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Dave and Central Cee do it again as “Sprinter” (via Live Yours/Neighbourhood) wins the U.K. chart race for a second week.
“Sprinter” opened its account with an all-time volume of streams for a rap song in the U.K., and the biggest opening week so far in 2023.
The British hip-hop collaboration secures another week in charge with the Split Decision release, while tracks from the EP, “Trojan Horse,” up 14-12, and “UK Rap,” up 17-14, are on the climb for new peaks.
“Sprinter” outpaces J Hus and Drake’s “Who Told You” (Black Butter/OVO/Republic), new at No. 2 for the highest debut this week. That’s a new career-best and fourth top 10 single for British rapper J Hus (real name: Momodou Lamin Jallow), and a 13th top tier appearance for Drake. “Who Told You” had briefly taken the lead during the early phases of the chart cycle.
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The podium is completed by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s former chart-dominating rave monster “Miracle” (Columbia), down 2-3.
Elsewhere on the latest Official U.K. Singles Chart, published June 16, British drum ‘n’ bass act Rudimental grab their highest-charting single since 2018, as “Dancing is Healing” (Room Two) featuring Charlotte Plank and Vibe Chemistry, lifts 8-6. It’s Rudimental’s fifth U.K. top 10.
Australia’s “Princess of Pop” Kylie Minogue claims her first top 10 in over a decade, as “Padam Padam” (BMG) lifts 11-9, for her 35th top 10 appearance.
With that effort, Kylie becomes just the fourth female solo artist to snag a U.K. top 10 single across five consecutive decades, doing so in the ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, 2010s and ‘20s. She now draws level with Cher, Lulu and Diana Ross, all of whom bagged 10 hits in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s.
The catchy EDM number is Kylie’s first appearance in the top 10 since her 2011 collab with Taio Cruz and Travie McCoy, “Higher,” which reached No. 8. Her last solo song to get there was 2010’s “All The Lovers,” which peaked at No. 3.
Kylie’s hitmaking prowess is legendary. In November 2020, when her 15th studio album Disco shimmied its way to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, Minogue became the first female artist to lead the tally in five consecutive decades.
Niall Horan takes a bow as The Show (via Capitol) starts at No. 1 in the U.K.
The Irishman’s third studio album is his second leader, following 2020’s Heartbreak Weather, and third-successive top 3 effort, after his debut solo album release, 2017’s Flicker, peaked at No. 3.
The Show had led the midweek all-genreschart and finishes the week as the best-seller on wax.
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According to the Official Charts Company, The Show is the sixth leader by a former member of One Direction, a list that includes Zayn’s Mind of Mine (from 2016), Harry Styles’ eponymously-titled debut (2017) and Harry’s House (2022), Louis Tomlinson’s Faith in the Future (2022) and Horan’s brace.
As a member of 1D, Horan landed four U.K. No. 1 albums and as many leaders on the national singles survey. Horan’s The Show also leads Australia’s ARIA Chart and arrives at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, behind Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time.
Landing at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, published Friday, June 16, is McFly’s Power to Play (BMG). The pop-punk veterans’ seventh studio album is also their seventh top 10.
Completing an all-new top 3 is Manchester-formed, Britpop era band James with Be Opened by the Wonderful (Nothing But Love Music). It’s new at No. 3 for the “Laid” group’s 11th top 10 appearance on the albums tally.
Also new to the top 10 is Christine and the Queens’ Paranoia, Angels, True Love (Because Music), arriving at No. 7. It’s the French alternative pop outfit’s third top 10 slot, following 2016 debut Chaleur humaine (No. 2) and 2018’s Chris (No.3).
Finally, Vermont-born singer and songwriter Noah Kahan earns his first appearance in the top 40 with Stick Season (Island) at No. 17, while London-born singer, songwriter, rapper and producer King Krule (real name: Archy Ivan Marshall) scores his third top 40 album with Space Heavy (XL Recordings), new at No. 18.
Jelly Roll achieves a first on Billboard’s charts as “Need a Favor” rises from No. 12 to No. 9 on the Country Airplay tally dated June 24, with 17.5 million audience impressions June 9-15 on the ranking’s panel of reporting stations, according to Luminate.
