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.
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)”
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.
Cardi B, “Like What (Freestyle)”
“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”
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
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”
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?
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.
