Well done for making it through Friday the 13th.

We hope you made it to the bottom of our MNL page too!

Scroll down for the lowdown on Nicki Minaj's revelatory interview with Zane Lowe, Britney's moving awards acceptance speech, some Dua Lipa on "dance crying" and a selection of new music from the Manics, Florence + the Machine, Laura Marling, Carrie Underwood and more.

Plus of course our weekly look back at the 5 Things We Learned this Week, featuring the Arctic Monkeys, Cardi B, Drake, Sir Macca and more.

To quote Rihanna, cheers to the freakin weekend.

See you Monday, folks.

Ps. Don't forget to put yourselves firmly in the mix for tonight's SLFN.

Image source, Getty Images

What a corker of a week it has been for Cardi B.

With more than 100 million streams worldwide in just a week, her debut album Invasion of Privacy has toppled Apple Music's record for most-streamed album by a female artist in its first week - and by a fair bit too.

By mid-week, Cardi's streams had already more than doubled those of Taylor Swift, who previously held the record with her album, Reputation.

And, we'll no doubt be bringing you news of a number one album for the Queens rapper when we kick of the MNL page next week.

Image source, Getty Images

The Scots rockers are known for their riotous, amps up to 11 loud festival headlining sets.

Now Simon Neil and the lads will take it down a notch with a Nirvana-esque MTV Unplugged record and accompanying tour.

“We’ve been working on a lot of new music,” Simon told The NME., external

"We’re working on two records concurrently at the moment."

In September they'll grab their acoustic guitars and head to Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.

Check out the full album/tour details, external and a taster of the stripped back record below.

Ok so we've told you about new tunes from the Manics, Nicki Minaj, Florence and Snow Patrol.

Let's have a quick power round of other new material out now, shall we, to help you plan your weekend's listening.

First up Wild Front (above) are showing their softer side with an acoustic EP release today.

If you like the sound of those harmonies then you can catch the Southampton four piece at festivals like The Great Escape, Isle Of Wight and Common People this summer.

Next up, Country superstar Carrie Underwood is back after having taken five months away to recover from a horrible fall which left her needing between 40 to 50 stitches in her face, as well as surgery on her wrist.

Sounds like she's never been away.

Last but not least today is actress-turned-singer Eleanor Tomlinson.

You might recognise her as Demelza in BBC One’s BAFTA award-winning Poldark.

But did you know she can also knock out a mean Paul Simon cover? You do now.

The track appears on her debut album Tales from Home which is out now and the multi-talented 25-year-old premiered another track; She Moved Through The Fair, on Wednesday’s Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe on Radio 2.

Image source, Ocean's 8

Rihanna continues her burgeoning movie career (ahem) with a role in the actually very star-studded Ocean's 8, which hits cinemas in June.

And in this new two-minute trailer we get the first proper glimpse of her computer hacker character Nine Ball.

We see her at 34 seconds. And then at 49 seconds. And at 54. And then at 1 minute 50, there's a nice bit of comedy between Ri Ri, Sandra Bullock and Kristen Wiig.

Got it?

The heist film also stars Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Check it out below...

It's Friday afternoon people so that means one thing.

No, not the work drinks trolly.

(Ok, maybe two things then for some of you)

It's time to cast our minds back to what we've learned over the past seven days in music, in a week that Zayn returned, Wu-Tang clan got sued, and we met Sophia Maj's musical alter-ego Ellis May.

But the standard was so high that none of that lot even made our top five...

1) Cardi B is up the duff

This week we learned that the B in Cardi B now stands for baby bump.

The singer showed off her bump in all its maternal glory by sporting a tight white dress while performing on Saturday Night Live.

Her fiancé and baby daddy Offsett later tweeted a photo with the caption: “Cardi and I look forward to our next chapter together.”

The rapper also revealed this week that she's getting a cool $70,000 for performing at this weekend's Coachella Festival - not bad for a few hours work - and today Nicki Minaj accused her of a lack of respect (scroll down for more on that feud).

Have fun if you're watching Cardi and her unborn child this weekend in California.

