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, *NSYNC sounds “Better” together, Ed Sheeran bundles up for fall, and Bad Bunny drops a hint of what’s to come. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
*NSYNC, “Better Place”
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“I’m already up, but you lift me higher,” Justin Timberlake sings in the opening seconds of “Better Place,” the first new song from *NSYNC in over 20 years. The quintet is singing about a euphoric relationship, but that line might as well be about the long-awaited boy band reunion: “Better Place,” which will be featured in Trolls Band Together, translates Timberlake’s solo success with his previous single entries from the Trolls films and raises the stakes, as *NSYNC shimmy through whistle hooks and “Yoo-hoo’s!” like they’ve been waiting for this day for a while (and they’re not alone in that).
Ed Sheeran, Autumn Variations
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Prior to releasing Autumn Variations, his second full-length of 2023, Ed Sheeran spent the year unveiling – (Subtract), an intimate and often devastating exploration of grief and fear, and performing at stadiums while often alone onstage. As he wraps up that mega-selling tour and waves goodbye to his “Mathematics” album series, Sheeran spins that moment of transition into Autumn Variations, a lovely and understated collection that puts his songwriting front and center; credit Aaron Dessner, who helped guide Sheeran’s previous album, for finding new ways to transport his voice into rustic, fall-friendly arrangements.
Bad Bunny, “Un Preview”
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After a record-breaking 2022, Bad Bunny’s studio output this year has been relatively limited, with a handful of solo tracks and collaborations — but perhaps new single “Un Preview” is exactly that of a potentially huge 2024? Regardless of its context within Bad Bunny’s greater discography, “Un Preview” crackles, with the superstar rapping with conviction over a reggaeton beat and deploying pinpoint melodies when necessary; had this been released in May, the single may have ruled the summer, but Bad Bunny has instead given us an enticing glimpse at next year’s output.
Jung Kook feat. Jack Harlow, “3D”
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“3D” will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Jung Kook’s “Seven” — considering that the previous single reached the top of the Hot 100 chart, and also featured a hip-hop collaborator — but whereas the Latto team-up leaned into pop immediacy, “3D,” with Jack Harlow, presents itself as a rhythmic dance track that would have sounded at home on Justin Timberlake’s Justified album. Jung Kook’s confidence as a solo star continues to grow, while Harlow rides the sleek production with tossed-off charm: “I’m on my Jung Kook,” he crows, “take a chick off one look!”
The Rolling Stones feat. Lady Gaga & Stevie Wonder, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”
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A seven-minute hymn from The Rolling Stones, featuring a soul-baring performance from Mick Jagger, powerhouse vocals from Lady Gaga and keys from Stevie Wonder? “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” feels designed in a lab for some all-star awards show performance, but instead, the track from the Stones’ upcoming Hackney Diamonds album leaps out of the speakers with studio vibrancy, as all A-listers involved commit to climbing the mountain and don’t stop until the lighters-in-the-air finale; there’s a radio edit of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” but really, you gotta let the whole epic bowl you over.
PinkPantheress, “Mosquito”
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“Mosquito” demonstrates why, long before “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” became an out-of-nowhere smash for PinkPantheress earlier this year, so many pop listeners had invested in the British 22-year-old: her latest single flaunts a natural gift for world-building and hook creation, engrossing the listener with rhetorical questions for a romantic partner before dropping the bomb, “’Cause I just had a dream I was dead / And I only cared ’cause I was taken from you.” Although PinkPantheress often works with songs that clock in at under two minutes, “Mosquito” is slightly longer, more well-rounded, and an absolute gem.
Editor’s Pick: U2, “Atomic City”
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U2’s launch of the Sphere, a groundbreaking new venue in Las Vegas, is as good of an occasion as any for the band’s best single in years: “Atomic City,” an ode to the veteran superstars’ longtime supporters, possesses a quickness and stomp-clap jangle that hits a delicious groove about halfway through, with the interplay between Bono’s warble and The Edge’s riffs sounding especially refreshed. Whether enjoyed within an enormous spherical structure or in your headphones, “Atomic City” marks a resounding return to form.
