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, Pharrell and Miley conjure new (old) magic, Cardi B is not resting on her laurels, and Charli XCX wants to go back to the trucker-hat era. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Pharrell Williams feat. Miley Cyrus, “Doctor (Work It Out)”
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Whether viewed as a victory lap following her first Grammy wins or a tribute to Bangerz a little after that turning-point album’s 10th anniversary, “Doctor (Work It Out)” is the sound of Miley Cyrus strutting alongside one of her most trusted collaborators, Pharrell Williams, on a funked-up track that the pair first worked on years ago. “Doctor (Work It Out)” follows the same thread of unrepentant desire as the duo’s past hit “Come Get It Bae,” with a little more disco swagger and medical double entendres in the mix; the song could evaporate tomorrow or become a durable hit, but either way, Cyrus sounds like she’s having a great time with it.
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Cardi B, “Like What (Freestyle)”
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“Ayo, let me put some gas in this motherf–kin’ year,” Cardi B sneers to begin “Like What (Freestyle),” the rap superstar’s first solo track in multiple years that serves as a ripcord to fire up her rumbling, singular flow. “Like What” takes aim at Cardi’s enemies and haters over a sample of Missy Elliott’s 1999 classic “She’s a Bitch,” but the takedowns are simply ingredients in a delicious return to form for Cardi, who doubles down on similes and tosses out stunners like Stone Cold Steve Austin — before actually referencing him on a hilarious, X-rated rhyme.
Charli XCX, “Von Dutch”
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Although Charli XCX has explored a variety of pop aesthetics and release models over the course of her decade-plus career, the prospect of upcoming album Brat brimming with propulsive, laser-light club fare like the smashing new single “Von Dutch” should excite both casual listeners and longtime supporters. Charli locks in on the woozy production and guides the track towards the inevitable bass drops, never letting up as her voice circles in and out of focus; like the titular trucker hat, “Von Dutch” is designed to evoke bleary-eyed mid-‘00s nights out, and hits its target in thrilling fashion.
ScHoolboy Q, Blue Lips
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Five years can represent an eternity in modern hip-hop, but for ScHoolboy Q, the follow-up to 2019’s CrasH Talk finds the TDE stalwart inhabiting his longtime pocket — telling hard truths over left-of-center beats — while also evolving as a lyricist, especially when focusing on parenthood and his concerns of the future. Blue Lips is not designed as a mainstream crossover (the bugged-out, menacing “Pop,” featuring Rico Nasty, makes that plain), but ScHoolboy Q has a loyal following that’s been waiting for another opus, and Blue Lips rewards them handsomely.
Galantis, David Guetta & 5 Seconds of Summer, “Lighter”
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What a road 5 Seconds of Summer has traveled: after earning fame and fortune as new-school pop-punks and One Direction’s brattier (and often thrilling) opening acts, 5SOS has grown into an expansive rock outfit that’s capable of highlighting a throwback dance cut like this Galantis and David Guetta team-up. “Lighter” trades in mid-2010s euphoria, back when hits by Zedd and Clean Bandit were all over top 40 radio, but 5SOS is the wild card that prevents the track from sounding like a re-tread.
Editor’s Pick: Yard Act, Where’s My Utopia?
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Where’s My Utopia? is the sound of a rock band leveling up: Leeds post-punk group Yard Act impressed on their 2022 debut The Overload, but the collective’s sophomore album sharpens their sardonic approach without abandon, as if every inch of the quartet has become more fearless over the past two years. “Dream Job” is an obvious highlight with its call-and-response dance-punk, but “The Undertow,” “An Illusion” and “We Make Hits” all showcase a band worth investing in long-term.
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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See latest videos, charts and news
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This week, SZA makes her return to “Saturn,” Selena Gomez is living her happily ever after, and Justin Timberlake has one ready for longtime fans. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
SZA, “Saturn”
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First previewed in a commercial that aired during a Grammys ceremony where SZA took home three trophies, new single “Saturn” exists in conversation with the blockbuster R&B formula of her 2022 album SOS while also peering ahead into a daring artist’s unwritten future. SZA spends the song searching for answers, creeping in front of the slower tempo and trying to get ahead of karma: “If there’s a point to being good / Then where’s my reward?” she wonders. Considering the fact that SOS arrived five-and-a-half years after SZA’s previous album, “Saturn” should be treated as a sumptuous gift from an artist who isn’t in the habit of tossing out any old single.
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Selena Gomez, “Love On”
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Selena Gomez has released love songs before, but she’s never sounded quite as giddy as she does on new single “Love On”: around its radio-friendly chorus, the pop star plays a clip of French dialogue, shrugs off steak tartare for a makeout session, and explains, “This doesn’t have to be some sort of mathematical equation / Slip off your jeans, slide in the sheets, screaming ‘yes’ in quotations.” Although listeners will undoubtedly connect the release of “Love On” to Gomez’s budding romance with super-producer Benny Blanco, the song harnesses Gomez’s veteran pop instincts and pushes them into a euphoric new direction.
Justin Timberlake, “Drown”
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There is no signature Justin Timberlake sound, considering all of the iterations of the pop star’s career — yet fans of the mid-‘00s rhythmic pop classics that kicked off his solo career should heartily embrace “Drown,” the latest offering from his upcoming album Everything I Thought It Was. Over blinking beats and streamlined synthesizer, Timberlake revels in his hurt and morphs his pain into chewable hooks; the switched-up outro, in which the a drums-heavy deconstruction captures JT’s emotional breakdown, acts as a final nod to those multi-part Futuresex/LoveSounds hits.
TWICE, With YOU-th
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It’s lucky number 13 for TWICE, as the best-selling K-pop group has now reached a baker’s dozen worth of mini-albums but has not stopped developing its winning approach. The six songs of With YOU-th roll through a handful of energetic synth-pop productions without ever sounding trite or tired; “One Spark” is an easy highlight, full of shuffling beats and vocal wonder, but don’t sleep on project finale “You Get Me,” with production that stacks higher as the TWICE members express fizzy enchantment.
MGK, “Don’t Let Me Go”
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During his rap ascent and exploration of pop-punk, Machine Gun Kelly always kept his personal trials and tribulations easily identifiable, but new single “Don’t Let Me Go” may be one of the most personal compositions of his career: following a somber piano intro, MGK (who has seemingly formalized his nickname as his official artist name) sings and raps about heartbreak, family abandonment and violence, identity crises and, most crushingly, the loss of a child. Regardless of where you stand with his various sounds and styles, “Don’t Let Me Go” makes for a deeply affecting check-in.
Editor’s Pick: Bleachers, “Me Before You”
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The strongest track yet released from Bleachers’ upcoming self-titled studio album, “Me Before You” whittles down the big-band excitement of Jack Antonoff’s outfit and creates a lush, intimate portrayal of an incomplete life before a partner was found. Multiple voices and instruments Antonoff’s open-hearted ode, with the saxophone blasts that have highlighted recent Bleachers singles turned into wandering thoughts and feelings; soon enough, the song collapses into a warm puddle of guitar, capturing a feeling of exhausted contentment.
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, Ariana Grande rings up another vocal powerhouse, Vampire Weekend make their long-awaited return and Dua Lipa is done with exhibition games. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Ariana Grande with Mariah Carey, “yes, and?” Remix
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Pairing Ariana Grande with Mariah Carey was always going to lead to vocal fireworks — and, yes, the new remix to Grande’s latest No. 1 hit “yes, and?” featuring Carey does boast some absolutely scorching high-register work from both. Yet the true beauty of this new team-up exists in the superstars combining their respective ferocities, and injecting this ode to minding your own business with even more full-hearted passion. The chills-inducing moment here is when Carey barges in on the second verse with “Now, I’m so done with sharing”; she sounds phenomenal, but her personality is even more commanding than her voice.
Vampire Weekend, “Capricorn” / “Gen-X Cops”
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In the hours since the release of Vampire Weekend’s first new music in nearly half a decade, a general consensus seems to have congealed around twin singles “Capricorn” and “Gen-X Cops” online: if you didn’t like the band’s last album, 2019’s Father of the Bride, you’re probably going to like these songs. That’s because, unlike the pop immediacy of a track like “Harmony Hall,” the wistful “Capricorn” and the frenetic “Gen-X Cops” recall the playful experimentation of the band’s 2013 classic Modern Vampires of the City, although Ezra Koenig’s gentle delivery always bridges the gap between different factions of Vampire Weekend fans.
