Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Lorde reinvents herself, Alex Warren brings ROSÉ into his sonic world, and KATSEYE continue a “Gnarly” run of success. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Lorde, Virgin 

The promotional campaign for Lorde’s long-awaited fourth album has involved tales of a bitter breakup and body dysmorphia, creeping feelings of stage fright and questions about her gender identity. Instead of retreating from the intimate pressure points and personal changes that have defined her mid-twenties, she poured them into a new album, and is now hoisting them up for the world to see. One listen to Lorde’s Virgin confirms that it is by far the bravest album of her career.

Read the full review of Lorde’s new album.

Alex Warren & ROSÉ, “On My Mind” 

A No. 1 smash will often result in some interesting phone calls about potential collaborations, and after Alex Warren followed up his enormous hit “Ordinary” with the Jelly Roll team-up “Bloodline,” ROSÉ has now hopped on the latest single from his upcoming album You’ll Be Alright, Kid, with the BLACKPINK star holding her own amidst the horns and kick drum on the somber, likable folk-pop sing-along.

KATSEYE, Beautiful Chaos 

More pop songs should sound as audacious as “Gnarly,” KATSEYE’s off-the-wall breakthrough single that leads off their new 5-song EP — and while that hyperpop sledgehammer sets up a slightly more subdued project, the girl group scores with slinky pop harmonies (“Gameboy”), dance balladry (“Mean Girls”) and a smart twist on the anthemic “Gnarly” sound to close things out (“M.I.A”). 

Lizzo, My Face Hurts From Smiling 

Although Lizzo has released a handful of pop-leaning singles so far in 2025, My Face Hurts From Smiling features none of them — instead, the surprise mixtape is a full-throated foray into rap music, designed to let her have a blast on tracks alongside SZA and Doja Cat and further regain her mojo before a presumably more mainstream-focused new album.

Don Toliver, “FWU” 

Don Toliver’s helium-coated voice joins forces with Mustard’s hard-clapping production on “FWU,” a new single that serves as Toliver’s first solo single of the year and boosts his momentum without high stakes — “FWU” rolls along ceaselessly and purposefully, meant to be played loud and more than twice.

Various Artists, F1 The Album 

On the same day that the Brad Pitt racing drama zooms into theaters, the full F1 album is unveiled as the most star-studded soundtrack of the year, with previously released tracks by Don Toliver and Doja Cat, Tate McRae, Ed Sheeran and ROSÉ complemented by new offerings from Burna Boy, RAYE, Madison Beer and more — just be sure to save time for Peggy Gou’s bright, shuffling “D.A.N.C.E” in the back half.

Barbra Streisand, The Secret of Life: Partners, Vol. 2 

Barbra Streisand’s elegant sequel to her 2014 duets album Partners succeeds due to its smart guest list: while legends like Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and James Taylor swing by to sing and pay homage, the appearance of artists like Hozier and Laufey nicely shake up the sound, and the Babs-Mariah Carey-Ariana Grande summit “One Heart, One Voice” lives up to his high-powered pedigree.

Editor’s Pick: Blood Orange, “The Field” 

On the same day that a major new pop release that Dev Hyne contributed to, Lorde’s Virgin, is unveiled, indie fans can be equally enthralled by the first song in three years from his Blood Orange project: “The Field” — which melds the voices of Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caesar and others with Hynes’ own — is hauntingly gorgeous, a hymn-like variation on Blood Orange’s danceable pop-R&B that hopefully previews more to come from the studio master.

Submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com.

Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the United States.

Or, reach out on Bluesky.

Let’s open the latest mailbag.

Hi Gary,

I noticed that for the last four weeks, all songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 have reached either No. 1 or No. 2. The leaders: Alex Warren’s “Ordinary”; Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild”; Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want,” featuring Tate McRae; Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther”; Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”; Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile”; and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.” Plus, the runners-up: Wallen’s “Just in Case” and “I’m the Problem”; Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things”; and Drake’s “Nokia.”

Is this the first time this has happened?

Kind regards,

John Buergo-Rodriguez

Hi John,

The Hot 100 the past four weeks, on the charts dated June 7, 14, 21 and 28, has been good for songs in the top 10, given their lofty peak positions. It’s less optimal for fans of upward movement in the region, as it reflects that beyond the top two, every other song is past its high point.

The relative inaction ties into Jason Lipshutz’s recent analysis of how numerous songs are linking long stays in the Hot 100’s upper reaches, crowding out rising songs that could take their place.

The Hot 100’s top 10 steadiness also aligns with the relative drought of artists earning their first No. 1s so far this year.