Now that it’s within Country Airplay’s top 10, the song becomes the first ever to have hit the top 10 of both Country Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay.
“Need a Favor” concurrently spends a fourth week in a row at its No. 3 high on Mainstream Rock Airplay.
The format-specific radio charts have existed simultaneously since the chart week of Jan. 20, 1990, when Country Airplay began. Mainstream Rock Airplay’s history stretches back to March 21, 1981.
Late last year, Jelly Roll became the eighth act to have scored a top 10 on both charts, albeit with separate songs. He first hit the top 10 of Mainstream Rock Airplay with “Dead Man Walking,” which led for a week in May 2022, while “Son of a Sinner” reached No. 1 on Country Airplay this January.
At the time, the list of other acts who have appeared in the top 10 of both charts included Bon Jovi, Zac Brown Band, Brantley Gilbert, Kid Rock, Dave Matthews (solo on Country Airplay and fronting Dave Matthews Band on Mainstream Rock Airplay), Sting and Travis Tritt.
Since then, a ninth has added his name to the list: HARDY, whose “Jack” reached No. 3 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in March; he has notched three top 10s on Country Airplay.
Of those nine acts, Bon Jovi, Brantley Gilbert, Jelly Roll and Zac Brown Band are the only ones with No. 1 placements on both surveys.
Unlike with the clear crossover appeal of “Need a Favor,” the artists above with top 10 ranks on both charts have largely not had individual songs make both lists. One hit previously reached the top 20 of both tallies: Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” rose to No. 4 on Country Airplay and No. 17 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2008.
In addition to its Mainstream Rock Airplay and Country Airplay success, “Need a Favor” concurrently bullets at its No. 6 best on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.3 million audience impressions. In addition to its mainstream rock radio airplay, the song is bubbling under Alternative Airplay.
On the most-recently published, June 17-dated multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Country Songs charts, “Need a Favor” placed at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively. Along with its airplay, the song earned 11.2 million official streams and sold 7,000 downloads in the United States June 2-8.
“Need a Favor” is the lead single from Whitsitt Chapel, Jelly Roll’s latest studio album, and his first country set. It debuted at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Country Albums charts dated June 17, respectively, with 90,000 equivalent album units earned.
All charts dated June 24 will update on Billboard.com Wednesday, June 21 (a day later than usual due to the Juneteenth holiday in the U.S. Monday, June 19).
Grief, struggles, darkness. We all touch those emotions at some point. All of them are swirling in the background of In Times New Roman, the eighth and latest album from Queens of the Stone Age. Speaking with Zane Lowe, host of Apple Music 1’s flagship show, Josh Homme broke it all down for a deep, long contemplation on hardship and the loss of nearest and dearest, a bunch that includes the late Anthony Bourdain, Mark Lanegan and Taylor Hawkins. On the music side, he says of the new album, which dropped at midnight, “you’re chasing a good feeling. And then the question is, what are you gonna do over that. What are you going to sing, are you going to sing? But it does start with chasing a feeling. Just trying to catch up with a good feeling.”The singer and guitarist, who recently confirmed he was recovering from surgery to remove cancer, the latest obstacle in a particularly difficult stretch that has included a very public divorce and ongoing custody battle.“I’ve taken a step further,” he tells Lowe, “it’s like when you’re in moments when you think, I’m not going to make it.” He talks of facing a metaphorical brick wall “in a multitude of situations in a tight timeframe.” But, he continues, “I’m also thankful for that too because making it through told me that I can make it through. I also would say that to somebody else. Just try to make it through, and when you do, you’ll know it’s true. You’ve just gotta keep living.”
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In Times New Roman, out through Matador Records, spans 10 tracks and includes the previously-released cuts “Paper Machete,” “Carnavoyeur,” “’Emotion Sickness” and more. It’s the followup to 2017’s Villains, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.“I think this is the first time I didn’t want to make a record, but I was dealing with a lot of stuff in my personal life,” Homme recently told Revolver. “We recorded a lot of stuff. I think I was doing it because when I’m in trouble, this is what I do. This is where I go to get right.”Stream In Times New Roman below.