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Jennifer Lopez, This Is Me… Now
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Although Jennifer Lopez’s new album title suggests a direct follow-up to her 2002 full-length This Is Me… Then, the fact that This Is Me… Now marks the multi-hyphenate’s first album in a decade — the longest recording gap of her illustrious career — also makes this new album (and its accompanying documentary film) a check-in on a superstar’s modern reality. While both projects are positioned as intimate profiles (the song “Dear Ben, Pt. II” is certainly fodder for celeb obsessives), This Is Me… Now also works as a sturdy pop album, with Lopez’s Anuel AA team-up “Rebound” sounding like the most surefire potential hit.
Dua Lipa, “Training Season”
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Dua Lipa is ready to move on to the romantic regular season on her new disco-pop track, which harnesses the energy and attitude of previous single “Houdini” and adds a self-exploratory element to the dumb-guys kiss-off. Musically, “Training Season” features Lipa’s strongest instincts — fans of “Physical,” the laser-focused workout from Future Nostalgia, should wrap their arms around this one — but also showcases her personal evolution, singing as a former teen star who has grown into adulthood and knows precisely what she wants.
Yeat, 2093
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After scoring the biggest chart hit of his career last year with “IDGAF,” one of the most enduring smashes from Drake’s For All The Dogs, Yeat conceivably could have stuffed his own project with tons of star power — and while 2093 does feature drop-by verses from Future and Lil Wayne, the 70-minute, dystopia-themed epic is largely a solo project, full of pitch-black menace and yelped hooks. Yeat’s world has expanded as he ascended the ranks of popular hip-hop, and 2093 should keep his upward trajectory steady.
Editor’s Pick: Karol G with Tiësto, “Contigo”
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If the chorus of Karol G’s new collaboration with Tiësto sounds familiar, that’s because the Colombian superstar and Dutch producer have reshaped the Leona Lewis pop classic “Bleeding Love” into a Spanish-language dance track, complete with a chirping post-chorus and some surprising vulnerability from Karol on the verses. “Contigo” may be built around an interpolation, but Karol and Tiësto have fashioned something new and exciting, as well as a bid for top 40 placement in the United States.
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, Usher heads home before heading to the stadium, Kacey Musgraves digs deeper and Noah Kahan puts a bow on stick season. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Usher, Coming Home
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All eyes will be on Usher on Sunday night, when the veteran hitmaker takes the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas, and undoubtedly he’ll be unfurling several of the smashes from across his discography. Yet if you’re pre-gaming with “Yeah!,” “U Remind Me” and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love,” be sure to make some time for his excellent new studio set Coming Home, which crystallizes his popular R&B approach and adds new layers — from the sumptuous hit “Good Good” with Summer Walker and 21 Savage to the booming braggadocio of “Cold Blooded” to the Afrobeats-adjacent warmth of “Ruin” — making for Usher’s best album since 2012’s Looking 4 Myself.
Kacey Musgraves, “Deeper Well”
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“Deeper Well,” the first taste of Kacey Musgraves’ highly anticipated fifth studio album of the same name, may be lyrically preoccupied with dark energy, changes inspired by a return of Saturn and misconceptions of the world, yet Musgraves operates with calm, pillowy purpose, the finger-picked guitar guiding the country star towards the answers she craves. At the heart of a song about experiencing maturation and accepting transition is an artist worth evolving with, and on Deeper Well, it’ll be fascinating to hear where she grows next.
Noah Kahan, “Forever”
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Stick Season was a breakthrough period for Noah Kahan, who most recent studio album was buoyed by deluxe editions and new songs that helped the singer-songwriter score a best new artist Grammy and book arena dates. Stick Season (Forever) will be the final iteration of the project, and in addition to new collaborations with Brandi Carlile and Gregory Alan Isakov, the expanded set features “Forever,” a tender new folk anthem that marries Bon Iver-esque falsetto yearning with the declarative songwriting that highlighted Kahan’s hit “Stick Season” and “Dial Drunk.”
Maggie Rogers, “Don’t Forget Me”
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“I wanted to make an album that sounded like a Sunday afternoon,” Maggie Rogers explains in a new letter to fans previewing her third album, Don’t Forget Me. While the rest of the full-length arrives in April, its lovely title track does indeed possess a coziness that still provokes a mid-day sing-along: Rogers’ storytelling winds through the song’s mix of guitar and piano before her voice doubles and soars on the hook, resulting in a track that sounds both fresh and like the return of an old friend.
Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton, “Purple Irises”
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Before Gwen Stefani reunites with No Doubt at Coachella this spring, she’ll trot out “Purple Irises,” a new country-pop duet with her beau Blake Shelton at a Super Bowl tailgate performance this weekend; such is the duality of the pop star, who can return to her earliest hits while also sounding far removed from them on this swaying love song. “It’s not 1999, but this face is still mine / The way you look at me, I swear my heart hits rewind,” she sings, before Shelton’s burly delivery arrives and forms an equilibrium on the track.
Editor’s Pick: Madi Diaz, Weird Faith
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Madi Diaz is barreling toward stardom after a long build-up — the Nashville singer-songwriter got tapped to open for Harry Styles’ tour, then join his live band, following the release of her fifth album — but Weird Faith, her first album since gaining a slew of new fans, exceeds any new hype she’s gathered, as a collection of complex love songs that’s often breathtaking in its artistic clarity. Diaz knows exactly how to approach stunners like “Same Risk” and the Kacey Musgraves duet “Don’t Do Me Good,” allowing her emotions to patiently expand until they knock the listener over.
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, Billy Joel makes his grand return, Don Toliver gets into psych-rock and TWICE keep the energy high. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
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The first new Billy Joel single in decades arrives with uneven mix of anticipation and expectation — after all, the fact that “Turn the Lights Back On” exists at all marks a breathlessly exciting new development for a legendary artist, regardless of its quality. What a lovely discovery, then, that “Turn the Lights Back On” is both gorgeously rendered and a deeply felt personal check-in from Joel, who sounds like the same soulful storyteller he’s always been: “I’m late, but I’m here right now,” he sings, “though I used to be romantic, I forgot somehow.” For both decades-long fans and a new generation of listeners, “Turn the Lights Back On” stands tall as a meaningful new moment.
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Although Don Toliver’s 2023 album Love Sick included guests like Justin Bieber, Future, Lil Durk and his partner Kali Uchis, new single “Bandit” features Tame Impala in sample form, as the 2020 track “One More Hour” turns into the backbone of a widescreen chest-thumping to kick off the new year. Toliver has never sounded more confident as he does spitting rhymes and hitting his falsetto over the stadium-rock guitar squeals, and “Bandit” becomes the rare sample-heavy track to both stand on its own merits and accentuate the high points of its source material.
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As we enter February, New Year’s fitness resolutions may have started to fall by the wayside — but here comes K-pop titans TWICE to motivate you anew with their propulsive, dizzyingly fun new single. “I Got You,” the latest track from upcoming mini-album WITH YOU-th, builds upon the success of the group’s previous English-language singles by highlighting the collective’s melodic strengths and doubling down on the snappiest parts of the synth-pop production, creating a flash point that could cross over to U.S. platforms in a big way.
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Next week is showtime for Usher, with new album Coming Home due out next Friday (Feb. 9) and a little performance called the Super Bowl halftime show two days later, but before his latest full-length and the biggest performance of his career are unveiled, the suave, sumptuous new track “Ruin” serves as a final preview of what sounds like a return to form. Rising Nigerian artist Pheelz lends a nifty assist over the dimly lit, Afrobeat-adjacent rhythms, but “Ruin” demonstrates Ursh pushing himself as a veteran artist, all while his silky-smooth appeal hasn’t dulled one bit.
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“Straight Line” was “born of wanting to break out of routine and feeling like somewhere along the line, life lost some color and excitement,” Keith Urban explains in a press release; indeed, the first track released from Urban’s next studio album takes the country veteran’s time-honored formula and injects some adrenaline, with a driving tempo and some choice wooooooo-hoo’s in the post-chorus. While “Straight Line” will no doubt soundtrack some boisterous sing-alongs during Urban’s next tour, the song also bodes well for the follow-up to 2020’s The Speed of Now Part 1.
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New music from Burial — one of the most influential and enigmatic producers of the 21st century — is always a gift, considering how sporadic his releases have been over the past decade, but “Dreamfear/Boy Sent From Above” feels particularly special, as a 25-minute double single that’s at once mysterious and intoxicating. Longtime Untrue fans will gravitate towards the ghostly vocals and shuffling beats, but proponents of Burial’s more abstract recent work should embrace the sprawl here, too.
