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With the release of Anitta’s album, ‘Funk Generation’ we take a look at her various Billboard charts accomplishments especially with her debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Me Gusta” and later hits like “Bellaqueo” and “Envolver.” Anitta: Now I’m working on an album like in full funk, full like of my culture! Narrator: Anitta […]
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Steve Aoki has seen the future and he’s unafraid. The world-beating DJ/producer and cake boss tells Billboard in this week’s cover story that while he’s still a bit of a “novice” at using artificial intelligence to create music, he thinks AI is here to stay and we should all just figure out a way to ride that bucking digital sandworm.
“I use it mainly for lyric generation. It has actually helped me quite a lot,” Aoki, 46, says of incorporating AI into his studio routine. “If I have an idea of what lyrics I want to put down on a record, I’ll work that out with AI, and if I have a songwriting team in my house and we get stumped, we can always use AI. As far as sampling, I’ve used AI to get a particular female sound using certain words, and that has been fantastic.”
Aoki, however, is clear-eyed and confident that AI is not the solution to all our musical conundrums. For instance, asked if his creativity is based more on experience or data, he says you can’t type “What’s Steve Aoki’s biggest song on the festival circuit?” into a database and get the right answer. “[Artificial intelligence] cannot generate that,” he says, noting that his 2011 Afrojack collab “No Beef” came out before streaming was a big thing, “but everyone knows the vocals to that at my shows.”
As for the possible worst-case-scenario that AI could replace producers and DJs in the future, Aoki says he’s sure the powers-that-be are building in “safeguards” to avoid such a situation now that the digital genie is fully out of the bottle. “You can’t stop AI. It’s not like, ‘Oh, f–k. AI is going to take away our jobs. F–k technology, it’s going to take away jobs,’” he says. “You can’t. You just have to ride the wave with it and just start building safeguards as we go. We’ve been doing this the whole time with the internet.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Japanese American Aoki also talked about the importance of AAPI representation in music and how it’s changed in the years he’s been behind the decks. “I remember when I first got into music in high school, the first thing I did was sing. You just didn’t see Asian singers,” he says. “You just didn’t see Asian people in music, period, and if you did, they were really quiet, like the singer of Hoobastank [Doug Robb], whom I looked up to.”
In fact, in a full-circle moment, Aoki reveals in the cover story that he’s currently working on a remake of the band’s 2004 hit “The Reason,” that he’s super excited about. “There’s a Steve Aoki-Hoobastank record coming soon,” he says. “But it was cool to actually work with that guy [Robb] because I remember looking up to him when I was in high school.”
Another artist he recalls admiring around 2003 when he was first getting into production was the Neptunes’ Chad Hugo. “I was in L.A., and I remember hiring someone on Craigslist to teach me how to use Pro Tools because I just started dabbling on the computer,” he says. “And I was like, ‘Chad Hugo, that’s my hero because he’s Asian, but he’s also quiet.’ I’m always like, “Where are the loud ones?” I wanted to see someone Asian that’s just loud and in charge and commanding audiences.”
Check out the full story and photos from the cover shoot here.
New K-pop girl group VVS talk about what fans can expect from their debut, how their girl group concept is different from other girl groups, how they describe their R&B and pop sound and more in their Billboard Korea cover interview. VVSHi Billboard, we are VVS! BritneyHello my name is Brittney and I’m the leader […]
Billboard and Tres Generaciones Tequila are partnering to find out the Get Up Anthems of select cities, and the first stop is Houston, Texas. Ahead of the curated list, in this ‘Man on the Street,’ we tapped Houston locals to help share some of their favorite hometown hits that have inspired and energized their city, including “Savage Remix” by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé and artists like Bun B, Pimp C and more! Be sure to check out the official Get Up Anthems for Houston presented by Tres Generaciones Tequila.
Tetris Kelly:
It’s Tetris. Billboard and Tres Generaciones Tequila have partnered up to find the biggest Get Up Anthem in each city? Today we’re in Houston, the home of barbecue and southern wraps, and we ask the locals which bops inspire and energize this city. Okay, so we’re putting together the Top 10 Get Up Anthems in Houston by people in Houston. So what do you think should be on that list?
Local #1
I think “Wanna Be A Baller” is a cult classic.
Tetris Kelly:
Are you a baller?
Local #1:
Oh you know it.
Tetris Kelly:
Okay I was just checking.
Local #2:
Pimp C. It’s all Pimp C.
Tetris Kelly:
Anything Pimp C is representing the city right?
Local #2:
Yeah!
Local #3:
My opinion, DeeBaby is killing the game right now. Him and That Mexican OT. Yea
Tetris Kelly:
This man is giving me so much knowledge right now.
Local #4:
I want to say Beyonce because she’s from Houston, Texas. Hey, no, Hold ’em.
Tetris Kelly:
I gotta know what’s your Houston anthem?
Local #5:
“Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce.
Tetris Kelly:
Oh I knew it.
Local #5
H-Town hotties!
Tetris Kelly:
Oh I was told Tres is for the hotties.
Local #6
We got Tejano, we got Spanish, RnB, it’s a little bit of everything. I’m a Bun B baby though, I’m a Bun B baby
Local #7
For me it’s gonna be that “Get throwed”
Tetris Kelly:
Oh Bun B!
Keep watching to learn more!
Eagles fly back onto Billboard’s charts with the band’s new best-of, To the Limit: The Essential Collection. The retrospective debuts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales, No. 6 on Top Rock Albums, No. 8 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums and No. 8 on Top Current Album Sales (all charts dated April 27). It also launches at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 – the group’s 12th top 40-charting effort on the tally.