It’s the Niall Horan Show on the ARIA Albums Chart this week as the Irish pop artist bows at No. 1.
The former One Direction star arrives at the summit with The Show (Capitol/Universal), his third studio album — and his first solo leader.
Horan clears the last hurdle after his previous two albums, Flicker (from 2017) and Heartbreak Weather (2020) both peaked at the runner-up position.
As a member of 1D, Horan tasted victory with four albums: Up All Night (2011), Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013) and Four (2014).
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He’ll support the latest album in these parts when ‘The Show’ Live On Tour heads Down Under in April and May 2024, presented by TEG Live and Nova Entertainment.
Completing the podium on the latest ARIA Chart, published Friday, June 16, is Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Republic/Universal, up 2-3, and Stray Kids’ 5-Star (ING), down 2-3.
The next-best debut belongs to American rockers Extreme, as Six (Ear/RKT) starts at No. 32. Six is, as its name would suggest, the sixth album from the “More Than Words” band, and their first studio LP since Saudades de Rock dropped in August 2008.Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, “Sprinter” (Virgin Music Australia/Universal) by Dave and Central Cee outraces the opposition to start a second week at No. 1.
Country music is booming in Australia this year, led by U.S. starts Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs — who currently occupy two of the top 3 positions. On the latest tally, Wallen’s former leader “Last Night” (Republic/Universal) holds at No. 2, and Combs’ cover of “Fast Car” (Columbia/Sony) rises 5-3, surpassing the No. 4 peak of the original cut by Tracy Chapman back in 1988.
Kylie Minogue keeps the hits coming with “Padam Padam” (Liberation), which climbs 40-29 for a new high. The saucy EDM tune is the Aussie “princess of pop’s” 43rd top 30 hit in her homeland, ARIA reports, and her first since “Timebomb” peaked at No. 12 in 2012.
Finally, BTS bags the highest new entry on the latest chart with “Take Two” (BigHit Entertainment/ING) released as part of the celebrations for the superstar K-pop act’s 10th anniversary. The band’s biggest hit here is “Dynamite,” which exploded to No. 2 in 2020.
Slowthai has pleaded not guilty plea to two charges of rape, stemming from an alleged incident in September 2021.
The 28-year-old artist entered his plea in a British court on Thursday (June 15).
Born Tyron Frampton, the hip-hop artist was charged last month with the oral and vaginal penetration of a woman without her consent.
Frampton’s co-defendant, Alex Blake-Walker, pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and two sexual assaults, the BBC reports.
Both men are accused of raping the same woman, but Blake-Walker is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman.
Both men were released by Oxford Crown Court, and have been placed on conditional bail until their trial begins in July 2024.
During that earlier court appearance, where he appeared before Oxfordshire, England, magistrates court via video link, The Guardian noted, Frampton did not enter a plea and only confirmed his real name, date of birth and Northampton address.
Prosecuting lawyer Adam Yar Khan said at the time that the rape charge must be heard at crown court, due to it being an indictable-only offense.
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Slowthai made his break into the music mainstream with his Mercury Prize-nominated 2019 album, Nothing About Great Britain, which hit the U.K. top 10. The following year, he collected the “hero of the year” at the 2020 NME Awards, though the talking point from the evening was his behavior towards host Katherine Ryan, which erupted into a fracas with members of the audience. He later admitted in an apologetic tweet that his actions were “shameful”.
Slowthai’s popularity soared. His sophomore album, 2021’s Tyron, topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and, in the same year, he earned a Grammy Award nomination for dance recording. Earlier in 2023, his Ugly LP peaked at No. 2.
When the allegations were made public, the rapper was quietly scrubbed from the lineup for the U.K. summer festivals, including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and Australia’s mid-winter event, Splendour In The Grass, and he withdrew from a July 8 concert at Wembley Stadium with Blur.
Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne is stepping out to launch her solo career.
The British singer drops “Don’t Say Love,” her first solo number after 11 years with the award-winning, chart-topping pop act.
Produced by Jon Bellion and Pete Nappi, and co-written by Aldae, “Don’t Say Love” is a beats-heavy nugget with lashings of U.K. garage.
