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

Last week, we featured Charli xcx, MUNA and Kelela.

This week: Gracie Abrams teases her recently-announced fourth album, Daughter From Hell, with its lead single; Drake returns with his anticipated Iceman — plus two more projects titled Maid Of Honour and Habibti; and Tove Lo previews her upcoming sixth album … plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Gracie Abrams, “Hit the Wall”

Gracie Abrams’ now longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner wasn’t playing when he spoke about the singer’s upcoming album in an Instagram caption earlier this week: “You’ll hear us expanding our musical vocabulary and pushing into uncharted waters sonically…it feels elevated in every way.” Lead single “Hit the Wall” is an airy and lyrically loaded track, with lines like, “A room full of doctors and an inkblot/ I’m drawn into headlights, have a blind spot” or, “I live in a pattern of breakdowns/ You’ll bend to my silence, it’s so loud.” The track arrives as the perfect connector for where Abrams has been and where she is heading — and proves that if this is her starting point, Daughter From Hell is surely going to hurt like hell.

Drake, Iceman

After teasing his anticipated Iceman album, Drake more than delivered — also dropping Maid of Honour and Habibti on Friday. In all, the three releases total 43 new tracks and nearly two-and-a-half hours of listening (and push his solo full-length discography into double digits). Needless to say, the artist had a lot to get off his chest since his For All the Dogs release in 2023.

Iceman focus track, “Ran To Atlanta,” features Future and Molly Santana and is one of just two tracks on the project that taps guests. Meanwhile, Maid Of Honour and Habibti are a bit more feature-packed, with artists including Sexxy Red, Central Cee, PARTYNEXTDOOR and others appearing across the tracklists. So, roll your sleeves up and get to listening.

Tove Lo, “I’m Your Girl Right?”

It’s been four years since Tove Lo released an album (her last was 2022’s Dirt Femme) and new single “I’m Your Girl Right?” reminds listeners of what we’ve been missing. The track finds a sweet spot between mid-tempo pop and full-blown dance banger — exactly what Tove Lo has always done best. The track serves as the lead single for her upcoming sixth album, ESTRUS, out Sept. 18. As the artist shared in a statement: “I know you’ve been waiting a long time and I hope it’s worth the wait. It was for me!”

Rostam, “Hardy (feat. Clairo)”

With the release of Rostam’s third solo album, American Stories, he continues to prove that patience pays off (his last album, Changephobia, arrived in 2021) and that he still has that magic touch. Standout track “Hardy” opens unexpectedly with jittery, gorgeous strings that subtly fade into piano chords — only to return again halfway through for an instrumental interlude that also features trumpet to introduce Clairo’s verse. The song then ends with the chorus that’s all about acceptance: “Some things you said to me have stuck in my mind/ And though I’ll never have the chance to say why/ Maybe the greatest art is never completed/ We only have to leave it knowing we tried.”

Jorja Smith, “What’s Done Is Done”

Jorja Smith’s sultry, silky vocals are an expected, welcomed component of all her songs — and while they do their thing on “What’s Done Is Done,” the production comes as a surprise. Loaded with heart-pounding synth and bass, there’s a creeping, electric backbone to the track that perfectly soundtracks the basement club energy Smith channels in its music video.

Bundle up, Drake season has returned. Not one, not two, but three albums arrived on Friday (May 15) courtesy of the 6 God.

In addition to Iceman, Drake is dropping Habibti and Maid of Honour alongside the heavily anticipated LP. The trio of projects comes on the heels of Drake’s Iceman episode four livestream, which went down on Thursday night (May 14).

Iceman boasts 18 tracks and features 21 Savage, Molly Santana and a reunion with Drake’s What a Time to Be Alive collaborator Future. Maid of Honour contains 14 songs and collaborations with Stunna Sandy, Central Cee, Sexyy Red, Iconic Savvy and Popcaan. While Habibti has 11 new songs and lifts from Sexyy Red once again, Loe Shimmy and Partynextdoor.

Drake’s ninth, 10th and 11th studio albums serve as his first since clashing with Kendrick Lamar in 2024 and 2023’s For all the Dogs, which went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 402,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., according to Luminate.

Drizzy has been teasing Iceman since 2025 and he’s been on another level with the marketing and rollout for the project compared to previous releases.

Most notably, Drake put up a massive ice block structure in downtown Toronto, which ended up being taken down days later by Toronto’s fire department for being a public hazard.

Before the structure was melted, a streamer named Kishka ended up finding an Iceman folder inside the installation, which revealed the album’s May 15 release date. Drake’s team hooked him up with a $50,000 payday for the discovery. He also turned his courtside seats at multiple Toronto Raptors games into frozen icicles.

As far as his previously released singles, tracks like “Which One” and “Dog House” didn’t make the cut for the albums, while “What Did I Miss” landed on Iceman.

If Iceman or any of the other pair of albums top the Billboard 200, that will give Drake a record 15 No. 1s, which would break a tie with Jay-Z when it comes to rappers. Drizzy has the opportunity to occupy the top three of the Billboard 200 next week, which has only been done in the past by Michael Jackson. However, he’d be the first to hold the top three slots with debuts simultaneously.

