21-03-2025, 12:49
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NEW MUSIC FRIDAY SUMMARY AND REVIEW 14.03.25 #23
GOOD CREDIT—Playboi Carti (7.9/10)
With an uncredited Kendrick Lamar feature, Good Credit is off his long-awaited 'I Am Music' album, and I can't even lie, the Kendrick verses carry. Kendrick's flow is a lot more catchy and feels more naturally strong. Carti does deliver a good verse, though. The gritty trap/rap beats are really giving the centre of what rap is, and that makes the song a lot better. I think this definitely has potential!
The Giver - Chappell Roan (1/10)
In this song, "The Giver", Chappell Roan is in it, and in this case, she has given us a pile of steamy hot garbage. The Giver represents the pop-to-country crossover that nobody wanted; the lyrics follow the same cringe copy and paste from Chappell's other songs, where she tries to spread the message about how a country boy doesn't know how to treat a woman right and only a woman knows how to treat a woman right, if only she didn't put this message across without sounding like she's Nikocado Avocado at a pride parade. The production here really resembles basic country music that poorly gives across her fun energy and instead feels forced. Please don't lean into this era, Chappell.
SMOKE THE PAIN AWAY—Calvin Harris (1/10)
Yeah… It's a big fat NO from me. Calvin Harris has never even come close to failing this bad; most of the time he impressed me by always coming out with a summer hit, but this time he just destroys his reputation. For once in a long while, Calvin is the vocalist on the track, and his vocals are absolutely horrid; he sounds like a grandpa who's been smoking too much. The song background goes into more country music with a harmonica to make up the key part of the sound. It genuinely sounds so cheap, and I'm frankly just really shocked that Calvin Harris would put out something so low quality that sounds like the equivalent of a country filler song. Whatever he thought he did, he didn't do; this sounds like a troll.
FUFN - JADE (2/10)
JADE is making yet another solo mess with this one! JADE is a definition of a diva without the D, I, V, or A. This song resembles exactly what we don't want from someone trying to give off bold and main character vibes. It feels like it has no substance whatsoever and instead is just a pop song that's incredibly basic and doesn't even have any part that wows you. I'm sure the JADE fans will like this regardless, though.
Relationships—HAIM (6/10)
Passable and fun pop, nothing more than that.
OG crashout—Bhad Bharbie (3/10)
After the success of Bhad Bhabie’s first diss track, 'Mrs Whitman', she lands at YouTube trending No. 1 once again, sadly. And I can just smell the attention-seeking from a mile away with this; I don't really care for diss tracks; I think they're stupid, and especially with this one because it takes me back to 2015, where YouTubers were making disses on their mothers; that was a really corny era. I will say, though, Bhad Bhabie can rap, and she had some lines that were alright for a diss, if only she didn't advertise her OnlyFans while doing so or constantly just repeat the same words and phrases. Not as bad as 'Mrs Whitman', though; let's hope we don't get another one of these songs.
Boys Don't Cry—Tom Grennan (7/10)
These singles from the upcoming album have all been pretty good! If everything on the album is this consistent, then we could be seeing a hugely memorable album of 2025. This has the power the first singles had, and Tom's power, his vocals, are like no other in the music industry and are really refreshing to hear. What we need is a better rollout. Tom has so many hits that sadly don't get recognised, and they sound like something that'll bring a unique edge for radio. The hook is thumping with the high frequencies and has really solid backing bass that supports the layers of the song.
Sunset Blvd - Selena Gomez/Benny Blanco (1.8/10)
Yeah… this album is lined up to be exactly the way 'The Secret Of Us' went. Selena sings in a whisper-like tone where she appears to eat Benny Blanco in the music video. The buildup to the chorus is unstable and comes out of nowhere while not even matching the buildup; it's horrible. This could be the worst album of 2025 already.
HOTBOX—Lil Nas X (7/10)
I don't like Lil Nas X due to the disgusting attention seeker he is, but I must admit that this is still really fun while maintaining a distance from playing it safe; whatever effect he used on the vocals and sound gives it a really cool futuristic vibe.
Still Bad—Lizzo (7.7/10)
Much better than the main single! It has the Lizzo that the people want, the fun Lizzo, the positive Lizzo; this is the good Lizzo. I'm still not convinced that this lives up to some of her previous chart toppers, but I'm still in for it. I doubt this will go anywhere, and sadly for Lizzo, this album is prepared to fail unless this goes top ten minimum. But at least it sounds like another route Lizzo is going down; it's nice to hear something different.
Let Me In—Dermot Kennedy (5.1/10)
Sad to see Dermot miss; he didn't really do anything to make this song a replay. Sounds like his usual but even more boring.
Misery—Billy Woods/Kenny Segal (7/10)
This had some really interesting production choices that are really good. The drum loop worked well with the clean rapping.
Emergence—Sleep Token (5.5/10)
I really can't see what separates this song from others and makes it amazing.
