New Monica!
Monica has announced that her Ty Dolla $ign-assisted single, “Friends,” will arrive on Friday, July 15. The R&B veteran previewed the new song during her showing on NPR’s Tiny Desk. In a recent Instagram post, Monica shared an in-studio snippet of “Friends” along with the cover art.
Per a press release, the stripped-down song is about “a relationship that doesn’t require understanding from anyone on the outside.”
“Friends” will be Monica’s first single release since “Trenches,” the title track for her long-anticipated album was released. She debuted the Lil Baby-assisted single during her Verzuz battle against fellow R&B icon Brandy.
On the inspiration behind the Trenches’ title, Monica told Volume West’s Lÿndsey Parker on SiriusXM, “I grew up, I saw a whole lot and I had to sift through what I needed as a woman to grow and be who I wanted to be. So when I speak about trenches it can be a place emotionally, or a place physically.”
She continued, “For us, when you grow up in the trenches, that means you know what it’s like to be without. That means you understand what trying to work your way out of a particular place feels like and you don’t take the opportunities for granted. But some people are in the trenches emotionally. When I was working on this album, I’ve never been in the trenches in a worst way.”
Last August, Monica confirmed she had finished recording Trenches. Listen to the preview of “Friends” below:
