La cumbia es uno de los géneros que nos ha ayudado a entender que, como latinoamericanos, estamos más conectados de lo que pensamos y aparentamos. Desde México hasta Argentina, la cumbia ha llegado a un sinfín de pueblos en donde cada uno ha hecho de este ritmo costero algo propio. Moyobamba, en el departamento de San Martín, en Perú, inmersa en la gran selva amazónica, fue el lugar donde ese ritmo costero se transformó en un ritmo selvático, en un sonido que hipnotiza los sentidos y traslada el canto de las aves amazónicas al resto del mundo. Esa es la música de Los Mirlos.
La cumbia amazónica, o como le han dicho durante los últimos años, cumbia amazónica psicodélica —por su semejanza en ciertas sonoridades con propuestas como las de Systema Solar o Ácido Pantera—, es lo que durante más de 40 años han hecho Los Mirlos, agrupación que quiso dar a conocer el canto de las aves y de la naturaleza, y que encontró en las guitarras el elemento perfecto para hacer de su música un llamado a la preservación del ecosistema.
Jorge Rodríguez Grández, líder y voz principal de Los Mirlos, junto a su hijo, también llamado Jorge, hablaron con ROLLING STONE en Español sobre el recorrido de la agrupación y cómo ese sonido que se gestó en la selva sigue siendo fuente de inspiración e innovación para artistas jóvenes de la actualidad.
¿Cómo llegaron a la cumbia y por qué decidieron hacer cumbia?
Mi padre tocaba el bandoneón —dice Jorge Rodríguez Grández— y prácticamente desde que estaba en la barriga de mi mamá yo lo escuchaba, porque mi padre lo tocaba desde los 15 años, ya que su hermano mayor, mi tío, le enseñó. Yo nací escuchando a mi papá tocar junto a su guitarrista y maraquista, y cuando ya pude, empecé a acompañarlos con alguna maraca o con el triángulo.
“Un poco más grandecito, gracias a la onda corta conocida como AM, llegaba a mi casa Radio Caracol desde Colombia, imagínate. Recuerdo mucho escuchar ‘La pollera colorá’, ‘La danza de la chiva’ y muchas más canciones emblemáticas de Colombia grabadas allá en las décadas de los 50 y 60”.
Crecí con esa música y, sumada a la cultura de mi región, decidimos junto a un hermano y algunos amigos de la época crear un grupo juvenil que se hizo muy popular en nuestra tierra, Moyobamba. También hay que mencionar que el maestro Enrique Delgado ya estaba grabando temas como ‘El avispón’ y ‘Apollo 11’, ambos instrumentales, los recuerdo con mucho cariño; el maestro ya estaba grabando cumbia en Lima.
Me estaba sumergiendo en todo este mundo y fue cuando mi hermano mayor nos dijo que nos fuéramos a Lima. Ahí ya nos organizamos formalmente como Los Mirlos y empezamos a hacer cumbia, pero a nuestra manera: cumbia amazónica selvática. Queríamos hacer algo distinto y novedoso a lo que ya venía haciendo el maestro Enrique Delgado, que era cumbia costeña.
Nuestro primer disco, Sonido selvático, tiene varias canciones instrumentales y una que otra cantadita, y así empezó esta historia mirlomana que no ha parado ni un solo momento.
Después de ser padre empezó a pasar lo mismo que me pasó a mí con mis hijos. “En la casa todo era fiesta con mi papá y mi abuelo”, dice Jorge hijo. Desde que tenía 5 o 6 años ya tocaba algunos instrumentos conmigo en las fiestas y los cumpleaños. Todos mis hijos crecieron con la música y ahora hasta mis nietos.
La cumbia tiene algo muy especial: a cada lugar al que llega, se vuelve propia de la región. ¿Cómo describirían a la cumbia amazónica?
