Pop
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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, LISA presents the real her, Lizzo returns to the public eye and Benson Boone delivers another arena-ready single. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
LISA, Alter Ego
Although LISA employs different alter egos — Vixi, Kiki, Roxi, Sunni and Speedi — on her debut solo album as a means of embodying different styles and shades of her identity, nothing about Alter Ego feels disjointed; instead, the BLACKPINK star spends this impressive project exploring different aspects of her musical persona with curiosity and confidence, whether she’s spitting alongside Future on “Fxck Up the World,” throwing it back to ‘00s R&B with Tyla on “When I’m With You,” or putting her own spin on modern pop balladry on “Dream.”
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Lizzo, “Love in Real Life”
“I might make an appearance since I look this fine / Plus, it’s been a while,” Lizzo declares on her comeback single “Love in Real Life,” which follows a period of controversy (and a flirtation with retirement) with a song that centers Lizzo’s still-mighty voice, snarling guitar in the chorus, and a story about stepping back into public life and feeling more satisfied than expected.
Benson Boone, “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else”
Even as “Beautiful Things” logs another month as a streaming juggernaut, Benson Boone is moving on to more anthemic fare: “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” mines similar territory but with a tempo that remains racing throughout, as Boone’s booming voice keeps pushing forward this time instead of starting and stopping.
D4vd with Kali Uchis, “Crashing”
Both D4vd and Kali Chis are young, kinetic stars with classic pop sensibilities, so it’s not surprising that their new collaboration, “Crashing,” features a lilting hook and shimmering harmonies that could work on both top 40 radio and TikTok feeds; both artists have scored viral hits in the past, and they might have a traditional one here.
Dasha, “Not at This Party”
Part of the reason why Dasha broke through with “Austin” last year was due to the song’s combination of evocative lyrical detail and folk-informed country — and with new single “Not at This Party,” the singer-songwriter revisits a winning formula, as she checks her phone in a bathroom line and lets her mind wander to happier times while banjo and guitar strings get strummed around her voice.
Feid, “Nos Desconoximos”
Ascendant Colombian star Feid continues to blend reggaeton and electronic music on “Nos Desconoximos,” a new single which precedes a European tour that kicks off next week, but might as well be designed to rule club mixes this summer, with its collision of thumping percussion and Feid’s lower tone producing a rumbling dance hit.
Banks, Off With Her Head
Banks recently told Billboard that new album Off With Her Head is “about shedding past identities that no longer resonate” — and while the veteran singer-songwriter’s latest project will please longtime listeners, she does indeed tinker with the edges of her alt-pop, particularly on collaborations with Doechii and Sampha that serve as highlights.
Editor’s Pick: Shygirl, Club Shy Room 2
It’s almost unfair that Club Shy Room 2, Shygirl’s latest luxurious dance project, is only 14 minutes long — these six songs of entrancing dance music, featuring guests like Saweetie, PinkPantheress and Jorja Smith, create a new world for the British singer-producer that ends too soon, and begs for expansion. Let’s hope this Room gets an addition sooner than later.
It’s obviously been a major year for Cynthia Erivo. The star, who portrayed the iconic Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked, is in the running for best actress in a leading role at this year’s Oscars ceremony and her inimitable vocal ability has been the inspiration behind many social media users attempting to recreate her otherworldly vocal run at the end of the film’s “Defying Gravity” number.
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But she’s not done just yet. Erivo chatted exclusively with Billboard about her brand new single, “Replay,” which arrived on Friday (Feb. 28) and marks her first solo release since 2021. “I’m sort of leaning into vulnerability these days,” she says with a laugh, and that sentiment is clear on the Justin Tranter co-written track, which delves into the emotional rollercoaster of being human. “I’m a constant work in progress, and I can’t keep fears at bay,” she opens the pop-leaning track with, before proclaiming in the chorus: “My mind is like a record, setup on auto-replay.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a music artist outside of being an actress, and my journey to it has just been different,” Erivo explains. “Some people come to it pretty early and some people come to it when the time is right, and this is the time for me.”
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With that in mind, the 38-year-old artist wants to introduce herself musically on her own terms, as the upbeat pop production of “Replay” leads listeners away from the ballads that they might be used to her belting for films in the past — to hopefully see Erivo as Cynthia, not as some of her famous onscreen roles. “I think people are really used to me singing a particular kind of way and particular kind of songs, but those songs are other people’s songs. Working on this music has been sort of a stream of consciousness that ended up being the page,” she says. “I think sometimes we’ll apply genre to a person, when the person hasn’t actually given you the genre that they are. I just happen to love to sing, but sometimes you don’t want to make big sounds, and you actually just want to tell a story, and that was what ‘Replay’ was about.”