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, Doja Cat turns into a hip-hop titan, Zach Bryan has more tricks up his sleeve and Shakira keeps piling up the wins. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Doja Cat, Scarlet
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Not many music stars could release an album with five bonafide pop hits, follow that up by declaring a new rap-focused era, and find just as much artistic and commercial success — but that’s exactly what Doja Cat has achieved with Scarlet, a thrilling curveball that still complements her inherent skill set. Planet Her demonstrated that Doja could toss off fierce, funny rhymes in between pop hooks, and while Scarlet contains plenty of hummable melodies to follow the one on recent No. 1 single “Paint the Town Red,” the album’s primary triumph resides in Doja’s fully rendered verses, with boastful onomatopoeia (“Shutcho”), extended sex metaphors (“Gun”) whirlwind romance (“Agora Hills”) and deafening clapbacks (“F–k The Girls (FTG)”). Scarlet proves that Doja could reside among hip-hop’s elite for a long time — but that would presume she doesn’t create a whole new dazzling world on her next project.
Zach Bryan, Boys of Faith EP
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For those surprised that Zach Bryan’s self-titled album was only 16 songs long following last year’s 34-track epic American Heartbreak, Boys of Faith, a surprise EP released less than a month after the country superstar’s first chart-topper, helps even the scales a bit, while also boasting some more intriguing sounds and collaborations to add to Bryan’s repertoire. The immediate focus will be on the back-to-back guest spots from Noah Kahan (on the rolling, wistful “Sarah’s Place”) and Bon Iver (on the wrenching, fuzzed-out title track), but opener “Nine Ball,” on which Bryan recounts his complex feelings toward his father as he helps him win a billiards bet, highlights this rewarding addendum to a breakthrough project.
Shakira & Fuerza Regida, “El Jefe”
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“I feel like a cat with more than nine lives; whenever I think I can’t get any better, I suddenly get a second wind,” Shakira told Billboard during her recent cover story interview. Amidst a period of personal tumult and professional victories, Shakira sounds like she’s positioned herself to enjoy another smash with “El Jefe,” a collaboration with regional Mexican group Fuerza Regida that transports her unmistakable voice into their ever-expanding world while pushing the tempo as the guitar strums and bubbling horns gradually turn more urgent. “El Jefe” sounds like no other Shakira song before it, and turns truly exciting — that’s why she keeps getting better.
Blink-182, “One More Time”
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Blink-182’s 2023 reunion tour included plenty of arena and festival dates, even more scatological jokes from the stage and the jokey 2022 comeback single “Edging” joining the pop-punk vets’ collection of anthems; the live run also held some unexpected moments of reflection from the trio, who candidly spoke about Mark Hoppus’ 2021 cancer battle and how they were grateful to be back together. “One More Time” bottles that appreciation into a somber, genuinely moving three-and-a-half minute self-examination: as Hoppus and Tom DeLonge sing to each other, “I don’t want to act like there’s tomorrow / I don’t want to wait to do this one more time,” longtime fans will be wiping away tears, grateful that they didn’t.
Kylie Minogue, Tension
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Although “Padam Padam” represented a surprise comeback for Kylie Minogue — reaching international charts that the dance-pop veteran hadn’t graced in a decade, as well as becoming her first top 10 single in the 10-year history of the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart in the U.S. — the reinvigoration of Minogue’s aesthetic that the hit single hinted at can now be heard in full on Tension, her most complete full-length since 2010’s Aphrodite. Minogue’s gift for airy, energetic pop music sounds more natural on songs like “Things We Do For Love,” “Green Light” and the title track than it has in years, as the Australian star mines simple pleasures in each track and then amplifies their impact.
Editor’s Pick: 070 Shake, “Black Dress”
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070 Shake is currently playing stadiums as an opening act on Coldplay’s current west coast run, and “Black Dress,” the daring hip-hop artist’s first single release of 2023, deserves an enormous venue: like 070 Shake herself, the song defies easy categorization — it combines a heavy guitar riff, swirling electronics and a “na-na-na” pop refrain — but the mixture rings out as massive. After 070 Shake enjoyed a surprise top 40 hit alongside Raye with “Escapism” earlier this year, let’s hope “Black Dress,” which precedes a forthcoming new album, receives a mainstream moment as well.
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, Drake and SZA join forces for slime time, Doja Cat gifts us one more preview of Scarlet, and Demi Lovato lets those guitar solos squeal. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Drake feat. SZA, “Slime You Out”
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“I’ma fall back and let SZA talk her s–t for a minute.” That’s how Drake concludes his opening verse on “Slime You Out,” a new high-wattage collaboration from his imminent new album For All The Dogs, and indeed, he’s made a wise decision ceding the floor: this atmospheric evisceration of fake lovers is dominated by SZA, who’s become one of the biggest names in music in the months since Drake’s last project, and sounds wholly engaged while crooning through a brush-off here. It helps that “Slime You Out” exists within the woozy, brutally honest R&B lane that SZA perfected on SOS, and instead of trying to compete with his co-star, Drake fires off a few capable similes before and after she highlights the track.
