On her debut album, the Toronto singer officially arrives, floating over atmospheric soundscapes. Having grown up down the street from the man who would become Canada’s biggest R&B star, it was kismet when the singer born Lydia Habtemariam became the first female artist signed to The Weeknd’s XO label in 2022. A pair of EPs—2022’s The Other Side and 2023’s Siren—served as an introduction to her sultry but reflective mode of R&B. But on her debut full-length U, Me & My Ego, the 29-year-old singer officially arrives, floating over atmospheric soundscapes and embracing her slightly more toxic alter ego. She reps Toronto on the triumphant “Hall of Fame” over a beat that channels The-Dream at his peak, delivers an anthem for the crazy girls on “Call Security,” and chooses excitement over stability on “Boring.” (“Make it real, make it last, make it crazy/Give me manic, give me magic, give me damage/Fuck it, lower my standards/Long as you ain’t boring.”) Chxrry saves her viral breakthrough hit for the finale: “Main Character,” the song that soundtracked a million Instagram Reels. Sexy drill star Cash Cobain cameos on “Badness,” while tourmate Mariah the Scientist guests on the twinkling revenge anthem “Bottles & Lights.”