New Music Friday: Listen To Releases By BTS, Saweetie, Bad Bunny & More

Summer just keeps getting hotter — both in terms of the weather and new music dropping as we head toward the peak of sunshine season.

New albums include Myke Towers' ISLAND BOYZ, Joyner Lucas' ADHD 2, Max McNown's Night Driving (The Cost of Growing Up), Jackson Wang's MAGICMAN 2, Cam's All Things Light, Dylan Gossett's Westward, John K's Salt + Light, Niko Moon's AMERICAN PALM and GELO's League of My Own.

Meanwhile, this week's litany of collaborations find will.i.am linking up with his fellow Black Eyed Pea Taboo for "East LA"; Hermanos Gutiérrez teaming with Leon Bridges for "Elegantly Wasted"; Sheryl Crow and her band, the Real Lowdown, examining "The New Normal"; Zach Bryan recruits Gabriella Rose for "Madeline"; and Blood Orange tapping Caroline Polachek, Lorde and Mustafa for "Mind Loaded."

Elsewhere, Snoop Dogg pulls double duty on Zac Brown Band team-up "Let It Ride" and his own solo cut "Gifts," Maroon 5 unveil their latest taste of Love Is Like with "California," Jonas Brothers are feeling invincible on "I Can't Lose," Joel Corry declares "I LOVE UR GF" from the dance floor, Yola drops "AMAZING," Vincent Mason laments being "Damned If I Do" and Lauren Watkins pays homage to the "Marlboro Man" of yore.

Below, press play on 11 exciting new releases worth having on repeat all weekend, including the first live album from BTS, a Y2K-leaning mixtape from J Balvin and new singles by Saweetie, Bad Bunny, Maluma and more.

BTS — 'PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE — LIVE'

A reunited BTS has been years in the making, and what better way to celebrate all seven members being finished with their mandatory military service than with the K-pop group's first-ever live album?

PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE — LIVE contains 22 live cuts recorded during the band's 2021 tour dates in Seoul, Los Angeles and Las Vegas Featuring No. 1 hits like "Dynamite," "Butter," "Life Goes On" and a triumphantly joyful rendition of the title track, the collection is sure to keep ARMY happy as Jin, Suga, j-hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook head back into the studio to start working on their just-announced new album — which is set to be unveiled next spring before they take off on another wildly anticipated world tour.

Saweetie launches a new era with "boffum," a gleeful and gritty single that has the two-time GRAMMY-nominated rapper asking, "Why not both?" when it comes to choosing between, say, steak and shrimp or a trip on a private jet or a yacht.

In just over two minutes, Saweetie runs through an unapologetic list of quite a few other things she refuses to choose between — including Hermes bags and paramours — while pronouncing herself both a lady and a pimp at the same time.

Fresh off the July 11 start of his historic residency in his native Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny gifted fans with the studio version of "ALAMBRE Púa," the emotional new track he debuted at the start of opening night in front of 18,000 fans — all of whom were locals — at San Juan's José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.

As Benito's first single release since his sixth solo album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOTos, early this year, the Tainy-produced song (which translates to "Barbed Wire" in English) fits right in with the superstar's love letter to his homeland as he sings, "Hoy te vo'a buscar y te vo'a besar cerca del lunar/ Contigo yo me arrebato sin fumar/ Lo de meno' e' el lugar."

Jessie Murph — 'Sex Hysteria'

Over the past few years, Jessie Murph has established herself as one of the most exciting and promising new talents to emerge in country music — from the sounds of her 2024 debut album, That Ain't No Man That's The Devil, to trotting out her pet pig Wilbur as her date to the ACM Awards in May.

The singer's sophomore studio set, Sex Hysteria, delivers on the promise of the 20-year-old's inimitable voice with a self-assured, erotic, defiant batch of tracks that take equal inspiration from outlaw country, modern hip-hop production and the stylings of '60s-era Motown on standouts like opener (and lead single) "Gucci Mane," Top 15 hit "Blue Strips," the smoldering "Bad As The Rest," "A Little Too Drunk" and more.