Still, history! The four latest Hot 100s mark the first in the chart’s nearly 67-year history in which every song in the top 10 ranked or had already peaked at Nos. 1 or 2.

Notably, one prior week featured 10 No. 1- or No. 2-peaking Hot 100 hits in the top 10 — but at the time, three of them had yet to reach such heights. On the March 27, 2021-dated chart, Cardi B’s “Up” was No. 1, above four former leaders — “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo; “What’s Next” by Drake; “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd; and “Mood” by 24kGoldn, featuring iann dior — as well as two prior No. 2 hits: Ariana Grande’s “34+35,” featuring Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion, and Drake’s “Wants and Needs,” featuring Lil Baby. Meanwhile, three songs were on their way up: Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open,” The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Save Your Tears,” both to No. 1, and Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” to No. 2.

Generally, when songs are spending relatively less time in the Hot 100’s top 10, more opportunity exists for other hits to enter, increasing the chances that they’ll peak anywhere between Nos. 1 and 10, not just the top two.

‘19,’ 19

Hi Gary,

I read the recent “Ask Billboard” about songs on the Hot 100 that had a quirkiness regarding their titles and chart placement. How about one more: Paul Hardcastle’s “19.” I know that this single did not peak at No. 19, but at 15. Was it ever at No. 19, on the Hot 100 or elsewhere?

Thanks,

Walter Brockmann
Southampton, N.Y.

Hi Walter,

It did — it ranked at No. 19 on the Hot 100 dated Aug. 3, 1985, following two weeks at its No. 15 best. The next week, it also placed at No. 19 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It reached No. 8 on the latter list, as well as No. 1 on Dance Club Songs (where it was never No. 19).

How about 19 other coincidences?

Last summer — and, for what it’s worth, this summer as well — Quan, Litleboy and Trilla G’s “Someone Else” was inescapable across the Windward Islands of the Caribbean. Whether you were feting pon di road, out with friends, or humming along to your daily playlist, the song’s infectious bouyon drums echoed across the region. Bouyon, the fast-growing genre originating from the island of Dominica, is poised to follow the footsteps of reggae, dancehall, soca and konpa as the next Caribbean genre to garner global attention — yet another major moment for a region that’s wining on the precipice of another crossover wave. 

A mixture of traditional sounds and contemporary instrumentation and grooves, bouyon’s origins reflect the generation-bridging essence of its composition. The term “bouyon” roughly translates to “soup,” and the pounding, syncopated percussion and high-octane tempos are normally paired with smooth crooners à la “Someone Else,” or brash chant-adjacent delivery, perfect for a never-ending fete.

Cornell Phillip, one of the founding members of the bouyon-pioneering WCK Band (Windward Caribbean Kulture), tells Billboard the genre was born out of a few musical families in the mid-late 1970s. His older brother, Daryl Phillip, was a cultural officer, and he had the opportunity to document the traditional rhythms and dances of Dominica. As he brought the bands to the family house to record them, another brother named Ashton was learning how to use his Synchronic Sound System, giving the boys access to speakers, a mixer and other production tools. Ashton also bought a keyboard for Cornell and a bass guitar for Keith, another Phillip brother, once he took note of their musical inclinations.

“Boys being boys, we started to play along with the traditional instruments [that the bands our brother was recording played],” he tells Billboard. “The boumboum [a hollowed wooden bwa kan] became the bass guitar, the syak and tambal [which are percussive instruments] became the drum machine, and the accordion turned into the keyboard. We couldn’t play our own thing, so we joined them in our own way.” 

The brothers kept up their semi-digitized fusion of cadence-lypso and jing-ping (a kind of Dominican folk music), playing tea parties across the island. By the early-mid 1980s, “hi-fis had taken over the music scene, and live bands weren’t really playing in Dominica,” Phillip explains. “My brother noticed that void, and we decided to take the other guys [friends from other musically inclined families] in to properly form a band together. That’s how it all started.”

WCK Band formally debuted with 1988’s One More Sway, but it was 1990’s Culture Shock, which housed early bouyon hits like “Dance Floor” and the title track, that proved its breakthrough moment. By 1993’s Forever, the band had perfected its bouyon blueprint, using it to craft “Conch Shell,” one of its biggest hits — perhaps only rivaled by “Balance Batty,” a timeless smash from 1995’s Tou Cho Tou Flam. The band built on its cross-regional success with tours visiting the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. The group even graced the iconic Apollo Theater during this time.  

In the following years, bouyon continued its ascent across Dominica and the rest of the Windward Islands, especially Saint Lucia, evolving into subgenres like bouyon-soca and reketeng. Asa Bantan, one of the genre’s current leaders and the voice behind hits like “Wet Fete,” notes that alongside that development came the shift from bands to solo artists. 