Doja Cat, “Balut”
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When Doja Cat showcased her Scarlet singles (“Attention,” “Paint the Town Red” and “Demons”) during a show-stopping medley at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards earlier this week, not only did anticipation for her Planet Her follow-up continue to heighten, but the performance also demonstrated to those who hadn’t been paying attention: Doja is one of the most exciting rappers alive. “Balut,” a more contemplative track from the imminent album, glides where her other recent songs slam on the gas, but her flow remains just as hypnotic — “Is it coke, is it crack, is it meth / What the f–k do she put in them hits?” she asks, her voice fluttering through every syllable with casual swagger.
Demi Lovato, Revamped
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Although Demi Lovato recruited some of rock music’s heavy hitters — Slash, The Used’s Bert McCracken and The Maine, among others — for a headbanging re-imagining of her pop hits, Revamped is led by Lovato’s own technical wizardry, as their vocal power is refracted through a different prism but sounds no less potent in the process. Songs like “Heart Attack,” “Cool for the Summer” and “Neon Lights” sound revitalized behind stinging guitar solos, while Lovato, whose underrated 2022 album Holy Fvck hinted at a rock makeover, giddily completes the transformation here.
Rod Wave, Nostalgia
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Nostalgia is Rod Wave’s fifth album in five years, and could potentially become his third straight Billboard 200 chart-topper — the Florida native has impressively expanded his fan base (an arena headlining tour kicks off next month) while remaining prolific with his heartfelt, ultra-melodic hip-hop. The follow-up to last year’s Beautiful Mind looks back on his journey (naturally, considering the album title) while also folding some unexpected voices into his emotive aesthetic, including indie-pop collective Wet and rising singer-songwriter Sadie Jean.
Diddy, The Love Album: Off the Grid
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Although the track list to Diddy’s long-awaited new project The Love Album: Off the Grid posits the hip-hop dynamo as something of a master of ceremonies — guests include Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Summer Walker, 21 Savage, Herb Alpert, The-Dream and Swat Lee, and that’s just on the first half of the full-length — the man himself is far more than just a curator, as present within the futuristic R&B ideas of the album as he was on Diddy-Dirty Money’s landmark LP Last Train To Paris. In fact, the back half of the project, featuring stars ranging from Teyana Taylor to Coco Jones to Jeremih, illustrates just how adept Diddy remains at bridging gaps between a new generation of stars and his own.
Thirty Seconds To Mars, It’s The End of the World but It’s A Beautiful Day
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“Stuck” and “Seasons,” the two hits that preceded Thirty Seconds to Mars’ sixth studio album It’s The End of the World but It’s A Beautiful Day, suggested a tightening of the veteran rockers’ long-running aesthetic, which has sprawled out in the past but was sanded down to compact hooks and concise sentiments on those singles. Indeed, Jared and Shannon Leto’s latest effectively simplifies the band’s appeal for its strongest work in years: songs like “World on Fire” and “Midnight Prayer” boast intricate electro-rock foundations without ever getting lost in the details, and over 33 minutes, the band explores themes of heartbreak, isolation and personal evolution with brisk confidence.
Editor’s Pick: Mitski, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We
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Whether or not you’re invested in the context of Mitski’s latest release — following last year’s widescreen triumph (yet critically polarizing) Laurel Hell, as well as a greater profile, label contract negotiations and retirement thoughts — The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We is all-out gorgeous, a studio masterclass that’s grounded in some of the most arresting arrangements of the singer-songwriter’s career. Mitski’s incisive lyricism will always be a calling card, but these 11 lush, organic songs are worth getting lost in before her words help guide the listener back home.
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 (July 28), Olivia Rodrigo shows listeners she’s got the Guts with her sophomore LP, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion team up again to recapture that old “WAP” magic, Tyler Childers and d4vd keep it brief and more.