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Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Top Rock Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums rank, respectively, the week’s most popular rock, and rock and alternative albums by equivalent album units. Top Current Album Sales ranks the week’s top-selling new/current albums (non-catalog/older titles).
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To the Limit: The Essential Collection sold 7,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending April 18 (as reflected on the charts dated April 27). Physical sales comprise 6,500 of the album’s first-week sales (5,000 on CD and 1,500 on vinyl) while digital download sales comprise 500.
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter rises two spots to capture its second week atop the list (28,000 sold; up 37%). The album’s physical edition (on CD and vinyl) became widely available to all retailers during the tracking week, after previously been sold exclusively through the artist’s webstore.
Linkin Park’s first greatest hits album, Papercuts, debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 20,500 copies sold. The album’s sales were bolstered by its availability across eight vinyl variants, as well as a CD, cassette and digital download. It’s the 11th top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales for the band.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s minisode 3: TOMORROW falls 1-3 in its second week with 19,000 sold (down 82%).
Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 4 with 10,000 sold (797%), largely from sales of a new vinyl variant, an “festival orange”-colored edition.
Maggie Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me opens at No. 5 with 10,000 sold, marking the artist’s third top 10-charting effort. Its sales were supported by its availability across eight physical iterations (among them were two signed editions) and a digital download.
Noah Kahan’s Stick Season surges 28-6 with nearly 10,000 sold, following the release of the Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) deluxe edition across four vinyl variants and on CD. The deluxe set was originally released on June 9, 2023, as a digital download and streaming album.
Mark Knopfler is back on Top Album Sales with his first new entry since 2018, as his latest studio effort, One Deep River, starts at No. 7 with 8,000 copies sold. It’s his first entry on the list since his last studio album Down the Road Wherever debuted and peaked at No. 6 on the Dec. 1, 2018-dated list.
Rounding out the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart are Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Lover (9-8 with nearly 8,000; up 4%), Eagles’ To the Limit at No. 9 and Swift’s former leader 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (holding at No. 10 with nearly 7,000; up 2%).
In the week ending April 18, there were 1.117 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 13.7% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 828,000 (down 14.1%) and digital albums comprised 289,000 (down 12.4%).
There were 422,000 CD albums sold in the week ending April 18 (down 19.6% week-over-week) and 401,000 vinyl albums sold (down 7.5%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 7.121 million (down 31.9% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 7.259 million (down 49.9%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 19.293 million (down 37.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 14.454 million (down 42.5%) and digital album sales total 4.839 million (down 14.7%).
It’s Thursday, April 25th, and we can’t seem to get enough of Taylor Swift. The singer jetted off to a vacation with Travis Kelce, Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid. After the release of her new albums, ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ Matty Healy finally responds about the songs about him in Taylor’s new album and Taylor […]
Tyla and Gunna’s hit “Jump” sits just outside the top 10, an oldie but goodie jumps to No.8, but who’s at No.1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart? Keep watching to find out! Tetris Kelly:A new song takes the top spot while another breaks into the top 10. Lay Bankz climbs from 11 into […]
Billboard‘s Editorial Director of R&B and Hip-Hop, Gail Mitchell, and Billboard‘s Executive Editor, West Coast & Nashville, Melinda Newman, Doctor of Musicology Jada Watson and singer-songwriter Ink discuss the intersectionality of the Black history of country music. Ink:Coming from a powerful voice like Beyoncé, she just took us all back to our roots. Prophet:We have […]
Country music star Mickey Guyton sat down with BMAC CEO and president Prophet for a one-on-one conversation at Black Music Action Coalition, in partnership with Billboard presents Act II: A Conversation Around “Three Chords and the Actual Truth.”
Mickey Guyton:When this was starting, I remember going up to my record label and I said, “I’ve learned to be comfortable being in a room full of people that don’t look like me. And now it’s your turn to learn to be comfortable in a room of people that don’t look like you.”
Prophet:Come on, sis! Come on, sis!
Four-time Grammy nominee. The 2022 TIME breakthrough artist of the year. Recently released her female anthem “Woman,” honoring women all around the world, was the ode to women empowerment. Make some noise for that too!
With “Remember Her Name,” Mickey made history as the first Black artist to earn a Grammy nomination for best country album. The title track “Remember Her Name also landed Mickey with Grammy nominations for best country song, best country solo performance. This followed Mickey’s groundbreaking Grammy nominations as the first-ever Black female solo artist to earn a nod in the country category for “Black Like Me.”
“Black Like Me” was named one of the top 10 songs of all genres, in 2020 by the NPR, Billboard and Associated Press. She also co-hosted the 56th Academy Country Music Awards on CBS along with Keith Urban, and she was named CMT’s 2021 breakthrough artist of the year. Her music has been featured on the covers of Billboard, profiled in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Rolling Stone. Over the last year, she had been featured in American Songwriter, BBC News, CBS, Sherri, Sesame Street, HITS, Essence, People. All kind of s–t. Make some noise for the superstar herself, Miss Mickey Guyton.Watch the full video above!
Superstar DJ Peggy Gou talks about her debut album ‘I Hear You’ coming out in June, working with artist Olafur Eliasson on the album cover, her collaboration “I Believe In Love Again” with Lenny Kravitz, how much she loves her job and traveling all over the world, how her fans inspire her and more! Peggy […]
