Chart Beat
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Papercuts, the first greatest-hits compilation from Linkin Park, debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart dated April 27.
The set bows with 44,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in its first week (April 12-18), according to Luminate. The majority (23,000) is from streaming equivalent units, with 21,000 in album sales.
Linkin Park now boasts a record-rewriting eight No. 1s on Top Hard Rock Albums, which began in 2007. The band pulls into sole possession of the most rulers in the tally’s history, passing Five Finger Death Punch, Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam; perhaps not to be outdone for long, Pearl Jam’s latest LP, Dark Matter, was released April 19 and will challenge for the top spot on the May 4 ranking.
Most No. 1s, Hard Rock Albums:8, Linkin Park7, Five Finger Death Punch7, Foo Fighters7, Pearl Jam6, Disturbed6, Korn
Linkin Park last led Top Hard Rock Albums with Meteora, following its 20th-anniversary reissue last April.
Papercuts also starts at No. 2 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums. As previously reported, it debuts at No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard 200, where it’s the band’s 11th top 10 and first since One More Light debuted at No. 1 in 2017.
The 20-song Papercuts includes singles from the majority of the band’s studio albums, as well as the previously unreleased “Friendly Fire” and outtake “QWERTY,” from the group’s 2006 EP LP Underground 6, a fan club-only collection. The new release’s “Lost” was released in 2023 on the 20th anniversary reissue of Meteora.
“QWERTY” concurrently debuts at No. 5 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart with 1.1 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 sold April 12-18. “Friendly Fire,” released Feb. 23, rises 42-37 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (after it debuted at its No. 13 high on the March 9 ranking) with 6.5 million radio audience impressions, 806,000 streams and 1,000 sold. It spent two weeks atop Rock & Alternative Airplay and one week at No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay.
Linkin Park’s music rose 15% to 42.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams April 12-18, boosted by interest in not only the newly released “QWERTY” but also the band’s multi-album string of hits cataloged on Papercuts. The most-streamed Linkin Park song of the week was “Numb,” which accrued 4.7 million streams, up 9%. It’s just a tick ahead of “In the End,” also at 4.7 million streams rounded off, a boost of 10%. “One Step Closer” was third with 3 million streams, a 15% jump.
In all, the 20 songs on Papercuts encompass 10 of Linkin Park’s 12 career No. 1s on Alternative Airplay. The tracklist omits only three-week ruler “Lying From You” (2004) and four-frame leader “The Catalyst” (2010). As for Mainstream Rock Airplay, Papercuts features all but two of the band’s 10 No. 1s, both from 2014’s The Hunting Party: “Guilty All the Same” (featuring Rakim) and “Until It’s Gone.”
One More Light remains Linkin Park’s last studio album. Frontman Chester Bennington died two months after its May 19, 2017, release.
Singer-songwriter Forrest Frank hits the top five with his maiden entry on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart.
The Houston native and Baylor University graduate’s four-song EP God Is Good enters the April 27-dated chart at No. 5. Released April 12, it earned 4,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 18, according to Luminate.
The 28-year-old — who is also in the “Sunday Best” duo Surfaces — initially received traction by posting videos on social media. He boasts over 500,000 followers on TikTok and 2 million on Instagram.
The EP’s “Good Day,” Frank’s first single promoted to Christian radio, climbs 23-19 for a new high on the Christian Airplay chart, up 10% to 1.4 million audience impressions. On Christian AC Airplay, it lifts 29-24 (up 17% in plays).
On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Christian Songs survey, “Good Day” ranks at No. 3, after hitting No. 2 in March. It drew 2.7 million streams (up 8%) and sold 1,000, as it tops Christian Digital Song Sales for an 11th week.
Also on Hot Christian Songs, Frank’s “Up!,” with Connor Price, ranks at No. 10, after reaching No. 8, marking Frank’s other top 10 to date. (The song is not on God Is Good.)
Concurrently, the three additional tracks on God Is Good chart on Hot Christian Songs: the title track, with Caleb Gordon, a debut at No. 19; “Always” (new No. 22 high); and “Low Key” (new No. 36 best).
Frank is currently working on an LP expected to be released this year.
Armstrong’s Third No. 1
Jor’Dan Armstrong earns his third total and consecutive Gospel Airplay chart-topper with “You.”
The Atlanta-based artist, originally from Baton Rouge, La., previously led with his duet with Erica Campbell, “You,” for three weeks in December 2022 and “My God” for two frames beginning December 2021.
Armstrong logged his first of five Gospel Airplay entries in 2014 as featured on Uncle Reece’s “I Can’t Help Myself,” which hit No. 21 that June. He followed with “So Much Luv,” which reached No. 19 in October 2017.
Welcome to Billboard Pro‘s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: Artists and songs mentioned across the 31 tracks of Taylor Swift’s new double album see spikes, while Bossman Dlow and Tyla both score follow-up hits, Kate Bush is killing it on TikTok again and more.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Makes Charlie Puth a (Slightly) Bigger Artist
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Along with meditations on past relationships featuring thinly veiled lyrical subjects, Taylor Swift’s blockbuster new album The Tortured Poets Department includes multiple tips of the cap to other recording artists, with Swift either expressing admiration or remembering a pivotal musical exchange. The most memorable name-check arrives on the title track, on which Swift sings, “You smoked, then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.”