Olivia Rodrigo, Guts
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There might not be a more anticipated sophomore LP released in 2023 than Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts, follow-up to her game-changing Sour release two years earlier. While the album was preceded by a pair of top 10 hits in the bloody ballad “Vampire” and the winking new-waver “Bad Idea Right?” Guts shows those songs to be just two of many new career highlights, including the shuffling, double-meaning pop-rock singalong “Get Him Back!” and the heartbroken (but responsibility-splitting) “Logical.” Read our list of every track ranked here, and look forward to spending a lot of time with these songs in your life over the rest of the year.
Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, “Bongos”
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They made magic once before with the Hot 100-topping “WAP,” and now rap titans Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have reunited for another club-killing collab with the appropriately hard-hitting “Bongos.” It’s another fun, frisky teamup with another colorful, choreo-heavy video — hopefully with less ridiculous controversy surrounding it this time — that should extend the summer for at least another week or two past labor day on its own. Make sure you stick around for Cardi’s late-song callback to Pitbull and Lil Jon’s underrated 2005 hit “Toma.”
Tyler Childers, Rustin’ in the Rain EP
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The timing could not be better for a full-length Tyler Childers release, coming off not only the good reception for his own Hot 100-debuting new single “In Your Love,” but the massive, chart-topping success of fellow Americana purveyors Zach Bryan and Oliver Anthony Music. You could maybe argue the true “full-length” qualifications of Rustin’ in the Rain — it’s seven tracks and 28 minutes, which is just barely out of EP territory — but what’s here should still be plenty to keep the singer-songwriter’s ever-growing fanbase satisfied, including “Love,” the rollicking title track, and a powerful cover of the Kris Kristofferson-penned country staple “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
D4vd, The Lost Petals
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Teenage singer-songwriter D4vd became both a viral phenomenon and a Hot 100-charting artist in late 2022 and early 2023 with his gauzy breakthrough hits “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me.” With his two EP releases this year — the previously released Petals to Thorns and this week’s bonus follow-up Lost Petals — he’s showing that those singles were really just the beginning, with both his songwriting and his sonics continuing to develop at a rapid rate. Try the fragile, Joji-like piano balladry of “Poetic Vulgarity” from this one, or the Mac DeMarco-worthy wooziness of closing groover “Once More.”
Marshmello & Dove Cameron, “Other Boys”
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Shout out to Australian house duo Flight Facilities and singer-songwriter Giselle, whose sublimely longing 2010 collaboration “Crave You” was one of great understated pop gems of its era. Outside of the Land Down Under, the song was hardly a huge mainstream hit — but two artists evidently still familiar with its charms are DJ/producer Marshmello and breakout singer-songwriter Dove Cameron, who refashion the song’s chorus into the backbone of the hook to their new joint single “Other Boys.” There’s not a ton to the song once they get past the lift — at a scant 2:17, there’s not a whole lot of song here, period — but it’s a fun flashback for those of us still craving more floor-fillers like “Crave You.”
The Rolling Stones, “Angry”
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One of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time — and probably the longest-enduring — is back. Hackney Diamonds, due in late October, will be the Rolling Stones’ first album since 2016’s covers set Blue and Lonesome, and their first since the death of longtime drummer Charlie Watts. The LP is led by the ripping new single “Angry,” showcasing the group still in fine form sixty years after their debut album — and still plenty vital for the younger generation(s). Of course, it never hurts to have one of the biggest young actresses in your music video, as the Stones show with their casting of Euphoria and White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney in the “Angry” visual.
Labor Day weekend is upon us, and what better way to celebrate the official end of summer than with a slew of star-studded new music releases? On Friday (Sept. 1), Nicki Minaj released a long-awaited new banger, Doja Cat made friends with her “Demons,” and Timbaland gets the dream trio back together. Which track do […]
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, Nicki Minaj releases a contemplative banger, Doja Cat exorcises her “Demons,” and Timbaland gets the dream team back together. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Nicki Minaj, “Last Time I Saw You”
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One of the reasons why Nicki Minaj has endured as one of the most successful rappers of the past decade following her 2010 arrival is her range — throughout her entire career, the superstar has refused to be pigeonholed into one sound or style. That skill set is on full display on “Last Time I Saw You,” a new single from the upcoming Pink Friday 2 that recalls the original Pink Friday’s “Moment 4 Life,” with a gentle pop production providing the foundation for an impassioned sing-rap performance in which Minaj reflects on drifting apart from someone special. “Last Time I Saw You” requires Minaj to sing gently, belt effectively, rap hurriedly and provoke an emotional response in three-and-a-half minutes, and she makes it all look easy.
