Happy New Music Friday, folks. This week, the highly anticipated fourth Travis Scott album finally arrives — with a hidden Beyoncé feature?
Scott's follow-up to 2018's Astroworld is Utopia, his fourth studio album supported by two star-studded singles: “K-pop” featuring Bad Bunny and The Weeknd and “Delresto” featuring his fellow Houstonian Beyoncé and guest vocals from Bon Iver. The rollout for Utopia included four different album covers, a film titled Circus Maximus, and a scrapped live performance of the album that was supposed to take place in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. (Live Nation Middle East cancelled the concert on July 26, issuing a statement that cited “complex production issues” that prevented the show from being "constructed in the desert.")
Alongside Scott's new album, this edition of NMF includes a return from Saweetie with a sparkly single bundle, a new collab from married stars Offset and Cardi B, teaming up to make magic, and a reimagining of one of Jazmine Sullivan's biggest hits by R&B darling Josh Levi. Keep scrolling to tap into this week's best new songs and releases — your weekend playlist will thank us later.
Travis Scott and Beyoncé, “Delresto (Echoes)”
“Delresto (Echoes)” is the second single from Utopia. Though released through Scott's Cactus Jack and Epic Records, Beyhive sleuths have discovered that the track was also released under Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment. Since the song's drop, fans have been speculating whether “Delresto (Echoes)" is the first unofficial single from Act II of Renaissance. Fans have also revealed that the cover art for the track has been being used as a visual on Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour for months. We know this is supposed to be Travis Scott's moment, but don't you just love a good Beyoncé easter egg? Listen to the collab above.
Saweetie, “Birthday”
Saweetie is about to head on tour with fellow West Coast rap stars YG and Tyga, but she of course had to drop some heat before going on the road. Saweetie's new two-song bundle includes what could truly be the next birthday anthem, which also features her tourmates YG and Tyga.
“I’m a girly girl so I love to celebrate my birthday all day, all week, all month, all year," Saweetie exclusively tells Teen Vogue about her aptly-titled single. “So, when I was recording, I felt those electric, hype vibes that I wanted to share with the world because I feel like every day is my birthday so I want all my fans to feel the same way. And will it be the next birthday anthem? I don’t know, I feel like the girls have to tell us!”
What do you think? We think the track is a dance-ready, caption-dominating monster, and you're probably gonna see “It's my birthday, b*tch, these my birthday rules / I ain't spending nothing, all the drinks on you” dotting along the bottom of many of your faves' IG b-day shoots.
Saweetie, “Shot O'Clock”
It's Saweetie, again! The rapper's second single in the bundle released on July 28 is “Shot O'Clock,” which hops on the sample wave by flipping Suzanne Vega's “Tom's Diner.” A preservation of Saweetie's punchy West Coast sound and a bonafide club banger, “Shot O'Clock” will surely climb the ranks to the top of your summer party playlists.
“I think ‘Shot O Clock’ was the song I was most excited to record because I’ve been trying to nail this concept over the past three years,” Saweetie exclusively tells Teen Vogue. “I come from a really big family and every time we turn up we scream ‘Shot O’ Clock’… and I’m from the Bay so you know how we get down!” Get down with the Icy Grl by checking out the new single above.
Offset and Cardi B, “Jealousy”
Offset's star power is really coming through, as the Migos member and Grammy-nominated rapper has pulled out all the stops to promote his latest track, featuring his wife and fellow rapper Cardi B. This includes a skit recreating James Brown's notorious 1988 interview with CNN alongside Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, and an instantly-iconic phone call skit that's only a snippet of the music video's larger homage to 2001's Black classic Baby Boy — and of course they tapped the film's star Taraji P. Henson for a guest appearance. Getting green the bad way never sounded so good. Listen to “Jealousy” by married superstars Offset and Cardi B above.
Josh Levi, “Lions, Tigers & Bears (ReImagined)”
As part of the Recording Academy's ReImagined series, R&B up-and-comer Josh Levi has released a new version of Jazmine Sullivan's hit record “Lions, Tigers & Bears” on all digital streaming platforms. The Recording Academy also tapped Levi for a gorgeous, moving live performance of his rendition, the video of which dropped last week. Levi's version of the track is a fun follow-up to the deluxe version of his 2022 EP DISC TWO, which released earlier this spring. Remember Josh Levi's name. The 24-year-old vocalist is a member of the new guard changing the landscape of modern R&B.
