Billboard’s First Stream 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.
This week, Megan Thee Stallion reminds us why she’s among rap’s new greats, Nicki Minaj comes back with a killer sample, and Rod Wave takes us inside his mind. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below:
Megan Thee Stallion, Traumazine
“I’m done being nice,” Megan Thee Stallion declares early on in Traumazine, an unflinching and revealing new full-length that, after a whirlwind few years for the Houston rapper that included multiple worthy pop crossovers and a deserved best new artist Grammy, returns Meg to the glory of her mixtape days, full of mixed metaphors and free of minced words. While Traumazine includes top 40 offerings that could join the recent Dua Lipa team-up “Sweetest Pie” (included as a finale here), most of the album follows the scorching-hot bars of “Plan B,” from the sneering Key Glock collaboration “Ungrateful” to the piano-led flex “Gift & A Curse” to the vulnerabilites-owning “Anxiety”; it’s clear that Megan Thee Stallion set out to create a multi-faceted rap opus with Traumazine, and she delivered.
Nicki Minaj, “Super Freaky Girl”
Nicki Minaj’s 2014 smash “Anaconda” was designed in a way that introduced Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” to a new generation, while also delighting the many listeners already familiar with the throwback hit by excavating and flipping it. “Super Freaky Girl” serves as a spiritual follow-up to “Anaconda” by shoving its sample of Rick James’ “Super Freak” right up front, then letting Minaj have a gleeful time reanimating its salacious funk with sexual innuendo and a flow that knows when to speed up and when to really land a punchline. Minaj is a pro at songs like “Super Freaky Girl,” and returns with a front-to-back blast.
Rod Wave, Beautiful Mind
Last year, Florida rapper Rod Wave turned heads when his third LP, SoulFly, debuted atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, a huge achievement for his brand of tender, melodic hip-hop. Follow-up Beautiful Mind fleshes out Rod Wave’s sound and personality across 24 tracks and 68 minutes, and while Jack Harlow swings by for the early highlight “Yungen,” the album mostly lets Rod Wave float in his complex thoughts, difficult memories, sizzling beats and guitar flourishes by himself, flaunting his charisma enough to make that daunting track list breeze by.
Anitta & Maluma, “El Que Espera”
Happy Anitta August to one and all, as the Brazilian pop star is celebrating the month with a new video each week leading up to the release of the deluxe edition of her recent album Versions of Me. Today, she’s unveiling a collaboration with Maluma that will sound right at home on the project: “El Que Espera” showcases both of their sumptuous vocals as they circle around each other, with Anitta and Maluma each getting solo time to shine while later harmonizing with a natural ease.
NIKI, Nicole
Nicole Zefanya, better known as NIKI, has seen her profile grow since signing to 88rising and taking part in show-stopping moments like their Coachella label showcase, but the Indonesian singer-songwriter stands on her own — and will continue rising — with Nicole, her heartfelt and carefully constructed sophomore album. Consisting of new tracks as well as years-old songs that have been reworked and reconsidered, Nicole demonstrates the breadth of NIKI’s strengths as a storyteller — each line in “The Apartment We Won’t Share,” for instance, sparkles with detail and quiet devastation.
Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers feat. Beyoncé, “Make Me Say It Again, Girl”
Two weeks after Beyoncé rocked the world with a dazzling new album, Renaissance, she’s already back, with a new spin on something that’s decades old: the superstar has joined R&B legends Ronald Isley and The Isley Brothers to help rework their 1975 track, “Make Me Say It Again Girl (Part 1 & 2).” Hearing Queen Bey’s voice flutter on “Make Me Say It Again, Girl” — ostensibly playing the foil to the Isleys, shimmying through the duet with an understated grace — makes for a true delight, another gift during a summer in which Beyoncé has already given us plenty.
