A real single, released on a confusing timetable
“Something New” is an official 2016 Zendaya single featuring Chris Brown, issued through Hollywood Records under exclusive license to Republic Records. It was neither a leak nor an unreleased song, although one major component of its campaign—the filmed music video—was shelved.
Catalog pages sometimes assign the single February 5, while contemporary reports range from February 2 to February 4. The strongest first-party evidence supports February 3, 2016. Universal Music Italia’s catalog lists that date, as does Apple Music’s song page. Zendaya’s official channel also published the authorized audio on February 3.
The later dates likely reflect regional availability, press publication or chart-week conventions rather than separate versions. February 3 is therefore the most defensible release date for the recording itself.
The single was important beyond its calendar placement. It was Zendaya’s first official release after moving into a Republic partnership while retaining Hollywood Records’ involvement, and it appeared to launch the follow-up to her self-titled 2013 album. That second studio album never materialized.
Building something new from TLC
The track announces its central musical reference almost immediately: the horn figure associated with TLC’s 1994 hit “Creep.” Contemporary coverage recognized the sample at release. Capital XTRA identified the “Creep” hook, and The Knockturnal credited production to Babyface and Khris Riddick-Tynes.
The official composition credits name Zendaya, Chris Brown, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes and Leon Thomas III as writers. Production is credited to Babyface, Riddick-Tynes and Prince Chrishan. The sample is not decorative nostalgia: it supplies the rhythmic signpost around which the new record’s drums, vocal spaces and flirtatious call-and-response are organized.
Babyface’s presence gives that interpolation additional historical resonance. He worked extensively on TLC’s CrazySexyCool, although Dallas Austin—not Babyface—wrote and produced “Creep.” The distinction prevents a neat connection from becoming an inaccurate credit claim. Babyface was part of the creative world surrounding TLC’s landmark album, but he did not create the sampled song.
In musical terms, “Something New” updates ’90s R&B through the cleaner, bass-heavy economy of mid-2010s radio. Zendaya’s lead is poised rather than over-sung; the melody relies on repeated phrases and rhythmic control. Brown’s verse introduces a brighter, more elastic vocal counterweight. Describing that balance is interpretation, but the deliberate duet construction is documented by the credits and arrangement.
Babyface was the original duet partner
The collaboration did not begin with Brown. In an iHeartRadio interview summarized in contemporary accounts, Zendaya explained that the song was initially recorded with Babyface singing the second part. Brown later replaced that vocal. After hearing what he had contributed, she returned to the studio and redid portions of her own performance.
That chronology matters because it shows “Something New” evolving from a producer-artist demo into a commercial feature. Brown was not simply added to an already locked master for billing purposes; his contribution altered how Zendaya approached the lead vocal.
The result also carried reputational complications from the outset. Coverage questioned the pairing because Brown’s 2009 assault of Rihanna and later controversies were already part of public knowledge. Those objections were not retroactive inventions prompted by the lost video. Bustle’s February 2016 commentary shows that the collaboration was being debated during the release itself.
An official lyric video, then a missing main video
On February 23, Zendaya’s official artist channel released the authorized lyric video. Directed by MoNae Mayweather, it carries the Hollywood/Republic copyright notice and remains the clearest official visual associated with the single. It is a lyric video—not the unreleased narrative performance video sometimes represented by mislabeled uploads.
A separate full production was filmed with Zendaya and Brown. A short excerpt appeared publicly, and TLC member T-Boz was reported to have filmed a cameo, but the completed video was never officially premiered. Any full-length upload claiming to be the official video should therefore be treated skeptically unless it comes from Zendaya, the labels or another authorized rights holder.
Why it was shelved is less certain than fan retellings suggest. The widely repeated explanation connects the decision to Brown’s March 2016 social-media comments about singer Kehlani following reports of her suicide attempt. Zendaya publicly supported Kehlani, and the planned video then failed to appear. The sequence makes the explanation plausible, but no definitive label statement located in the public record formally declares that this was the sole reason.
That distinction between chronology and confirmed causation is essential. Capital XTRA’s later report described the video as scrapped and characterized the Kehlani dispute as rumor. In August 2020, Brown again drew attention to the missing production by asking for its release and sharing a brief clip. Zendaya did not revive the campaign.
A modest chart result and a vanishing album
“Something New” reached No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the US Rhythmic chart, according to the chart record compiled in Zendaya’s discography listing. The Hot 100 peak made it a charting single, but not the major crossover breakthrough suggested by its prominent collaborators and familiar sample.
The absence of the full video likely limited the campaign’s ability to build a second wave of attention, though that is an inference rather than a measurable fact. Music videos still functioned as major promotional events in 2016, and this one had recognizable guest stars plus a direct connection to TLC’s visual legacy.
More consequentially, the album that “Something New” seemed to introduce was never released. Zendaya had discussed sessions for a second record and was associated with collaborators including Timbaland. Instead, her acting career accelerated, and her later musical work largely arrived through films and television: “Rewrite the Stars” from The Greatest Showman, collaborations with Labrinth for Euphoria, and “I’m Tired.”
This later direction can make “Something New” look like a casual one-off in retrospect. In early 2016, however, it was presented as a genuine pop-R&B relaunch. AllMusic’s single entry preserves the Hollywood, Republic and Universal release identity, while the official lyric video preserves the planned visual branding.
What survives of the era
The single’s title now carries an unintended irony. “Something New” was supposed to signal a developing chapter: a new label configuration, an updated R&B sound and a second Zendaya album. Instead, it became the last conventional solo-pop single she released for several years.
Its history contains two separate statuses that should never be collapsed. The audio is official, commercially released and fully credited. The principal music video is unreleased, apart from authorized or publicly shown fragments. Reuploads of that unseen production are not substitutes for a rights-holder release.
As a recording, the song captures Zendaya at an inflection point. She sounds increasingly assured, the TLC reference gives the production instant historical texture, and the duet structure points toward mainstream R&B radio. As an industry artifact, it shows how quickly a campaign can be overtaken by controversy, strategic change and an artist’s expanding ambitions elsewhere.
The promised album disappeared; the official single did not. “Something New” remains available through its labels, with a rights-holder lyric video that documents what was released—and, by its very existence, reminds viewers of the larger video that was not.