“If you was not in a band, you couldn’t make it,” he says. “You would have to join a band. But I was the first one [who] came out as a solo artist and took it to another level. [WCK’s] ‘Balance Batty’ was probably the first bouyon crossover hit that reached other islands. Then, Triple K had one with ‘Sousse.’ [Around 2013], I performed ‘Do Something Krazy’ on the Ubersoca cruise [an annual seven-night soca festival at sea], and I was the only one there representing bouyon music at the time. When all those different artists heard my riddim, they recognized it was unique and different and wanted to hop on it.” 

Once soca giants like Bunji Garlin, Fay-Ann Lyons, Problem Child, Mr. Killa, Voice and Machel Montano took note of bouyon, they incorporated the genre into their own releases, like the latter’s 2019 Motto-produced “Issa Vibe.” As soca and bouyon artists began their cultural and sonic exchange, a new class of “nasty business” bouyon acts emerged, marked by their penchant for “rawer lyrics,” says Bantan. These artists, like Mr. Ridge, Reo and Nice, employ the same “rough and commanding,” tone that Bantan, who’s been a recording artist for two decades, says is paramount for bouyon vocalists, but their lyricism leans closer to X-rated fare than the socially conscious songwriting of the genre’s roots. 

Today, bouyon is arguably the most popular style of music in Dominica, and its influence can be heard in several tracks from artists across the West Indies, especially during Carnival season. Bantan is probably the most popular stage performer in the genre, with his World Creole Music Festival entrances growing more elaborate each year. “I’ve come in through the crowd on a horse as a king, one time I came out of a coffin, and another time I came in on a zip line over 15,000 people,” he reminisces. “I’ve also come in an ambulance; I’ve come in a limousine as the president with bodyguards. Every year, I’m stepping it up another notch, and thousands of people look forward to what I’m going to do.”

This year also marked the very first time Dominica hosted a Bouyon Road March competition during Mas Domnik, its annual Carnival celebration. Campaigned for, in part, by Emile Depooter, who previously managed WCK Band and Triple K, the separate bouyon category reflects the genre’s growing influence on Carnival season. With just over a third of the vote, “Rags” — a collaborative track from Trilla G, Shelly and Skinny Fabulous that melodically nods to The Greatest Showman’s “Never Enough” — won the inaugural Bouyon Road March title. Impressively, Shelly, the lead singer of Signal Band, also placed second and third alongside his bandmates with “Bye Bye Bye” and “My Band,” respectively. 

“We had a lot of criticism over the years that Carnival time is not for Signal Band,” Shelly reflects. “The consensus was that Carnival is not for us, and we are for the festivals and concerts instead. We made a conscious decision to change that narrative, and we did. When they kept calling our names for the results, that’s what we worked hard for.” 

As bouyon continues its ascent and power players from other genres and islands turn their attention to Dominica, pioneers like Phillip welcome the outside investment, as long as true bouyon artists remain at the forefront. 

“We as Dominicans have to be responsible because there is such a thing as fusion, but you have to be careful or you might lose the original form,” Phillip stresses. “You can put a little R&B influence so that people in the States can relate, but we have to be careful to keep it organic and special to Dominica. We can’t think so far outside the box that bouyon is eventually labeled as something else. Hopefully, one day soon our music will have its own classification. Music spreads love, so I want bouyon to go as far as it can — even Mars!” 

After years of winning America over with her dazzling pop sensibilities and musical flair, Grammy Award-winning artist Lizzo is switching lanes — at least for the summer. On Friday (June 27), Lizzo channels her 14-year-old self and returns to her first musical love: rap. Once a member of the Houston hip-hop group Cornrow Clique, Lizzo is back in rare form, delivering swaggering bars and vivacious energy that would’ve made her middle school classmates scream.

“I think what 14-year-old Lizzo would be most proud of is that I can say more cuss words,” she chuckles during a Zoom interview with Billboard ahead of her new mixtape My Face Still Hurts From Smiling. “Back then, all I could say was n—a and hoe. I couldn’t say b–ch, I couldn’t say f–k, I couldn’t say sh-t. It was so satisfying for me.”

Across the 13-track set, Lizzo flexes both freedom and untethered wit. She teased her rap return last month by hopping on Pluto’s “Whim Whammie,” putting her lyrical dexterity on full display. While some were shocked by her unfiltered bars, it served as a reminder: Lizzo can — and will — do whatever she wants. Whether tag-teaming with bestie SZA on “IRL” or clowning hapless bachelors with Doja Cat on “Still Can’t Fuh,” she steamrolls her opps, while flashing her signature Colgate smile every step of the way.