Doja Cat, “Demons”
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“Living well is the best revenge” is sure to be a recurring theme on Doja Cat’s upcoming album Scarlett, based on the advanced singles that the superstar has unveiled: after “Paint the Town Red” said what it said and blasted into the top 10 of the Hot 100, “Demons” continues the clapback, as Doja dismisses her haters with some expert wordplay and a wall-rattling hook. “I’m a puppet, I’m a sheep, I’m a cash cow / I’m the fastest-growing bitch on all your apps now,” she declares, both quickly nodding to her viral beginnings with “Mooo!” and reminding the world that nobody’s trajectory to the top resembles her own.
Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake, “Keep Going Up”
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In the mid 2000s, no pop triumvirate was as mighty as Timbaland, Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake: as Tim helmed Furtado’s enormous album Loose and Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, the veteran producer helped both artists rack up hit after hit while scoring some of his own (including the 2007 Hot 100 chart-topper “Give it To Me,” featuring both artists). Sixteen years later, the trio have joined forces once again for “Keep Going Up,” a rhythmic vocal showcase from consummate professionals out to prove that they’re aging like fine wine; fortunately, the process of hearing these three voices reflect off one another again is both a nostalgia rush and an absorbing new pop experience.
Lil Wayne, “Kat Food”
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Lil Wayne remains a magician: who else is dropping singles that are nearly five minutes long, rife with not-so-subtle cat double entendres, rhyming “subpoena” with “Purina,” and having the whole thing actually work? “Kat Food” finds Weezy busting out the thesaurus and breaking down a sample of Missy Elliott’s “Work It” with his trademark giddy energy, continuing a whirlwind year in which the rap veteran sounds as vital as ever and offering one last floor-filler before summer’s end.
Speedy Ortiz, Rabbit Rabbit
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Speedy Ortiz’s past records have always compelled thanks to the blistering guitar work, intricate song structures and mastermind Sadie Dupuis’ searingly smart songwriting, but with the band’s most fully formed songs to date and new level of lyrical vulnerability, Rabbit Rabbit is the quartet’s strongest album to date. As Dupuis prods at a complex past and present sensitivities, tracks like “Cry Cry Cry,” “Ghostwriter” and “Ballad of Y & S” boast immediate hooks amidst the ornate arrangements — these are songs that you can hum while they hit you in the gut.
Editor’s Pick: Jhayco & Peso Pluma, “Ex-Special”
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Jhayco is no stranger to smash collaborations — a pair of them with Bad Bunny have earned over 1 billion Spotify streams — but “Ex-Special,” a team-up with quick-rising star Peso Pluma, stands out as a highly successful summit of respective styles that wouldn’t necessarily fit together seamlessly. Yet Jhayco’s reggaeton mastery crackles against Pluma’s prolonged crooning here, as the artists weave around each other’s voices while waxing poetic about an ex that’s still haunting their thoughts; hopefully, “Ex-Special” expands each artist’s fan base by reaching across the aisle to another.
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, Selena Gomez’s new “Single” is here, Miley Cyrus waxes poetic on her youth, and Zach Bryan drops another affecting opus. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Selena Gomez, “Single Soon”
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Although Selena Gomez has been plenty busy over the past few years — with her starring role in Only Murders in the Building, her Spanish-language project Revelación, her cooking show Selena + Chef and her remix of Rema’s summer smash “Calm Down,” among other endeavors — a proper follow-up to her great 2020 album Rare has remained elusive. Within that context, “Single Soon” functions as both a promise of new music on the horizon, and a delicious first bite: unlike the sweeping emotion of Rare lead single “Lose You to Love Me,” “Single Soon” shrugs off a relationship and looks ahead to giddy independence with oversized synths and a sing-along melodies (Gomez does, in fact, perform karaoke to the song in its music video).
Miley Cyrus, “Used to Be Young”
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Miley Cyrus’ mammoth 2023, led by her longest-leading Hot 100 chart-topper “Flowers,” doubles as the 10-year anniversary of her Bangerz era, back when hits like “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball” firmly removed her from her Disney Channel days. “Used to Be Young,” which appears on an expanded edition of her Endless Summer Vacation album, finds Cyrus reflecting on how she’s evolved to the point where now her wild days are in the rearview mirror: “You tell me time has done changed me / That’s fine, I had a good run,” she admits, tapping into the pop balladry that she’s utilized her entire career, from “The Climb” to “Wrecking Ball” to “Flowers.”
Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
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In the midst of a wild run of country songs and artists near the top of the Hot 100, Zach Bryan, one of the genre’s biggest breakout stories of the past few years, has stayed steadily successful, with “Something in the Orange” spending months on the chart while his album American Heartbreak remains in the Billboard 200’s top 20. Whereas American Heartbreak was a marathon — 34 songs, most of them gorgeously written, over a two-hour run time — his new self-titled full-length is a 54-minute sprint through grief, bitter memories, love stories and formative travels across the country; Bryan’s lyricism is as affecting as ever, the arrangements are more thoughtfully rendered, and Zach Bryan immediately establishes itself as one of the strongest country projects of a topsy-turvy year.
BLACKPINK, “The Girls”
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“The Girls” catches BLACKPINK at a celebratory moment: the new single, which launched as part of their popular mobile game The Game and comes in the midst of U.S. stadium dates, allows the K-pop quartet to flex a bit after all of their successes. On a stopgap single that sounds just as fresh as their best cuts from Born Pink, BLACKPINK praises girl power by exuding strength in numbers — over bouncy pop production and crackling percussion, all four members sharpen their individual skills while complementing one another on the hook.
Burna Boy, I Told Them…
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With his album Love, Damini last year, Burna Boy scored a real, world-spanning smash, as “Last Last” grew into the Nigerian superstar’s signature hit; with the follow-up I Told Them…, Burna tries to catalog his journey to household-name status while also crafting a more fully formed full-length statement. Guests ranging from J. Cole to GZA to Dave to Seyi Vibez make for inspired ways of switching up the album’s energy, but the solo run of songs in the middle of the track list, beginning with the boisterous “Big 7” and ending with the sensual “City Boys,” showcases why Burna Boy is able to gaze down from the heights he’s scaled and declare “I told them so.”
Editor’s Pick: Victoria Monét, Jaguar II
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The title of Victoria Monét’s new project is a bit deceptive — after all, the original Jaguar was a 2020 EP that found a fervent fan base but didn’t deliver the veteran singer-songwriter as a commercial artist. Jaguar II may be a sequel in name, but the full-length stands on its own, head and shoulder above its predecessor in every way: the interpretations of R&B, funk and soul are markedly more distinct, the Kaytranada-produced “Alright” sounds like a surefire hit, and Monét generally comes across as more comfortable commanding each track, conjuring a handful of dazzling moments while announcing her real, undeniable arrival.
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, Quavo pays homage while moving forward, Hozier takes us to church (and the Inferno), and Doechii wants you to dance at all costs. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Quavo, Rocket Power
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Quavo’s nephew and Migos co-leader, Takeoff, was nicknamed “The Rocket” — and less than a year after the rapper was killed at the age of 28, his family member and group mate is drawing upon his thoughts and instincts as inspiration for his new solo album. Parts of Rocket Power are racked with grief, including the soulful highlight “Hold Me” and the memory-flooded title track, although Quavo also makes ample room in the sprawling full-length to celebrate life, as on the Future-assisted hit “Turn Yo Clic Up” and the crackling “Stain” with BabyDrill; ultimately, the album depicts a long-running rap star in a more complex light, and immediately makes the case as Quavo’s best solo project.
Hozier, Unreal Unearth
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When Hozier revealed that his third studio album — which follows 2019’s Wasteland, Baby!, the first No. 1 album of his career — would be inspired by Dante’s Inferno and include passages sung in Irish Gaelic, fears that the “Take Me To Church” singer-songwriter was turning inscrutable were only natural. Yet Unreal Unearth not only showcases the strength of Hozier’s voice and songwriting, but also remains accessible to hardcore fans and casual alt-rock listeners, from the snappy single “Eat Your Young” to the gargantuan Brandi Carlile duet “Damage Gets Done” to the restrained grace of closer “First Light.”
Doechii, “Booty Drop”
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“Shawty, what it is? / Bring that ass to the club,” Doechii commands on “Booty Drop,” a late bid for the summer’s most kinetic dance song. The Tampa native has shown promise as a recording artist and performer over the past year — signing with TDE, scoring an opening spot on Doja Cat and Ice Spice’s upcoming tour, and mesmerizing audiences whenever she hits the stage — but her latest single, a gleefully explicit take on the Jersey club style that never stops moving, might be the moment where her appeal spills over into the mainstream once and for all.
