New Music Friday is finally here, and it's the best day of the week for a reason. Ready to dive into this week's best new songs and releases? Keep scrolling to find out more about the latest must-have tracks for your weekend playlist.
Jack Harlow may be starring in the upcoming reboot of White Men Can't Jump, but this week he wants to remind you that he's a rapper first and an actor second. Harlow released his third studio album, a 10-track solo project titled Jackman. Labrinth has released his first album since 2019, Ends & Begins, which has some writing and vocal assists from none other than Zendaya. There's also impressive and exciting new releases from around the globe, from K-pop titans SEVENTEEN, rapper Teezo Touchdown, and reggaeton's Jhayco (the artist formerly known as Jhay Cortez). Tap in to all the best new songs and releases of the week below, and thank us later.
Jack Harlow, Jackman
Jack Harlow announced his third studio album on a quiet Wednesday afternoon, only 48 hours before the project was set to drop. The ten-track album with zero features is already being called Harlow’s most “in-depth.” Vibe’s Hip-Hop reporter Armon Sadler joked that Jackman — which references Harlow's full first name — was the Louisville rapper’s version of Jay-Z’s 4:44. While the album may not be filled with the same caliber of conscious, introspective narrative-building that 4:44 achieved, Jackman is definitely a return to Harlow's roots. Silver-tongued, impressive lyricism is what laid the foundation for his career launching pad in the first place. The 24 minutes of Jackman are for those who have been fans of Harlow since his glasses days, and for those who still aren’t sold on whether he even belongs in the game. Either way, Harlow sends a clear message: he’s not going anywhere.
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SEVENTEEN, FML
Nine months after the release of their repackaged fourth full-length album Sector 17, K-pop powerhouses SEVENTEEN are back with their tenth mini album, titled FML. Comprising six tracks, FML marks the first time the 13-member group has made a comeback with not one but two title tracks: "Super" and "F*ck My Life."
"Super" is a high-powered Jersey-Club-inspired pop track rife with anime references and completed with high-octane choreography. Often lauded for their performance skills, the 13-member act take things to the next level in "Super," enlisting the help of 200 extra dancers for the track's music video. "F*ck My Life," on the other hand, takes our shared mundane worries as inspiration to provide comfort to fans and listeners in the form of a classic SVT ballad with '90s-style drums, lo-fi vocal chopping, and dreamy synths.
"Our new album contains both the music we want to present and the messages we want to convey," SVT leader S.Coups said in a press release about the tracks' contrasting natures. This "why not both" formula seems to be working since FML has become the most pre-ordered album in K-pop history, surpassing 4.64M sales before its release.
Labrinth, Ends & Begins
Is Zendaya stepping into her actor-slash-singer era again? This latest musical surprise from Z comes about a week after impromptu performance at Coachella 2023, which saw the actress perform live for the first time in almost a decade during her friend and Euphoria collaborator Labrinth's set. Today, Labrinth has released his third studio album, titled Ends & Begins, which he described on Instagram as “sci-fi love songs for my beloved.” One of the singles from Ends & Begins is “Never Felt So Alone,” which has a hidden feature from Billie Eilish. (During Coachella 2023 Weekend 1, Labrinth brought Eilish out to debut the song.) The only other feature on the album belongs to Zendaya, who lent her vocals to the intro track “The Feels.” She sings the entire second verse, and carries out the rest of the dreampop record alongside Labrinth.
“You may hear a familiar voice in there @labrinth,” wrote Zendaya on Instagram while posting a screenshot of “The Feels” on her Stories. In the following slide, Zendaya also revealed that she co-wrote the album's third track, “Everything” with Lab. “Also was given the opportunity from my brother @labrinth to write on this song a few years ago, appreciate him for always giving me a space to create.”
Ends & Begins is the genre-defying and experimental artist's first studio album since 2019's Imagination & the Misfit Kid, which held the standout tracks “Mount Everest” and the Euphoria anthem “All For Us," which also featured Zendaya.
Jhayco & Quevedo, “Mami Chula”
Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands sit on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, but Jhayco and Quevedo are bridging that gap with their new collaborative track "Mami Chula." The two islanders have joined forces to release an early summer jam in the form of a classic reggeaton serenade. "Mami Chula" is rife with punching percussion, muffled synths, autotuned harmonies, suave rhymes, and even a direct call back to Jhayco and Bad Bunny's hit track "Dákiti," which is referenced by the Canarian crooner in both lyrics and melody during the song's last verse.
Teezo Touchdown, “5 O'Clock”
Teezo Touchdown is back with a brand-new single, a follow-up to early April's “Familiarity.” It was back in 2014 that Drake gifted us the proverb “You know L.A. traffic, how the city slow" — almost a decade later, our next great rap storyteller Teezo Touchdown has given us the perfect anthem to blast while trying to make it the hell out of said traffic. The menacing bassline of “5 O'Clock” eventually gives way to the catchiest chorus you'll hear all day, just another example of Teezo's versatility as a sonic chameleon. My car windows are already shaking — everyone say thank you, Teezo!
