Friday Music Guide: New Music From Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Uzi Vert, Shakira & Manuel Turizo 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, Olivia Rodrigo sinks her teeth into a new era, Lil Uzi Vert rolls out the Tape, and Shakira links with Manuel Turizo for a summer single. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire” 

Created with her main Sour collaborator Daniel Nigro, Olivia Rodrigo’s hugely anticipated new single “Vampire” begins as a betrayal-strewn piano ballad in the vein of “Drivers License,” but then opens up into a pop-rock epic full of jittery percussion and wounded, dramatic vocal runs — something like My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade refracted through a generation raised on Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey. “Vampire” represents a go-for-the-gusto pop statement that both pushes Rodrigo’s songwriting forward as well as satisfies Sour fans. It sounds purposely huge, and like it’s about to be inescapable.

Click here to read a full Q&A with Rodrigo about “Vampire.”

Lil Uzi Vert, Pink Tape 

A new Lil Uzi Vert album can feel like a blitz, with a sprawling number of songs and ideas coming at you from all angles; such was the case with 2020’s Eternal Atake and its hefty deluxe edition, as well as with Pink Tape, their gargantuan new album that refuses to pick one sonic lane. Uzi revels in disparate production techniques and daring stylistic choices, which is how we get Nicki Minaj joining them over a Eiffel 65 interpolation, a faithful re-creation of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” called “CS,” and plenty of Rebirth-esque hair metal hip-hop tracks like “Suicide Doors”; at 26 songs, Pink Tape is designed to be an overwhelming listen, with Uzi’s fantastical world offering a sensory overload.

Shakira & Manuel Turizo, “Copa Vacía” 

With “Copa Vacía,” Shakira continues a prolific period — beginning with her smash Bizarrap team-up “BZRP Vol. 53,” followed by the top 10 Karol G collaboration “TQG” and then her stripped-down solo track “Acróstico” — alongside rising reggaeton star Manuel Turizo, who provides the superstar with an assist on a track that fits more seamlessly into party playlists. Turizo’s deeper tone coincides nicely with Shakira’s vocal power, locating a smooth tension that plays into the song’s thumping beat. 

Tainy, Data 

Puerto Rican producer Tainy has been an in-demand collaborator for years, working with Latin music’s biggest artists as well as English-language stars like Dua Lipa and Shawn Mendes, and his debut album Data functions as both a high-concept artistic statement — weaving in lyrics and visuals related to advancing technology, human connection and a cyborg named Sena — and a series of heaters for the summer months. Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee, Ozuna and Young Miko all stop by, but Tainy strives to turn the collage of Data into a cohesive listen, and ultimately succeeds.

Charli XCX, “Speed Drive” 

Indie pop diehards will instantly recognize the synth line that opens “Speed Drive,” Charli XCX’s contribution to the upcoming Barbie soundtrack: that’s the riff from Robyn’s “Cobrastyle,” revived more than a decade and a half after highlighting the Swedish pop star’s self-titled album. Charli takes that hook for a test spin on a short, snappy slice of propulsive pop music, with a chorus that moves so rapidly it’ll give you whiplash: “Hot, riding through the streets, on a different frequency,” she sings, bottling up the feeling of driving a little too fast with the top down.

Editor’s Pick: Sampha, “Spirit 2.0” 

After earning a mountain of hype thanks to collaborations with artists like Drake, Solange and Frank Ocean, Sampha delivered on his promise with his 2017 debut album Process, a breathtaking electro-R&B project focused on grief and self-evolution. Then, six years passed, with a few more guest spots but no new Sampha solo material. “Spirit 2.0,” then, is a long-awaited return but also a gorgeously pensive check-in: Sampha tiptoes around melodies and orchestrates a elliptical collection of strings, voices and frenetic beats, as if he’s ready to show more of himself after years away from the spotlight but doesn’t want to reveal everything just yet.