NEW MUSIC FRIDAY SUMMARY AND REVIEW 14.03.25 #23
GOOD CREDIT—Playboi Carti (7.9/10)
With an uncredited Kendrick Lamar feature, Good Credit is off his long-awaited 'I Am Music' album, and I can't even lie, the Kendrick verses carry. Kendrick's flow is a lot more catchy and feels more naturally strong. Carti does deliver a good verse, though. The gritty trap/rap beats are really giving the centre of what rap is, and that makes the song a lot better. I think this definitely has potential!
The Giver - Chappell Roan (1/10)
In this song, "The Giver", Chappell Roan is in it, and in this case, she has given us a pile of steamy hot garbage. The Giver represents the pop-to-country crossover that nobody wanted; the lyrics follow the same cringe copy and paste from Chappell's other songs, where she tries to spread the message about how a country boy doesn't know how to treat a woman right and only a woman knows how to treat a woman right, if only she didn't put this message across without sounding like she's Nikocado Avocado at a pride parade. The production here really resembles basic country music that poorly gives across her fun energy and instead feels forced. Please don't lean into this era, Chappell.
SMOKE THE PAIN AWAY—Calvin Harris (1/10)
Yeah… It's a big fat NO from me. Calvin Harris has never even come close to failing this bad; most of the time he impressed me by always coming out with a summer hit, but this time he just destroys his reputation. For once in a long while, Calvin is the vocalist on the track, and his vocals are absolutely horrid; he sounds like a grandpa who's been smoking too much. The song background goes into more country music with a harmonica to make up the key part of the sound. It genuinely sounds so cheap, and I'm frankly just really shocked that Calvin Harris would put out something so low quality that sounds like the equivalent of a country filler song. Whatever he thought he did, he didn't do; this sounds like a troll.
FUFN - JADE (2/10)
JADE is making yet another solo mess with this one! JADE is a definition of a diva without the D, I, V, or A. This song resembles exactly what we don't want from someone trying to give off bold and main character vibes. It feels like it has no substance whatsoever and instead is just a pop song that's incredibly basic and doesn't even have any part that wows you. I'm sure the JADE fans will like this regardless, though.
Relationships—HAIM (6/10)
Passable and fun pop, nothing more than that.
OG crashout—Bhad Bharbie (3/10)
After the success of Bhad Bhabie’s first diss track, 'Mrs Whitman', she lands at YouTube trending No. 1 once again, sadly. And I can just smell the attention-seeking from a mile away with this; I don't really care for diss tracks; I think they're stupid, and especially with this one because it takes me back to 2015, where YouTubers were making disses on their mothers; that was a really corny era. I will say, though, Bhad Bhabie can rap, and she had some lines that were alright for a diss, if only she didn't advertise her OnlyFans while doing so or constantly just repeat the same words and phrases. Not as bad as 'Mrs Whitman', though; let's hope we don't get another one of these songs.
Boys Don't Cry—Tom Grennan (7/10)
These singles from the upcoming album have all been pretty good! If everything on the album is this consistent, then we could be seeing a hugely memorable album of 2025. This has the power the first singles had, and Tom's power, his vocals, are like no other in the music industry and are really refreshing to hear. What we need is a better rollout. Tom has so many hits that sadly don't get recognised, and they sound like something that'll bring a unique edge for radio. The hook is thumping with the high frequencies and has really solid backing bass that supports the layers of the song.
Sunset Blvd - Selena Gomez/Benny Blanco (1.8/10)
Yeah… this album is lined up to be exactly the way 'The Secret Of Us' went. Selena sings in a whisper-like tone where she appears to eat Benny Blanco in the music video. The buildup to the chorus is unstable and comes out of nowhere while not even matching the buildup; it's horrible. This could be the worst album of 2025 already.
HOTBOX—Lil Nas X (7/10)
I don't like Lil Nas X due to the disgusting attention seeker he is, but I must admit that this is still really fun while maintaining a distance from playing it safe; whatever effect he used on the vocals and sound gives it a really cool futuristic vibe.
Still Bad—Lizzo (7.7/10)
Much better than the main single! It has the Lizzo that the people want, the fun Lizzo, the positive Lizzo; this is the good Lizzo. I'm still not convinced that this lives up to some of her previous chart toppers, but I'm still in for it. I doubt this will go anywhere, and sadly for Lizzo, this album is prepared to fail unless this goes top ten minimum. But at least it sounds like another route Lizzo is going down; it's nice to hear something different.
Let Me In—Dermot Kennedy (5.1/10)
Sad to see Dermot miss; he didn't really do anything to make this song a replay. Sounds like his usual but even more boring.
Misery—Billy Woods/Kenny Segal (7/10)
This had some really interesting production choices that are really good. The drum loop worked well with the clean rapping.
Emergence—Sleep Token (5.5/10)
I really can't see what separates this song from others and makes it amazing.