Todos nosotros somos de la selva y siento que cada artista se adapta a la cumbia desde sus raíces, su identidad y su cultura. Los títulos de nuestros discos se acercan más a nuestra cumbia que a la costeña: Sonido selvático, Los Charapas de Oro —a las personas de la selva en Perú se les dice charapas—, El poder verde, El milagro verde… Siempre le cantamos y tocamos a nuestra selva y a la naturaleza: su majestuosidad, su belleza y sus colores. Por eso ahora también le dicen psicodélica a nuestra manera de hacer cumbia. Todo eso ayuda a describir la cumbia amazónica.
Nuestra manera de vestir en el escenario también es distinta a la de otras miradas de la cumbia: nuestros collares, pulseras y atuendos coloridos; hasta nuestra forma de hablar. Mi acento es muy distinto al del limeño y, pase el tiempo que pase, mi manera de hablar siempre va a ser como en la selva.
Los Mirlos hoy en día han sido y siguen siendo el gran referente de muchos artistas, pero ¿quiénes fueron los referentes de ustedes o de dónde salió su sonido?
Nuestro sonido salió de nosotros mismos. Queríamos hacer una cumbia diferente a la del maestro Enrique Delgado, en la que la guitarra sonaba pura. Nosotros empezamos a ponerle ciertos efectos a la guitarra y ahí es donde radica la esencia de la cumbia amazónica: en esos sonidos exóticos de la guitarra que parecen el canto de las aves, el canto de los mirlos.
Nuestra música busca que, cuando cierres los ojos, te transportes a la selva pura, y en realidad el público lo siente así. Cuando voy a los shows lo percibo, sobre todo en las piezas instrumentales.
Tengo que preguntarles por la canción ‘La danza de los mirlos’. ¿Cómo nació y en qué momento se dieron cuenta de que se había convertido en un infaltable de la música latinoamericana?
Uno crea las canciones con mucha ilusión y con el deseo de hacerse conocido. Antes de ‘La danza de los mirlos’, ya era medio conocida una canción que se llama ‘El aguaje’, que hace referencia a una fruta silvestre y es instrumental. Recuerdo mucho el lanzamiento de cada canción, la emoción de escuchar los sonidos que logramos y la felicidad de que eso que queríamos se estuviera plasmando.
‘La danza de los mirlos’ la han versionado múltiples artistas: Damas Gratis en Argentina; en México se conoce como ‘La cumbia de los pajaritos’; en Colombia la versionó Afrosound… Todo eso ayuda a que siga sonando y siga siendo un infaltable de la música latinoamericana. ‘La danza de los mirlos’ ya hace parte de las mejores cumbias peruanas y ha recorrido el mundo entero.
Hace tres años salió un documental cultural titulado La danza de los mirlos, que se estrenó en el Gran Teatro de Lima, y gran parte de ese documental está basado en lo que hemos construido nosotros como agrupación. Un día, uno de los directores del documental —que también nos acompañó durante una gira en Europa— fue a mi casa y vio todos los recuerdos que tengo: notas de prensa del 73 y 74, reconocimientos, trofeos… Tengo mi proyector Bauer alemán, que compré en el 76, y tres rollos de película súper 8 con varios de los primeros momentos de Los Mirlos. Todo eso fue a parar en este documental que, te cuento, me gustaría que vieras y que viera todo el mundo.
“Nosotros empezamos a ponerle ciertos efectos a la guitarra y ahí es donde radica la esencia de la cumbia amazónica: en esos sonidos exóticos de la guitarra que parecen el canto de las aves, el canto de los mirlos”.
The World Meets Los Mirlos. ¿Qué significa este disco para ustedes, al presentar los sonidos de la cumbia amazónica a mucha más gente?
Es un disco colaborativo con varios artistas. Hemos trabajado con músicos de distintos países durante nuestra trayectoria; de Colombia, por ejemplo, colaboramos con Los Rolling Ruanas y Los Cumbia Stars. Sentimos que las colaboraciones ayudan a expandir nuestro sonido amazónico, y eso es lo más importante de colaborar.
En este nuevo proyecto, The World Meets Los Mirlos, colaboramos con doce artistas en doce canciones diferentes. Están Bomba Estéreo, Monsieur Periné, Juanes, Rubén Albarrán, Guaynaa y varios más.
