Friday’s here, the weekend is upon on us, and here’s our round-up of the songs we’ve had on repeat all week…

VICTORIA MONÉT PARTY GIRLS (FT. BUJU BANTON)

Victoria Monét is back with a new single Party Girls (ft Buju Banton) and a video clip to boot that cements the R&B queen’s comeback year in the diary. As one of the hottest names in R&B her collaboration list already includes some of the biggest names in the game including Brandy, Nas, Chloe x Halle, BLACKPINK, and Selena Gomez to name but a few. The level of talent that went into the Party Girls clip is enviable: mega choreographer Sean Bankhead (think Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow’s Industry Baby, Normani’s Motivation, Cardi B and FKA Twigs) on moves; Cardi B’s stylist Kollin Carter on clothes; and Meji Alabi (Burna Boy, Skepta, WizKid) on directing, its a recipe for diamond-studded, gold-plated success. The drop comes ahead of her hotly anticipated debut album, confidentially featuring Kaytranda, Buju, Lucky Daye & Earth, Wind & Fire expected to hit streaming platforms mid-july.

SNAKEHIPS SOMETIMES 

Globally renowned duo Snakehips dropped their debut studio album ‘Never Worry’ on 5th May. They originally broke through to the mainstream with their mega-hit All My Friends (ft. Tinashe and Chance The Rapper) and pop banger Cruel featuring ZAYN. Their back catalogue includes singles with MØ, Joey Badass, Davido, Earthgang and A Boogie wit da Hoodie. The pair showcase their genre-blending abilities on the album alongside an all-star cast of supporting artists which includes Daya, Earthgang, Kilo Kish, Nicole Millar. MadeinTYO, Bryce Vine, Duckwrth, Rochelle Jordan, Tkay Maidza, AG Club, BIA, Lucky Daye and Tinashe.

SAMRECKS SUMO 

Taken from his debut EP Easier Said Than Done, south London’s SamRecks has dropped the Sumo. The Nigerian-born artist plays around with a unique blend of sonic innovation and languid, original bars that also lend him a distinctly London sound. Listening to his bars take you on a journey of failed relationships and toxic love patterns in the modern social media obsessed world, poignantly tapping into these new kinds of everyday experiences. Produced by his close collaborators XO The Plug and Posh Teddy, Sumo is a follow up from his early viral singles “Love and Attention” (1.7M+ streams) and last year’s “Would You Let Me”, underlining Rekki as a significant new independent artist in the landscape.

JORJA SMITH LITTLE THINGS 

Jorja Smith has just dropped another single, Little Things from her upcoming summer album, a fresh energetic sound from the typical soulful, melancholic artist: it’s a playful track that’s dancefloor, houseparty ready, and set to be a potential song of the summer. As flirty as it is energetic, and with a video to match, it’s all about going out, crushing on someone, having fun. “The song is pretty self explanatory, I had a lil concoction – rum, ting and a magnum. When we started creating this song I was just imagining hearing this walking into a party and seeing someone I’d had my eye on. It’s fun!” Jorja says. 

OWLLE WIN THE SKY

Dream-pop French singer songwriter Owlle has released a video session to accompany last year’s album, Win The Sky. It was filmed in session during an exhibition by the artist Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert and in collaboration with Paris fashion week upcycling darling, Marine Serre.

MAHALIA IRL

After dropping the much-awaited and instant hit, Terms & Conditions, Mahalia has finally announced the release date for her next album IRL for the 14th July 2023. An emblematic figure in the international R&B scene, the young British artist adds to news with the announcement of a UK and European tour set to kick off on October 8th in Leeds and conclude November 7th in Berlin. She will be playing in Paris 31st October at the Trianon, tickets and album pre-orders are now available.

ARMANI WHITE ROAD TO CASABLANCO 

​​Philadelphia born and raised, Armani White burst onto the scene last year with his global hit Billie Eilish amassing over half-a-billion streams and preceding the follow up ‘Legends’ remix, featuring heavyweights Ludacris, Busta Rhymes and N.O.R.E, Fivio Foreign, A$AP Ferg, Denzel Curry and Fridayy. His debut EP, Road to Casablanco, via Def Jam records, had big things to live up to, and disappoint it did not, released last Friday, the young rapper shows off his flare and wit through his uncompromising lyrics on stand-out tracks, Goated, Proud of Me and Silver Tooth featuring A$AP Ferg which show the multi levelled personality of the young rapper.

AESPA SPICY 

Aespa [Karina, Winter, Giselle, AND Ningning] is a fierce female foursome, who in an unprecedented move in 2020 secured the fastest climb to 100 million views of any K-Pop group in history with their debut video Black Mamba. Their name is derived from a combination of “ae” (avatar and experience) + “aspect.” (Each of the four members has a correlating avatar in the virtual world created from their personal data.) After stirring up anticipation worldwide the foursome finally dropped their highly anticipated 3rd Mini Album, MY WORLD, out now via Warner Records. It’s an ignition of the second season of the SMCU (SM Culture Universe), and the six-track project is a dynamic and diverse collection of dancefloor-ready bangers, soaring R&B ballads, and towering alternative pop.