The Chainsmokers are one of the most recognized musical artists in the world. Their pop appeal has garnered them tons of radio play and smash singles. Because of that they have been able to work with some of the industries brightest stars like Halsey, Coldplay, Florida Georgia Line, Jhene Aiko, and so many others. Now, they are gearing up for a new album once more. To tease it, The Chainsmokers are working with R&B/soul singer Fridayy for the first time on a new single called “Friday.”
The coincidentally titled track is rumored to be the second promotional song for their sixth project, and first since 2022’s Summertime Friends. However, this will not be an album, rather an EP, and is expected to see a May 10 release, according to Genius. The previous song that is looking to make its way onto the tracklist is “Addicted” featuring Zerb and Ink. On “Friday,” The Chainsmokers produce a mixture of R&B and EDM, something that is not totally new to them.
The beat gallops throughout and it has all the elements of a track that would be great for a late-night drive with the roof down. Fridayy gives a soulful performance, as he sings about a relationship with a woman that feels as if they are moving through life together without a care in the world. He is essentially comparing it to the weekend, and how those days are the week where you do anything and everything you want, that you cannot doing during the weekdays. Its your typical Chainsmokers fair, but with some great singing to go along with it.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new single “Friday” by The Chainsmokers and Fridayy? Is this one of their better songs as of late, why or why not? Should they collborate again in the future after hearing this? Does this get you excited for their upcoming album No Hard Feelings? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Fridayy. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on around the music world.
Quotable Lyrics:
These late nights, driving through your city I’m calling when I shouldn’t be Right here where you want me to be Girl, you got me caught up Shifting through your bulls*** Trying to find a way out
Rappers are spoiled these days when it comes to having options for a R&B feature. Artists like The Weeknd, Sampha, Summer Walker, SZA, and 6LACK, are just a handful of terrific selections. They can really transform and elevate the listening experience of any track and we have it seen it happen time and time again. Another name that needs to be added to that never-ending list is Fridayy, especially after his new single “Without You.”
He is of Haitian and American descent who is from Pennsylvania. He is not a rookie on the site by any means. However, he certainly does not get the same shine and appreciation for his work. He is a master when it comes to blending hip-hop, R&B, gospel, and Afrobeats. “Without You” sees Fridayy take elements of the second and the latter.
On his first solo record of the year, he pens a song about his deep love and connection he has with a woman. He feels incomplete without her, but she is giving him some confusing signs as well. You truly feel his heart breaking a little bit, especially with his patented baritone delivery. Be sure to check out Fridayy’s latest offering above, you will not be let down.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new single, “Without You,” by Fridayy? Is this one of his better songs as of late, why or why not? Is he one of the stronger options for a guest singer on a rap song? What is your favorite element of the track and why? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Fridayy. Finally, stay with us for the most informative song posts throughout the week.
Quotable Lyrics:
One last time, I get to see your face (Yeah) Knowin’ you won’t take your love away (Yeah) Lookin’ over your body, tellin’ you to give me a sign Standin’ right here, waitin’ on you to open your eyes Oh, could this be the last time that I get to hold your hand? I’m breakin’ down, I hear you tellin’ me to be a man
We’re not quite ready to say goodbye to summer yet, but what makes the transition into fall and winter so much easier each year is knowing that our R&B Season playlist will carry us through. Last weekend we heard from Usher, Ciara, Lil Baby, and many more on our weekly update. Today (August 27), it’s a collaboration from Brent Faiyaz and Coco Jones, “Moment Of Your Life” taking the top spot as music lovers praise the two talented vocalists for their work on the song.
In terms of new albums, Victoria Monet gave us arguably one of the biggest releases of the week with JAGUAR II. She connected with acts like Lucky Daye and Buju Banton across the 11-song tracklist, but for R&B Season, we’ve selected her solo effort, “Alright” for your streaming consideration. Following that comes “ZOOMIES” from Jordan Ward’s moreward(FORWARD) project, as well as “Stand By Me” from Fridayy’s debut album.
The “GOD DID” collaborator caught our attention with “Stand By Me,” which he dropped an accompanying music video for earlier this weekend. Elsewhere on his new LP we hear from Adekunle Gold on “Done For Me” and Chris Brown on “Don’t Give It Away.” Drake may not have delivered his For All The Dogs album as we speculated he would, but still, his new OVO artist Naomi Sharon is holding things down for the label with her “Definition of Love” track.
Our final pick of the week comes from another rising female vocalist, Chxrry22, who’s also backed by one of the biggest names out of Canada, The Weeknd. She shared “More” with us this New Music Friday, and we can’t wait to hear what she has to offer us in the future. Stream all of the latest additions to our R&B Season playlist exclusively on Spotify. Are there any new arrivals that you think we missed? Let us know in the comments, and click the link below for more HNHH release recommendations on our weekly Fire Emoji update.
Music lovers were disappointed when Drake failed to deliver For All The Dogs to us at midnight on Friday (August 25). Even with that letdown, the industry still turned out plenty of exciting new releases, including a debut LP from rising R&B sensation Fridayy. The singer shared 14 songs with us on his self-titled effort, including the previously released “Don’t Give It Away” with Chris Brown and “When It Comes To You.”