¿Cómo fue trabajar con un artista del mundo urbano como Guaynaa?
Lo conocimos en un estudio de grabación en Miami, y algo muy bonito que sucede cuando conocemos a otros artistas es el respeto que muestran hacia Los Mirlos. Guaynaa es un artista sumamente creativo; la canción surgió ahí, en el estudio, de manera muy orgánica. Esperamos poder tocarla juntos en vivo muy pronto.
Junto a Juanes sé que han realizado varias canciones. Una verá la luz en The World Meets Los Mirlos, pero tienen varias más que seguramente saldrán en un futuro. ¿Cómo se ha venido dando esa cercanía con Juanes?
“Con Juanes hasta compartimos escenario en Cusco, en un concierto muy bonito, hace algunos años, y hace poco nos volvimos a encontrar en Miami. Siempre ha habido un gran respeto y admiración por ambas partes. Además, la voz de él es perfecta para la cumbia, y más aún para la cumbia amazónica.
‘De jueves a jueves’ es la canción junto a Juanes que saldrá en nuestro disco, acompañada de un video animado bastante psicodélico y, a la vez, hermoso. Es algo histórico que todas estas colaboraciones se estén dando; en Perú están hipnotizados con todo esto. No hay techo para Los Mirlos.
Ustedes ya tienen una trayectoria enorme dentro de la música y la industria. ¿Cuál dirían que es el mayor reto para mantenerse vigentes?
Lo más importante es la pasión por tu música. Yo me desvivo por la música: crear y escribir. Tengo 200 canciones escritas y 50 maquetas que ni mis músicos conocen, pero es que lo más importante termina siendo crear, más allá de la industria en sí. Espero que mis nietos graben algunas de esas canciones que tengo guardadas. Lo que mantiene a Los Mirlos es la pasión.
También ha sido fundamental mantener nuestra originalidad sonora, que radica en la guitarra. Eso nos ha permitido transmitir nuestra música de generación en generación, seguir presentándonos en grandes festivales y colaborar con artistas de renombre. Durante el largo camino que hemos recorrido, varios empresarios nos han dicho: “Pongan trompetas o saxofones para que tengan más popularidad”, pero nunca lo hemos hecho porque eso habría significado perder nuestra esencia. Nuestra esencia son las guitarras, y eso perdura en el tiempo. Pasamos de ser cumbia amazónica a cumbia amazónica psicodélica, pero Los Mirlos seguimos fieles a nuestro sonido.
Estoy escribiendo un libro que llevo intentando terminar desde hace dos años, pero por tantos viajes no he podido. Trata sobre mis memorias y sobre la corriente de la cumbia amazónica psicodélica. Espero terminarlo este año; ahí están todas las memorias que hemos vivido.
¿Cuál dirían que es el mayor legado de Los Mirlos?
La música y haber sido precursores de eso que hoy llaman cumbia amazónica psicodélica, además del mensaje de nuestras canciones: cuidar nuestra selva, nuestra Amazonía.
Que cuando escuchen una guitarra ‘psicodélica’, piensen en el Perú, en nuestro país, y que eso lleve al público a querer conocerlo. Esperamos que nuestra música siga pasando de generación en generación y que jamás pierda esa identidad cultural que refleja nuestra región.
The post Los Mirlos: la cumbia amazónica psicodélica a través de la historia appeared first on Rolling Stone en Español.
The Strokes emprenderán la gira Reality Awaits sin uno de sus miembros fundadores, ya que la banda anunció que el guitarrista Nick Valensi se tomará un “descanso temporal” del recorrido de verano boreal.
El grupo apareció el jueves por la noche en The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, y la ausencia de Valensi fue notoria durante la interpretación de “Falling Out of Love”, tema perteneciente a Reality Awaits. Poco después, The Strokes explicaron la ausencia del guitarrista en redes sociales.
“Nick se tomará un descanso temporal de la gira programada, pero esperamos con entusiasmo su regreso”, escribió la banda, agregando que “nuestro viejo amigo Steve Schiltz, a quien muchos recordarán de los primeros días de Nueva York”, ocupará su lugar. Schiltz fue cantante y guitarrista de la banda neoyorquina Longwave, contemporánea de la escena Y2K.