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, Justin Timberlake returns still looking out for number one, Ice Spice gets lightly scatological and Megan Thee Stallion becomes Megan Thee Rattlesnake for one particularly venomous diss track. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Justin Timberlake, “Selfish”
It hasn’t been the easiest half-decade of Justin Timberlake’s career, following 2018’s poorly received Man of the Woods album and some very public relitigation of his old behavior in his personal relationship with Britney Spears and professional relationship with Janet Jackson. But with a catalog and legacy like he has, a new Timberlake project is still going to command some degree of attention — and we’ll see just how much with the release of “Selfish,” single from his upcoming Everything I Thought It Was album. Despite the title, the song is actually much more unassuming than his usual lead singles: a honeyed, ornately produced mid-tempo ballad built on warmly groaning organs and a bossa nova drum machine. “If I get jealous, I can’t help it/ I want every bit of you, I guess I’m selfish,” JT sings on the chorus — not exactly a brand-new sentiment, but one sweet enough to really get up much hate for.
Megan Thee Stallion, “Hiss”
The song that your entire social media feed is buzzing — fine, hissing — about this morning is almost certainly Megan Thee Stallion’s take-no-prisoners latest. “I just wanna kick this s–t off by saying f–k y’all,” Megan proclaims to begin “Hiss.” “I’m finna get this s–t of my chest and lay it to rest.” Megan then spends the next three minutes spitting venomous bars against her haters and rivals, including rhymes about BBLs and Megan’s Law, which have been largely interpreted by fans online to be about Drake and Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty, respectively. (Nicki Minaj seemingly responded on IG Live this morning with bars of her own.) Regardless of intended targets, though, the song contains some of the fieriest rapping of Megan’s career, and seems likely to recenter her in the hip-hop conversation for early 2024.
Ice Spice, “Think U the Shit (Fart)”
Ice Spice basically dominated 2023 from January on, so it’s not shocking she’d try to get in early on 2024 as well. “Think” is a bit of a left turn for her — go-to producer RIOTUSA replaces her usual drill beats and pop-leaning hooks with Jersey Club thumps and bleating synths, sounding like a cousin of 41’s underground smash “Bent” from last year. Ice’s vocals put a lot of stock in the questionable chorus rejoinder, “Think you the s–t?/ You not even a fart,” but goes a little harder on the verses, spitting, “I’m a pretty b–ch, I don’t like fightin’/ On the beat, I’m goin’ Super Saiyan.” We’ll see if it’s enough to keep her 2023-long hot streak on the charts cooking into 2024.
Lil Nas X, “Where Do We Go Now?”
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, the first full-length documentary about Lil Nas X, debuts on MAX this Saturday (Jan. 27). We wrote about our biggest takeaways from the doc here, but while fans wait to get their first look at the doc, Lil Nas has gifted them with another new song (following “J Christ” from two weeks ago): “Where Do We Go Now?” The pop-rock power ballad is written with and produced by LNX’s star’s go-to collaborators, Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi, and feels like very natural new sonic and thematic territory for the genre-blending star, as he pleads “I just wanna be somebody new inside” over tender guitars and racing drums.
Morgan Wallen, “Spin You Around (1/24)”
Call it a Morgan’s Version: Country superstar Morgan Wallen announced last night on social media that he would be releasing a new version of his 2015 early-career recording “Spin You Around” this Friday. Why now? Because it’s not the only new release you’ll see posted on his artist page this morning: Stand Alone, parent EP to “Spin You Around,” has also been re-released in a 13-track “10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition” (despite having come out nine years ago), featuring eight previously unreleased songs — all against Wallen’s wishes. “I cringe when I listen to these songs & I’m very concerned my fans may mistakenly believe this is a new release by me,” he explained.
So to hopefully direct fans away from the unapproved new re-release, he’s re-recorded the fan favorite as a stripped-down acoustic ballad, subtitled with today’s date and given the cover-art note “had to leave the duck woods to make this.” It’s a lovely new version of the love song — which despite its rough-draft quality, does sound decently in line with more recent Wallen recordings — and it wouldn’t be shocking to see it become a new-old hit for Wallen, much like some of those Taylor’s Versions have the past couple years.
