RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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August continues to be a buzzy month for new music across pop, rap, Latin, K-pop, country, reggae, Afrobeats and more — and it’s all thanks to KATSEYE, Phoebe Bridgers, Ayra Starr and more.
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Phoebe Bridgers, KATSEYE, Troye Sivan, Ayra Starr & More: New Music Friday Guide
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KATSEYE leads this week’s new releases with its WILD EP, which houses the Billboard Hot 100 hits “Pinky Up” (No. 28) and “Animal” (No. 24). WILD serves as the follow-up to last year’s Beautiful Chaos EP, which spun out a trio of fan-favorites in “Gnarly,” “Gameboy” and the Grammy-nominated “Gabriela.” With Manon Bannerman still on a hiatus, and Sophia Laforteza also taking a break as of Aug. 7, KATSEYE will be supporting its newest project on its arena-headlining Wildworld Tour, kicking off on Sept. 1 in Dublin, Ireland.
Two other major full-length releases lit up this New Music Friday: Phoebe Bridgers’ Lost Weekend and Ayra Starr’s Starrgirl . While the former finds Bridgers delivering her first solo LP in more six years, the latter finds Starr expanding her Afropop sonic foundation by delving into pulsating dance beats and seductive R&B duets. Morgan Freeman also stepped into the musical arena with his Delta blues-celebrating Symphonic Blues Experience.
This week also brought along new projects from Nipsey Hussle and Bino Rideaux ( Prolific ), Masicka ( Forever Reign ), Queen Ifrica ( Breath of Life ), The Womack Sisters ( The Womack Sisters ), Fridayy ( Tension ), Internet Money ( We All We Needed ), Becky G ( Baraja Bendita ), Jungle ( Sushine ), Trippie Redd ( NDA ), Jon Batiste ( Black Mozart ), October London ( Love Me for Me ), Channel Tres ( Enigma POV ), YTB Fatt ( Vera Volpe ) and Brian Kelley ( Coral Beats ).
Over on the singles side, Troye Sivan leads the way with “She’s the Best,” the first official offering from his forthcoming fourth studio album of the same name. The breezy, Jack Antonoff-produced track landed alongside a music video starring Academy Award winner — and Sivan’s fellow Aussie — Nicole Kidman. Ahead of releasing her third album next week, British singer-songwriter Jorja Smith also shared her new “I Lied, You Lied” single.
A plethora of artists also dropped new tracks this week, including Flo Milli (“Too Bo$$y”); Kash Doll and Alex Vaughn (“NWM”); Sleepy Hallow and Kyle Richh (“Fine”); Quavo (“Trance”); Little Big Town and Kelsea Ballerini (“Closing Time”); Orville Peck (“Already Gone”); Hudson Westbrook (“Made You Look”); Feng (“Fake Friends”) and Popcaan (“Comments”).
Billboard wants to know which of these songs, EPs, and albums you’re most excited about this week. Let us know which release is staying on repeat this weekend by voting for your favorite in the poll below.
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