Cuando la banda ofreció dos shows en San Francisco en abril, antes de sus presentaciones en Coachella, Schiltz estuvo en guitarra en reemplazo de Valensi; sin embargo, Valensi volvió a tocar con The Strokes durante los conciertos del grupo en Coachella.
Reality Awaits, el primer álbum de The Strokes desde The New Abnormal de 2020, llegará el 26 de junio. En Argentina, lo presentarán en su show como headliners del Primavera Sound Buenos Aires.
The post El guitarrista de The Strokes, Nick Valensi, se tomará un “descanso temporal” de la banda appeared first on Rolling Stone en Español.
Freeze the world. After seeing peers cross him and taking lashes from rap fans for the better part of two years following Drake’s battle with Kendrick Lamar, the 6 God had plenty to say.
Or as Drizzy put it on Iceman opener, “Make Them Cry”: “I’m in the cut just loading rebuttals.” With the weight of Canada on his shoulders, Drake had a lot to get off his chest and the OVO boss addressed just about everything and everyone on Iceman.
Drake premiered Iceman during his episode four livestream on Thursday night (May 14), which ended with the Toronto dignitary revealing he actually had three albums on the way for Friday (May 15).
Iceman is the main attraction, a bar-heavy introspection with Drake rapping in peak form and examining all aspects of life, while Maid of Honour and Habibti lean into R&B, dance and cater more toward the ladies.
Drizzy sounds inspired and recharged on Iceman. When the stakes are raised, the greats typically deliver and Drake did that and then some with his ninth studio LP. For the first time in years, there felt like a sense of urgency from Drake, which has to be tied to the Kendrick Lamar clash and some of hip-hop turning on him after over a decade of dominance.
“What died back in 2024 was a big piece/ So it’s like this s— is me, but it isn’t me/ Y’all keep on asking what it did to me/ That’s what it did to me,” he admits on “Make Them Cry” while wearing the figurative scars from 2024.
Drake is open and vulnerable while punching back, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. That’s the cycle of human emotions. He revealed that his father is currently battling cancer, touches on his lawsuit against UMG and reunited with Future on “Ran to Atlanta,” championing that “me and Hendrix back by popular demand” as he and Pluto put their issues aside.
The 6 God seemingly had smoke for everyone that he felt wronged him in recent years, ranging from DJ Khaled to Kendrick Lamar and Rick Ross. With Drake centering his crosshairs on the opposition on Iceman, that’s where our focus will lie.
Stream Iceman and find everyone Drake appeared to diss on the album below.
It’s been much too quiet on The Avalanches front. That’s all changed with “Together” (via Modular Recordings) featuring Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza, Prentiss, the first new release from the Australian electronic act in almost six years.
If you’re looking for introspective, minimal electronica, or memories of Motown, cut ‘n’ pasted into a patchwork, then you’re come to the wrong place. “Together” is forward looking, dancefloor beckoning, and has more bounce than the vertical leap test at the NBA Draft Combine.
The Avalanches, now comprising Robbie Chater, Tony Di Blasi and Andy Szekeres, changed the game with their debut 2000 album release Since I Left You.
Its secret sauce, slivers of hundreds of songs from the likes of Françoise Hardy, Sérgio Mendes, Raekwon, Wayne and Shuster, and even Madonna, painstakingly, surgically sewed into songs. The result, which included the title track and “Frontier Psychiatrist,” was a collection that was both timeless, and immediate. Or, as a statement from the band’s reps suggests, “a global footprint for collaborative sampology in the 21st century.”
Its followup was a long time coming, and it wasn’t a repeat. Sixteen years passed when The Avalanches finally dropped Wildflower, which immediately went to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. A third album travelled at comparative warp-speed, We Will Always Love You, which dropped in 2020 and later scooped the coveted Australian Music Prize, for the best album of the year.
In 2024, the band briefly returned with a collaboration on Jamie XX’s In Waves, with the tune “All You Children.”
