Lil Tjay reveals five things you didn’t know about him.
Lil Tjay:
Yo, what’s going on it’s your boy Lil Tjay and these are five things you might not know about me.
When I was younger, I think I wanted to be a single more than like a rapper. And now I’m kind of like a rapper more than a singer.
When I was a kid my favorite TV show was Avatar: The Last Airbender.
My favorite color purple. Second is blue.
I’m 22 years old.
And five. I write all my own songs.
Travis Scott’s Utopia rules the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 19) for a second week, as the set earned 147,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 10 (down 70%), according to Luminate. The album charged in at No. 1 a week ago with 496,000 units earned in its first week — the biggest week for an R&B/hip-hop or rap album in 2023.
Utopia is the first rap album to spend its first two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in nearly two years, since Drake’s Certified Lover Boy logged its first three weeks at No. 1 (Sept. 18-Oct. 2, 2021 charts), of its five total (nonconsecutive) weeks atop the list. Utopia is the first rap album with more than a single week at No. 1 in over a year, since Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost claimed a total of two weeks at No. 1, in two separate weeks (July 10, 2021, its debut frame, and April 30, 2022, charts).
Utopia leads a sleepy top 10 on the Billboard 200, which is absent of any debuts in the region for the second time in less than a month. Just three weeks ago, on the July 29-dated list, there were also no new debuts in the top 10.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 19, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Aug. 15. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Utopia’s 147,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 10, SEA units comprise 110,000 (down 55%, equaling 145.99 million on-demand official streams of the streaming set’s 19 total songs), album sales comprise 37,000 (down 85%) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000 (down 58%).
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time rises 3-2 on the Billboard 200 with 92,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%), while the Barbie movie soundtrack steps 4-3 with 74,000 (down 18%), Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) bumps 5-4 with 60,000 (down 9%) and Swift’s chart-topping Midnights ascends 8-5 with 56,000 (up 15%).
Swift’s former No. 1 Lover climbs 10-6 (51,000 equivalent album units; up 17%); Post Malone’s Austin falls 2-7 in its second week (50,000; down 55%); Peso Pluma’s Génesis slips 7-8 (47,000; down 6%); Swift’s former leader Folklore jumps 12-9 (44,000; up 9%) — as she boasts four albums in the top 10 for a third time, having become the first living artist to achieve the feat in nearly 60 years last month — and Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album falls 9-10 (43,000; down 4%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Rapper Sexyy Red reveals her favorite St. Louis slang backstage at Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players & Live 2023.
Sexyy Red:
What’s up, it’s your favorite ‘hood princess, Sexyy Red. We finna do my favorite St. Louis slang. On the North side when I was young, we used to hear everybody hollering “skeeyee” — that’s like a call. Like you see a bi— with a big ol’ booty or something, it’s a geek call, you see some geek, you trying to serve them, you be like, “skeeyee!” And then I like “on bloods” — like you say something and if we agree, you can be like, “on bloods.” And “you know it” — that’s another thing you say. Like if you say something like “you know it.” You be like, “What’s up, Sexyy? You know it!”
Michelle Buteau reveals her favorite New Jersey slang to Billboard News.
Michelle Buteau:
Hey, everyone! I’m Michelle Buteau, and this is my hometown slang.
When I was growing up, every time you said something that was, like, sarcastic or not true, you just follow that sentence with “sike.” I mean, why did I do that? It was just, like, at a 10 at all times. I was giving a 10 — I should be serving a 6. Like, that’s not OK. Sike! It was fine. See what I did there? Nobody cares.
“Mad,” “mad” a lot like, “Oh, that food was mad good.” Or “Ooh, that line was mad long.” Like, people in Jersey was so mad, we actually have to, like, use it for good things at some point.
Oh my God. And when you really like somebody, you’d be like, “Oh, yeah, like ’em a lot. I was sweatin’ them.” What? “I was sweatin’ them”?! “Ooh, that movie. I was sweatin’ that movie so hard. I was waiting in that line mad long. SIKE! I bought my tickets in advance.”
