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ScHoolboy Q — Blue Lips
Five years after dropping his Crash Talk LP, Top Dawg Entertainment’s longtime star ScHoolboy Q delivers his newest body of work. The highly-anticipated Blue Lips LP comes with 18 tracks, including previously-released singles like “Blueslides,” “Back n Love,” and “Yeern 101.”
Q taps fellow Black Hippy rhymer Ab-Soul for “Foux” on the album. But he also nabs Freddie Gibbs, Rico Nasty, Childish Major, Jozzy, and more for the project. Meanwhile, Tae Beast, Mario Luciano, Kal Banx, Cardogotwings, and several others handle the production.
The album title, Blue Lips, has several definitions. He recently shared some of them in a visualizer for “Cooties.” They include “speechless, especially as the temporary result of shock or some strong emotion” and “[to] become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly.”
Q previewed the album and celebrated his Oxymoron LP’s 10-year anniversary with a special show at Los Angeles’ El Rey theater this past week. “March 1 is a new chapter in my life,” he told fans in attendance.
“I’ve been seeing this online a lot,” he added. “Y’all think I’m super sad. I am not sad. Y’all got me f—d up. I rap about my life. A lot of rappers don’t rap about their life no more so I come off as sad sometimes, but I’m rich as f—k, I go home to my kid, I play golf, I rap everyday, I’m still one of the hardest working motherf—ers on the planet, and I’m never gonna retire.”
Cardi B — “Like What (Freestyle)”
Cardi B struts into her new single “Like What (Freestyle)” with a promise of sorts. “Let me put some gas in this year,” she says. “I ain’t really talk my sh-t in a minute. Who the f—k these b—es really think they talking to?” Then, Bardi launches into the slick new cut full of sly lines that keen fans will likely dissect.
“Like…like what?” she asks in the chorus. “Like a Coach bag, baby, this ain’t what you want.” She then continues: “First that b-tch hate me, then this b-tch hate me / And somehow, they link up and they become friends / Like…how? B-tch, pipe down / All y’all imitating my style.”
Cardi B’s husband Offset directed the song’s music video, which came as a surprise to some. The sleek clip features fashionable looks, a lavish mansion, a photoshoot, and some sushi. The superstar power couple announced a separation last year, but it seems they have reconciled, at least in some ways. Director Offset promoted the new video by writing: “You the f-ckin baddest STOP PLAYIN WIT THEM !!!” on social media.
Chlöe — “FYS”
Chlöe Bailey enters a new chapter in her career with some new music. After teasing “FYS” on social media, asking fans what the acronym might stand for, the singer-songwriter unveils the seductive single with the answer: “F-ck your status.”
She sings about this concept throughout. “Money, cars, and the diamonds don’t phase me / I been had it / I just wanna love you, baby / What you wanna do?” Later, she adds: “Promise I’mma change your life / Nothing ever felt so nice / Nothing ever felt this right.”
Chlöe dropped a visualizer for the song too. It features oceanside footage of the singer posing as waves crash all around her. VHS effects add a vintage element to the clip, which can be viewed below.
Chlöe is clearly debuting new music and has a solo Coachella set coming up. “I’m excited,” she tells Elle. “Performing is my favorite thing to do and I’ll be performing my whole heart out. It’ll be the first time I perform at Coachella solo.”
While the solo work is rolling out, Chlöe is also back in the lab with her sister Halle. “Yeah, Chlöe and I are working on new stuff together, which I’m really excited for,” Halle adds in the aforementioned article. “The future is unknown, but let’s see what happens.”
Pharrell Williams f. Miley Cyrus — “Doctor (Work It Out)”
Paging Pharrell Williams. The super producer teams up with Miley Cyrus for his latest single, “Doctor (Work It Out).” It’s an infectious record that’s taken more than a decade to drop, according to the musical power-pair.
Skateboard P handles the production while Cyrus manages the vocals here. Michael Pollack, who worked on Miley’s Grammy-winning “Flowers,” is also credited as a writer on this track, per Spotify.
“I can be your doctor and I can be your nurse / I think I see the problem, it’s only gon’ get worse,” she sings. “A midnight medication, just show me where it hurts / I need to rock you, baby, before your body bursts.”
Miley also expresses joy throughout Jacob Bixenman directed music video, which showcases dance moves that made her 2024 Grammy performance standout for many.
The duo recently told Apple Music that they began working on the song in 2012. “We just knew it was early,” P said, as per Pitchfork. “You just never know. And there’s a moment where you feel like you feel the stickiness in something, but you may feel that the environment is not ready for it.”
After winning her Grammys, Cyrus says she knew that the time to release this had finally arrived. “Sometimes things in our past make more sense in our present than they ever did then,” she added. “And so this song, I think the nature, the celebration, the feeling, especially with the video, the joy, the dancing, the letting go, it’s what this song really always needed.”
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