“Together” may well be the starting point for another, proper release cycle. The release is part of a “Superfun” campaign, which includes an image of Chater gaming, and an official animated video for “Together,” with sees some old school hardware — an iPod and a diskette (the compact version of the floppy disk) — sprout arms, and legs, and get about their bright, happy day. Together.
The positively ancient Nokia 3310 device makes an appearance, descending from the heavens with its angel wings.
“How are you looking after your memories? At Takumi digital archives your most treasured moments are safe with us,” reads a cryptic official statement. You can even “visit Takumi today” at the website takumiarchives.com.
Jonathan Zawada directed and animated the music video, which can be streamed below.
Stephen Colbert isn’t going quietly off the airwaves. No, the venerated late-night talkshow host is going out with a series of bangs, including a late-night performance by Foo Fighters on Wednesday, and more recently The Strokes.
On Thursday night (May 14), the indie rockers set the tempo to cool for their Late Show premiere of “Falling Out of Love.” On set, Julian Casablancas and his bandmates enjoyed their own, personal stages, each of them lit and outlined with lasers, all of it set against a backdrop of classic stock images of the United States, its small towns, bright lights and natural delights.
With its unusual, heavily Auto-tuned vocals, “Falling Out of Love” is the second cut for the New Yorkers’ forthcoming seventh studio album Reality Awaits, due out on June 26, their first since 2020’s The New Abnormal.
The band will march on with their Reality Awaits 2026 tour, which gets underway June 12 at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee and wraps up Sept. 20 at Sea.Hear.Now Festival in New Jersey.
After North America, the global jaunt will visit the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America and Japan. While on the road, the band will stop by for multiple nights at Red Rocks, London’s The O2, plus Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre, Paris’ Accor Arena, Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome and more. Support acts will include Thundercat, Cage the Elephant, Hamilton Leithauser, Fat White Family, The Garden, Alex Cameron, Geordie Greep, Promiseland and ÖLÜM.
“Falling out of Love” follows “Going Shopping,” the first single from Reality Awaits, which was recorded in Costa Rica with producer Rick Rubin and finished in studios around the world.
Colbert is in his last stretch in charge of The Late Show, which CBS is pulling the plug on due to what the network has described as “a purely financial” decision. The Strokes are among an elite lineup of final guests, including Foo Fighters, Chris Stapleton, President Barack Obama, Tom Hanks, and a special gathering of late-night hosts: Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver.
The series finale airs May 21 on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT.
Watch The Strokes’ performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert below.
There’s nothing bigger on the ARIA Chart this week than Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” (via Sony Music), which ascends to the summit some six months after its release.
“Choosin’ Texas” is finally at the top of the leaderboard, rising 3-1 after 19 weeks on the chart. And in doing so, the U.S. singer and songwriter unseats Olivia Dean’s five-times platinum certified “Man I Need” (Universal) after 21 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. “Man I Need” dips 1-2, while Dean’s collaboration with Sam Fender, “Rein Me In,” slips 2-3.
The slow-burning “Choosin’ Texas” becomes the first song by a female country singer to top the ARIA Singles Chart since Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” got there five years ago, in 2021.
Meanwhile, Tame Impala’s “Dracula” (Columbia/Sony) improves 5-4 peak, a career peak position for Kevin Parker’s psychedelic pop outfit. Thanks to a remix featuring Jennie from BLACKPINK, and a viral dance on TikTok, “Dracula” recently entered the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 (at No. 10), and climbed to No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.
“Dracula” is the only homegrown cut in the ARIA Top 50, published late Friday, May 15. No new releases appear on the frame.
Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide (via Universal) enters a third consecutive week at No. 1, while Olivia Dean’s sophomore set The Art of Loving holds at No. 2.
The top new release belongs to Brisbane indie band The Jungle Giants, with Experiencing Feelings Of Joy (Orchard), their third studio album. Experiencing Feelings Of Joy is new at No. 3, and the follow up to Love Signs, which went to No. 1 in 2021.
