Opulence Abounds on Saweetie and Doja Cat's Excellent 'Best Friend'

By Maria Sherman | January 8, 2021 | 10:00pm

Entertainment Music

Opulence Abounds on Saweetie and Doja Cat's Excellent 'Best Friend'

Opulence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: Saweetie feat. Doja Cat, “Best Friend” – Saweetie’s latest is excellent, no need to spend too much time without cutting right to it. She and Doja Cat, fresh off a year of astronomical popularity, work so well together on “Best Friend” that it’s almost hard to imagine either doing anything else but this for the rest of their careers. The song is an instant hook, with a repeatable chorus well aware of—and well suited for—its prospective audience: fans obviously, but also TikTok at large. It’s a keen move for both, as an internet-ready anthem is what launched Doja Cat into the stratosphere. But more than just the song itself, “Best Friend” is a phenomenal music video. It fires on all cylinders, giving viewers a fantasy to insert themselves into. Opulence abounds, as Saweetie twerks atop a speeding, diamond Tesla, practically dripping in diamonds herself. My personal favorite scene, however, comes about at the finale, when the duo shed their Juicy Couture tracksuits, and jump off a cliff into an ocean. Of course, the perfect hair, jewelry, and makeup stay on—just as I suspect this song will, for months and months to come. —Joan Summers

Y: Harry Styles, “Treat People With Kindness” (music video) – Harry Styles can only go One Direction: straight to the top, raising his own bar to entertain his fervently loyal listenership. In the music video for “Treat People With Kindness,” he dances—famously, his boy band could never nail choreography—and he does so with a body double of Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It is very, very British, and very, very good. —Maria Sherman

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Nah, dog: Justin Bieber, “Anyone” (music video) – Bieber’s gotta cool it with these down-home Americana music videos—was it that long ago that he portrayed a down-on-his-luck miner in “Holy,” featuring Chance the Rapper? I struggle to think of a ridiculously wealthy person more removed from the experience. But if the metaphor here is that he is simply fighting, or, rather, boxing, for his true love… I suppose that’s fine. Whatever. I’m sure there’s a megachurch somewhere that loves this shit. —MS

Y: Bruja, “Horsey & You” – I somehow missed London’s Damnably Records fantastic 14th Birthday Compilation last week—the holidays will do that to ya—but I’m grateful to experience now, at the beginning of what will undoubtedly be another arduous year. I struggled to pick just one track to highlight, but landed on Bruja’s “Horsey & You” from 2015—it’s desert indiepop, if I’m allowed to name such a genre, a relic from a better time. (And if you’re curious, the entire comp is free to download on Bandcamp. You’re welcome!) —MS

Oh for sure: Nao featuring Adekunle Gold, “Antidote” – Severely slept-on British singer-songwriter Nao and Adekunle Gold, a Nigerian singer-songwriter best known for his work in the highlife genre, team for three and a half minutes of sunshine. “Here is a gift from us, to give you some positivity going into 2021,” is how Nao presented this on Instagram. “We wrote ‘Antidote’ as a musical remedy 4 U during these times and as an ode to our daughters, who were both born weeks apart from each other during the pandemic.” Thank you for the lovely present that manages to be both heartfelt and propulsive, Nao and Adekunle! —Rich Juzwiak