Billboard’s Friday Music Information serves as a useful information to this Friday’s most important releases — the important thing music that everybody shall be speaking about right this moment, and that shall be dominating playlists this weekend and past.
This week, Justin Timberlake returns nonetheless looking for primary, Ice Spice will get calmly scatological and Megan Thee Stallion turns into Megan Thee Rattlesnake for one notably venomous diss observe. Take a look at all of this week’s picks beneath:
Justin Timberlake, “Egocentric”
It hasn’t been the simplest half-decade of Justin Timberlake’s profession, following 2018’s poorly acquired Man of the Woods album and a few very public relitigation of his previous habits in his private relationship with Britney Spears {and professional} relationship with Janet Jackson. However with a catalog and legacy like he has, a brand new Timberlake undertaking continues to be going to command a point of consideration — and we’ll see simply how a lot with the discharge of “Egocentric,” single from his upcoming Every little thing I Thought It Was album. Regardless of the title, the music is definitely far more unassuming than his standard lead singles: a honeyed, ornately produced mid-tempo ballad constructed on warmly groaning organs and a bossa nova drum machine. “If I get jealous, I can’t assist it/ I would like each little bit of you, I suppose I’m egocentric,” JT sings on the refrain — not precisely a brand-new sentiment, however one candy sufficient that it’s onerous to actually rise up a lot hate for.
Megan Thee Stallion, “Hiss”
The music that your total social media feed is buzzing — fantastic, hissing — about this morning is sort of definitely Megan Thee Stallion’s take-no-prisoners newest. “I simply wanna kick this s–t off by saying f–ok y’all,” Megan proclaims to start “Hiss.” “I’m finna get this s–t of my chest and lay it to relaxation.” Megan then spends the following three minutes spitting venomous bars in opposition to her haters and rivals, together with rhymes about BBLs and Megan’s Legislation, which have been largely interpreted by followers on-line to be about Drake and Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty, respectively. (Nicki Minaj seemingly responded on IG Reside this morning with bars of her personal.) No matter supposed targets, although, the music accommodates among the fieriest rapping of Megan’s profession, and appears more likely to recenter her within the hip-hop dialog for early 2024.
Ice Spice, “Suppose U the Shit (Fart)”
Ice Spice mainly dominated 2023 from January on, so it’s not stunning she’d attempt to get in early on 2024 as effectively. “Suppose” is a little bit of a left flip for her — go-to producer RIOTUSA replaces her standard drill beats and pop-leaning hooks with Jersey Membership thumps and bleating synths, sounding like a cousin of 41’s underground smash “Bent” from final 12 months. Ice’s vocals put plenty of inventory within the questionable refrain rejoinder, “Suppose you the s–t?/ You not even a fart,” however goes slightly tougher on the verses, spitting, “I’m a reasonably b–ch, I don’t like fightin’/ On the beat, I’m goin’ Tremendous Saiyan.” We’ll see if it’s sufficient to maintain her 2023-long sizzling streak on the charts cooking into 2024.
Lil Nas X, “The place Do We Go Now?”
Lil Nas X: Lengthy Reside Montero, the primary full-length documentary about Lil Nas X, debuts on MAX this Saturday (Jan. 27). We wrote about our largest takeaways from the doc right here, however whereas followers wait to get their first have a look at the doc, Lil Nas has gifted them with one other new music (following “J Christ” from two weeks in the past): “The place Do We Go Now?” The pop-rock energy ballad is written with and produced by LNX’s star’s go-to collaborators, Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi, and looks like very pure new sonic and thematic territory for the genre-blending star, as he pleads “I simply wanna be someone new inside” over tender guitars and racing drums.
Morgan Wallen, “Spin You Round (1/24)”
Name it a Morgan’s Model: Nation famous person Morgan Wallen introduced final evening on social media that he can be releasing a brand new model of his 2015 early-career recording “Spin You Round” this Friday. Why now? As a result of it’s not the one new launch you’ll see posted on his artist web page this morning: Stand Alone, father or mother EP to “Spin You Round,” has additionally been re-released in a 13-track “tenth Anniversary Deluxe Version” (regardless of having come out 9 years in the past), that includes eight beforehand unreleased songs — all in opposition to Wallen’s needs. “I cringe once I pay attention to those songs & I’m very involved my followers could mistakenly consider that is a brand new launch by me,” he defined.
So to hopefully direct followers away from the unapproved new re-release, he’s re-recorded the fan favourite as a stripped-down acoustic ballad, subtitled with right this moment’s date and given the cover-art observe “needed to go away the duck woods to make this.” It’s a stunning new model of the love music — which regardless of its rough-draft high quality, does sound decently in step with more moderen Wallen recordings — and it wouldn’t be stunning to see it change into a new-old hit for Wallen, very like a few of these Taylor’s Variations have the previous couple years.
The Smile, Wall of Eyes
Aside from the massive pop, rap and nation releases of this Friday, there’s additionally the less-top-40-friendly (however 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 options extra blends of knotty art-rock melodies, psychedelic instrumental thrives, Krautrock grooves and alt-funk jams, and has already attracted among the early 12 months’s strongest essential notices, together with a Finest New Music designation in Pitchfork.
