New Music Friday: BigXthaPlug, Daddy Yankee and Cardi B, Dominic Fike (Oct. 30, 2026)

BigXthaPlug's fourth album BETTER OVER TIME leads New Music Friday on Oct. 30, 2026: 18 tracks, 42 minutes, out under exclusive license to UnitedMasters, per Apple Music. Daddy Yankee's LA POSTAL brings Cardi B into a bachata record, and Dominic Fike's HOW TO QUIT SMOKING lands with Danny Brown on the guest list. Most releases went live at 12 a.m. ET (9 p.m. PT on Oct. 29), according to DraftKings Network.

What we know

BigXthaPlug - BETTER OVER TIME

The Dallas rapper's fourth studio album runs 18 songs and 42 minutes, and Apple Music lists it as ℗ 2026 BigXthaPlug under exclusive license to UnitedMasters LLC (Apple Music). Complex reports it comes through his own 600 Entertainment with UnitedMasters and counts nine guests: Leon Thomas, Ava Max, Ro$ama, Belly Gang Kushington, Babyface Ray, Lil Yachty, Loe Shimmy, GloRilla and Fridayy. The singles were "LITE" with Belly Gang Kushington, released Sept. 18 and peaking at No. 38 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and "BURN" with Ava Max, released Oct. 9, per Complex. GloRilla is on track 13, "FAF," and Babyface Ray and Lil Yachty share "BELIEVE." Full guest breakdown: BigXthaPlug's 'Better Over Time' Drops Oct. 30: 18 Tracks, 9 Guests Including GloRilla.

Daddy Yankee - LA POSTAL

LA POSTAL is 15 songs and 44 minutes, released under ℗ 2026 DY Records, and Apple Music's notes name "BOTZ" as the lead single (Apple Music). The rap-audience hook is "COSITA," a bachata track with Cardi B. Myke Towers is on "SE VA," Bizarrap backs "PA' QUE LLORAR," Danny Ocean is on "ALFOMBRA VOLADORA," Diljit Dosanjh joins "POKITO" and De La Rose appears on "ENAWO," per the same page. Apple Music frames it as a set of love songs and a more secular follow-up to 2025's faith-based Lamento en Baile.

Dominic Fike - HOW TO QUIT SMOKING

Fike's third album is 15 songs and 40 minutes on Columbia Records (Apple Music). Apple Music's notes list Danny Brown, Love Spells and Emma Ogier as guests, plus a recorded prison phone call with Tay-K. Apple also notes his early demo "Babydoll" reached the Billboard top 10 in 2026. By Spotify monthly listeners, Fike (45.5 million) is the biggest artist with an album out this week, according to DraftKings Network.

Context

BigX is coming off a genre swerve. His 2025 country album I Hope You're Happy peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, his highest-charting album yet, per Complex. Apple Music calls BETTER OVER TIME a return to his Southern rap roots, and none of the guests this time are country artists, Complex notes. That makes this week a clean test of whether the country peak carries back over to rap.

No first-week numbers or projections are out yet for any of these albums. We'll post the Billboard 200 receipts for BigX, Daddy Yankee and Fike when they land.

More rap is out today. RGM's New Music Friday list includes Nettspend's va creeper, BKTHERULA's N5ON and 2slimey's Straight Edge, plus singles from Coi Leray ("Milk N Cookies" with Lucky Daye), Yung Bleu, Sleepy Hallow, Conway the Machine and Curren$y with Harry Fraud and Rome Streetz. DraftKings Network also lists Nines' Young Nina.

Which one are you running first: BigX, Daddy Yankee and Cardi B, or Fike?