Stream Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour below.

She might be outta love, but Anastacia is full of laughs.

The U.S. singer and songwriter with the huge voice makes an hilarious cameo in the new Australian comedy series Urzila, helmed by South Africa-born, New Zealand-based comedian and actress Urzila Carlson.  

In the new clip, Anastacia puts a squad of backing dancers through their paces ahead of her next single release, a “dancehall banger.” The class has one objective — the pop star needs to feel the heat.

Anastacia, herself a former professional dancer, overlooks the clear favorite Davis, despite his array of sweaty, flashy moves. Instead, she’s transfixed by Urzila’s offbeat choreography. It’s not so much that Urzila isn’t busting a move, no, she’s dancing to the beat of her unorthodox drum.  

Despite Davis’ protestations — he insists she’s from a “lesbian outreach program” — Anastacia loves what she’s seen. “Maybe I do agree, she wasn’t dancing very good. But I think she was dancing great,” says Anastacia, channeling Simon Cowell.

Urzila gets the nod, and she leads the chorography for that banger, ripping out a combination of finger guns, eyebrow lifts, keys searches, and “drunk aunty at a wedding” vibes.

Anastacia recently teased the sketch on her socials. “Such a joy being part of this!,” she wrote. “Thank you so much, Urzila Carlson, for having me – I had an absolute blast filming this skit with you. I’m beyond excited for you all to see it! As Urzila says: You’re gonna laugh your head off.”

Emerging in the early 2000s, Anastacia enjoyed superstar status in the U.K. and Europe with such hits as “I’m Outta Love,” “Left Outside Alone” and “Sick and Tired.” She has landed 12 songs in the top 40 of the Official U.K. Singles Chart, including three top 10s. Also, six of her albums crashed the U.K. top 10, including a No. 1 with her self-titled 2004 collection.

Urzila airs Wednesday evenings on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and on-demand at ABC iView. Watch Anastacia’s sketch here and below.

Even though Paul McCartney has been making music for nearly 70 years and has a legendary catalog to pull from, Will Ferrell and Marcello Hernandez make an unusual prediction for what the Beatles singer/songwriter might perform when he appears as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend.

In new promos, this weekend’s host, SNL alum Ferrell, and current cast member Hernandez appear alongside McCartney, who’s promoting his upcoming 21st solo studio album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which arrives on May 29. But it’s not a song from his new album that Ferrell and Hernandez are expecting.

“Sir Paul, everyone’s wondering what songs you’re going to play on Saturday,” Hernandez says in the promos, but McCartney responds: “I won’t tell.”

Ferrell has an idea: “What if we guess? If me and Marcello say it at the say time, will you tell us if that’s what you’ll be singing?,” to which McCartney relents, “Sure, why not?”

On the count of three, Ferrell and Hernandez make their prediction in unison: “‘Despacito‘ remix featuring Justin Bieber!”

“Damn, how’d you know?” McCartney says in shock when they guess the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hit, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-tying 16 weeks back in 2017.

Watch the promos below:

Saturday will mark McCartney’s fifth time as a musical guest on the show, and it will be almost 46 years to the day since his performance debut on the show, on May 17, 1980. McCartney also performed on both the 40th and 50th anniversary Saturday Night Live specials.

Ferrell spent seven seasons on SNL as a cast member, from 1995 to 2002. This will mark his sixth time returning as the host.

Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and streams on Peacock. (See all the options to watch SNL here.)

The official FIFA 2026 World Cup song—helmed by Colombian superstar Shakira and Nigerian sensation Burna Boy—has arrived on Thursday (May 14). 

Coined “Dai Dai,” the nearly four-minute track seamlessly blends both musical worlds, bringing to life a catchy tune powered by Afrobeats, dance-pop, world beats and reggaetón. 

Lyrically, the song keeps true to the spirit of soccer, sending a motivational and uplifting message to athletes and fans alike. “You knew from the day you were born/ That here in this place you belong/ You’ve been this brave all along/ What broke you once, made you strong,” Shak sings at top of the track. 

“Go follow your desire/ Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” chants Burna. The pair then shouts out some of the legends of the sport, including Maradona, Maldini, Romário, Cristiano Ronaldo, Beckham, Kaká and Messi, as well as this year’s participating countries like Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, United States and Netherlands. 

“Dai Dai” marks the second time Shakira has been tapped for an official FIFA World Cup song following the timeless “Waka, Waka (This Time for Africa)” recorded for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“Waka Waka” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, Latin Airplay and Latin Pop Airplay charts in July 2010. On the Latin Rhythm Airplay, it peaked No. 8 and reached a No. 38 high on the Billboard Hot 100 during the same period. It also spent 42 weeks at No. 1 on Latin Digital Song Sales, Shak’s longest-leading title on that chart. 

The 2026 FIFA World Cup starts June 11 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and will wrap July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which has been renamed the New York New Jersey Stadium for the games. Shakira will co-headline the halftime show at the World Cup final with Madonna and BTS

Listen to “Dai Dai” below.