The single, through Warner Music, “is about no longer seeking external validation and regaining my confidence and sense of self in a world where I often felt misunderstood and unheard,” she explains.
It’s accompanied with an official music video, helmed by Emil Nava, which creatively captures Leigh-Anne’s transformation — out with the old, in with the new era. The video is a “visual representation of me finding my voice,” she continues. “I’m excited to continue to do so with my first love, music.”
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Little Mix capped a massive career with the 2021 Brit Award for best group, becoming the first girl group to win the category. “It’s not easy being a female in the U.K. pop industry,” Leigh-Anne said from the BRITs podium. “We’ve seen white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity. We’re proud of how we’ve stuck together, stood our ground, surrounded ourselves with strong women, and are now using our voices more than ever.”
Formed in 2011 on the U.K.’s X Factor, with an original lineup of Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson, who split from the act in December 2020, Little Mix were major hitmakers in their homeland.
Prior to entering an extended hiatus in 2022, Little Mix racked up five U.K. No. 1 singles, and a best-selling album, 2016’s Glory Days. They’re the first girl group to log 100 weeks in the U.K. singles chart top 10, landing 19 titles in the top tier. Two of their albums 2012’s DNA (No. 4) and 2014’s Salute (No. 6) cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Career record sales top 75 million, and the act have accumulated over 15 billion streams, according to Warner Music.
Stream “Don’t Say Love” below.
The 2023 Premios Tu Música Urbano was held live on Thursday (June 15) from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, awarding top urban artists as well as artists from other genres, such as tropical, pop, and Regional Mexican who have experimented with the urban realm.
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Karol G was the evening’s big winner, nabbing six awards including the coveted artist of the year, song of the year, and tour of the year. Other top winners included Feid, who scooped top male artist, collaboration of the year, and album of the year by a male artist; Rauw Alejandro, who won top social artist and songwriter/composer of the year; and Vico C, who won the best comeback, in addition to a special trajectory award, to name a few.
All told, 32 categories were announced.
Below, see the full list of winners at the 2023 Premios Tu Musica Urbano awards:
Artist of the Year: Karol G
Top Artist — Male: Feid
Top Artist — Female: Becky G
Top Artist — Duo or Group: Wisin y Yandel
Top New Artist — Male: Cris Mj
Top New Artist — Female: Elena Rose
Top Rising Star — Male: Eladio Carrión
Top Rising Star — Female: Young Miko
Top Social Artist: Rauw Alejandro
Song of the Year: “Provenza” – Karol G
Song of the Year — Duo or Group: “Besos Moja2” – Wisin & Yandel, Rosalía
Remix of the Year: “La Bebe Remix” – Yng Lvcas, Peso Pluma
Collaboration of the Year: “Yandel 150” – Yandel, Feid
Top Artist — Pop Urban: Jay Wheeler
Top Artist — Tropical Urban: Romeo Santos
Top Artist — Dembow: El Alfa
Top Artist — Trap: Anuel AA
Top Artist — Regional Urban: Eslabón Armado
Top Artist — Christian/Spiritual: Farruko
Top Song — Pop Urban: “X Si Volvemos” – Karol G, Romeo Santos
Top Song — Tropical Urban: “Si Te Preguntan…” – Prince Royce, Nicky Jam, Jay Wheeler
Top Song — Dembow: “Ojos Ferrari” – Karol G, Justin Quiles, Ángel Dior
Top Song — Trap: “El Nene” – Anuel AA , Foreign Teck
Top Song — Christian/Spiritual: “Nazareno” – Farruko
Album of the Year — Male Artist: Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo Te Pirateamos El Álbum – Feid
Album of the Year — Female Artist: Mañana Será Bonito – Karol G
Album of the Year — Rising Stars: Sen2 Kbrn VOL.2 – Eladio Carrión
Video of the Year: “JS4E” – Arcángel
Top Music Producer: Bizarrap
Songwriter/Composer of the Year: Rauw Alejandro
Tour of the Year: “$trip Love Tour” – Karol G
The Best Comeback: Vico C
Life is non-stop right now for Jack River, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
The singer and songwriter (real name: Holly Rankin) has never been shy of piling on a heaving workload, which has included festival and events organizing, advocating for women in music, and rallying broadcasters and businesses in her homeland, Australia, to lift their game when it comes to supporting homegrown talent.