Travis Scott & JACKBOYS — 'JACKBOYS 2'

Cactus Jack is officially back. Six years after releasing 2019's JACKBOYS, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, SoFaygo, Chase B, Luxury Tax 50 and brand-new addition Wallie the Sensei return with the compilation's long-awaited sequel.

Packed to the brim with guest features by the likes of Playboi Carti, Future, Tyla, Vybz Kartel, GloRilla, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Kodak Black and more, the album gives Scott and his cadre of Cactus Jack labelmates plenty of room to show off on highlights like "CHAMPAIN & VACAY," "ILMB," "WHERE WAS YOU," and "SHYNE."

Alex Warren — 'You'll Be Alright, Kid'

The lead-up to You'll Be Alright, Kid, Alex Warren's debut studio album, has been nothing short of monumental. The TikTok sensation (and one-time Hype House member) traded the prank videos that made him a viral star for the kind of full-throated pop-rock that's landed him at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and counting with his inescapable breakout single "Ordinary."

The two-disc set features all 10 songs from 2024's You'll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1) along with 11 new additions including "Bloodline" with Jelly Roll and "On My Mind" with ROSÉ.

J Balvin — 'Mixteip'

J Balvin dives head-first into the sounds of '90s and '00s Latin music on his surprise new mixtape, the cleverly titled Mixteip, which arrives with little warning less than a year after his latest GRAMMY-nominated full-length, 2024's Rayo.

Behind the iPod-inspired cover art, the five-time GRAMMY nominee recruits the likes of Stormzy ("Uuu"), Lenny Tavárez and Justin Quiles ("Zun Zun") Gilberto Santa Rosa ("Misterio") and Omega ("KLK") across the project's 10 succinct tracks, which also include solo standouts like "Rio," "St. Tropez" and closer "Dónde Está Jose?"

FLETCHER — 'Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me?'

FLETCHER kicked off the rollout for her third album, Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me?, by baring her soul on lead single "Boy." At the time, she described the vulnerable song in a letter to her fans as "the sound of my cracking, but…also the sound of my exhale."

The singer doubles down on that level of clear-eyed honesty on the rest of the studio set as well, whether she's yearning for a moment of solitude on "Hi, Everyone Leave Please" or rejecting the dopamine hit of instant gratification on "Congratulations!" before asking the question at the crux of the project on closer "Would You Still Love Me?"

Six months after blessing her fans with her third album, Eusexua, FKA twigs dropped her new single "Perfectly" on July 16, promising with just 48 hours notice, "if EUSEXUA was the tip of the tongue, PERFECTLY is the oesophagus…"

"This one's for the times u were messy boots down, chaos with a heart, hard metal silver stiletto decking it on the concrete, bloody nose and all but u know what you did it PERFECTLY you absolute icon," the GRAMMY nominee shared in a social media post about the track, before adding a thoughtful thank you note to everyone who danced their their hearts out in the song's captivatingly simple music video.

Maluma serves up a welcome dose of summertime heat with his new single "Bronceador," which translates to "Suntan Lotion" in English.

"Solo imagina tu y yo solo' con un trago disfrutando en la play/ Tu boca roza mi boca, tu cuerpito es de mi talla," the heartthrob sings in the music video, reclining on the beach with his shirt unbuttoned and his hands behind his head. The song only gets steamier from there, as the Columbian superstar unfurls verses of summery lust before offering up a positively overwhelmed "Ave Maria" on the track's scintillating chorus.

Reneé Rapp is haunted by the ghost of a girlfriend past on "Why Is She Still Here," the third single off her forthcoming sophomore album, Bite Me, due Aug. 1.

"You can tell me you don't love her/ But you should probably tell her too," she warns a new fling who happens to commit the cardinal sin of introducing her as nothing more than a "friend" (despite the very intimate things happening in the back of the Mean Girls star's tour bus). Eventually, the slow burner leaves Rapp switching up her line of questioning and asking why she's sticking around for a situationship that's got her lowering her standards in the first place.