It’s one of four new Australian releases to debut in the top 50 on the latest tally. Those new arrivals include Katherine’s Halloran’s independently-released Nobody’s Baby (at No. 26), contemporary jazz singer Simone Waddell’s Unforgettable (at No. 43 via Ambition/MGM), and Brisbane indie rockers Beddy Rays with their EP Sunday Slowdown (at No. 50 via Beddy Rays/ADA).
Several American artists make their presences felt on the chart, including Chris Brown (Brown at No. 16 via RCA/Sony), Josh Groban (Cinematic at No. 24 via Reprise/Warner), Neil Diamond (Wild at Heart at No. 29 via Capitol/Universal), Audrey Hobert (Who’s The Clown at No. 36 via Sony), and Social Distortion (Born To Kill at No. 46 Epitaph/RKT), while quirky New Zealand artist Aldous Harding rides her Train on the Island (Flying Nun/Orchard) album to No. 41.
As Drake’s now-enemy LeBron James once said at his memorable opening press conference when he joined the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010: “Not one, not two, not three….”
But yes, while fans expected one album, Iceman, to arrive on Friday (May 15), Drake pulled a rabbit out of his hat and released three LPs as Habibti and Maid of Honour joined Iceman for a sprawling 43 tracks combined.
Prior to the albums’ arrival, Drake hosted episode 4 of his Iceman livestream on his YouTube channel, which played out more as a visual album for Iceman lasting about 75 minutes Thursday night (May 14).
Shot across Toronto, Drake recruited some friends to make cameos, including comedian Shane Gillis, DJ Akademiks and his son, Adonis.
The stream kicks off with Iceman‘s introspective opener “Make Them Cry,” which finds Drake wasting no time addressing the scars from 2024’s battle with Kendrick Lamar.
“What died back in 2024 was a big piece/ So it’s like this s–t is me, but it isn’t me/ Y’all keep on asking what it did to me/ That’s what it did to me,” he raps as an Iceman truck cruises down the highway.
Later on in the track, Drake also revealed that his father, Dennis Graham, is currently battling cancer. “My dad got cancer right now/ We battling stages/ Trust me when I say there’s things I’d rather be facing,” he admits.
DJ Akademiks enters the picture, hosting a radio show and making all sorts of claims backing up Drake. It’s pretty similar to what you’d hear from him on his own stream, saying Drake takes up all five slots of his top five and so on.
Aligning with the 6 God paid off for Ak, who starred in the livestream and picked up an iced-out OVO owl chain courtesy of Drake.
Moving through Iceman, Shane Gillis makes an appearance as a police officer with Adonis, Drake is shown as a mob boss with his crew in front of a government building, then walking through the snow, as bloodshed is left in his wake.
The First Lady of Toronto Chromazz joins Drizzy as part of the visual album, while Drake also shows off his fleet of exotic cherry red sports cars.
The reunion everyone hoped to see, as Drake and his What a Time to Be Alive running mate, Future, put their issues aside to reconcile. They join forces alongside emerging rapper Molly Santana — or the new Hannah Montana — for “Ran to Atlanta” (a possible nod to Kendrick’s lyrics on “Not Like Us”) and the music video appears on the stream.
“Me and Hendrix back by popular demand,” Drake raps. Military Hummers and strippers using poles surround Drizzy. The clip continues to flicker between neon-blue light and thermal effects and back to normal.
Drake throws a party for his OVO crew as “Burning Bridges” plays, which appears to find him jabbing at A$AP Rocky. “Your baby momma ain’t even post a single, damn, where she at,” he raps, before later adding. “You saw my brother, you was tryna fix it, now you drop your album and you back dissing.”
There’s plenty of smoke to go around on the menacing “Make Them Pay,” which finds Rick Ross and DJ Khaled in his crosshairs, who Drake addresses by name. He also seemingly calls out J. Cole and says “f–k a big three.”
“Dog, I was aiding Ross with streams before Adin Ross had ever streamed,” Drake fires at Rozay, who has had plenty to say about Drake on his book tour this week.
DJ Khaled and Drake also had a falling out dating back to 2024, and Drizzy lands a haymaker, putting Khaled on blast for not speaking up about Palestine.