Addison Rae, AR EP
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Although Addison Rae’s newly released EP rescues a handful of tracks intended for the influencer’s never-released debut album, AR does not sound like a collection of odds and ends: instead, the five songs engross the listener with fresh melodies and bursts of personality, showcasing the 22-year-old as a quick study within this brand of pop. “2 Die 4” with Charli XCX is the highlight — marvel at the mini-hooks jam-packed into that chorus! — but the whole project is worth bookmarking as the potential start of something big.
Anitta, Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story
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When Anitta released her single “Funk Rave” in June, the Latin music star hinted that a deeper dive into Brazilian funk music would be both a way to honor her roots and a rewarding sonic exploration; with Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story, a three-song project that follows up “Funk Rave” with two new heaters, Anitta has more or less confirmed her suggestions. “Casi Casi” and “Used to Be” adopt different approaches — the former a chattering sashay, the latter a slow-building reflection — but Anitta excels at both tempos, and has us hoping for even more to come.
Editor’s Pick: FIFTY FIFTY feat. Sabrina Carpenter, “Cupid Twin Ver.”
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Think of FIFTY FIFTY’s new version “Cupid,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter on the remix, as a well-earned victory lap for both artists: the K-pop group crashed the upper reaches of the Hot 100 chart with the undeniable sing-along, while Carpenter is a little over a year removed from Emails I Can’t Send, one of the strongest pop albums of 2022, and its viral hit “Nonsense.” Together, FIFTY FIFTY and Carpenter reinvent a rock-solid hit ever so slightly, as Carpenter slides into the second verse and handles that sugary “I gave a second chance to Cupiiiiiid!” hook with aplomb.
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, Olivia Rodrigo wrestles with a (great) bad idea, Karol G keeps collecting W’s and Trippie Redd shows a new side of himself. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Olivia Rodrigo, “bad idea right?”
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Two years ago, Olivia Rodrigo preceded her debut album with a spectacularly emotional ballad and a head-banging pop-punk anthem; both of those songs, “drivers license” and “good 4 u,” reached the top of the Hot 100, and Sour became a year-defining full-length. Rodrigo is utilizing a similar playbook with her sophomore effort, GUTS, as the theatrical epic “Vampire” has been followed by the driving shout-along “bad idea right?” — although the new single is far from a rehash, instead mixing pop, riot grrrl rock and new wave into a compact call-and-response ode to ex-boyfriend temptation. More than anything, Rodrigo understands how to give wide swaths of listeners exactly what they need, regardless of tempo or sound — it’s the reason why she’s a superstar at the age of 20.
Karol G, Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)
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Few popular artists are having a better commercial year than Karol G: after Mañana Será Bonito album became the first all-Spanish language album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, the Colombian superstar plotted headlining dates in football stadiums, performed on Saturday Night Live and popped up on the best-selling Barbie soundtrack. Now, the winning streak continues with Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season), a companion piece to her recent album, but also a 30-minute project that stands on its own; new collaborations with Kali Uchis and Peso Pluma are especially dynamic, while previously released single “S91” sounds even more impactful in the context of a full-length.
Trippie Redd, A Love Letter to You 5
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A Love Letter to You 5 may be the fifth and final edition of Trippie Redd’s popular mixtape series that began in 2017, but the 19-track project feels particularly thoughtful and expansive, as if the hip-hop streaming juggernaut wanted to end the project with the biggest, best installment possible. Lil Wayne, Roddy Ricch and The Kid LAROI all swing by, although the pair of collaborations with Skye Morales, the gifted singer and Trippie Redd’s former partner, are especially poignant, and shed new light on a prolific star’s emotional range.
DJ Khaled feat. Lil Baby, Future & Lil Uzi Vert, “Supposed To Be Loved”
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Summertime is a season for beach days, backyard barbecues and star-studded DJ Khaled singles — and although it’s already mid-August, Khaled has come through with a song that will no doubt linger in the mainstream until the leaves begin to fall. “Supposed To Be Loved” not only corrals Lil Baby, Future and Lil Uzi Vert and lets them unfurls some surprisingly tender bars, but Khaled positions the hip-hop summit over a sample of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.,” as extra insurance that the new single will be smooth and summer-friendly.
V, “Love Me Again”
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A few weeks after his BTS band mate Jung Kook topped the Hot 100 chart with his Latto collaboration “Seven,” V steps forward with his own solo bid, albeit with a very different sonic approach. “I wish you would love me again / No, I don’t want nobody else,” V sings, his vulnerability matched by sensitive R&B production that motions toward jazz and classic soul; the subtleties of “Love Me Again” begin to reveal themselves on the first listen, then deepen with each new play.