Producer:
Perfect.
Michelle Buteau:
I know.
Country power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill may have been married more than 25 years, but becoming empty nesters after their three daughters left home has left them feeling like newlyweds and enjoying, as McGraw adorably euphemistically calls it, their “candle time.”
“We’d gotten married quickly. We dated for a short time, got married and soon after had a baby so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to get to know each other that well until we had kids,” McGraw tells Billboard News host Tetris Kelly. “Now all of a sudden we have this time together and it kind of turned into we’re having our second honeymoon: Light the candles, turn the music on, have some fun. And now when the kids come home after about five days we’re like, (looks at his watch), ‘Don’t you have somewhere to be? Mom and dad need some candle time.’”
It turns out McGraw is just as happy to spend time on stage with his wife as he is alone at home with her in Nashville. McGraw and Hill famously embarked on one of the most successful country tours of all time with their periodic Soul2Soul outings, which featured the couple each singing their own sets and then performing together. Started in 2000, the most recent iteration ended in 2018.
“I always love singing with my wife because A, I think she’s one of the greatest singers in the world and B, I get better every time I sing with her because it’s like a Nascar trying to keep up with an Indy car,” he says. “I really have to put my big boy pants on to sing with her.”
McGraw will release his 17th studio album, Standing Room Only, Aug. 24. The title track stands at No. 17 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart this week.
The singer will kick off his 30-city North American Standing Room Only arena tour on March 14 in Jacksonville, Fla. Carly Pearce will serve as support.
Watch a clip from McGraw’s interview with Billboard News in the video above.
Travis Scott makes a massive return to the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Aug. 12), thanks to the arrival of his new studio album, Utopia.
All 19 songs from the set rank on the Hot 100, pushing Scott’s total from 93 to 111 total charted songs in his career. (One track from the album, “K-POP,” debuted a week earlier.) The rapper becomes just the 15th artist in the chart’s 65-year history to log 100-plus career entries on the survey.
Utopia debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week (July 28-Aug. 3), according to Luminate. It captures the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album and the largest for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release.
Here’s a look at all of Scott’s songs on the Aug. 12-dated Hot 100 (all of which are debuts except “K-POP”).
Travis Scott on the Aug. 12-Dated Hot 100:
No. 3, “Meltdown,” feat. Drake
No. 5, “FE!N,” feat. Playboi Carti
No. 11, “I Know?”
No. 14, “Hyaena”
No. 16, “Thank God”
No. 17, “Topia Twins,” feat. Rob49 & 21 Savage
No. 18, “K-POP,” with Bad Bunny & The Weeknd (after debuting a week earlier at No. 7)
No. 19, “My Eyes”
No. 23, “Modern Jam,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
No. 25, “Delresto (Echoes),” with Beyoncé
No. 26, “Telekinesis,” feat. SZA & Future
No. 27, “Sirens”
No. 28, “God’s Country”
No. 34, “Skitzo,” feat. Young Thug
No. 36, “Circus Maximus,” feat. The Weeknd & Swae Lee
No. 38, “Til Further Notice,” feat. James Blake & 21 Savage
No. 46, “Lost Forever,” feat. Westside Gunn
No. 49, “Looove,” feat. Kid Cudi
No. 53, “Parasail,” feat. Yung Lean & Dave Chappelle
Notably, thanks to their featured appearances, Rob49, Westside Gunn, Yung Lean and famed comedian Dave Chappelle all earn their first Hot 100 appearances.
With 111 career Hot 100 entries, up from 93 before this week, Scott passes Elvis Presley (109), Lil Uzi Vert (106), Justin Bieber (105), Jay-Z (105), YoungBoy Never Broke Again (103), The Weeknd (96) and Eminem (95) for the 10th-most in history.
Here’s an updated look at every act that has charted 100-or-more songs on the Hot 100, which began on Aug. 4, 1958.