Below, Billboard speaks to Lizzo about how Lil Wayne and Missy Elliott served as inspirations for her new mixtape, if she would do an all-rap Tiny Desk, quieting the outside noise and her sisterhood with SZA.

How you feeling about your new mixtape dropping?

I feel really excited. I did it really quickly. This is different for me. I’m usually in the studio for like two years and my music is turned in months in advance. Then, I’m like doing a slow promo rollout. This time, I did everything in a week and I just approved the master like 20 mins ago.

You’re moving like Wayne.

I was calling myself “Lizzo Wayne.” [Laughs.] 

What many people may not know is that you first started out in a rap group, Cornrow Clique. What creative elements from that era still show up in your music today, especially from an MC standpoint?

I think how fun and how off-the-cuff a lot of it was. I used to enjoy sitting and writing down my verse and everybody coming together like, “Who got the craziest verse?” and feeding off of that energy. What I think is one of the most [exciting] elements is my best friend Lexo, who was in Cornrow Clique. Her voice is on this project. I flew her in from Houston like day three when I was working on everything. I already had like 11 songs. I flew her in and I was like, “Ay. I need you to give me ad-libs. I need your voice on this track.” So you can hear her being like, “We outside, ho! We outside.” So it’s a full-circle moment. 

How is your creative process different when you’re in rap mode versus your pop/R&B bag? Does it unlock a different side of your pen or persona?

I think it does, but I also feel like it’s the same me. For instance, “About Damn Time” [starts rapping], that was like a freestyle that I did in the booth. And I think that’s how I start with everything. It’s like a freestyle and it’s typically kind of rappity, and then I add melodies. Then, I go in and adjust the lyrics like, “Can I say this? Can you say this in pop music?” With this project, I’m like, “Man. The first thing that comes out my mouth, I’m gonna say it. I’m not gonna edit myself.” But with pop, there’s a lot of editing. 

You’ve mentioned not being a hip-hop historian growing up, but clearly the culture still moved you. Was there anyone you studied or drew inspiration from while making this project?

I remember I kept saying Lil Wayne was the person I wanna be [like]. I wanna be like Mixtape Wayne when I do this, but I always have a little bit of Missy Elliott in me — at all times. She’s just a part of me. So I definitely tapped into Missy. 

I feel like you’ve had a little bit of Missy engrained in you, at least from a music video standpoint. 

Aw thank you. She’s my GOAT. She’s in my big three. She’s a living legend and one of the best rappers of all time, one of the best producers of all time, one of the best songwriters of all time and live performers.

We’re in a golden era for female rappers. Why do you think women have the momentum right now and what excites you most about being part of that wave?

This is like my dream come true. Like you said, you read interviews from me from 2014 and what was the No. 1 question they’d ask us? “How does it feel to be a female rapper in a male dominated industry?” No one gets asked that question anymore — and that was my dream. I was like, “One day. No one will have to hear this question, because it will be female-dominated, or women will dominate.”

It feels really, really good. I’m constantly inspired and in awe of all of the women doing their thing. Like I shout them out all on the mixtape, too. On “Gotcho Bitch,” that was me paying homage to all of the women are who killing it right now and bringing that unity and that love. I’m bigging all the women up because we’re truly doing our big ones. It’s incredible to me. When “Yitty on Yo Tittys” freestyle came out, the internet people were like, “Wait. I didn’t know Lizzo can rap?” And it was like, “Y’all didn’t know Lizzo can rap?”

It kind of pushed me back into those [rap] conversations [since] I have been in the pop conversation for a long time. So it feels good. It feels good to know that I can tap my toe in, say hello real quick and pop back out. 

What’s your favorite verse on the mixtape and what headspace were you in when you wrote it?

I got some many good verses, bro. I feel like my favorite that gets me every time is “Gotcho Bitch.” — that’s the song where I drop the names of all of the girls who are killing it. I know there’s way more too. I don’t want anyone to feel left out. I love all of us, but that was crazy to because I had these three beats. One was a Tay-Keith Beat and a Jasper Harris beat. I slid them altogether and I had three beat-switches. To be able to switch my flow up and go off on all of them was really, really fun to me. Oh my gosh. 

The other gag about this project is I wrote everything in four days. So like, my past albums, it takes weeks and sometimes months to finish the songs. So the lyrics are burned into my brain. This, the sh-t so was so off-the-cuff. Now, I’m like, “F–k. How do I perform these songs?” [Laughs.] I gotta remember everything, but I made a little mini-documentary of how it was all made too. I can’t wait to share all that. 

