New Music Friday: Rae Sremmurd, Halsey, Iann Dior, Zion & Lennox, and more

 Hello everyone, and welcome to New music Friday. I will be reviewing a bunch of songs that I would be interested in, and telling my opinions before they make Hits 1. Let's get to it.

1. Halsey- So Good

Tbh this is the first Halsey song with interesting production since I'm Not A Woman I'm A God, the production here reminds me of Hardest To Love by The Weeknd, but I like that one more. This is fine, it's not great, but it could grow on me once Hits 1 picks up on it.

Opinion: Good

2. Rae Sremmurd- Denial

We now have Rae Sremmurd's first song as a duo in forever. This is kind of interesting. Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi sound good here, and the production is kind of fun. But I don't know why I don't find this great yet.

Opinion Good

3. Iann Dior- Live Fast Die Numb

I liked all four Iann Dior songs that Hits 1 picked up on, and this is also really good. It seems like he is going for the same vibe as Let You from late last year, as the production and lyrical content feel very similar to those of that song. He also sounds good here.

Opinion: Great

4. Ken Y/ Zion & Lennox- Prendia

So we all have that artist or group we are obsessed with and like every song from. For Trey, that's The Chainsmokers, for Waffle, that's Ava Max, for Beluga, that's Imagine Dragons, and for Hunter and Dom, that's Tate Mcrae. For me, however, it's Zion & Lennox, a reggaeton duo who has never been talked about on anyone's blogs except maybe mine as you may remember I recommended their song Brisa with Danny Ocean for Hits 1 mainly because it was trending all over Tiktok and it is amazing. I've never listened to Ken Y before, but I think he sounds good here, and both Zion and Lennox sound good here per usual, and the production on here makes this a fun listen. Zion & Lennox, you guys did it again.

Opinion: Great

5. Marshmello/ Khalid- Numb

When I first heard this song would exist, I was immediately reminded of Linkin Park's 2004 song of the same name. As I predicted, this is not as good as that one, but still great. Marshmello's production reminds me of Imanbek's typical production style in this song, and that's a good thing because I've always liked Imanbek's style of production. Also, Khalid's accent works really well with the production here.

Opinion: Great

6. Arizona Zervas/ 24kgoldn- Oh My Lord

I think we remember who Arizona Zervas is from Roxanne from a couple years ago, well, I do, and I liked that song a lot. Well today, he brings us Oh My Lord with 24kgoldn. I still think Roxanne is better than this. They both sound great here and the production is kind of interesting, but there is something about the song that I'm not feeling.

Opinion: Good

7. The Chainsmokers/ Ship Wrek- The Fall

So The Chainsmokers released a new song for an extended version of So Far So Good called The Fall (kind of like what Brakence did with Punk 2 and Sauce In The Rough back in 2020). I've never heard of this Ship Wrek dude before, but this sounds like a cross between a Chainsmokers song, a David Guetta song, and a Regard song, as we have vocals from Drew, the production screams David Guetta to me, and the drop sounds like one from a non-Hallucination Regard song. And these are all good things here, since Drew sounds good here and the production and drop are super catchy.

Opinion: Great

8. Eddie Benjamin/ Alessia Cara- Only You

Eddie Benjamin is back, which is good to see. This new song is called Only You and features Alessia Cara, who I usually don't mind except I didn't like Sweet Dream from last year because I found it moderately annoying (It's not my #52 in the rankdown, however, and I hinted at what my #52 is in my two most recent countdown posts). I definitely liked Weatherman from earlier this year, but this is not as good as that one but I will say it's better than Cheat Codes & Little Mix's song of the same name. Eddie Benjamin sounds good here, probably better than in Weatherman, and Alessia Cara delivers a great verse, but this song is not as upbeat as Weatherman. Plus, remember at the end of the album version of Out Of Time by The Weeknd when Jim Carrey said "Here's 30 minutes of easy listening on 103.5 Dawn FM?" Well, we have a really similar outro here, with two people from the UK having some conversation in the last 30 seconds. But overall...

Opinion: Great

9. R3hab/ Amy Shark- Sway My Way

So next up, we have a new single from R3hab, who I feel would have gotten away with remixing Reckless by Madison Beer but he did not. This new song is called Sway My May and features Amy Shark. This feels more like a Gryffin song than a R3hab song, since the production does not really scream R3hab. But the whole thing is kind of fun, and Amy Shark kind of sounds like Halsey here, and in that case, that's a good thing.

Opinion: Great

10. Pharrell/ 21 Savage/ Tyler The Creator- Cash in Cash Out

We have a new song from Pharrell after his 10 year old Despicable Me 2 Just A Cloud Away blew up on TikTok for no reason whatsoever, this is called Cash In Cash Out and features 21 Savage and Tyler The Creator, who are the only ones that do vocals here, which is why this whole thing underwhelms me a little bit, also there are no real melodies, the hook is slightly repetitive and Pharrell's production is moderately generic. However, Both 21 Savage and Tyler The Creator deliver great verses, so the song is more decent than anything. But does it deserve to blow up on Tiktok in 2022 more than Just A Cloud Away? 100%.

Opinion: Decent

11. Logic/ Wiz Khalifa- Breath Control

Logic and Wiz Khalifa have collaborated before, first both of them featured on Sucker For Pain by Imagine Dragons in 2016, then Wiz Khalifa had a guest appearence on Logic's 2019 album Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. Today, the bring us their first collab since Logic came out of retirement last year, Breath Control. This is fine, but there is no hook and Logic does not come in until halfway through the song, also, there is an unnecessary key change halfway through the song. But both of them deliver great verses here, so...

Opinion: Decent

12. MGK/ Glaive- More Than Life

MGK recently said he was going back to rap for his next album, but this new song could disprove that. It sounds like pop punk, and that's always a good thing, because he is better at pop punk than rap in my opinion. I've never heard of this Glaive dude before, but he gives off major Brakence vibes in my opinion, and both he and MGK sound good here and Barker's production absolutely slaps per usual.

Opinion: Great

Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed this, I will see you guys for my countdown post.