Friday Music Guide: New Music From Normani & Gunna, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Anitta 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, Normani ramps up our dopamine offering, PARTYNEXTDOOR ups his game and Anitta delivers Brazilian funk for the summer. Check out all of this week's picks below:

Normani feat. Gunna, “1:59”

The reason expectations for Normani's debut solo effort remain high, despite years of false starts and failures, is because the music the former Fifth Harmony star has released over the past half-decade has been tantalizingly unique, a collection of R&B singles. with pop and personality. Normani's first album is finally on the calendar — dopamine is slated for release in June — and new single “1:59” serves as another reminder of the project's promise, with the singer waxing poetic about an unstoppable encounter amid Gunna's animated scream.

PARTYNEXTDOOR, PARTYNEXTDOOR 4

Evolving from one of Drake's most trusted sidekicks to an ever-reliable solo R&B artist, PARTYNEXTDOOR has spent the last decade amassing a devoted following — and now he wants more, if PARTYNEXTDOOR 4, his first project in four years, is an indication. The new album carries a cohesion and stylistic ambition not previously prominent in PND's work, as the Canadian singer-songwriter takes his nocturnal musings and brooding vocals into more emotionally affected territory, particularly in the back half of the album.

Anita, Funk Generation

The opening track on Anitta's new album is titled “Lose Ya Breath,” and that's exactly what the veteran star aims to achieve on this moving new project: Funk Generation she rarely lets the BPM lag and Anitta never stops showing the ferocity that fuels many of these Brazilian funk heaters. Previously released singles 'Funk Rave' and 'Joga Pra Lua' sound right at home on the tracklist, Sam Smith stops by to offer some feathery vocals on 'Ahi', but sub-two-minute headbangers like 'Savage Funk ” and “Grip” can steal the whole show.

Justice, Hyperdrama

Miguel, Thundercat, The Flints, Tame Impala: these are just a handful of the guest stars on Justice's long-awaited new album Hyperdrama, featuring guest vocalists a rarity in the French electronic duo's discography. And while some of those collaborations result in exciting new compositions—Kevin Parker's voice stretches and shimmers on opener “Neverender,” for example—it's also a little off-topic, with the veteran dance kings providing plenty of drive to their own? The multi-part “Incognito” might be one of the biggest triumphs of their entire catalog, with each shift in gear bringing another unexpected thrill.

Myke Towers feat. Bad Bunny, “Adivino”

Two years after Bad Bunny kicked off the summer with his surprise May 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti, the A-lister joined forces with another Puerto Rican superstar, Myke Towers, on a track that sounds full of beach playlists and sweaty club nights. “Adivino” might document a breakup, but the hard hitting beat and fast hooks dispel any chance to dwell on the sadness. Meanwhile, Towers and Bad Bunny crackle side by side, trading off lines and swinging between singing and rapping with an easy chemistry.

Editor's Pick: Tems, “Love Me JeJe”

Tems has been influencing the US mainstream for so long that it seems impossible that they have yet released a proper debut album, but after several successful collaborations (“Wait For U” with Future and Drake, “Essence” with Wizkid) and 2021 If Orange were a place The EP, the Nigerian superstar will finally reveal Born in the wild next month. Lead single “Love Me JeJe” distills what has made Tems such a mesmerizing presence since she hit the scene, as she pours her unbridled passion over warm, messy production courtesy of Spax and Guiltybeatz. the song never goes overboard, it just throws in heartfelt thoughts and a summer beat.