The Smile, Wall of Eyes
Apart from the huge pop, rap and country releases of this Friday, there’s also the less-top-40-friendly (but equally anticipated in some corners) new sophomore album from rock supergroup The Smile, led by Radiohead duo Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. The eight-track new set features more blends of knotty art-rock melodies, psychedelic instrumental flourishes, Krautrock grooves and alt-funk jams, and has already attracted some of the early year’s strongest critical notices, including a Best New Music designation in Pitchfork.
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, Green Day returns to save something (rock and roll perhaps?), Nicki Minaj and Future reach for the remote together and Jack Antonoff scores an alt-rock ballet for his new bride. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Green Day, Saviors
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The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers’ first album since 2020’s Father of All Motherf–kers sees the trio reuniting with Rob Cavallo — producer behind most of the group’s classic albums, from 1994’s Dookie to 2004’s American Idiot — for the first time since 2012’s ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! trilogy. Cavallo helps Green Day discover some of their size and scope after a few more back-to-basics albums, giving Saviors a feel reminiscent of their mid-’00s blockbusters. Whether the singles will ultimately measure up to skyscraping rock radio smashes like “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “21 Guns” remains to be seen, but lead single (and album opener) “The American Dream Is Killing Me” is certainly off to a good start, having spent seven weeks atop Billboard‘s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart.
Nicki Minaj feat. Future, “Press Play”
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The latest edition of Nicki Minaj‘s Billboard 200-topping 2023 album Pink Friday 2 is titled the “Pluto Edition” — so you could probably guess who is featured on the edition’s lone new bonus track. “Press Play” indeed features Future, who already appeared on original album highlight “Nicki Hendrix,” and leads off here with the song’s quickly undeniable hook: “Press play, lil’ booty b–ch/ Press play, big booty b–ch.” He and Minaj then trade too-cold bars over an ATL Jacob beat of racing piano and wobbly bass, with the latter even giving yours truly a namecheck: “Top of every list including your man bucket/ Been on the chart so long, I told Billboard to dust it.”
Bleachers, “Tiny Moves”
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After another year of big moves as a writer/producer — including work on Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. album and its signature single “A&W,” which earned him nominations for both album and song of the year at the upcoming Grammys — Jack Antonoff is back in his main gig in 2024 as frontman for alt-rock hitmakers Bleachers. “Tiny Moves” is a typically rousing rave-up from the New Jersey outfit, but with strings driving the action more than the group’s typical combination of guitars and synths, giving extra drama and tension to lyrics like “The tiniest moves you make/ The whole d–n world shakes.” Margaret Qualley, Emmy-nominated actress and Antonoff’s wife, choreographed, directed and dances solo (with Antonoff watching nearby from the hood of his car) in the song’s music video.
Mumford & Sons & Pharrell Williams, “Good People”
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Legendary hip-hop, R&B and pop producer (and occasional solo star) Pharrell Williams as one of the Sons in alt-folk arena-dwellers Mumford & Sons? Doesn’t sound like the most obvious fit, but Pharrell’s never been afraid to branch out into new genre territory — he did an entire mini-album with country group Little Big Town in the mid-10s — and so he meets the retro stompers here on their own ground, adding his piercing “welcome to the revelation” backing vocals to the rise-up lyrics and giving the group’s clomping beat a little extra thump. Won’t be as big as “I Will Wait” or “Happy,” most likely, but an interesting new chapter in both artists’ storied careers.
Norah Jones, “Running”
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Two decades after Norah Jones became one of the few artists in musical history to sell a million copies in a week with her 2004 album Feels Like Home — follow-up, of course, to her diamond-certified breakthrough set Come Away With Me — she’s back with the new single “Running.” The first taste from upcoming ninth album Visions, due in March, the song features Jones lamenting her perpetual state of commitment panic over sympathetic production from Leon Michels, accurately summarized by Jones in a press release as “kind of garage-y, but also kind of soulful.” She may not do the blockbuster numbers she did in the early ’00s, but Jones’ music just keeps getting better.