River recently took on life’s most challenging project — parenthood.
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Joining the club hasn’t changed her. Indeed, “it has magnified and re-ignited parts of my mind and spirit that have been sleeping, or out of view,” she tells Billboard. “It has uncovered a whole load of stamina, as every day is some kind of marathon, even if it’s a peaceful day – there is hardly any stopping. I am grateful for the way it has let me see the world again for the first time, suddenly flowers and lights and bubbles and leaves are magical and new again.”
Just prior to finding out she was expecting her first child, the Sydney-based creative got down to writing Endless Summer, her sophomore album which drops Friday (June 16). Endless Summer spans 10 songs, each of which captures completely different places on the emotional spectrum, River explains. The record is an oasis, she continues, something to retreat to amid the unfolding disaster that is climate change.
River’s homeland is at the frontline, with millions of her countrymen and women confronted by bushfire, drought and floods in recent years.
Endless Summer is inspired by activism, and sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s when artists “were living through political turmoil but making escapist music,” she continues. Think the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell.
Its production and narrative “speaks to the endless summer we are living through – in our minds; the delusional holiday that pop culture seems to be living in,” she says, “and the physical endless summer we are entering as the climate crisis engulfs our future.”
Hailing from the NSW coastal hometown of Forster, River — a pirate name Rankin inherited in her teens — enjoyed a breakthrough with the indie-pop gem “Fool’s Gold,” from 2017. The song blew up on the triple j network, cracking the youth network’s annual Hottest 100 poll and establishing River as an elite talent.
Endless Summer is the followup to her debut LP Sugar Mountain, which followed in 2018, peaking at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart and earning multiple award nominations, and the 2020 EP Stranger Heart.
The new collection features the previously-released cuts “Real Life,” “Nothing Has Changed,” “Lie In The Sun,” the title track “Endless Summer” with Genesis Owusu, and “Honey,” which she wrote with Matt Corby and Jarryd James, at the former’s studio Rainbow Valley.
As it finds its way into the world, “I want to walk a fine line between explaining what this album means to me and where it came from,” River notes, “and just letting people take the album and let it dissolve into their own lives for their own reasons.”
Endless Summer arrives via Nettwerk in North America and I Oh You, part of the Mushroom Group, in Australia.
Stream it below.
French Montana stopped by Billboard News to talk about the creation of his new film, For Khadija, the rise of Afrobeats, his thoughts on reality TV and more!
French Montana:Never follow people that got all the answers. Follow people that got all the questions. What up? What up? It’s your boy, French Montana, and you’re watching Billboard News!
Rania Aniftos:Hey, everybody! It’s Rania Aniftos with Billboard News, and I’m here with Grammy-nominated rapper and Billboard chart-topper French Montana. So we’re here to talk about such an incredible project that you’ve been working on and it’s finally going to see the light of day, For Khadija. An incredible documentary! Why was now the right time to tell such an intimate story?
French Montana:I’m about to put you on the story. See, I’m really from Africa. You know going through everything I went through in my career, I feel like it finally makes sense. It’s a story, beginning to end of a chapter. It was a chapter when my mother came here, sacrificed for us, and went back after 25 years. And it felt like that was like the closure of us coming, me struggling in the Bronx, not knowing English, being culture shock about the whole move that we made, my father and my mother, him leaving, us getting on welfare and struggling, then for me to be French Montana. My mother didn’t see her family for, like, 25 years.
Rania Aniftos:And it’s true. I mean, spotlighting immigrant voices in that way is so unique, especially when people might see you and they’re like, “Oh, he’s French Montana. What struggles could he have had?” But you have this whole incredible story leading up to this point.
French Montana:Exactly. It’s showing people all the hurdles and taking all the wounds. You know? One thing about the wounds, that’s where the light enters, showing people if you only work on sunny days, you’ll never reach your destination.
Watch the full video above to hear him speak on the rise of Afrobeats, why he’s not a fan of reality TV and more!