Friday Music Guide: New Music From Karol G, Lil Baby, Renee Rapp & Megan Thee Stallion and More

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. 

This week, Karol G celebrates a huge year, Lil Baby previews a return (we hope), and Renee Rapp and Megan Thee Stallion’s collaboration is so fetch. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Karol G, “Que Chimba De Vida” 

When “Que Chimba De Vida” begins on an unsuspecting note with a few guitar strums, the listener is right to wonder if Karol G is about to end a dominant year in a muted tone — but soon after, the new single bursts open, Karol glides over the Mexican music-inspired production, and a wildly successful run is given an exclamation point. While it’s too soon to say where “Que Chimba De Vida” will exist in relationship to the rest of Karol’s 2023 output, fans should be thankful that her prolific streak is seemingly continuing into 2024.

Lil Baby, “Crazy” & “350” 

After spending 2023 by presenting his album It’s Only Me to thousands of fans across dozens of tour dates, Lil Baby has wrapped up the year with a dynamic two-pack of tracks: “Crazy” makes good use of his crooning flow to deploy bruising confidence, while “350” is more pained and reflective, other voices piping up in the production and trying to blot out Baby’s confessionals. Let’s hope Lil Baby gifts us with another full-length in 2024, and that these tracks receive a proper album home.

Renee Rapp & Megan Thee Stallion, “Not My Fault” 

Although the bubbly new Renee Rapp and Megan Thee Stallion team-up “Not My Fault” begins with Lindsay Lohan’s character from Mean Girls declaring, “It’s not my fault you’re like, in love with me, or something!,” the new single from the upcoming Mean Girls musical movie takes its perspective from Rapp’s Regina George character, flexing over the sumptuous production while pointing out that anyone questioning her knows what they were getting themselves into. Meanwhile, Megan sounds reinvigorated on the pop track, tossing off quotable lyrics like “I run s–t, to be a bad b–ch is a sport!”

Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday 2 (Gag City Deluxe) 

After triumphantly returning last week with her long-awaited album Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj has a few more goodies for fans before the end of the year: the Gag City Deluxe edition of the album features a new 50 Cent-assisted version of “Beep Beep,” as well as “Love Me Enough,” a soulful new cut featuring R&B greats Monica and Keyshia Cole. Both songs help round out the aesthetic of Pink Friday 2, showcasing Minaj at both her most cutthroat and personal.

Editor’s Pick: Luh Tyler feat. Latto, “The Grinch Freestyle” 

Tallahassee native Luh Tyler has been racking up millions of streams this year while setting up a potential breakthrough in 2024, and “The Grinch Freestyle,” which features some nifty microphone work from A-list guest artist Latto, serves as a flashy buzzer-beater before the calendar flips. His laidback drawl meshes well with Latto’s animated bars, and their interplay is relentless over the two-and-a-half minutes here, as if both artists are trying to fire off as many one-liners as possible before the beat drops away.