Taylor Swift poses in the press room at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 14, 2021.
Billboard's First Stream 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, Taylor Swift dives into her version of Fearless , Doja Cat and SZA combine for a summer jam, and J Balvin and Khalid yearn in different languages. Check out all of this week's First Stream picks below:
Taylor Swift's journey to re-record her first six studio albums has kicked off with 2008's Fearless , a project that earned the album of the year Grammy, sold millions of copies, scored multiple top 10 hits on the Hot 100 chart, and still holds up as a heartfelt snapshot of a brilliant songwriter coming of age. Diehard fans will love exploring how Swift reworked the songs they know and love, while casual Swifties should embrace the six "From The Vault" tracks that provide a new blast from Swift's country-pop past.
As the weather heats up, vaccines roll out and public gatherings gradually become more commonplace, so will public displays of affection -- and Doja Cat and SZA have teamed up to provide the soundtrack for such occasions. "Kiss Me More" revisits the disco-pop thump of Doja's breakthrough smash "Say So" with a romantic, slightly subtle touch: the pair keep their rhymes tight and chorus vocals breathy, but don't mince words while declaring, "All on my tongue, I want it!"
A slew of bilingual tracks have impacted the charts over the past half-decade, with Spanish-language and English-language stars teaming up to collapse borders and target different demographics; J Balvin and Khalid follow this formula on "Otra Noche Sin Ti," yet the pairing sounds especially dynamic. Balvin and Khalid both understand the power of a lovelorn croon, and as they sing about ruing "another night without you" in separate languages, their loneliness effectively transcends dialects.
Although "Shy Away" sounds like it was created by a completely different band than the duo who made hits like "Stressed Out" and "Heathens," those who have been paying attention to Twenty One Pilots over the past few years, particularly their happy-go-lucky quarantine jam "Level Of Concern," shouldn't be shocked by the sunny bounce of their latest single. "Shy Away" rips into its hook with one eye fixed on alternative radio, and another on the arena shows that will no doubt be awaiting the group when the touring world opens back up.
"Every day a battle, I'm exhausted and I'm weary," Chicago great Polo G admits on "Rapstar," and he sounds like he means it, plowing through his similes and experiences with a head that hangs heavy thanks to newfound fame. Polo G remains one of the strongest storytellers in modern hip-hop, and even when his money-counting can't provide a sense of peace, the results are often captivating for his listeners.
With "Set Him Up," Queen Naija and Ari Lennox have combined and unleashed a gender-flipped "Same Girl" for a new generation. As they slowly realize that their boasts about their romantic exploits boil down to a shared man, Naija and Lennox gleefully allow the R&B song to morph around them, joining forces to get back at their guy and displaying their singular personas in the process.
Yeti Beats: From Punk Rocker To Doja Cat Producer | GRAMMY.com
Doja Cat Teases 'Kiss Me More' Collab With SZA Coming Friday | Billboard News |
Do Addison Rae and Doja Cat have beef? Debunking the rumours!
Rumours are flooding the internet that Addison Rae and Doja Cat have beef, but is it true? Let's find out.
With over 79 million followers on TikTok and 37 million on Instagram, Addison Rae is one of the most popular celebrities out their right now.
The 21-year-old is rarely involved with any drama, so when rumours emerged that she is feuding with rapper Doja Cat, many fans were shocked.
Let's debunk the fake rumours once and for all because as far as we know, Addison Rae and Doja Cat don't have any beef.
They've never had a public feud, and to public knowledge, they've never actually even messaged or spoken to each other.
At the start of 2020, Doja Cat's Say So went viral on TikTok, and it remains one of the app's most popular dances.
However, the pair certainly never had any beef over Addison's dances, and as far as we know, Doja loved the fact that her song was popular on TikTok.
Internet users certainly love to cause unnecessary drama, and it's probably all just a social media hoax.
Doja Cat 'Cried Like A Baby' After Her 2021 Grammys Performance
Doja Cat provided one of the highlights of this year’s Grammys ceremony with her futuristic performance of “ Say So .” It turns out that was a special moment for her, since she “cried like a baby” (in a good way) after she left the stage.
“I feel like when you think of a Grammy performance, it’s like, three months of rehearsal and like it’s a huge deal, blah, blah, blah. And it is, but we had two weeks to put this together. So we had the two weeks of rehearsal for choreography, but I think that the concept was definitely something that we had for two months, three months. So visually, all that was kind of locked in by the time we started dancing. So I rehearsed for two weeks and then it was really, really difficult at first. Look: we tried different prototypes. I did the boots at the end, but we were trying to do heels. Heels were like… it was scary, but I really wanted to try. It looked so good, it had such a good silhouette.”
SZA and Doja Cat's much-anticipated duet Kiss Me More is out tomorrow | Entertainment |
SZA and Doja Cat will release their collaboration 'Kiss Me More' this week after teasing the track.
The 'Good Days' hitmaker and the 'Say So' star had previously teased the track and now they've confirmed the official release date by sharing the striking artwork on social media.
In a joint interview, SZA, 30, asked Doja, 35: "Ok, so did you just f*** around and do every single genre because that's what we wanna hear?
"You could do literally anything. I know our little ditty 'Kiss Me More' is a different strut and I'm just excited."
To which, she replied: "I've always wanted to try things. I commend artists, like you, who stick to something. It feels pleasing aesthetically and very driven.
