest album describes But Here We Are as “hard-fought” — an understandable description, considering the shocking death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last year and the band’s decision to continue recording and touring in spite of his absence. Produced with Greg Kurstin and featuring some of Dave Grohl’s most nakedly heartfelt songwriting to date, But Here We Are finds power in grief: the 10-minute “The Teacher” towers above the rest of the album with choked-up ambition, but straightforward rockers like “The Glass,” where Growl howls “I had a vision of you, and just like that / I was left to live without it,” are just as effective.
Metro Boomin, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack
The Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack combines two successful brand names: the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse produced the No. 1 hit “Sunflower” by Swae Lee and Post Malone, while Metro Boomin, who helms the sequel soundtrack, has been scorching hot himself lately, thanks for last year’s Heroes & Villains albums and its top 10 smash “Creepin.” Like its predecessor, the Across the Spider-Verse set boasts a cavalcade of hip-hop superheroes — Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne, Offset, A$AP Rocky — but contains a greater cohesion thanks to Metro’s watchful eye; in addition to unexpected turns by James Blake and Nas on standalone tracks, we also get a pair of Swae Lee Spider-Verse curtain calls, “Calling” and “Annihilate.”
Jelly Roll, Whitsitt Chapel
Jason DeFord, better known as Jelly Roll, knows that he is an unlikely music star, to put it mildly: “It’s the f–king wildest story ever to me,” he says of his rise across multiple genre charts, after years of false starts and run-ins with the law, in the latest Billboard cover story. One listen to new album Whitsitt Chapel, however, will convince you that Jelly Roll’s stardom was preordained: nimble enough to hopscotch across sounds, clamp down on an anthem and transform his most intimate failings into universal inspiration, the singer-songwriter has translated his gifts onto a grand scale with the project, and is likely to provoke a sizable response.
Stray Kids, 5-Star
Commercial expectations are naturally high for Stray Kids’ latest project — after all, their two mini-albums from 2022, ODDINARY and MAXIDENT, both topped the Billboard 200 chart, giving the K-pop collective a place in the history books. Anticipation around 5-Star has reached a fever pitch, but if Stray Kids feel any pressure, they certainly don’t exhibit an ounce on the ultra-confident 5-Star, which once again combines pop, rap, dance and electronica into a product that caters to the group members’ individual skill sets and features some of the group’s punchiest cuts, including the wild-eyed opening shot “Hall of Fame” and the whisper-hook-laden “Super Bowl.”
It’s Friday which means we’ve got some new music! Kesha dropped two new singles, SEVENTEEN’s ‘FML’ is finally here, Jack Harlow surprised everyone with a new album called ‘Jackman’, and more! Gayle credits Taylor Swift with helping her put backlash into perspective when it comes to her success or her polarizing smash hit “abcdefu.” Doechii shared some of her Florida slang with us. And more!