Editor’s Pick: The Hives, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
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Swedish punk veterans The Hives invaded America during the garage-rock movement of the early ‘00s, as singles like “Hate to Say I Told You So” and “Walk Idiot Walk” made their intense presences felt on MTV and alternative radio. The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is the quintet’s first album in over a decade, but from the opening riffs of lead track “Bogus Operandi,” the group swaggers back into view like they never left, filling 31 hard-charging minutes with punk performances that will make any thirtysomething want to get back in the pit.
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 leaves you on red, Halle make a heavenly solo debut, and Demi Lovato links up with LE SSERAFIM for uptempo fun. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Doja Cat, “Paint the Town Red”
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One could reasonably expect for Doja Cat to snap back at faux supporters trying to constrict her to one sound or style; a bit more surprising is Doja Cat delivering a belated tribute to recently passed musician Burt Bacharach. Yet she does both on crackling new single “Paint the Town Red,” which utilizes the Dionne Warwick classic “Walk On By” as a foundation for the audacious multi-hyphenate superstar to declare, “Yeah, bitch, I said what I said.” While stans will pore over every line and innuendo, the entirety of “Paint the Town Red” sounds more dynamic than Dojo’s previous single, “Attention”: she’s naturally in the pocket during the rap verses, and the extended hook is a pop-rap triumph, brimming with self-assured skill.
Halle, “Angel”
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Unlike most debut singles, “Angel” arrives after its creator, Halle Bailey, has already made a significant impact on popular culture — first as one-half of the acclaimed R&B duo Chloe x Halle with her equally talented sister, and then as a rising star in Hollywood, leading the live-action The Little Mermaid and coming soon in The Color Purple remake. “Angel” could have been a quick check-in for hungry music fans, but Halle infuses the rhythmic, piano-led track with vulnerability and heart, sharing her insecurities while declaring that she will ultimately fly above the sentiments trying to weigh her down.
LE SSERAFIM feat. Demi Lovato, “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife”
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Demi Lovato continues a particularly adventurous streak by hopping on a new remix to K-pop group LE SSERAFIM’s viral B-side “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife,” leaping into the boundaries of the megawatt song and proceeding to nudge them just a little bit farther outward. The track was already a thumping, quick-moving flirtation, and Lovato’s voice provides another powerful siren cry: “I see it written on your face, yeah / I know you want a little taste, yeah,” Lovato sings with a world of confidence.
Grupo Frontera, El Comienzo
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The story of Mexican music’s global breakthrough in 2023 cannot be told without Grupo Frontera, the Texas group who fully transitioned from releasing viral covers to scoring their own smashes this year. Debut album El Comienzo acknowledges the songs and co-stars that helped the collective conquer the charts — “No Se Va” and their Bad Bunny team-up “un x100to” are the first two songs on the track list, after all — yet Grupo Frontera have plenty of new tricks up their sleeves on the project, as they bring new collaborators into their universe and shine on their own with tracks like the emotionally heightened “Cansado De Sufrir” and the airy, charming “Me Gustas.”
Usher feat. 21 Savage & Summer Walker, “Good Good”
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Modern R&B is rife with euphoric love songs and devastated heartbreak songs; less common are the post-breakup anthems in which both sides are pleased with the split and can newly coexist as friends. “Good Good” finds Usher exploring that rare terrain while sounding especially spry: maybe it’s the fresh subject matter, or maybe the presence of 2020s A-listers 21 Savage and Summer Walker have pushed the veteran to step his game up, but regardless of the reason, Usher is downright reinvigorated on these vocal runs and sumptuous hooks.
Editor’s Pick: ††† (Crosses), “Invisible Hand”
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Nine years after Deftones leader Chino Moreno and producer/multi-instrumentalist Shaun Lopez released Crosses, the debut album of their project †††, we’re finally getting a proper follow-up — Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. will be released Oct. 13 and feature guest spots from Robert Smith and El-P. Their official return as a duo is cause for excitement in the hard rock world, and lead single “Invisible Hand” is only going to heighten expectations for the rest of the album: the track locks in on a blindingly bright electro-rock groove before jerking the listener in different directions, and Moreno’s voice, driving and emotive as ever, serves as a guide to each pivot.
