Hugo Comte
Billboard's Friday Music Guide is your handy guide to the biggest songs releasing this Friday — the big songs everyone's talking about today, and the songs that will dominate playlists this weekend and beyond.
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Check out the latest videos, charts and news
Check out the latest videos, charts and news
This week we're also seeing the arrival of Normani's debut album, new music from Don Toliver and NxWorries, and a new LP from Luke Combs just in time for Father's Day. Check out all of our top picks for this week below.
Normani, Dopamine
That's right folks. It's finally release week for Normani. After years of teases, delays and false starts, the 5H alum's incredibly long-awaited debut solo album, Dopamine, is finally here. Featuring pre-release singles like his Cardi B collab “Wild Side” and Gunna collab “1:59,” the 13-track album is surprisingly tight, with highlights including the Slim Thug sample on “Still” (via Mike Jones' “Still Tippin'”), the blistering guitar solo late in “Insomnia,” the skipping house beat on “Take My Time,” and of course the Billboard nod to album opener “Big Boy.” Only longtime fans can decide if this album was worth the wait, but either way, it's one to tune in to this Friday.
Tommy Richman “The Devil Lies”
If you've finally gotten over his breakout hit “Million Dollar Baby” (which seems unlikely, considering the song is still hovering around the top five on the Billboard Hot 100), breakout singer and rapper Tommy Richman is back this week with a sequel. “Devil Is a Lie” is just as seductive as “Baby,” with his buttery falsetto floating over a clean, old-school trap-and-break beat, and the chorus hook (“I ain't Travis, baby, I ain't Chase B/I work too hard, can you pay me?”) should be a big hit on TikTok. It remains to be seen whether Richman's first post-“Million” effort will be enough to move him away from being a one-hit wonder, but it certainly looks like another big hit.
Luke Combs, father and son
Happy Father's Day from Luke Combs! The country superstar announced his new album, Fathers and Sons, just a week ago, set to be released right before the Father's Day holiday. Previewed last Friday (June 7) with the lead single, “The Man He Sees in Me,” the album is, as expected, an emotional and heartfelt tribute to his two sons, Tex Lawrence Combs and Bo Lee Combs, and his own father, Chester Combs. Sure, it's moving (and sometimes tear-jerking), but those who prefer a less sentimental version of Combs might stick with his smash hit, “Ain't No Love in Oklahoma,” from the Twisters: The Album soundtrack, when building their summer playlist.
Don Toliver “Hardstone Psycho”
Cactus Jack's lieutenant returns with his fourth studio album of thundering trap beats and sharp R&B vocals. Don Toliver's Hardstone Psycho is split into four sections, four tracks each, including lead singles (and Billboard Hot 100 hits) “Bandit” and “Attitude” (featuring deft samples of Charlie Wilson, Cash Cobain, and Pharrell's hook from Snoop Dogg's “Beautiful”). Additional guests include Future and Metro Boomin on “Purple Rain,” label boss Travis Scott on “Ice Age,” and Kodak Black on album highlight “Brother Stone,” as well as inspired samples such as Whitney Houston's “Exhale (Shoop, Shoop),” pitched up on “Glock.”
Pharrell “Double Life”
Pharrell and the Despicable Me series have always been the gold standard for pure pop soundtracks, right? Maybe, but this new song from the upcoming Despicable Me 4 probably doesn't sound like what you'd expect. “Double Life” rides on grungy guitar riffs, sharp chorus harmonies and an action-packed bridge to perhaps Pharrell's most dramatic and risky soundtrack single to date. “Heads or tails, it don't matter to you/You just don't like it always on the flip side,” double-tracked P belts out on the chorus, which sounds more like an attempt to align with “One Night in Bangkok” than “Happy.”
NxWorries, why?
Yes, it's the return of another super-duo featuring R&B critics' favorite Anderson .Paak. Teaming up with underground hip-hop producer Knxwledge, NxWorries hasn't released a full-length album since 2016, during which .Paak also worked as a pop star with Bruno Mars as Silk Sonic. His new project, Why Lawd?, may not be a chart-topping success, but it should be a treat for longtime fans of the producer and singer-songwriter. The 19-track chill groove also features a soundtrack from big names like H.E.R., Earl Sweatshirt, Snoop Dogg, and of course, R&B legend Charlie Wilson, who will likely be everywhere in 2024.