She continues, “The song gives people the opportunity to get to know me a lot better, to get to know what goes on in my head from time to time, to get to know what I’ve thought in the past and sometimes even now, and the things that I have experienced. It’s almost like a personal lullaby that tells people who I am and that I’m human too, just like everybody else.”
Beyond its relatable and clever lyrical content, the production of “Replay” was just as personal to Erivo, inspired by the 90s Brit-pop she grew up with. “As a Brit, I wanted to bring something that felt particularly English, from my time, because I felt like we haven’t heard anything that feels like that in a while,” the London native explains.
“Everything that you hear in there — all the backing vocals, all of the pads, all of the whistling, even some of the percussion — that’s all me,” she adds enthusiastically. “I’m using my nails for what would sound like a clap. The whistle in the background is actually me whistling. The vocal padding and that vocal arrangement, that’s all me. If you listen carefully, you’ll feel the tempos speed up and then slow down again. It’s on purpose. It starts at 89 beats per minute, goes to 94 beats per minute and goes right back to 89 beats per minute, because it feels like what the heart rate does. It speeds up when things are getting a little bit strange, and then it comes back down.”
With her passion about “Replay” so evident, it’s no surprise Erivo is gearing up to release a full-length album, which she began working on in August 2023 and throughout her time filming Wicked. “I have to say that this is probably one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had in my life. I’ve written albums before, and it didn’t feel like this,” she says. “I knew the things I wanted to talk about and I knew the stories I wanted to tell. I knew the colors that I wanted in it — literally and figuratively, because some of the songs literally are based on a color. Like, what color do I want to write? Green! Then, one day I want to write about sex and, one day, I want to write about love or, today, I want to write about heartbreak, or maybe something in the color of blue.”
Overall, Erivo is ready for this next chapter in her career, keeping her heart on her sleeve as she always does and has become beloved for. “I want people to see that I’m a musician, like a person who understands the language of music implicitly and is willing to use it in loads of different ways,” she says. “It would be easy for me to sing a big ballad. Trust me, there’s a ballad on this album. But, more than anything, I love the making of music, the creating of music. I love using the music to tell the story. My story.”
Listen to Erivo’s “Replay” here.
Lizzo‘s fun night out turns into a nightmare (and then gets fun again) in the high-energy video for her comeback single “Love in Real Life.” Two years after her last solo single, the singer was back in our ears and our eyes on Friday (Feb. 28) with the release of the rollicking, uptempo pop rock […]
Lizzo’s back! The superstar is launching her new album era with a brand new single, “Love in Real Life,” released on Friday (Feb. 28). She teased the song just a few days prior to its arrival, with a cinematic teaser over which she narrates: “Everything was so much simpler, and that’s exactly what I need. […]
Anna Lunoe has joined forces with pop icon Melanie C for “Girl,” a high-energy dance track that fuses Lunoe’s signature production with the former Spice Girl’s powerhouse vocals. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song, which first surfaced during Lunoe’s set at London’s Drumsheds last year, marks […]
“I thought we had something good in our hands,” Damiano David sings on his new single, “Next Summer.” But what fans actually have is something good in our ears.
The song — the third single from the Måneskin frontman’s upcoming debut solo project — arrived on Thursday (Feb. 27) and finds the Italian musician continuing on his pop journey, this time with a notable ache and jealousy in his voice.
“Call me when he breaks your heart next summer/ Baby, I’ll be waiting here/ Call me when you’re all f–ked up, my lover, and I’ll be there to lick your tears/ You had to throw away our love to find out nothing’s as good as us/ So call me when he breaks your heart next summer,” he sings, full of longing on the tender chorus.
While the song may seem like it’s about a spurned lover bitter about the end of his relationship and eager to rekindle the snuffed flame, David says there’s much more to it.
“I put down in words a moment I lived during the summer,” he tells Billboard of the track that he wrote while he was in Los Angeles last fall. “I guess it was a way, as I always do with my music, to cope with my experiences in life and feelings.”