Besides the Breezy collaboration, Fridayy also linked up with a selection of other artists throughout his tracklist. He opens with “Came Too Far” featuring Maverick City Music and My Mom. That joint effort is immediately followed by Adekunle Gold’s appearance on “Done For Me.” The Philadelphia-born creative held his own on several other titles before teaming up with Fireboy DML on “You,” and Byron Messia on “Mercy.”
Fridayy’s Debut Album Accompanied By “Stand By Me” Visual
Along with the album’s arrival on DSPs, the “GOD DID” collaborator also shared a new visual for “Stand By Me,” the project’s third song. It finds him singing alongside striking employees and perfectly captures the energy fluctuating around the entertainment industry at this time. “If I say I’m standing for you / You know that I’m ‘a standing ten toes,” the 26-year-old sings of his own loyalty.
Check out Fridayy’s latest visual for “When It Comes To You” from his self-titled project above. If you’re a fan of R&B, check out the singer’s full debut LP on Spotify/Apple Music. For more HNHH release recommendations, click the link below to hear the latest from Victoria Monet on her JAGUAR II project.
“I’m more vulnerable on this project than I ever been because of what I went through in the last two years,” he said. “I experienced a lot and endured a lot. I went through a lot. So, this album is really personal, but I know the world is going to relate to it because of the stuff I’m saying, the subject matter. I know people going through what I went through across the globe.”
Last Thursday, May 25, Moneybagg Yo posted a video of him singing along to Swift’s “Lover” in the car before explaining, “I just got the news my little baby, Taylor, dropping tonight. I ain’t gonna lie. Y’all know how I feel about Taylor, man, so I think I’m gonna push Hard To Love back just a few days. Y’all be patient with me. Let Taylor have this sh*t.”
Moneybagg Yo dropped the unflinchingly raunchy “Quickie” in December 2022 and piggybacked on that momentum with the aforementioned “On Wat U On” featuring GloRilla this January.
April delivered the brashly confident “Motion God,” and Moneybagg slid one more single under the wire with the groovy, purple-soaked “Ocean Spray” last week.
Tour
Moneybagg Yo had not announced a supporting tour for Hard To Love as of Wednesday, May 31.
Fridayy’s introduction to the world came in the late summer of 2022. The Philadelphia-based singer is responsible for the thunderous, sky-grazing hook on DJ Khaled’s Grammy-nominated record, “God Did.” The song is more often than not remembered for Jay-Z’s four-minute verse, which follows well-crafted appearances from rap legends Lil Wayne and Rick Ross as well as a soulful outro from John Legend. While Fridayy is undoubtedly the rookie in a room of legends, his chorus roars with the strength required to place itself in between these intricate verses from well-revered rappers in the game. In short, Fridayy holds his own on the song and that would not be the last time we heard from him in 2022 either.
Uproxx caught up with Fridayy just weeks after he, Khaled, Jay-Z, Ross, and Wayne reimagined The Last Supper for a divine performance of “God Did” at the 2023 Grammys. “Twenty years from now, n****s are gonna be talking about ‘God Did,’” Fridayy says over a Zoom call. “I’m marked in history bro, I’m marked in history… I’m just grateful.” It’s this longevity that Fridayy eyes more than any short-term popularity or accolades. “I know my music’s gonna live forever,” he explained. “I already know that if my music’s touching people on a whole other level, like saving lives, it’s not about being the biggest artist in the world. With the type of music I make, even if it’s one fan, I know it’s gonna live forever.”
Just two months after the release of “God Did,” Fridayy found himself beside another big name in rap: Lil Baby. The two connected on “Forever,” one of the more emotion-filled records from Baby’s chart-topping third album It’s Only Me. Fridayy enters his chorus with quivering qualms that sound like he’s nearing a breakdown all to break into a cry to the heavens in a plea for one last moment with a lost lover. At this moment, it was clear that Fridayy could become the latest go-to artist for hooks around the hip-hop world, especially for records that needed that touch of emotion that Fridayy successfully delivered alongside music heavyweights.
While those two records placed the spotlight on the singer, they only did so little to tell Fridayy’s story. To find that, you’ll have to go to his debut project Lost In Melody. Released in the fall of 2022, Lost In Melody arrived with seven songs that fully captured the artistry and foundation that laid within Fridayy. Months later, the project was extended with five additional tracks through a well-timed deluxe release. “I just wanted to give everybody something different you know?” Fridayy says about the project. “I been studying the game for a long time, so it’s like, how can I stand out?” Fridayy sought to be more than a name, and he knew he could reach his goals the same way he earned his breakout moment: through music.
