It’s the NMF drop of our dreams. With releases from heavy hitters like Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Selena Gomez and BLACKPINK, we’re feeling extra grateful this Friday. There’s tons of juicy content to dive into so start scrolling!
(P.S. download this playlist for access to the latest pop essentials)
“Ice Cream” by BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez
Blinks and Selenators rejoice! SELPINK IS HERE and it’s even better than we imagined!!! Honestly, this song may have saved Summer 2020 + the fan response for it is already insane. “Ice Cream” serves as the second single from BLACKPINK’s upcoming album (slated for 10.20) and it’s another knockout feature from Selena following her appearance on “Past Life“. The music video is just as iconic as the mashup and we won’t judge you if you watch it 100 times today bc same.
The icing on the cake… the queens of K-Pop recruited “Sweetener” singer Ariana Grande and Victoria Monét to co-write the song!
- Listen to the song here
- Follow BLACKPINK on Instagram and Twitter
- Follow Selena Gomez on Instagram and Twitter
GET YOUR BLACKPINK MERCH HERE
“Royal Rumble” by Lil Tecca
If you’ve had access to a radio in the last year you’ve definitely heard Tecca’s multi-platinum hit Ransom. The Queens Rapper (who recently celebrated his 18th birthday) reminds of his prodigal status on his newest single, “Royal Rumble”. The track comes ahead of his debut album Virgo World (we love a good astrology reference) and Tecca if you’re reading this, you absolutely snapped on this music video *John Cena has exited the chat*
CALM PLUS1 (Extended Album) + “Kill My Time” by 5SOS
It’s been 5 months since the boys released their fourth studio album C A L M, and they’ve already (graciously) blessed us with an extended version. C A L M PLUS1 features brand new track “Kill My Time” and it’s everything we didn’t know we needed. Romantic yet not cheesy, modern but with subtle 80’s synth influences… we’ll definitely be killing some time listening to this on repeat.
Smile (Album) by Katy Perry
First of all, KATY PERRY IS A MOM AND HER BABY HAS THE CUTEST NAME EVER. Secondly, that saying “good things come to those who wait” has never resonated more. After a bit of a delay, Smile, the fifth studio album from Katy Perry has arrived. It’s been about a decade since Katy cemented her status as pop royalty and we have to applaud the longevity and quality of her career.
At it’s core, Smile gives us that classic Perry sound that we fell in love with while coming from a place of growth, perspective and maturity. Sizzling bops, emotional odes, and everything in between, Smile has it all.
SHOP KATY PERRY MERCH HERE
“Why Do You Lie To Me” by Topic & A7S ft. Lil Baby
What do you get when a Swedish singer, a German DJ, and an Atlanta-born rapper hop in the booth together? Simple. An absolute bop titled: “Why Do You Lie To Me“. This track is giving us life and we only wish we got to enjoy it earlier in the summer. But there’s good reason for the song’s delay. According to Topic, “Why Do You Lie To Me” has been close to completion for a year and a half but a feature from Lil Baby was the missing piece. Topic was definitely right and we couldn’t imagine this track without all 3 members of this epic trio.
- Listen to the song here
- Follow Lil Baby on Instagram and Twitter
- Follow Topic on Instagram and Twitter
- Follow A7S on Instagram
Cool Tape Volume 3 (Album) by JADEN
Our favourite karate kid – turned musical enigma/international philanthropist has found yet another way to amaze us. This time he’s doing so with the release of his latest album Cool Tape Volume 3. As the title suggests, it’s the third installment in his Cool Tape series and boy do we love a good trilogy. The album consists of 17 tracks including a feature from Justin Bieber on “Falling For You” (the way we stan this bromance may be borderline unhealthy 😂). If you liked “Cabin Fever” as much as we did, you’ll undoubtedly love the rest of the album.
“Like That” by GRACEY & Alexander23
From SoundCloud to centre-stage, GRACEY’s rise to stardom is super impressive and well deserved. Similarly to Julia Michaels, GRACEY found huge success as a platinum-selling songwriter before venturing into a singing career of her own. Being able to melodically channel her personal experiences and emotion into her music has been a defining trait of the pop artist’s career.
Her latest single “Like That” features fellow musical savant and Tik Tok aficionado, Alexander23. Alex, who hails from Chicago has made some major moves for himself working with Chelsea Cutler and Selena Gomez. Together, the duo has made a magical track.
- Listen to the song here
- Follow GRACEY on Instagram and Twitter
- Follow Alexander23 on Instagram + Twitter + Tik Tok
“Little Runaway” by Celeste
Born in Los Angeles and based in London, neo-soul singer Celeste is collecting fans all over the world and we totally understand why. Drawing comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Adele, you’d be amiss to sleep on this breakthrough artist (also she’s a fashion icon, just check out her IG). Her latest single “Little Runaway” perfectly exemplifies why stars like Elton John and James Corden are raving about her. Still not convinced? Watch her music video featured above and see for yourself.
“Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton
Christ Stapleton’s latest single, “Starting Over” had it’s world premiere yesterday afternoon and it’s been nearly impossible to shake the tune from our heads ever since. The Grammy-winning country singer also delighted fans with the announcement of his fourth studio album of the same name (scheduled for 11.13.20). With such beautifully written lyrics, this song is the perfect rebuttal to anyone who argues that country music is only about trucks and beer (which are still pretty rad topics to sing about btw).
“Over Now” by The Weeknd x Calvin Harris
The Weeknd hinted at a collab early last week with a Coachella throwback pic featuring him and Harris. Speculation for a Calvin x Abel project quickly flooded Twitter, and the Scarborough-born singer didn’t wait too long before confirming the news pleasing millions of fans in the process. “Over Now” is absolute fire 🔥 🔥 🔥 .
In addition to basking in the positive-reception of this track today, The Weeknd can also celebrate the 5th anniversary of his second studio album, Beauty Behind The Madness (where does the time go).
- Listen to the song here
- Listen to The Weeknd’s biggest hits here
- Follow The Weeknd on Instagram and Twitter
SHOP THE WEEKND MERCH HERE
Check out our Instagram to join the conversation and see what other music lovers think about this week’s releases. See you next Friday!