“And Khaled, you know what I mean/ The beef was fully live, you went halal, and got on your deen/ And your people are still waitin’ for a Free Palestine/ But apparently, everything isn’t black and white and red and green,” he spews.
Previous leaks such as “National Treasures,” sans Pressa and “1 AM in Albany,” which has been renamed to “Make Them Remember,” make the cut on Iceman. 2025’s “What Did I Miss?” also stuck around, and the music video finds Drake on the back of an Iceman 18-wheeler transporting blocks of ice, while he rocks a Chrome Hearts trapper hat.
Neophyte New York rapper Stunna Sandy gets a look in the stream as part of the “Plot Twist” visual, as she rides in a dune buggy and hangs with Drizzy.
A potential bop comes next with “2 Hard 4 Radio,” which would be an ironic title if the track picks up commercial steam and ends up becoming a radio smash. The West Coast-influenced song finds Drake having fun while incorporating Mac Dre bars.
The next scenes head to the top of the CN Tower in the heart of Toronto, a strip club and inside a government building that houses the mayoral office. Drake closes up shop at an ice hockey rink and then flees to the studio. But for his final act, in a possible shot at Kendrick Lamar, Drizzy sets a streaming farm ablaze.
While all of the aforementioned visuals were pre-taped, the livestream becomes current with fireworks lighting up the Toronto sky and Drake watching on in real time. He shocks the OVO faithful with an announcement that two additional albums are on the way, dropping in an hour at midnight. With 43 tracks and three LPs, a Drizzy summer is on the horizon.
Watch episode 4 of the Iceman livestream on Drake’s YouTube account.
Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.
Last week, we featured Charli xcx, MUNA and Kelela.
This week: Gracie Abrams teases her recently-announced fourth album, Daughter From Hell, with its lead single; Drake returns with his anticipated Iceman — plus two more projects titled Maid Of Honour and Habibti; and Tove Lo previews her upcoming sixth album … plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:
Gracie Abrams, “Hit the Wall”
Gracie Abrams’ now longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner wasn’t playing when he spoke about the singer’s upcoming album in an Instagram caption earlier this week: “You’ll hear us expanding our musical vocabulary and pushing into uncharted waters sonically…it feels elevated in every way.” Lead single “Hit the Wall” is an airy and lyrically loaded track, with lines like, “A room full of doctors and an inkblot/ I’m drawn into headlights, have a blind spot” or, “I live in a pattern of breakdowns/ You’ll bend to my silence, it’s so loud.” The track arrives as the perfect connector for where Abrams has been and where she is heading — and proves that if this is her starting point, Daughter From Hell is surely going to hurt like hell.
Drake, Iceman
After teasing his anticipated Iceman album, Drake more than delivered — also dropping Maid of Honour and Habibti on Friday. In all, the three releases total 43 new tracks and nearly two-and-a-half hours of listening (and push his solo full-length discography into double digits). Needless to say, the artist had a lot to get off his chest since his For All the Dogs release in 2023.
Iceman focus track, “Ran To Atlanta,” features Future and Molly Santana and is one of just two tracks on the project that taps guests. Meanwhile, Maid Of Honour and Habibti are a bit more feature-packed, with artists including Sexxy Red, Central Cee, PARTYNEXTDOOR and others appearing across the tracklists. So, roll your sleeves up and get to listening.
Tove Lo, “I’m Your Girl Right?”
It’s been four years since Tove Lo released an album (her last was 2022’s Dirt Femme) and new single “I’m Your Girl Right?” reminds listeners of what we’ve been missing. The track finds a sweet spot between mid-tempo pop and full-blown dance banger — exactly what Tove Lo has always done best. The track serves as the lead single for her upcoming sixth album, ESTRUS, out Sept. 18. As the artist shared in a statement: “I know you’ve been waiting a long time and I hope it’s worth the wait. It was for me!”
