With the 2026 Grammy eligibility period ending this Saturday (Aug. 30), some of hip-hop’s and R&B’s buzziest acts raced to get their new projects out before the deadline, resulting in one of the most crowded New Music Fridays of the year.
Doja Cat returned with some ’80s flair via “Jealous Type,” Offset and Earl Sweatshirt gave soul-baring life updates on their respective new albums, Kiari and Live Laugh Love, and BigXthaPlug mounted a full-throttle country crossover play with his new I Hope You’re Happy project. BigX, who’s had a banner year between Beyoncé dancing to “The Largest” on her Cowboy Carter Tour and earning his first Hot 100 top 10 hit with the Bailey Zimmerman-assisted “All the Way” (No. 4), was unfortunately arrested in North Texas last Friday (Aug. 22) for marijuana and weapon possession, marking his second booking in six months.
BigX is far from the only rapper currently entangled with the law. Drake, who is still in the middle of his controversial lawsuit against UMG, made headlines over the weekend for taking jabs at music journalist Rob Markman and announcing his second podcast interview with Bobbi Althoff. “Welcome to a much more refined, poised and pleasant podcast,” he joked in a promotional video. “I’m trying to get you brand deals. I was trying to pitch… Welcome to a much more scenic, serene and sexy [podcast].”
Finally, Tyler, the Creator is keeping the train rolling with his latest announcement: a word search revealing the lineup for this year’s Camp Flog Gnaw (Nov. 15-16). Some of the acts fans have identified include Tyler, A$AP Rocky, The Alchemist, Childish Gambino, Larry June, 2 Chainz, Samara Cyn, Tems, Sombr, Foushee, Don Toliver, Malcolm Todd, Thundercat, Bbtrickz, Clairo, Deb Never, Clipse and Teezo Touchdown.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Lecrae’s emotional new single to Victoria Monét and Ludmilla’s globe-uniting collaboration. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
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Lecrae feat. Killer Mike & T.I., “Headphones”
For Reconstruction, his tenth studio album and first full-length offering in three years, Grammy-winning Christian rapper Lecrae tapped a wide range of guests united by their commitment to emotional honesty. Tapping Southern rap kingpins Killer Mike and T.I., “Headphones” finds the three wordsmiths trading bars that venerate those they’ve lost.
“Ain’t no keys in the trunk, ain’t no sleepin’ in bunks/ Granny said, ‘Count your blessings,’ but if I could count them, it’d take me some months/ Wish you could see me now, livin’ clean, got ’em callin’ me Reverend/ Wish you could hear me now, hope you got you some headphones in Heaven,” Lecrae passionately spits over BongoBytheWay’s soulful, trap-infused production. Both Mike and Tip join in with their own paeans to deceased loved ones, underscoring the always-humanizing phenomenon of grief. — KYLE DENIS
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Joy Postell, “A Soldiers Prayer”
Streets need Joy Postell to blow up, and I wish this song were 10 minutes long. Who among us can’t relate to the opening line, “I done been through things that should’ve made me fold”? R&B that sounds like this is rare these days. I got up with an old friend this weekend, and when I came across “A Soldiers Prayer,” I was in the crib singing my heart out like Max B shouting into his microphone while holding a bottle of Henny. Shout out to B’More’s finest. — ANGEL DIAZ
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Ludmilla & Victoria Monét, “Cam Girl”
A bold, empowering anthem about fantasy in the digital age, Ludmilla and Victoria Monét’s “Cam Girl” is a knockout. The two fiery performers flip the concept of a cam girl, someone who performs online for an audience, into a metaphor for self-assurance and control. Ludmilla raps about owning her body and leveraging her desirability, while Monét sensually sings the praises of true intimacy. Together, they reclaim and recast the role of the cam girl and frame themselves as divas in control of their image, sexuality and power. — CHRISTOPHER CLAXTON
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Jae Stephens, “Afterbody”
Jae Stephens, Def Jam’s newest pop&B princess, shared a sequel to her 2024 Sellout EP, and “Afterbody” is one of the clearest standouts. Armed with a now-trademark talk-sung cadence and Pharrell-reminiscent production courtesy of Dallas Caton, “Afterbody” ushers Stephens onto a relentlessly sweaty dancefloor at the peak of a steamy summer night. “Baddies everywhere, and my baby, he don’t care/ He got tunnel vision on me it’s like no one else is there/ Room is at capacity, we runnin’ outta air/ His hands are so attached to me, I know he wouldn’t dare,” she coos in the second verse, perfectly capturing the scenes presented in the track’s flashy music video. — K.D.
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Top Shelf Premium, Off Top Volume 9
Top Shelf’s “Off Top” freestyle series on YouTube has been an important fixture within the underground scene over the years. Rappers like Navy Blue, Fatboi Sharif, Benny the Butcher, Your Old Droog and even Big Body Bes have walked through Mark’s doors and laid freestyles down. The final installment of the “Off Top” series dropped this weekend, and it’s available on all platforms. Make sure you support what has become an underground institution as the good folks over at Top Shelf Premium enter a new chapter. You can watch each freestyle in video form on this playlist here, with an emphasis on the Seafood Sam, Social Misfit and the Benji Socrate$ freestyle that dropped over the weekend. — A.D.
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Flo Milli & Coop, “Perfect Person”
Flo Milli is back with her first single since becoming a mother. Connecting with the emerging Coop, Flo puts a refreshing trap spin on Hoobastank’s 2004 hit “The Reason.” While the Alabama Princess admits she’s not a perfect person, she understands her worth while slamming her baby-daddy’s ways with a catchy chorus. “I ain’t perfect/ But he knows I’m worth it/ Break his heart, do him bad, he deserves it,” Flo raps. She’s clearly not putting up with some things she let fly in the past. — MICHAEL SAPONARA
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Siren Society, “Stand”
On “Stand,” the latest single from Siren Society, a four-piece girl group formed on Netflix’s Building the Band, call out a partner whose promises and words of love don’t match his actions. Noriella’s verses highlight betrayal, Autumn’s pre-chorus explores the relationship’s emotional push-and-pull, and the Jenna-led chorus reaffirms that love cannot survive half-truths. Erica’s verses add new textures and tension, but by the outro, the repetition of “stand on what you say” becomes an ultimatum: stop hiding behind pride or you’ll lose these ladies for good. — C.C.