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As The Tortured Poets Department barrels its way toward the biggest debut sales of the year — and one of the biggest of all time — it’s worth wondering: is Swift’s Puth shout-out actually about to make the “Attention” singer a bigger artist? Yes and no, based on the early streaming returns. In the first three days of release of The Tortured Poets Department (Apr. 19-21), Puth’s catalog earned 3.26 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That’s an increase from the previous weekend’s streaming total for Puth, but only slightly: from Apr. 12-14, his catalog earned 3.13 million streams, meaning that Swift’s stamp of approval bumped his streams a little under 4%.
While Puth was already scoring seven-figure streams prior to the lyrical reference, two artists that also received nods on the album saw their smaller streaming totals skyrocket. The veteran Philly pop-punk group The Starting Line enjoyed a hefty catalog bump after getting shouted out on “The Black Dog,” with 234,000 streams from Friday to Sunday representing a 55% uptick from the previous weekend (151,000 streams).
And when a Swift song starts out with the lines “Drowning in the Blue Nile / He sent me ‘Downtown Lights’ / I hadn’t heard it in a while,” as “Guilty as Sin?” does, chances are that streams for “Downtown Lights” are going to explode. Indeed, the Scottish pop-rock group the Blue Nile’s 1989 single “The Downtown Lights” rose from 3,000 streams from Apr. 12-15 to over 48,000 streams from Apr. 19-22 — a whopping 1,400% increase from one four-day tracking period to the next. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Bossman Dlow Tees Up Latest Hit With “Talk My Shit”
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Just under two months after “Get In With Me” reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 (chart dated March 9) – becoming the Florida rapper’s first entry on Billboard’s all-genre singles chart – Bossman Dlow is already gearing up for another viral hit.
Produced by DJ Jam305 and housed on Mr. Beat the Road, which reached No. 20 on the Billboard 200 (chart dated March 30), “Talk My Shit” follows a similar blueprint to “Get In With Me,” riding high on Dlow’s off-kilter flow, South Florida twang and a slightly ominous trap beat. According to Luminate, “Talk My Shit” earned 5.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of April 12-18. That marks a jaw-dropping 434% increase in streaming activity from three weeks earlier (March 22-28), when the song collected just over one million streams.
The explosive growth of “Talk My Shit” is due, in large part, to the cheeky TikTok dance trend choreographed to the chorus, specifically beginning with the line “Wrist piece on bling-blaow, neck piece on blizzard, bae.” The dance essentially converts the second half of the chorus into an instructional song through which users act out the lyrics – e.g., pointing to their wrist for “wrist piece on bling-blaow” — through popular dance moves. On TikTok, the official “Talk My Shit” sound boasts a whopping 466,000 posts, with several clips surpassing one million likes, including one featuring Paige Bueckers of the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. On YouTube, the official “Talk My Shit” audio clip has earned nearly three million hits in about a month and half, far outpacing the other Mr. Beat the Road audio clips.
With its streams rising this quickly, “Talk My Shit” could gift Bossman Dlow his third Hot 100 entry of the year. – KYLE DENIS
Get Ready for Another Viral Kate Bush Moment
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Kate Bush has been one of the patron saints of TikTok and virality in general since at least 2022, when her “Running Up That Hill” became a resurrected hit – initially boosted by a big Stranger Things synch – thanks largely to the app. The last couple months, she’s had another revived single to her credit, albeit one probably significantly less familiar even to stateside fans who were around for “Hill” on the first go-round: “Army Dreamers,” third single from Bush’s 1980 album Never for Ever.
While “Dreamers” was a top 20 hit in the U.K., it was likely a little too challenging for U.S. top 40 audiences of the time, with its austere waltz arrangement, anti-war lyrics and piercing Bush vocal. Nonetheless, clips of the song – and in particular, its war-themed music video, featuring the singer-songwriter running through the jungle in military fatigues and full makeup – have been racking up views by the millions the past couple months. As a result, weekly official on-demand U.S. streams of the song have risen from under 80,000 for the tracking week ending Mar. 14 to nearly 1.1 million the week ending Apr. 18, according to Luminate – a cumulative gain of 1291%.
“Dreamers” still has a ways to grow before it’s a threat to run back up the charts the way Bush’s signature hit did a couple years ago. Then again, we do hear there’s a new season of Stranger Things coming our way shortly… – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Tyla Seeks to Slay Second Consecutive Summer With Steamy “Jump” Single
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Last summer, “Water” catapulted Tyla into global pop stardom. This year, she’s looking to maintain that momentum with “Jump,” a breakout hit from her recently released self-titled debut studio album.