Most Career Billboard Hot 100 Hits:
298, Drake
212, Taylor Swift
207, Glee Cast
185, Lil Wayne
167, Future
141, Kanye West
136, Lil Baby
132, Nicki Minaj
114, Chris Brown
111, Travis Scott
109, Elvis Presley
106, Lil Uzi Vert
105, Justin Bieber
105, Jay-Z
103, YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Of Scott’s 111 songs to chart on the Hot 100, 52 have reached the top 40, six have peaked in the top 10, and four have hit No. 1: “Sicko Mode” (in 2018; it includes uncredited vocals from Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk), “Highest in the Room” (2019), “The Scotts,” with Kid Cudi (2020), and “Franchise,” featuring Young Thug and M.I.A. (2020).
Before Scott, the last artist to gain entrance to the Hot 100’s 100 hits club was Lil Uzi Vert, last month. Before that, YoungBoy Never Broke Again reached the milestone in May, and, fittingly, became the youngest artist to ever achieve the feat, at age 23.
Presley, whose career predates the Hot 100’s launch, became the first artist to tally 100 total hits. He scored his 100th in May 1975 with “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”
As for who might be next in line to join the elite club after Scott, The Weeknd is currently at 96 Hot 100-charted songs, followed by Eminem (95), Young Thug (92), James Brown (91), Lil Durk (87), 21 Savage (85), Beyoncé (82), Juice WRLD (79) and Gunna (77).
While it’s rare for artists to chart triple-digit entries on the Hot 100, it’s become a more regular occurrence since the ranking began including streaming figures (which make up the chart’s data mix with radio airplay and sales). As such, certain artists have been able to chart a high number of songs on the Hot 100 in recent years after releasing high-profile albums. The model contrasts with prior decades, when acts generally promoted one single at a time in the physical-only marketplace and on radio. That shift in consumption helps explain why artists have been able to chart many songs over short spans in recent years.
On the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Aug. 5), Ryan Gosling scored his first appearance, as “I’m Just Ken,” from the new Barbie movie, in which he stars with Margot Robbie, debuted at No. 87.
Notably, the song isn’t Gosling’s first foray into music. He charted once before, with “City of Stars,” from his 2016 film La La Land. His solo version spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Jazz Digital Song Sales chart, while a mix with co-star Emma Stone reached No. 8 on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under ranking.
But before that, Gosling broke through at age 13 as a member of The Disney Channel’s The All-New Mickey Mouse Club revival, which ran for seven seasons (1989-94). He starred in the show’s final two seasons, performing song and dance numbers alongside several future Billboard hitmakers.
In total, four separate iterations of the Mickey Mouse show franchise have aired. The original series, The Mickey Mouse Club, aired on ABC in 1955-59, followed by The New Mickey Mouse Club (syndicated; 1977-79), The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (The Disney Channel; 1989-94) and Club Mickey Mouse (Facebook, Instagram; 2017-18).
Of every Mouseketeer over the show’s four iterations, spanning over 60 years, 15 of have charted songs on the Hot 100. Gosling now becomes the 15th.
Here’s a look at every cast member from every edition of the series to chart a song on the Hot 100, listed chronologically from when they first reached the ranking.
(Honorable mention to Rhona Bennett, who appeared on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1991-94 and is currently a member of En Vogue. She joined the R&B group in 2003, after it charted all 14 songs of its Hot 100 hits.)
Funicello, who starred in all four of the original show’s seasons (1955-59), charted 10 songs on the Hot 100, all in 1959-61. She performed, and charted, under the mononym Annette, or as Annette With the Afterbeats. Two of her hits reached the top 10: “Tall Paul” (No. 7, 1959) and “O Dio Mio” (No. 10, 1960). Another track, “Pineapple Princess,” peaked just outside the top 10, at No. 11.
Crawford, an original cast member who appeared in the show’s first season (1955-56), charted eight songs on the Hot 100, in 1961-64. One of those reached the top 10: “Cindy’s Birthday” (No. 8, 1962). In between his tenure on the show and debuting on the Hot 100, Crawford received a Primetime Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in 1959 for his work on The Rifleman.