I think it’s crazy you knocked out a doc and mixtape in less than a week.

I set the cameras up. I record everything. I have Love in Real Life recorded, too. When I’m in the studio, I have the cameras going 24/7.

I’m curious. How do you plan to pivot back into album-mode for Love in Real Life coming out of this rap-centric / mixtape era?

I think what I learned from this mixtape I’m going to put into Love in Real Life. Really, what I learned from this is trust your vision, trust your instinct. Your first instinct is always right and double down on whatever it is you like. Nerd out on it. I nerded on rap. I nerded out in my Houston s–t and my Houston bag.

For Love in Real Life, I’m gonna keep it real with you: I’m gonna have to go back in and re-record some stuff. Because there’s some songs that I love, but — for instance. when I dropped “Still Bad,” “Still Bad” is an amazing, well-constructed pop song. The demo of it, the Animal Style demo, I liked the way that feels. So I have a lot of demo versions of songs that I might switch and swap or even put both on. Who knows? I’m feeling crazy these days. 

Your bond with SZA feels like a real sisterhood. What don’t we see on camera that makes that connection so strong both as women and as artists?

I think the beauty of what you don’t see on camera is that you don’t see it on camera. [Laughs.] I think there’s a lot of genuine support. She’s one of the only people that I can text at 3:00 in the morning when I’m crashing out. She’ll just get this one dark-ass text and she’s like, “Oh my gosh. Are you ok?” But I really appreciate her, because she understands — and I think it’s really hard for you to have someone in your life who actually f–ks with you and who’s known you for a long time who also understand the world that you’re in. I think that’s what I cherish the most about her. She gets me.

When you look back at “W.E.R.K.,” which was all about self-empowerment and positivity, how do you reflect on your own growth in a world filled with negativity and outside noise?

I think I might be a master at ignoring the outside noise now. I feel like I know too much to give a f–k about any external opinion. The only opinion that I truly care about [is from] my fans. Outside of my personal life, my friends, my family and loved ones, any external opinion on a professional level is just for my fans. That’s why I have my IRL pages, so I can talk straight to them — ’cause I do care about my fans and the people that really do care about me. They throw all of these words out there like “peer social” and all of this s–t, but I believe that I have a real relationship with my fans because I believe that they have a real relationship with me. They support me, they show up to my shows, they’re down for me, they ride for me and I ride for them.

So I think having my IRL pages and being able to talk directly to them and see how they really feel — and not like trolls and people trying to be mean for clout on the internet — is really healing. There are people who love me and they’re right here. It’s not an echo chamber — it’s love. You know what I mean? Actually, I think the negativity is an echo chamber. I think people like to just be negative and mean because you get rewarded for that behavior now and it’s just an echo chamber of hate. So I’ve created a little safe space that’s just filled with love. It’s a private page and you only can get in if you get approved. They’re my babies and I’m their baby.

You’ve always been a confident woman. After your weight loss, how has your confidence evolved and how is that evolution showing up in your new music?

I’m so confident and I think the thing that I’m most confident in now is me, my vision, and my creativity. I kind of lost trust in myself for awhile because when you get in the industry, there’s a lot of people that come in and think they’re the experts. It’s like, “No, they should know what they’re talking about, ’cause they’ve been doing this longer than you and they’re in this position.” But actually, no one knows what they’re talking about. No one knows what they’re doing. It’s art.

F–k who you f–k with over anyone else. F–k with yourself the most, ’cause when nobody was f–king with you, who was f–king with you? You. So don’t turn on yourself now. I think my confidence and what you’re seeing isn’t just a body transformation. That’s part of it, but my body is gonna transform again. I might get bigger. I might get smaller. I’m gonna get older. I think when you’re seeing that glow, it’s that confidence that’s truly being proud of who I am and not hiding who I am in all the aspects of it. If I want to do a rock and roll show, I’m gonna do a rock and roll show. If I wanna throw ass in two yitty thongs and do a rap show, I’m gonna go a rap show. I contain multitudes.

Would you consider doing a Tiny Desk, strictly bringing the rap side?

That’s a great idea. You know what? You’re on the team now. Listen, I’m gonna talk my s–t for a second — because I do feel like I have one of the most underrated Tiny Desks in the game. Because there are ones that are properly rated, highly rated and they deserve [the love]. Then, there are some underrated ones, and I do think mine is in the underrated [side]. I ate that s–t up. That s–t was hard and you know what? Nobody really didn’t know about me back then. So I’m ready for round two.