Friday Music Guide: New Music From Eminem, Normani, Shaboozey, Charli XCX and more

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

This week, Eminem returns to recapture his trying to recapture his glory days, Normani's debut album is finally just weeks away, Foster the People return to a new label with a new sound and more . See all of this week's picks below.

Eminem, “Houdini”

It's no surprise that Eminem is launching 'Houdini' – reportedly the lead single from his upcoming The Death of Slim Shady album — with a callback to his classic 2002 single “Without Me,” recreating the famous “Guess Who's Back?” Introduction. More surprising is the lift that follows: Eminem not only pulls the backing melody from the Steve Miller Band's 1982 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Abracadabra,” he more or less recreates the chorus roughly, just swapping the “I wanna touch out and grab ya” by Miller for “I'm about to grab it in my bag, bruh.” Unfortunately, in this case, Em going to his bag means making jokes about R. Kelly, Megan's shooting Thee Stallion and his “transsexual cat,” before proclaiming, “If I think about it, I'll say it. t/ Cancel me, what?” Well, if it hasn't happened to Eminem yet after 25 years of superstardom, this song probably won't be the one that does it, anyway.

Normani, “Candy Paint”

Only two weeks until long Normani – and we mean it long — anticipated debut album, dopamine, finally enough. Meanwhile, we've got one more advanced single: “Candy Paint,” in which she boasts about her ability to steal your man if and when (and for as long as) she's so inclined. “If you let me have him, you might never get him back/ I'm bad and I don't know how to act,” she proclaims on the chorus, with the first part building into “When I'm done, baby, you can have him back” . It's a lively and fun three-minute, with a Coke-bottle-smacking beat from co-producers Starrah and Tommy Brown that keeps everything moving nicely.

Shaboozey, Where I've been is not where I'm going

Few artists releasing albums in 2024 have made a bigger upgrade from their previous LP than Virignia country artist Shaboozey, who joined Beyoncé in one of the biggest sets of the year. Cowboy Carter, then scored a hit of his own with the Billboard Hot 100 top 5 hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” This still growing crush is found on Shaboozey's third album, Where I've been is not where I'm going, along with other dusty and slightly hip-hop beats like “Highway” and “Let It Burn,” as well as ballads like “East of the Massanutten” and the Noah Cyrus collaboration “My Fault.” But there are also some fun newer looks for the artist, like the Post Malone-esque pop-rock of 'Anabelle' and the trappier BigXthaPlug 'Drink Don't Need No Mix'.

Charli XCX feat. Robyn & Yung Lean, “The 360 ​​remix with robyn and yung lean”

Yes, that's the real title of the star-studded new remix of Charli XCX's single '360,' which now features a pair of Swedish guests in rapper Yung Lean and pop icon Robyn. The three trade verses breathlessly and almost alternately throughout the two-minute reprise, boosting the energy of the already impressively kinetic original version. And of course, the best lyrics belong to Ms. Carlsson: I started so young, I didn't even have e-mail/ Now my lyrics in your bud.”

Ayra Starr, The year I turned 21

Rising Beninese-Nigerian singer-songwriter Ayra Starr releases her 2022 follow-up 19 & Dangerous aptly titled this week The year I turned 21. The album, which includes the top 10 Billboard US Afrobeats hit “Commas”, seamlessly blends Afrobeats with genres such as pop, R&B and amapiano, all tied together with Starr's rich, deep vocals. “I feel very cohesive because of my voice,” she said Advertising sign earlier this week. “My voice is my sound – so whatever genre I'm in, as long as my voice is there, you're going to hear Afrobeats.”

Foster the People, “Lost in Space”

Speaking of artists with a “Houdini,” 2010s alt-pop creators Foster the People return this week with new single “Lost in Space,” the band's first taste from their just-announced upcoming album. Paradise State of Mind, FTP's first new set in seven years. “Space” takes off with a squelching synth bass and a disco groove that sounds closer to “Pump Up the Jam” than “Pumped Up Kicks,” with a falsetto vocal hook from singer Mark Foster – all of which make for an auspicious beginning about the group's new era, which they will begin at Atlantic Records after spending their first three years at Columbia.