Just one small glass of wine after the gig though please Cardi - doctors orders.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

2) Arctic Monkeys are to tour these shores

Finally.

The Sheffield lads put us all out of our misery on Monday by at long last announcing a string of UK and Ireland dates, in support of their first new album in five years, throughout September.

They landed many fans back in misery, however, on the realization that tickets would cost around £70.

One fan (below) pointed out that the band must now be twice as good as on their last tour.

More dates were added today (scroll down for more info) and Monkeys fans will be going absolutely ape if they don't make it to one of them.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

3) Fleetwood Mac have let Lindsey Buckingham go his own way

We were shocked to discover on Tuesday - via the Rolling Stone , externalmag - that Buckingham has been fired by the band after a disagreement over their upcoming tour.

It seems his guitar skills are so revered that it takes two men to replace him; in the form of Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House.

In a joint statement The Mac said: "We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family.

Time to call it another rainy day then Linds.

Read more.

Image source, PA/BBC

4) Drake is officially hotter than Sir Macca

Not in that way...

What are you guys like? Honestly.

Drizzy gained his 24th US top 10 hit on the Hot 100 (the charts, in other words), for his work on Migos's Walk It Talk It.

That meant the Toronto singer/rapper moved ahead of The Beatles legend into fifth on the list of solo males with the most top 10 hits stateside...

29 - Michael Jackson

28 - Stevie Wonder

27 - Elton John

25 - Elvis Presley

24 - Drake

23 - Paul McCartney

21 - JAY-Z

Sir Elton - who doesn't like modern beats - might well be looking over his shoulder round about now.

Read more.

5) Kylie is doing just fine thank you very much, thanks for asking

The Aussie pop star was on the BBC Breakfast couch on Thursday morning in order to promote her new album, Golden.

Kyles turns 50 in May and was asked by 43-year-old presenter Naga Munchetty how she's feeling as the landmark approaches.

"Life is really really good right now" she said.

As was widely documented, the singer split from fiance Joshua Sasse at the start of 2017 and admitted that last year was tough.

"It was a year of re-building myself and getting to know myself again and how I fit into the world and what I want."

So if you see her, no need to pull the sad eyes.

Ask her how Jason is doing instead maybe?

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

Britney Spears has long been an icon for the LGBTQ+ community, and last night she was thanked for her support, receiving GLAAD's Vanguard Award for promoting equality.

Brit thanked the crowd for its "unconditional" love.

“I feel like our society puts such an emphasis on what’s ‘normal’ and to be ‘different’ is unusual or seen as strange”, she told the audience at the Beverly Hilton hotel in LA.

“But to be accepted unconditionally and to be able to express yourself as an individual through art is such a blessing.

She continued:

Britney was presented the award by Ricky Martin who had nothing but praise for the superstar.

“She fights for acceptance in her own way,” he said.

“She could be one of those stars with a huge LGBTQ following who says nothing and does nothing but instead she uses her platform to remind audiences around the world that intolerance is unacceptable.”

Image source, Getty Images

All in all it was an epic day for Brit, having posted just a few hours earlier that her sister Jamie Lynn had given birth to her second daughter, Ivey Joan.

Jamie welcomed her first child Maddie when she was 17-years-old.

Image source, LUMP

I mean, we could have thought of sexier names, but anyway...

Laura Marling has teamed up with Mike Lindsay of Tunng, and Throws, for a new project called LUMP.

Their debut album, called - you guessed it - LUMP - is out on 1 June, and Marling says in making it she was inspired by early 20th century surrealism and the absurdist poets Edward Lear and Ivor Cutler.

They've shared the first track from it - Curse of the Contemporary - with a wacky new video featuring what we reckon is a fluffy monster jumping around a room but is probably something far more meaningful. Calling all early 20th century surrealists and absurdist poets for a thorough analysis, please!

The track made 6 Music's list of songs you simply must hear this week.

Watch below...

Image source, Getty Images

Dua Lipa has had a chat to GQ, external about her ascent to pop superstardom, and revealed that her second album is already in the making.

Having christened her signature sound as "dance crying", her new tracks, she says, will follow in the same vein.

