Friday Music Guide: Peso Pluma, Gracie Abrams, Post Malone & 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, Gracie Abrams' long-awaited sophomore LP arrives with a famous friend, Peso Pluma bows in grand 24-track fashion, and new remixes from Ariana Grande and Charli XCX attract headline-grabbing guest stars. See all of this week's picks below.

Peso Pluma, Exodus

The biggest name in Mexicana music returns this week with his second LP Exodus, a star-studded, 24-track, two-disc affair. The first disc is packed with familiar names like Junior H, Natanael Cano, Gabito Ballesteros and 'Ella Baila Sola' co-stars Eslabon Armado, and it's mostly based on the kind of corridos tumbados that made him a star in 2023 — though with some news. elements, such as the heavier guitar on “La Patrulla” and the reserved piano on “Bruce Wayne”. The second disc then features some different sounds and first-time collaborators, including English-language rappers Rich the Kid, Cardi B and Quavo on the first three tracks, respectively, as well as Ryan Castro, Anitta and DJ Snake on songs which leans more reggaetón and/or EDM. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and both records still sound quite natural, proving that we've only really seen the beginning of what he can do to global pop music. (Read our ranking of all 24 tracks here.)

Gracie Abrams, Our secret

Hot off her first Billboard Hot 100 hit as an unaccompanied solo artist with the long-teased synth-pop banger “Close to You,” Gracie Abrams arrives with her sophomore LP Our secret. It's a masterful collection of pop confections and folk ballads — and folk pop confections — written and co-written by indie-pop superstar Aaron Dessner. The new song that will get the most attention is undoubtedly the power ballad 'Us' featuring Abrams' Eras tour headliner Taylor Swift, but highlights also include the humming 'Let It Happen', the sighing 'Good Luck Charlie' and the pulse. -competitive “Free Now”. “This album meant so much to me because it supported me through a time of transition,” Abrams said Advertising sign about Secret earlier this month.

Ariana Grande feat. Brandy & Monica, “The Boy Is Mine”

We should probably know: You just don't title a song “The Boy Is Mine” if you're not going to involve Brandy & Monica somewhere along the line. The two '90s R&B icons both appear alongside Ariana Grande on her new remix of Eternal sunshine single, with Brandy beginning the first verse, Monica leading the second, and the two sharing the harmony-filled bridge, including the line, “I told you once before, I'll tell you again, boy is it still mine”. Shout out to Grande for doing the right thing here — as always, pretty much — and to Brandy and Monica for giving longtime fans the semi-official follow-up to “The Boy Is Mine” they've been waiting a quarter of a century for.

Post Malone feat. Blake Shelton, “Pour Me a Drink”

After his Morgan Wallen collaboration “I Had Some Help” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent its first five weeks on the chart in pole position, Post Malone is back with his next group in the era country. This time, longtime fan Blake Shelton is on hand to help out with the spontaneous single “Pour Me a Drink,” with the two co-stars sharing vocal responsibilities equally, and on the chorus and verses, Post's sonorous coil blends surprisingly well with Shelton's twangy croon. Without Wallen's modern commercial clout, it might not be as immediate a chart super-smash, but it sure sounds like it'll end up being a two-for-two for Country Posty.

Coldplay, “feelslikeimfallinginlove”

A mouthful for a one-word song title, but “feelslikeimfallinginlove” isn't really as frenetic or twisted as its name might suggest. Instead, it's Coldplay generally doing what they do best: beloved songs with moody lyrics and blood-curdling choruses that you can remember after just one listen. Much of the same supergroup of producers back from 2022 Music of the Spheresincluding Max Martin and Oscar Holter return for the new song, so you know it has the same top-40 crackle and sparkle of the album — and should get fans excited for the band's upcoming 10-track set Music of the Moonrecently announced and expected in October.

Kehlani, After hours

R&B star singer-songwriter Kehlani has been one of the most consistent album (and mixtape) artists of the past decade, so it's always a good Friday to pick up a new set from her — as she is today with her eclectic and enchanting Conflict LP. You already know about the coolie dance riddim lift (via Nina Sky's 2004 classic “Move Ya Body”) on the viral hit “After Hours,” but the sultry “What I Want” also features a Christina Aguilera-inspired sample. TRL-era Hot 100-topper “What a Girl Wants” (and the even more inspiring chorus “I need all the beautiful girls to the shower”). Meanwhile, “Vegas” is the biggest sounding pop killer in years, and the grouchy, guitar-driven title track is a genuinely lighter, future setlist closer. Perhaps in this month of longtime cult favorites experiencing delayed pop success, Kehlani can follow her peers Conflict chart topping artist this June.

Charli XCX feat. Lorde, “The Girl, So Confusing Version With Lorde”

Speaking of Kehlani's mates Conflict-er, Charli is back this week with a new one Brat remix — and if you thought Robyn and Yung Lean's rerun of “Club Classics” was clever, just wait until you see who she's got on “Girl, So Confusing” Pt. 2. Lorde, Charli's longtime peer who many believed was the subject of the original love/hate-themed 'Girl,' appears to answer the latter's call to “work it on the remix,” channeling her own mixed feelings . about their relationship (as well as her body and self-image issues) before settling on “I ride for you, Charli.” And unsurprisingly – as Charli predicted in the original – the internet is already going crazy over it.