“The lyrics are very simple, quite childish. So I’ve asked myself why I ended up with this kind of lyrics, and I guess it’s because what I tried to do was tell a more intense and complicated feeling in the easiest way possible,” he explains. “It’s about not dealing with yourself and being stuck in your own limits without really understanding why things happen. It’s about not being able to face our mistakes, and instead, in a cowardly way, wishing that your mistakes could be someone else’s.”
Ahead of “Next Summer,” the musician released a cover of Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson’s “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” as a Spotify Single for Valentine’s Day. From his own upcoming project, he dropped the peppy “Born With a Broken Heart” in October as his second solo single, and “Silverlines” in September for his debut song.
Speaking to Billboard at the time about going his own way musically and introducing listeners to the solo Damiano David via “Silverlines,” he shared of the vulnerable and melancholic track, “It’s basically describing my whole journey.” He added, “The goal of this song is not topping the charts. I’m introducing myself to the world … But I’m just very glad I have the opportunity to do this, and the results will come.”
What’s also coming for the singer is a 33-date world tour, with multiple shows already sold out. That includes the tour-opening performance Sept. 11 in Warsaw, followed by dates in Berlin, Paris, London and Rome before the trek heads to Australia, Japan and South America, and finally landing stateside in Seattle Nov. 21. The tour is slated to end Dec. 16 in Washington, D.C.
Stream Damiano David’s “Next Summer” below:
Tate McRae has ticked a lot of career dreams off her vision board over the past few years. But that doesn’t mean the “Sports Car” singer is done searching for new challenges. In an interview with Pride about her deep connection to her LGBTQ+ day one fans and the star’s upcoming Miss Possessive tour in support of her So Close to What album, McRae didn’t hesitate when asked which one of her idols she’d like to hit the studio with.
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“My dream is to write with SZA. She’s one of the coolest and best writers ever,” McRae said of the “Luther” star who is gearing to to hit the road with her Super Bowl LIX halftime show compatriot Kendrick Lamar in April. “I love her. I think it’d be a mix of pop and R&B. I’d let her take the charge! I just want to always keep pushing my comfort zone. I never want to recycle and do the same things. As an artist, I want to be uncomfortable and shock myself sometimes.”
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While she’s manifesting things, the goal-driven McRae also said she “would die” to perform at the MTV VMAs. “That’s something I’ve watched all my idols do for so many years,” she said of the show that has been a launching pad and showcase for some of her obvious influences in the past, from Madonna to Britney Spears. “From some reason, that specific performances is something I’ve always wanted.”
She also had to give it up for her day-one queer fans, saying that they are her absolute “favorite. No one beats them. Nobody is better than them. My whole team is gay! That’s the only opinion I really want when I’m releasing music. I feel lucky that I have their opinion. We want to do the most and push the boundaries, but it’s also the most brutally honest advice.”
As an example, the 21-year-old noted her 2023 performance at the G-A-Y & Heaven Nightclub in London, which she called one of her all-time high points. “I ditched the mic and just started dancing,” she said. “There was only like 150 people in the room and it was some of the craziest, loudest energy I’ve ever felt. I just wanted to whip my hair, do a kick, and leave! That’s all I wanted to do.”
In a final shout-out to the audience that has always had her back, McRae added, “I love you guys so much. Y’all are my number ones. You know that as much as you guys ride for me, I ride for you. I feel very grateful to have you guys in my life and surrounding me.”
As she awaits the March 18 kick-off of her tour in Mexico City’s Pepsi Center WTC, McRae will appear as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend alongside host comedian Shane Gillis.
Halsey dropped the definitely NSFW video for their new single, “safeword,” on Thursday (Feb. 27) after teasing a 13-second preview of the track earlier this week. As promised in the sneak peek, the S&M-themed video directed by provocative stylist and Sedition Magazine editor-in-chief Lana Jay Lackey opens with a close-up of the singer rocking black-and-silver studded thong underwear, a leather jacket, leather cap and knee-high, studded, stiletto boots.
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As the song’s distorted guitar and manic, galloping rhythm kicks in, Halsey dives into dominatrix mode, kicking a leather-masked man laying on the floor in his head as they sing in a riot grrrl-inflected yelp, “Pin me to the floor, swing me by the neck/ Locked behind a door, it is time yet, time yet?/ Don’t be such a bore, gimme respect/ Are you feeling sore? Are you wet yet, wet yet?”