Elsewhere in the article, Dua's manager reveals just how true she has been in keeping to that recognisable Dua Lipa style.

He reveals that she "turned down several surefire smashes written by other songwriters as she didn’t feel they suited her style."

“I shouldn’t tell you what the songs were,” he says “But there were two or three huge songs that ended up being massive No1s [for other female singers]. She was asked to feature on them and she didn’t want to, because she didn’t like the song. It just wasn’t her.”

Any guesses what tunes they may be? Hit us up with a tweet.

While David Bowie contemplated Life on Mars back in the day, celtic rockers Snow Patrol have been considering matters on a much nearer planet in the video for their new single

Life On Earth sees singer Gary Lightbody achieve every schoolboy's dream of becoming a spaceman for the day, in the video that was filmed at the European Space Agency in Holland.

It was even launched by real-life space man Tim Peake.

Check out a sneak peak (sorry) for yourself above.

The track is taken from the band's forthcoming album Wildness - their first in seven years.

Snow Patrol will perform at the Coventry leg of the BBC's Biggest Weekend on 27 May and their frontman last week opened up about his battle with depression.

Image source, Getty Images

The xx are set to bring their Night + Day festival to Spain's sunny climes.

Kicking off between 6-11 July, this year's festival will be held in Bilbao, after their previously very successful events in London, Berlin and Lisbon over the years.

It will feature live performances, after-parties, cinema, radio collaborations and special events across the city including Jamie xx headlining a night at the world famous Guggenheim museum Bilbao, curated by The xx and featuring live acts and DJs across two stage.

This will all be leading up to band's headline appearance at Bilbao's BBK Live Festival on 13 July.

For a taster of what's to come, check out the trailer here:

Tickets are on sale now.

Image source, Getty Images

Coachella Festival in California kicks off later today with Beyonce, Eminem and The Weeknd all headlining across the weekend.

As we told you in Wednesday's MNL, the California event is being sued for banning artists from playing other festivals around California for five months.

The Soul'd Out festival in Oregon claims artists have turned them down because of the "radius clause".

It's a contract between a festival and an artist which says they won't play in an area for a certain time period. Coachella's agreement is the artist won't play within 1,300 miles of where it is held in Indio, California from December to May.

The idea behind a radius clause is that the festival is the only place to see that artist during that time.

Image source, Getty Images

Lawyers for Soul'd Out claim the radius clause is "an unlawful restraint on trade, meant to use Coachella's market power in the music festival market to suppress competition by other festivals".

They say many artists turned down playing at Soul'd Out for the sole reason that the clause prevents them.

They also claim the festival allows some acts to break the clause if they are performing events for the festival owners, AEG Live. The example being Jay-Z in 2010, playing the AEG run Staples Centre in Los Angeles before his headline slot.

Image source, Getty Images

In a statement, co-founder of Soul'd Out, Nicholas Harris said: "We seek no less than to operate in a fair and open environment.

Goldenvoice who run Coachella with AEG Live responded with this statement to Celebrity Access, external:

"The producers of Coachella will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.

"It calls into question a long-standing industry practice that is crucial to our ability to continue offering fans the unrivaled experience for which Coachella has become known."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Coachella generates more than 490 million pounds for the surrounding area in California.

To mark the above anniversary we want to know what your favourite song is on Bowie's classic 1973 album.

Answers via BBC Music Twitter, external please.

Image source, Getty Images

Many Monkeys fans were outraged earlier in the week at having to fork out £70 for a ticket for the band's newly-announced tour.

Despite the price, the tour was still an instant sell out.

Today, the band - whose ludicrously-titled new album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino drops on 11 May - have announced additional dates in Dublin, London, Newcastle, Birmingham and their hometown Sheffield.

So now you get the chance to be angry all over again.

Image source, Getty Images

The incarcerated rapper Meek Mill, who has been at the centre of firestorm about racial bias in the US criminal justice system, gave a telephone interview with NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt which aired last night - and you can watch below.

Mill is currently serving a two to three year sentence after violating a 10-year-old probation, despite the fact that both of his recent charges have since been dismissed.