“Coming off ‘God Did,’ it was like, alright, they’re about to know your name,” Fridayy says. “It don’t look like it but, n****s want to know your story. They not gonna accept you until they know who you are.” So he got to work, and through the first four songs of Lost In Melody, Fridayy tells you a lot about himself. “Blessings” showcases gratitude toward the opportunity to chase a dream and take one step closer to it and one step away from what once was. “Empty Stomach” is Fridayy’s own account of the struggles he endured after he moved to Los Angeles to chase his dream. “I got hundred beats, hundred songs in my pocket / They ain’t even hear my sh*t, they say, ‘Youngin, keep grindin,’” he quivers on the song. “I ain’t tryna hear this grindin’ sh*t, I’m starvin’ / Somebody show me where the money at, I’ma walk in.” The following record, “God Sent,” displays his faith and belief in what is destined for him will arrive in due time while “Don’t Give Up On Me” begs that others around him see this destiny and also believe in him. In just the first four songs on Lost In Melody, it’s clear to see that Fridayy is a man of faith and destiny, understanding that both have contributed to his present-day success.
Fridayy’s first interactions with music came when he was 9 or 10 years old. At that time, he began playing the piano in church. He eventually took on singing after being heavily influenced by Boyz II Men, a group that continues to shape Fridayy’s musical decisions today. “When you hear the harmonies, when you hear the four-part harmonies, the adlibs, it all comes from me listing to Boyz II Men,” he says. Fridayy later picked up Philly natives like Meek Mill and the late PNB Rock as additional influences in his career. While the aforementioned artists shaped his musicality, Fridayy says a critique from a girl he was dating a few years ago also had an effect on the future content of his songs. “I was playing her some music and she was like, ‘Damn, the way you talk to me is not how you’re talking in these songs,’” he recalls. “It wasn’t even like a crazy song, it was a love song, but even [with] the love song, the way I talk, I wasn’t putting that in my music. So when she told me that, it kind of opened my eyes.”
This note eventually helped Fridayy to create music with an emotional touch that helped him to achieve his goal of being versatile and standing out. It’s for this reason that he selects “Don’t Give Up On Me” as the song from the project that he feels best describes him as a project. “I’m telling a story, at the end I get real soulful [and] it’s so big,” he says. “I feel like that song is just me, it represents who I am. You don’t know what I’m talking about in that song. You don’t know if I’m talking about a girl, God, or my homie, but everybody takes that song and put it where they need to put it.” In its totality, creating songs like “Don’t Give Up On Me” proved to be a form of therapy that helped Fridayy see his growth by the time his debut was released. “It was seeing I really came a long way type sh*t,” he says. “I’ll listen to it and be like, ‘damn, when I was recording this, I was f*cked up.’ By the time this came out, things were a little different.”
Nowadays, Fridayy is putting the finishing touches on his upcoming debut album. With everything he accomplished with Lost In Melody and more, he knows that the bar is will be higher for his next body of work. Luckily for him, he’s already progressing toward that next level. “We just on a higher level, like it’s just different,” he says about the project. “Same me, just on a higher level: musically, production, melodies. I’m exploring, but you still gonna hear the same me that you hear on Lost In Melody.” The contents of that next level remain to be seen, but you can rest assured that Fridayy is stringing together a story that will help him accomplish the long-lasting legacy he seeks in his career.
Lost In Melody is out now via Lost In Melody, LLC/Def Jam Recordings. You can stream it here.
Lil Baby is going harder than ever in the wake of his undisputed star run over the past couple of years. Picking up where he left off last year with his third studio album It’s Only Me, the Atlanta native dropped the video for the album’s standout track “Forever” with Fridayy today.
The video, shot on location in the tropics, finds Baby recounting a toxic relationship with a woman he only manages to see sporadically thanks to his jet-setting lifestyle. “You be on some toxic shit but I cannot get off this bitch,” he worries. While he wonders if the couple should keep going or call it quits, Fridayy’s crooned chorus illustrates the issue in plain terms: “I know you miss me,” he sings. “Who it’s gon’ be if it ain’t me, lil’ baby?”
Upon its release in October, It’s Only Me became Lil Baby’s third No. 1 album, receiving favorable reviews for Baby’s polished technique, although some reviews were critical of its formulaic nature. Baby performed “Forever” on Saturday Night Live earlier this year, continuing his momentum and showing that he intends to continue supporting his latest album, even four months later.
Watch Lil Baby’s “Forever” video with Fridayy above.
In his second performance of the night, Lil Baby brought an emotional performance of his song, “Forever,” to the Saturday Night Live stage.
During the performance, Lil Baby was dressed in all black, joined by a pianist, who played flawless notes while Lil Baby rapped the melodic It’s Only Me standout. Though the song’s collaborator, Fridayy, who sings on the chorus, wasn’t present during the performance, Lil Baby’s stage presence matched the energy of the hook.
Over the years, Baby’s sound has evolved greatly, and last year’s It’s Only Me cemented him as one of rap’s best acts in the game right now. Albeit a rap superstar, whose career trajectory is only proving that he’s destined for longevity, Baby revealed in a profile for New York Timesthat he will never forget who and what he’s doing it all for — his hometown of Atlanta.
“The main thing that I do still keep with me from Atlanta, when I go everywhere, is me,” he said. “My upbringing, my manners, my way of thinking, my way of living. Everything comes from Atlanta. No matter where I go, I’ll never be able to get distance from Atlanta.”