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Soon enough, it’s Halsey who is on the other end, as someone ties a rope around their body, pinning it to a chair as she engages in puppy play and lays prone on a table while a leather-masked dom in a suit spanks their lingerie-clad bottom before menacingly chomping on an apple. The urgent, digital hardcore-edged song hurtles to the howled chorus, “Oh, can you take it, baby?/ Oh can you handle it?/ Don’t tell me what to do, I’m gonna stand it,” with Halsey making it clear “you’re not the boss of me.”
The singer strikes a series of provocative poses throughout the rest of the clip, hanging upside down by her ankles in a mesh bra top and matching leggings — her private parts covered by black stars and a merkin — and sipping from a shake perched on a tray held up by a latex-encased living coffee table. Little is left to the imagination in the video, which also includes scenes of simulated masturbation, light pony play as Halsey rides a ball-gagged human horse and a scene of the singer trussed up and wearing a lamp shade, as well as other envelope-pushing images that bring to mind Madonna’s 1992 Sex book.
The high-energy single comes just a few months after Halsey dropped her fifth studio album, The Great Impersonator, yet another artistic pivot from the singer in which she took on a variety of musical personas on the confessional, eclectic concept album that spotlighted a mix of pop, folk and rock. It was set up by a teaser campaign in which she paid homage to a number of the LP’s inspirations, including Dolly Parton, PJ Harvey, David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, Kate Bush, Cher and Britney Spears, among others.
Halsey also recently announced the dates for their upcoming spring/summer 2025 Halsey: For My Last Trick tour. The 32-city Live Nation-promoted trek in support of the singer’s Columbia Records debut is slated to kick off on May 10 at the Toyota Pavilion at Concord in Concord, CA, keeping them on the road through a July 6 show at the Yaamava’ Theater in Highland, CA.
Joining Halsey on their first headlining tour in three years will be: Del Water Gap, The Warning, Evanescence, Alvvays, Hope Tala, Royel Otis, Sir Chloe, flowerlove, Magdalena Bay and Alemeda joining on select dates.
Watch the “safeword” video below.
Back in 2011 Katy Perry mused about finding a “futuristic lover” with “different DNA” on the song “E.T.” The pop star might finally get her chance to have an intergalactic encounter when she suits up with an all-female crew for the next civilian space flight on Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.
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The company announced on Thursday (Feb. 27) that its 11th human space flight, NS-31, will blast off into the cosmos this spring with a six-person team that will also feature CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, as well as Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sánchez.
According to a release, Sanchez, an author, licensed helicopter pilot and Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, will lead the team of explorers “on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come.”
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Perry is gearing up for her global Lifetimes tour, which is slated to kick off on April 23 in Mexico City. At press time it was unknown if the Blue Origin flight will take place before that extensive outing hits the road, keeping the pop star on stages in Mexico, North America, Australia and Europe through a Nov. 11 gig in Madrid. It was also unknown at press time how much prep the civilian astronauts will have to go through to prepare for the flight.
Blue Origin said that the NS-31 crew will also host former NASA rocket scientist, global STEM advocate and Bahamian-American aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, as well as bioastronautics research scientist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen — the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman astronaut — and Kerianne Flynn, entrepreneur and producer of the films This Changes Everything and 2024’s LILLY, which told the story of fair-pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter.
Though at press time Perry did not appear to have commented on her impending trip to space on her socials, King, 70, announced her blast off on CBS Mornings, telling viewers, “I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time. It’s like how I felt about to deliver a baby… I thought I wanted to open myself up to new adventures and step out of my comfort zone.” The TV presenter who has long joked about her fascination with space flight, also noted that she’d consulted with her two adult children and lifelong bestie and business partner Oprah Winfrey before signing up for the flight.
“Once Kirby and Will and Oprah was fine with it, I was fine,” King said. “I thought Oprah would say no, no. She said, ‘I think if you don’t do it, when they all come back and you had the opportunity to do it, you will be kicking yourself.’ She’s right.”
To date, Blue Origin’s human flight program has sent 52 people above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space 62 miles above Earth on its phallus-shaped rockets, with crews that have included Star Trek star William Shatner, as well as company founder Bezos and his brother, Mark Bezos.
The spring flight will be host the first all-female crew since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo flight in 1963.
See the CBS announcement below.
In 2025, artists from the indie and pop worlds collaborate and co-mingle regularly enough that it’s almost hard to remember a time when it was ever really that novel. But earlier this century, indie and pop were still isolated enough that in 2009, when Solange took her sister Beyoncé and Bey’s husband Jay-Z to a […]