First Stream: New Music By DJ Khaled, Elton John And Britney Spears, Lil Tjay, And Others

Billboard’s First Stream is a useful rundown of the week’s most significant releases, including the songs that dominated online conversation on a Friday and will continue to do so over the weekend and beyond.

Eiffel 65 are back in our lives thanks to David Guetta and Bebe Rexha, and DJ Khaled is back with some A-list rap peers (and the Almighty). Britney Spears begins her comeback with a duet with fellow pop legend Elton John.

Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend, Kanye West, Eminem, Future, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, 21 Savage, and Roddy Ricch are just a few of the big names on DJ Khaled’s God Did, which is featured this week on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist. The eight-minute title track, capped by an epic Jay-Z verse sure to dominate Twitter this weekend, the soulful 21 Savage showcase “Way Past Luck,” and the Eddie Murphy-sampled Migos near-reunion “Party All the Time” are our early picks for album highlights. There are 18 tracks on the album.

Could Elton John, making his first major recording appearance with Britney Spears since her conservatorship ended, catch lightning in a bottle once more with her on 2021’s “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)”? The answer appears to be a surprising yes. “Hold Me Closer” fuses verses from 1992’s “The One” with the eternal chorus from 1971’s “Tiny Dancer,” creating something greater than the sum of its parts over a blissful beat produced by pop juggernauts Cirkuit and Andrew Watt. Until Spears is ready to make her full comeback as a star, her fans will have to make do with her reassuring rather than commanding presence.

The song will naturally receive the most attention because its creator, 25-year-old singer-songwriter Lolahol (real name Lourdes Leon), is the daughter of a legendary pop icon. “Lock and Key” is so good that it could be any new band’s first single. It’s a dreamy and frantic alt-pop transmission, with a glitchy, drum-and-bass-like beat that perfectly captures the song’s oppressive emotional jumble, which is only relieved by the immediately arresting refrain of “I need a breeze/ Whisk me away.”

Do you wish Eiffel 65 would return to your life (and possibly your radio dial and/or streaming playlists)? They certainly hope so, because superstar producer David Guetta and pop icon Bebe Rexha’s new single “I’m Good (Blue)” is heavily influenced by the unstoppable hit from the turn of the century. The original “Blue’s” synth riff and infectious chorus melody serve as inspiration for this cover’s own cascading piano hook, which is sung in anticipation of the upcoming “Best Night Ever.” Rexha posted an early version of the collaboration on TikTok earlier this month (with a caption explaining that it was something she and Guetta worked on “years ago”), and the clip received over 1 million likes, indicating that the timing is ideal.

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