Petersen, an original cast member in 1955-56, charted six songs on the Hot 100, all between 1962 and 1964. Of those, one reached the top 10: “My Dad” (No. 6, 1963).
All five members of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club charted on the Hot 100 together, as members of the early-’90s pop group The Party. They formed the quintet during their tenures on the show, and it earned four Hot 100 singles: “Summer Vacation” (No. 72, 1990), “I Found Love” (No. 79, 1990), “That’s Why” (No. 55, 1991) and “In My Dreams” (No. 34, 1992).
Chasez starred in the final four seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-94). He performed alongside his fellow ‘NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake in his final two seasons. ‘NSYNC charted 12 songs on the Hot 100, including six top 10s and one No. 1: “It’s Gonna Be Me,” for two weeks in 2000. He later charted two solo songs on the Hot 100: “Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love)” hit No. 35 in 2003 and “Some Girls (Dance With Women),” featuring Dirt McGirt, reached No. 88 in 2004. ‘NSYNC also tallied eight Grammy nominations.
Timberlake, who appeared in the sixth and seventh seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, has forged one of the most successful careers in modern pop music. Outside of *NSYNC’s previously mentioned achievements (all also with Timberlake in the lineup), as a solo act, he has charted 37 songs on the Hot 100 — including 19 top 10s and five No. 1s: “SexyBack” (for seven weeks in 2006), “My Love,” featuring T.I. (three, 2006), “What Goes Around…Comes Around” (one week, 2007), “Give It to Me,” with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado (two, 2007), and “Can’t Stop the Feeling! (one, 2016). Timberlake has won 10 Grammy Awards, plus four Primetime Emmy Awards. He also earned an Oscar nomination for best original song for co-writing “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
Spears performed in the final two seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club and has since gone onto have an historic pop career. Her first Hot 100-charting song, “…Baby One More Time,” spent two weeks at No. 1 in 1999, becoming her first of five leaders. She later dominated with “Womanizer” in 2008, “3” (2009), “Hold It Against Me” (2011) and “S&M,” with Rihanna (2011). In total, she has charted 36 songs, including, most recently, her 14th top 10: “Hold Me Closer,” with Elton John. Spears has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations, and one win: for best dance recording in 2005 for “Toxic.”
Similar to Spears — her castmate on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, alongside whom she performed in the show’s final two seasons — Xtina’s first Hot 100 entry hit No. 1. Breakthrough single “Genie in a Bottle” spent five weeks at the summit in 1999 and opened the door for four more leaders: “What a Girl Wants” (two weeks, 2000), “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” (four, 2000), “Lady Marmalade,” with Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk (five, 2001), and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” on which she’s featured (four, 2011). She has charted 30 songs on the Hot 100, and won five Grammy Awards, including best new artist in 2000 (in which she was up against Spears).
Morris appeared in the final four seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-94; with JC Chasez and Tony Lucca). He posted his lone Hot 100 appearance thanks to a collaboration with a fellow Club member: his and Timberlake’s “Hallelujah,” also featuring Charlie Sexton, reached No. 13 in 2010.
Lucca starred in the final four seasons of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-94). He has notched two entries on the Hot 100, thanks to his run as a contestant on NBC’s The Voice (when Aguilera was a coach, as she sat in one of the four chairs in 2011-16). In May 2012, his rootsy cover of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” reached No. 58, and his version of The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” with fellow coach Adam Levine (of Maroon 5) hit No. 68.
Gosling, like Aguilera, Spears and Timberlake, was on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in its final two seasons. He’s the latest cast member to achieve a Hot 100 hit, thanks to “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie, which he stars in with Margot Robbie. The song debuted at No. 87 on the Aug. 5, 2023-dated chart. Gosling has tallied two Academy Award nominations for best actor: for Half Nelson in 2007 and La La Land in 2017.
Lil Wayne talks about inspiring the next generation of rappers, how he discovers new talent with Young Money records, how he feels about AI, how he maintains the longevity of his legendary career, teases what his fans can expect from the ‘Carter VI” and more.