Kygo & Ava Max, “Whatever”
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Extensively teased by both artists in the weeks leading up to its release, tropical house producer Kygo and pop hitmaker Ava Max are the latest duo to try to replicate David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good” formula of building an undeniable club smash around a massive, can’t-miss turn-of-the-century interpolation. In this case, the throwback smash being lifted is Shakira’s English-language breakout single “Whenever, Wherever,” which indeed does give a rush to the song’s breakup-themed chorus. Wouldn’t be shocking if it heated up the top 40 airwaves this winter, though you may end up just wanting to listen to the classic original instead. (Guetta is also back with an interpolation single of his own this week, spinning off Cathy Dennis’ 1991 chartbuster “Touch Me (All Night Long)” for his Kungs and Izzy Bizu collab “All Night Long.”)
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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See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week, Ariana Grande tries her hand at improv, Lil Nas X tempts blasphemy (again), 21 Savage celebrates his permanent stateside citizenship and more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Ariana Grande, “Yes, And?”
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Likely the most anticipated new song of the young year, Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” announces the return of one of pop’s great stars of the past decade-plus with authority. Rumors that the single would interpolate Madonna’s “Vogue” turned out to be unfounded, but it does flash back to the house-pop sound of the early ’90s, maybe a little closer to George Michael’s “Too Funky” than Madge’s celebratory classic. In any event, it’s a triumphant-sounding, attitude-spitting comeback — like a half-decade-later “No Tears Left to Cry,” with Grande no longer in a state of total crisis and really learning to live life in full again.
Lil Nas X, “J Christ”
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Three years after first baiting fundamentalists with his devil-lapdancing video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X is back to poke the bear again with new single and visual “J Christ” (as in, “b–ch, I’m back like J Christ”). The song features LNX talking his s–t over a Tay-Keith-like pounding-piano beat from go-to producers Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi (as well as edgy EDM producer Gesaffelstein), while the clip sees him playing Jesus on the cross and an angel hooping against the devil, among other things. “Is he ’bout to give ’em something viral?” he asks rhetorically on the chorus. Seems likely!
21 Savage, American Dream
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After sending the internet into a fury this week with an apparent trailer for an upcoming biopic — with Donald Glover and Stranger Things‘ Caleb McLauhglin splitting the lead role — 21 Savage has returned, not with a new movie as thought, but with the new album American Dream. The 15-track set is both his first solo LP since 2018’s I Am > I Was and his first since officially becoming an American citizen in 2023. It feels appropriately exultant as a result, with big-name guests like Doja Cat, Travis Scott, Summer Walker and of course longtime producer collaborator Metro Boomin helping an in-control Savage commemorate his living the titular aspiration over sun-baked and soulful beats.
Jeymes Samuel, Jay-Z & D’Angelo, “I Want You Forever”
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We’re pretty lucky to get one song a year from either Jay-Z or D’Angelo at this point, so to get one with both of them feels like Halley’s Comet. Their new teamup “I Want You Forever” is also a collab with musician and filmmaker Jeymes Samuel, recorded for the soundtrack to his new movie The Book of Clarence. The nine-plus-minute psych-funk groove is one of the least-pop things either artist has ever been involved with — Andre 3000 will undoubtedly tip his flute to the duo if and when he listens — but there’s something undeniably hypnotic about the way the song builds over its extensive runtime, sending D’Angelo in particular into orbit with his rapturous layered vocals.
Jennifer Lopez, “Can’t Get Enough”
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Sorta crazy to believe, but it’s actually been longer since we got a proper solo album from Jennifer Lopez than from D’Angelo. Her upcoming This Is Me… Now LP — spiritual sequel to 2002’s This Is Me… Then — will be her first since 2014’s A.K.A., and is led by the blissed-out dancefloor bump of lead single “Can’t Get Enough.” “You got my engine runnin’/ You got the keys to turn me on and on,” J. Lo testifies over Rick James-worthy bass and flute, before dipping into the chorus hook of Alton Ellis’ ’60s reggae classic “I’m Still in Love With You” — borrowed dozens of times before in pop history (from Althea & Donna to Sean Paul & Sasha) and still a winner every time.
Kali Uchis, ORQUÍDEAS
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It’s been quite a week for Kali Uchis, as the release of her fourth album ORQUÍDEAS is only the second-biggest headline for her early January: the alt-R&B star also announced that she was expecting her first child with hip-hop hitmaker Don Toliver. The LP alone should be more than enough reason for Uchis’ name to be on everyone’s lips this week, however. Her second predominantly Spanish-language set is an enthralling collection that proves the signer-songwriter to be at the vanguard of forward-thinking (and forward-moving) pop and R&B, with valuable assists from big-name guests like Rauw Alejandro, Karol G and even a thrillingly out-of-his-element Peso Pluma on discofied likely smash “Igual Que Un Ángel.”