Rostam, “Hardy (feat. Clairo)”
With the release of Rostam’s third solo album, American Stories, he continues to prove that patience pays off (his last album, Changephobia, arrived in 2021) and that he still has that magic touch. Standout track “Hardy” opens unexpectedly with jittery, gorgeous strings that subtly fade into piano chords — only to return again halfway through for an instrumental interlude that also features trumpet to introduce Clairo’s verse. The song then ends with the chorus that’s all about acceptance: “Some things you said to me have stuck in my mind/ And though I’ll never have the chance to say why/ Maybe the greatest art is never completed/ We only have to leave it knowing we tried.”
Jorja Smith, “What’s Done Is Done”
Jorja Smith’s sultry, silky vocals are an expected, welcomed component of all her songs — and while they do their thing on “What’s Done Is Done,” the production comes as a surprise. Loaded with heart-pounding synth and bass, there’s a creeping, electric backbone to the track that perfectly soundtracks the basement club energy Smith channels in its music video.
Madonna and Peggy Gou have just released the first official remix of Madonna’s Confessions II era, with the pop icon and the South Korean superstar DJ teaming up for a bouncy edit of the album’s lead single, “I Feel So Free.”
The edit has an ’80s throwback vibe. Think Stock Aitken Waterman and their production of Dead Or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round,” complete with addictive beats, thunderclaps and a synth bassline. Stream it below.
Confessions II is Madonna’s 15th studio album and a follow-up of her 2005 classic Confessions On a Dancefloor, which won the 2007 Grammy for best dance/electronic album. Stuart Price, the producer of this first album, is back working with Madonna for the reprise.
The original version of “I Feel So Free,” which was released on April 17, appears to be the opening track of Confessions II, as the remix comes just after the May 14 announcement of the Confessions II tracklist. This news was revealed in a guerrilla marketing campaign that saw posters posters go up in several major cities around the world. The track list from these posters appears as such:
Side 1
I Feel So Free
Good for the Soul
One Step Away
Bring Your Love
Danceteria
Read My Lips
Side 2
Everything
Love Without Words
Bizarre
School
Fragile
My Sins Are My Savior
U2’s visit to Mexico City this week continued to bring surprises on Thursday (May 14), when the legendary Irish band appeared alongside Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum at an event for the General Assembly of the Street Child World Cup in the Mexican capital.
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The president took the stage at the Hidalgo Theater of the Mexican Social Security Institute to greet young participants of the international competition, which is focused on social inclusion and children’s rights. She was accompanied by lead singer Bono and guitarist The Edge, reveal videos shared on social media by Mexico City’s secretary of tourism, Alejandra Frausto.
Onstage at the venue, the head of state and the two members of the band greeted the audience before stepping down to take their seats. “My president,” Bono said to Sheinbaum, followed by a hug. The gesture drew an ovation from the attendees.
Later, Sheinbaum shared a video on her own social media accounts showing more details of her encounter with the musicians. “Hello, nice to meet you,” she told the pair in English.
“Nice to meet you, such a fan of yours”, The Edge responded. And Bono added: “My goodness, universal healthcare, you have raised the minimum wage, you come to the Street Child World Cup, you meet The Edge and myself. I don’t know how you have time.”
Mexico City hosted the 2026 Street Child World Cup this week, with 30 teams from around the world gathering for this year’s tournament, held May 6-14. “It’s a little NGO with a big kick for kids with all of the talent and none of the access,” drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said in a statement on U2’s website. “Our band are proud supporters.”
The Rock Hall-inducted outfit — also featuring bass guitarist Adam Clayton — returned to Mexico after a nine-year absence to film the music video for their song “Street of Dreams,” included in their upcoming studio album expected to be released at the end of 2026. Their highly anticipated return has already resulted in a formal invitation from the head of government of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, for the group to perform at the iconic Zócalo, the country’s main public square.
Mexico holds a special place in the hearts of U2’s members. The band has delivered some of its most memorable concerts in the Latin American country, including the performance documented in the Popmart: Live From Mexico City video, recorded in 1997 during their Popmart Tour. The last time the band performed in the capital city was in October 2017, three weeks after the powerful earthquake that struck central Mexico, as part of the 30th anniversary of their iconic album The Joshua Tree.