"For me, I want to try all these things, but I'm starting to learn what I'm falling into is a lot of the house, disco, vintage-y essences - that's where my heart kind of lies."
The 'Boss B****' hitmaker had previously hinted at the star-studded collaborations on the record when she followed the likes of Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, French Montana, The Weeknd and Saweetie on Twitter.
Doja has already released '34+35 (Remix)' with Ariana and Megan and 'Best Friend' featuring Saweetie.
The 'Panini' hitmaker was asked who his dream person to duet with would be after the likes of Billy Ray Cyrus and Diplo appeared on the remix of his viral country trap hit 'Old Town Road'.
New Music Friday: Gwen Stefani, Pink, Doja Cat & more have new songs for you - Music News -
Interscope Records When you're done listening to all 27 tracks on Taylor Swift 's latest release, Fearless (Taylor's Version) , you can check out all these other new songs as a palate cleanser:
Pink has teamed up with soulful British singer/songwriter Rag'n'Bone for a duet, " Anywhere Away from Here ." He says, " It’s an honor to have Pink on this record and I’m so glad she is able to be a part of it."
Doja Cat has released a new collaboration with SZA , " Kiss Me More ," along with a colorful video starring Grey's Anatomy actor Alex Landi . It's from her hotly-anticipated new album Planet Her , due later this year.
Gwen Stefani has teamed up with red-hot rapper Saweetie for a remix of her single " Slow Clap ." There's also an exuberant high-school-themed video directed by Sophie Muller , who was also behind the camera for No Doubt 's classic clip "Don't Speak."
DJ & producer Imanbek , who turned Saint Jhn 's "Roses" into a hit, has teamed up reggae superstar Sean Paul and Sofia Reyes for a new song called " Dancing on Dangerous ."
Surfaces , the who went RIAA double Platinum with "Sunday Best, is back with a new song and video, " Wave of You ."
AJ Mitchell has released a new single called " Stop " from his long-awaited debut album, Skyview , which will reportedly finally drop this year.
Canadian singer/songwriter Forest Blakk has added none other than new mommy Meghan Trainor to his sweet ballad " If You Love Her ," making for a melodic duet.
New Rap/R&B Songs: Doja Cat/SZA, Tierra Whack, Polo G & more
This week in hip hop, we got the anticipated new Brockhampton album (featuring Danny Brown, A$AP Rocky & Ferg, JPEGMAFIA, and more), and you can read my review of that in Notable Releases . We also got a posthumous Chynna single and new songs from Tkay Maidza, Tierra Whack, Doja Cat/SZA, Gwen Stefani/Saweetie, Polo G, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn, Navy Blue, BERWYN, CupcakKe, Queen Naija/Ari Lennox, and more. Read on for all the rap and R&B songs we posted this week.
Zimbabwean-born Australian rapper Tkay Maidza has released her second single of 2021, and you can read more about it here .
Doja Cat is gearing up to release her new album Planet Her this summer, and its new single "Kiss Me More" is a collab with SZA. Doja Cat told Apple Music that she made this song "in the spirit of" SZA, and then eventually reached out to her to have her sing on it. It's pretty much the perfect middle ground between SZA's ethereal R&B and Doja Cat's more immediate, radio-friendly vibe.
Gwen Stefani has shared a new version of her recent single "Slow Clap," and this one features a newly-added verse by rising rapper Saweetie, who also joins Gwen in the high school cheerleaders-inspired video.
Conway the Machine stays extremely prolific, and he's now set to release a new project, La Maquina , next week (April 16 via Griselda/Drumwork/EMPIRE). New single "Blood Roses" is genuinely great stuff; classic Conway but feels fresh for him too.
Polo G has a new album called Hall of Fame expected this year, and it'll include this new single, which finds him exploring his melodic side to great effect.
Brooklyn rapper Navy Blue, who was just profiled in a Rising interview over at Pitchfork, follows his very good December 2020 album Song of Sage: Post Panic! with a pensive, chilled-out new song "Durag Anthem."
UK rapper/singer/producer/instrumentalist BERWYN follows his very promising 2020 debut DEMOTAPE/VEGA with his first single of 2021. Like DEMOTAPE/VEGA , it's an inventive track that blurs the lines between early James Blake and current UK rap.
CupcakKe hasn't released a new album since putting out two LPs in 2018, but she's stayed prolific with several singles since then. Here's her first of 2021, the triumphant-sounding "Mickey."
Doja Cat, SZA & Queen Naija Highlight Our "R&B Season" Playlist
We got another round-up of everything you need to hear in the world of R&B for our weekly playlist update on Spotify. This week, the R&B Season playlist highlights a few new offerings from some of your favorite artists. Here's your breakdown:
Doja Cat is still scorching hot out here. The singer might be riding high off of the release of 2019's Hot Pink but with recent success on TikTok, the slew of singles she's offered, and her cameo appearances alongside some of the best in hip-hop and R&B, fans are eager to hear what she has in store for the future. On Friday, she slid through with a brand new record alongside SZA titled, "Kiss Me More." The disco-funk-influenced single is a solid taste of what we could expect from Planet Her .
The latest edition of our R&B Season playlist also includes Sonder's new collab with Jorja Smith, the latest from OVO's Majid Jordan , and new Toosii.
Doja Cat and SZA Link Up On New Song "Kiss Me More" | Hot97
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