Will Smith may have been in a Bad Boy in his latest movie, but in his new song, he’s a man of hope. “You Can Make It” sees him team with Fridayy and the Sunday Service Choir to provide inspiration to those trying to overcome hardships.
“Through some of my darkest moments, music has always been there for me – to lift me and help me grow,” he wrote on Instagram. “It’s my humble wish that it can do the same for you and bring you all the joy and light you deserve.”
Available on digital platforms, “You Can Make It” marks Will’s first independent release. He’s set to debut the song on the BET Awards 2024 Sunday.
Megan Thee Stallion is not the only one with new releases this season. Here’s some of the latest and greatest to hit the culture:
JT told us she was “Okay,” but Jeezy apparently is too. He appears on the “Okay Remix,” on which the now divorced rapper raps he’s “single as a dollar bill.” The two dress in all black in the video directed by Gerald Victor.
“Higher” is where Burna Boy wishes for his hometown of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to be. In the video, he pays a visit to childhood home and hands out essential supplies with volunteers from The R.E.A.C.H. and his initiative Project PROTECT.
Offset teams with Gunna for “Style Rare” and directed the video alongside Joshua “Mid Jordan” Farias. “I got that s*** on now,” Set says of the song.
Lucky Daye may just dominate your Algorithm with his new album, released alongside the video for “Think Different.” “‘Algorithm’ is the continued exploration of my sound, leaning into more futuristic and alternative sounds,” he says.
Tinashe‘s following up her first Hot 100 hit with “Getting No Sleep,” which will appear on her upcoming album, Quantum Baby, arriving August 16.
Marsha Ambrosius is back with Casablanco, executive produced by Dr. Dre. She says, “Dr. Dre dared me to dream bigger and aim higher” with the project.
Latto gushes about her man in “Big Mama.” The video finds her and sister Brooklyn turning up in a Miami club, on a yacht and driving the streets in luxury cars.
Doechii‘s “Rocket,” released as part of Sprite’s Limelight series, is about a past situationship with no future. A video for the track is out now.
Tamar Braxton and Eric Benét‘s “Something in the Making” was “a long time in the making.” Both tell People the experience was a “fun” one.
T-Pain is years into his music career, but it seems he’s still not used to fans’ reaction to his fame and stardom. In an interview with GQ, he says he began experiencing fanfare “a little bit before that, kind of the ‘I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper)’ era” but that it made him ask questions like, “What’s the big deal?” and “Why do you think I’m important?”
His reaction has remained the same over the years. “Even still to this day. I’m a person like you. If we’re both in the same airport, on the same flight, there’s nothing special about what I’m doing. It’s not a big deal that you get to see me,” he says.
“It’s become a thing that people know about me. They know how I feel about pictures and videos and stuff like that. I installed in everybody like, Chill the f*** out,” T-Pain continues. “We’re all doing this together. I’m only as important as you make me. I get it, and I appreciate it, but we’re all supposed to be chilling together. I just get to be on the other side of the camera more than most people.”
While he notices “the appreciation is there and the love is there,” T-Pain says that “trying to make me more important than anyone else that’s also waiting on their flight…just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Blxst has new music on the way, and this time, it’s not an EP. He announced Thursday that he’s readying for the release of his debut album, which will be titled I’ll Always Come Find You.
The announcement came via an Instagram post featuring a teaser that sees him in a Buick Grand National with a “Birdie” license plate, taking a late-night drive through the city and eventually stopping at a chauffeur car service garage called Evgle & Son. He ends the video saying, “If you’re ever lost, I’ll always come find you,” and revealing the release date: July 19.
“This is the most confident I’ve ever felt in my music. What I had to overcome while making this album changed my entire creative process, and the fans deserve to see the growth from that,” Blxst said in a press release. “I would be doing a disservice to not reach the heights I dreamed of reaching when I first started as an artist. No better time than now.”
To kick off the album, Blxst has released the Anderson .Paak-featuring single, “Dance with the Devil,” and its video.
“I’ve been a fan of Anderson .Paak since his Malibu album. His approach as an artist and tone of voice inspired me while coming into my own artistry,” Blxst said. “Full circle moment, he organically reached out to me summer 2023 to collaborate with him and the group Free Nationals. I took it as an opportunity to shoot for the stars and asked for him to be a part of my debut album as well.”
“This song is a perfect blend of two artists from California and is sonically undeniable from first listen,” he added. He said the song’s about “the tug-of-war with temptation in love and relationships.”
Dopamine was released two weeks ago, and coincidentally, Normani is experiencing a sense of joy as a result.
“I have gratitude. Like I said, I’m still processing my feelings but more than anything, I’m so glad the weight is lifted,” she said during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show, when explaining how she feels post her album’s release. “I feel like I can be present. I feel like I can live as opposed to feeling like I’m surviving and trying to fight to keep my head above water. That gets exhausting, so I’m in a much better place.”
After experiencing delays due to various reasons, including her parents’ cancer diagnoses, Normani already has a goal to ensure that recording her sophomore effort is “much more enjoyable.”
“I can’t wait, especially knowing what I know now,” she said.
Lil Nas X‘s latest song “HERE WE GO!” is the theme song for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, so feel free to call him Detective Montero.
The rapper dropped the energetic and catchy tune — which notably features a sample of Harold Faltermeyer‘s iconic original “Axel F” theme song from 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop — on Friday.
In a recent interview, Lil Nas X said the first time he heard the original theme song was on Family Guy, and he thought, “Wait, that’s actually a nice little melody,” before he saw the film years later.
“It was actually kind of insane,” the “Old Town Road” singer said about getting to leave his mark on the beloved film franchise starring Eddie Murphy. “I was a bit, like, emotional.”
“And I know, like, my dad and family, this probably would be the thing they’d go the most, like, insane about me doing, because it’s so close to them,” he added.
According to a press release, Lil Nas X’s song is featured multiple times throughout Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and plays over the end credits as the movie’s theme song.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F streams July 3 on Netflix.
