thrives over but an omnipresent guitar chug also giving the track a rustic glow. Since then, Gaga has more than reasserted her mainstream dominance, but on Love For Sale, a long-awaited re-pairing as well as Bennett’s final studio album, the duo still crackles with vocal strength and tenderness, particularly on the loving finale “You’re The Top.”Īlthough H.E.R.’s solo focus is soulful R&B and Kane Brown creates pop-leaning country, new collaboration “Blessed & Free” finds a satisfying halfway point between sounds, with the ode to self-preservation relying upon the type of airy production that H.E.R.
TONY BENNETT LADY GAGA H&M FULL
So Gaga did what exactly zero other pop stars would do - recorded a duets album full of jazz standards with Tony Bennett, and that album, Cheek To Cheek, reached No.
TONY BENNETT LADY GAGA H&M PROFESSIONAL
Seven years ago, Lady Gaga was at a professional crossroads: following a scorching start to her pop career, 2013’s Artpop earned mixed reviews and disappointing commercial returns, a first for the superstar. We’ve heard some of these stories before, but with Meek Mill’s gravitas on the mic, they’re still absorbing as ever.
For as secure as the Philly rapper’s legacy is (especially in his hometown) and as enjoyably easy as it would be for him to keep cranking out hyped-up street anthems in perpetuity (“Intro (Hate On Me)” certainly scratches that itch here), new album Expensive Pain also serves as that necessary venting session, with tales of conflict, mixed feelings, calls back to the streets and triumphs outside of it. “Sometimes I just be havin’ to vent though, I ain’t gon’ lie,” Meek Mill admits on “On My Soul,” the sound of ice clinking around in a glass audible in between syllables. Check out all of this week’s First Stream picks below: This week, Meek Mill is back with some iciness in time for autumn, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett return to a winning formula, and Kane Brown finds common ground with H.E.R. Billboard’s First Stream 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.