Lil Wayne
I am naturally, organically, amazing. I’m one of a kind. So actually, I would love to see that thing try to duplicate this motherf–ker.
Gail Mitchell
You had a great vantage point starting at 7, signed at 11, 12 you’re professional or you’ve seen a lot of changes so I was gonna ask you what’s been the biggest changes you’ve seen in the genre since you’ve been in it?
Lil Wayne
There was no such thing as social media when I was doing this, everything’s changed because of social media. So with that said, our genre of music is no different than everything.
Gail Mitchell.
One lesson learned that you still carry with you since you started?
Lil Wayne
That answer is always the same it’s never stop. Never stopping learning. Humble yourself. Humility goes a long way. And it will keep you learning and I try to get better and better and better and better and better and better and better. That’s always my hope. That’s my whatever rule something I’ve learned or lesson whatever as far as unforgettable moments, probably my first time grabbing the mic at a block party and breaking my fear in rapping the stuff that I had wrapped in the mirror for like thousands of hours that night before.
Gail Mitchell
Did you ever subscribe to the notion but hip hop is was only a young man’s game. That’s what they used to say back in the day.
Lil Wayne
No, because when I was growing up all the rappers Whoa, let me I guess I’m just not from that narrative was around because when I started people was way older than me. Everybody was older than me. So it was never a young man’s game I’ve always felt when I was a young man, I had to fight my way in.
Watch the full video above.
Michelle Buteau from Netflix’s ‘Survival of The Thickest’ plays Never Have I Ever.
Michelle Buteau
Hey everyone, I’m Michelle Buteau. And this is Never have I ever not with Mindy Kaling on Netflix. It’s just a game because someone went to Kinkos.
Producer:
FedEx Express, actually.
Michelle Buteau:
Oh, I’m so sorry FedEx Express, okay. Have I ever lied to get out of a speeding ticket? No, with this face. No. I always say I just started my period. And they just look at me silently like you did? Works every time.
Michelle Buteau
Have I ever dumped someone over text? No. I have never done that because I’m a responsible b*tch. And I feel like I can ghost somebody to their face.
Michelle Butueau
I have never paid for a comedy show and left because it was bad. But I have left comedy shows that I’ve been on. Because I’ll need to see that bullsh*t.
Producer:
Have you ever overdrafted a bank account?
Michelle Buteau:
What? How dare you? How dare you? I got top t*tty meat, back fat and I gotta balance a check. That’s not fair.
Michelle Buteau
Have I ever lied about my age? Never. I’m proud. 45 from the waist up 21 from the waist down. B*tch!
Michelle Butueau
Have I ever seen a ghost? Oh my god. I have no, say they want to invoke the spirit and shit and I gotta go home with it.
Michelle Butueau
Have I ever got skinny dipping? Yeah, but I call it plus size dipping. actually went to the beach. And then like, two weeks later, I had a pearl under my t*tty. There was sand under my boob. I didn’t know if you knew how it worked.
Michelle Butueau:
Have I become a member of the Mile High Club? I’m a size 18/20 I could barely get in the seat that I paid too much money for. Are you serious? I go into that bathroom and it’s like I’m breastfeeding everything in the bathroom anyways, so no, we could barely find the hole when I’m in a bed.
Lauren Spencer Smith reveals her favorite Canadian slang.
Lauren Spencer Smith
Hey, I’m Lauren Spencer Smith and these are my favorite Canadian slang.
My first Canadian slang is a Toque, which apparently are called like beanies, or toboggans in America. And that’s not what a toboggan is, but we call them toques The hats you wear in the winter.
The second thing is a Loonie. That’s what we call our dollar coin, which is not a dollar bill. Do you guys have $2 bills now? Just $1 bills, but we have a coin for $2 called a Toonie.
And the third one is a Canuck, which people think Canadians are called Canucks, but it’s actually a hockey team in Vancouver. And those are my favorite Canadian slangs.
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