7 great hit singles that wound up on the cutting room floor | Pop Music 101
#1. Rihanna — “B**** Better Have My Money”
Leading up to her eighth and most recent studio album ANTI, Rihanna released three singles that were ultimately scrapped: “FourFiveSeconds,” her collaborative effort with Kanye West and Paul McCartney; “American Oxygen,” a sentimental ballad with a bold political message; and “Better Have My Money,” a braggadocious, trap-influenced banger.
While the former two don’t exactly fit the singer’s magnum opus of a project, “Better Have My Money” has always felt like a not-so-secret menu item that belongs on ANTI. It is also worth noting that the music video for the song, co-directed by Rihanna herself, received incredible acclaim and became the first age-restricted music video on YouTube to amass more than 100 million views.
#2. Miley Cyrus — “Slide Away”
Released a full year before the lead single of Cyrus’ most recent album Plastic Hearts, “Slide Away” instantly became a career highlight from one of the most versatile pop stars of our generation. While the song ended up as a moderate hit on the charts, it was never promoted to American contemporary hit radio as a single.
“Slide Away” is an artistic milestone for the singer, with introspective lyrics that reference her separation from ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, as well as Cyrus’ personal growth over the course of the 10-year long relationship. Unfortunately, the song did not mesh with the creative direction of the singer’s full-length project that came out in 2020.
#3. Rita Ora — “I Will Never Let You Down”
While the British-Albanian singer might be preoccupied these days with bribing restaurants to breach public health restrictions for her birthday party, Rita Ora was working hard to solidify herself as a consistent hitmaker and gearing up to drop her sophomore studio album in 2014. “I Will Never Let You Down,” an uptempo dance-pop tune written and produced by Ora’s then-boyfriend Calvin Harris, was met with much fanfare when it was released as the lead single of the project.
However, after Ora and Harris parted ways, the producer refused to allow Ora to perform the song on television, causing the singer to cancel her scheduled performance on the Teen Choice Awards. Petty, I know. Later in 2015, Rita Ora went on to sue her record label Roc Nation and sign a new contract with Atlantic Records, and therefore starting the rollout of her much anticipated second album from scratch. Phoenix was released a whopping six years after her debut album, and the tracklist, as expected, did not include “I Will Never Let You Down.”
#4. Halsey — “Nightmare”
Rioting against patriarchy, Halsey’s anthemic follow-up to her mellow number-one hit “Without Me” was an unexpected but welcomed change of pace in the singer’s catalog. Even though the single was left off Manic, Halsey has mentioned wanting to release a project with similar pop-punk sounds in the future. Perhaps “Nightmare” can finally find itself a home if that project ever materializes.
#5. Zara Larsson — “All the Time”
Since her breakthrough with 2015’s “Never Forget You,” Swedish singer Zara Larsson has been establishing herself as a global hitmaker, having had great success in the UK and several other European markets. After performing the song live on tour and building anticipation, she released “All the Time,” a summery synth-pop banger, in June 2019. Unfortunately, her full-length project experienced several delays, most likely due to the lack of a big international hit single to promote the album. Her new album Poster Girl is slated for a March 5 release following a 4-year wait, but “All the Time” will only be included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the LP.
#6. Lady Gaga — “The Cure”
Mother Monster surprise-released this jam after debuting it live at Coachella in 2017, where she was a main headliner. The song represented a departure from the stripped-down sounds of her previous record, 2016’s Joanne. The safe-but-still-infectious tune did not make it onto the singer’s sixth studio album Chromatica, as it was long forgotten between her show-stopping performance starring in Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake (even though the song would have been a perfect fit for the film’s protagonist Ally Maine) and her other ventures like a makeup brand and a Las Vegas residency.
#7. Charli XCX — “After the Afterparty”
Coming off the mainstream success of her second studio album Sucker, Charli released “After the Afterparty,” featuring rapper Lil Yachty, in 2016 as the lead single of her intended third LP, XCX World. Unfortunately, the album was shelved in its entirety following an illegal leak. Charli released two incredible mixtapes in 2017, Number 1 Angel and Pop 2, and finally put out her third album Charli in 2019, but the song did not appear on any of these projects.