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, Lewis Capaldi returns to his sweet spot, Gabby Barrett gives a loved one a Lone Star State-sized compliment and The Game links up with a star father-and-son team. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Lewis Capaldi, “Strangers”
If the Lewis Capaldi of “Forget Me” — lead single from last year’s Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent album — was just a little too upbeat for you, then you’ll be heartened by the sounds of his new song “Strangers.” Yes, Capaldi is back to the big balladry of breakout hit “Someone You Loved,” with the same vocally strained heartbreak in the chorus that fans fell in love with at the turn of the decade. A new wrinkle to this one, though: Capaldi sings of he and his now-gone beloved initially bonding over their shared hatred of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” (“You say you hate this song… my dear, you’re not the only one”), an insult likely to reignite Capaldi’s long-simmering feud with the Brothers Gallagher.
The Game & Big Hit, Paisley Dreams
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On New Year’s Day, West Coast rap fixture The Game dropped the nine-track project Paisley Dreams alongside veteran MC Big Hit — who released his first album The Truth Is in My Eyes last year while in his 50s, having spent much of his adult life in prison. The tight, smartly structured project has a similar energy and focus to Nas and Hit-Boy’s recent full-length team-ups — Game’s voice even sounds like God’s Son on a couple tracks — which makes sense, given that Big Hit is Hit-Boy’s father, with the latter artist even showing up as a producer on set highlight “P Fiction.”
Gabby Barrett, “You’re My Texas”
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Country hitmaker Gabby Barrett may be born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, but it’s Texas that feels like home to her in this sweet new ballad. Throughout the song, she compares her man to the Lone Star State, calling him “my home away from home/ You’re blue bonnets growin’ wild/ Boy, no matter where I roam/ You’re my Nacogdoches sky.” No telling how Steelers country might feel about the relocation, but in the land of the Cowboys, there’s sure to be a lot of young couples swooning to this one throughout 2024.
The Last Dinner Party, “Caesar on a TV Screen”
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British quintet The Last Dinner Party scored one of the breakout alt-rock hits of 2023 with the scorching “Nothing Matters,” generating a lot of buzz and anticipation for full-length debut Prelude to Ecstasy, due out in February. Before that, though, the group releases the stirring “Caesar on a TV Screen,” with lead singer Abigail Morris perhaps getting ahead of the album’s inevitable press avalanche by poking fun at her own delusions of grandeur: “I am Caesar on a TV screen/ Champion of my fate/ No one can tell me to stop/ I’ll have everything I want/ Anyone and everyone will like me then/ Everyone will love me.”
Liam Gallagher & John Squire, “Just Another Rainbow”
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Speaking of the Gallaghers: One of them is back with a new release this week, with a particularly esteemed Mancunian collaborator in tow. Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has teamed up with guitarist John Squire of The Stone Roses, the Manchester greats who never quite crossed over to the U.S. mainstream but paved the way for the U.K.’s ’90s Britpop explosion with their attitude-driven psych-pop gems. The duo’s first release “Just Another Rainbow” might not quite be on the timeless level of “I Wanna Be Adored” or “Live Forever,” but it rocks familiarly enough to satisfy fans of the retro twosome — especially when Squire’s soloing goes into near-“I Am the Resurrection” overdrive at song’s end.
Green Day, “One Eyed Bastard”
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And if you prefer your ’90s alternative heroes to hail from this side of the pond, there’s always pop-punk paragons Green Day, still going strong 30 years after Diamond-certified breakout album Dookie. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trio is set to release their 14th studio album Saviors in two weeks, and this week they release another new taste from the set with “One Eyed Bastard,” a hard-earned winners’ anthem for the stadium-touring group who’s outlived nearly all their onetime peers: “I never asked to hear your god-d–ned feelings/ Get on your knees when you are kissing my ring.”
It’s Friday, Dec. 22, and we’re breaking down the biggest music drops of the week! Tetris Kelly:This week’s got a lot of rap, some club beats and a bunch of K-pop. It’s Dec. 22, and we’re kicking this Friday Music Guide off with my BTS boy, Jimin. Jimin gave his fans a parting gift as […]