Rapper Jay-Z is among several high profile names that have come to Mill's defence.

It's clear that Mills is trying to find the positive in a bad situation, saying:

Sounds Like Friday Night returned with a big bang (and a Little Mix) last week.

On tonight's show, Brit award winner Lily Allen joins Greg James in the studio as his special guest, while Sam Smith will treat us to an exclusive performance at the O2 as he embarks on a world tour.

There's part two of Dotty's interview/jolly in Japan with the Mixers, as they take on the SLFN Gig in a Minute challenge.

Plus music from singer-songwriter James Bay and Australian chart-toppers 5 Seconds of Summer.

Watch above as the Antipodeans judge some of your covers of their tracks.

We think they might have to reconsider their band lineup in light of all this new talent.

Watch the show on BBC One tonight from 19:30.

Florence + The Machine have returned with their first new music since 2015 album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, and it's a cracker.

Check it out below, as Flo belts out:

"I was screaming at my father, and you were screaming at me / I can feel your anger from way across the sea,"

In a statement, the flame-haired singer revealed the song arrived "fully formed".

"Sometimes when you are performing you get so high, it's hard to know how to come down," she said.

We all know that feeling.

Flo and co will headline the BBC's Biggest Weekend festival in Swansea on 28 May, marking their live comeback in the UK.

They'll join the likes of Camila Cabello, Taylor Swift, Craig David and Ed Sheeran - who will open the event.

So you'd best get learning the words...

Image source, Getty Images

Well Nicki M might have fallen out with Cardi B but it seems that Lady G is still a fan.

A video of a teenage Cardi singing Gaga's Bad Romance at a high school talent show emerged earlier this week and now, LG has responded to the video herself...

Safe to say she's approves, then.

Take a look at Cardi's dramatic performance:

Earlier this week, Gaga also quoted Cardi's track, Get up 10 on her socials.

We're thinking a Gaga x Cardi collab is most definitely the next logical step here...

Aren't you?

Beats 1
Beats 1

Image source, Getty Images

Listen up Barbz...

Nicki Minaj is back with not one but two bangers making it #nickiday (obviously).

Overnight Nicki dropped two singles - Chun-Li and Barbie Tingz.

We'd love to play them to you but the lyrics are a little too saucy for a Friday morning (no surprises there).

What we can do, is bring you up to date with her chat with Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 show yesterday.

First they had a listen to these lyrics from Chun-Li:

Finesse? Looks like a dig at Cardi B, right?

Apparently not. Nicki said that it’s not about Cardi and that she wrote the song over a year ago.

But while Cardi says the rivalry between them is all fan made, Nicki added some fuel to the fire, by saying that “The only thing with Cardi that really, really, really hurt my feelings was the first interview she did after ‘MotorSport’".

(This was a track that was originally a collab between Nicki and Quavo, which Cardi and the rest of Migos were later added to.)

Image source, Getty Images

Then things got deep.

As the chat about Cardi continues, Nicki starts welling up.

"I kinda felt ambushed. The first thing that came out of her mouth about a Nicki Minaj feature was ‘she changed the verse’ … When it was time to clear the air about that, no one did that. All of them allowed me to look like I lied.”

Check out the interview below complete with some serious nodding from Zane.

After the interview she also took to her own Twitter to vent a bit more.

Hmm. No hard feelings then?

We warned you that some spooky things might go down today...

Political Welsh rock legends the Manic Street Preachers have returned with album number 13 (we wonder if that was deliberate?).

Back in October it looked like this album might not see the light of day at all, after bassist Nicky Wire told our reporter Mark Savage that he'd "given up listening to music".

Well we're glad he had a change of heart.

The band took over Steve Lamacq's round table last night, as well as talking the 6 Music DJ through the album and you can listen back here.

The NME give the album 4/5, saying "the Manics are inspired and on the advance".

The Guardian, external offer 3/5, describing the record as a mix of "defeat and defiance".

Nicky and singer James Dean Bradfield from the band are popping in for a chat this afternoon so we'll bring you that in full in next week's MNL.

For now check out lead single International Blue below.