Alongside Grammy-nominated rapper Gunna and Jamaican dancehall star Skillibeng, Tyla spends “Jump” seductively cooing of the singularity of her sex appeal. Despite the album campaign focusing on “Truth or Dare” and “ART,” “Jump” has received considerable traction across both streaming and socials. During the period of April 12-18, “Jump” received 2.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, continuing the steady growth it has displayed for the past month. For the past four works, “Jump” has remained over two million streams, increasing by an average of nearly 10% per week.
On TikTok, the official “Jump” audio boasts over 326,000 posts, bolstered, in large part, by a viral dance trend created by Zoe Baptiste (@zoebaptistee). Her infectious original choreography garnered 25 million views, sparking the song’s initial virality. Of course, many listeners noted “Jump” as an album highlight upon the release of Tyla due to its myriad earworm elements.
Just as the dance trend started to taper off, a second trend emerged, playing on the “They never had a pretty girl from Joburg / See me now, and that’s what they prefer” lines that opens Tyla’s verse. From replacing “Joburg” with their actual place of origin to gushing over the idiosyncratic way the South African singer pronounces “prefer,” TikTok users cannot get enough of the beginning of “Jump.” One user, Kelsey Maggott (@kelseymaggott), has gone viral for creating nearly 50 videos replacing “Joburg” with other countries and cities users have requested in her comment section. Even Kehlani has gotten in on the action.
With streams steadily gaining and a music video and live performances still on the table, be sure to keep an eye on “Jump” as the 2024 Song of the Summer race begins to heat up.
Q&A: Jim Selby, Chief Publishing Officer at Concord, on What’s Trending Up in His World
In late 2022, Concord purchased the publishing and recorded music catalog of Phil Collins and Genesis. Can you speak to the motivation behind the purchase?
I think it speaks for itself. Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks are incredible talents who wrote some of the most influential songs, both together and individually. We have a long-standing relationship working with them since the days of Imagem – they’ve entrusted us with their work, and we’re honored to continue that.
We’ve already seen multiple revivals of “In the Air Tonight” across popular culture, including for Monday Night Football last fall. Why do you think the song has resonated with multiple generations of listeners?
It’s just iconic. I think everyone has a core memory that they can attach to that song. The combination of the power drumline with Phil’s vocals is so masterful and demands your attention, which I think is why it resonates so well when set to the screen. “In The Air Tonight” is so recognizably 80’s but it’s also dynamic. Phil even has a country radio No.1 single – with Kane Brown’s interpolation [“I Can Feel It”], it was exciting to see such a different use. It’s incredible how artists continue to be inspired by the song and get creative with it.
– What can we expect in the near future for “In the Air Tonight” and Collins’ catalog in general?
We expect more. New generations continue to discover Phil and his music and it’s exciting to see that connection. No Jacket Required turns 40 next year, maybe we’ll figure out what “Sussudio” means – get it added to the dictionary.
– Fill in the blank: a personal favorite Collins/Genesis song that deserves its own revival is ______.
Besides “In The Air Tonight,” of course, I think “I Can’t Dance” or “Follow You Follow Me” – these songs are both great but very different. They really show the versatility of Genesis and how the group adapted through the decades. – J.L.
Season’s Gainings: Death, Taxes and The Beatles
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Tax day was upon us two Mondays ago, and if this is the first you’re hearing about it, it might be time to close out of this article and start drafting an email to the IRS. If you were on it, though, then maybe you were also one of the thousands that chose a particular Beatles deep cut for your soundtrack while kicking a percentage of your annual income up to Uncle Sam. The Fab Four’s Revolver-opening “Taxman” – inspired by an eye-popping 95% supertax the band was suddenly facing following the 1966 re-election of U.K. prime minister Harold Wilson (as in “ha ha, Mr. Wilson”) – received nearly 24,000 official on-demand U.S. streams on April 15, according to Luminate, a 31% gain from the day before. – A.U.
21 Savage banks his seventh total – and second non-collaborative – No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Redrum” charges from No. 4 to lead the list dated April 27. The single reigns thanks to a 13% surge in plays that made “Redrum” the most played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the tracking week of April 12-18, according to Luminate.
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“Redrum” — which references the film The Shining — takes the summit from Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me.” The previous champ crowned the chart for 10 weeks in three separate stints: It first ruled for six consecutive weeks in January-February, another two-week stretch in March and the last pair of weeks in April.
WHZT-FM, in Greenville, S.C., leads the charge among all reporting stations for the most “Redrum” plays in the week, while WKHT-FM in Knoxville, Tenn., ranks second. The largest weekly increase, meanwhile, belongs to KHTN-FM, based in Modesto, Calif.
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As “Redrum” advances, 21 Savage earns his seventh Rhythmic Airplay No. 1 and second of 2024, after he and Baby Tate featured on JID’s “Surround Sound,” a one-week champ in March. Here’s a summary of his seven leaders:
Song Title, Artist (if other than 21 Savage), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Rockstar,” Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, six, Nov. 11, 2017
“A Lot,” two, April 20, 2019
“Jimmy Cooks,” Drake featuring 21 Savage, one, Oct. 8, 2022
“Rich Flex,” with Drake, two, Jan. 28, 2023
“Creepin’,” with Metro Boomin & The Weeknd, three, Feb. 11, 2023
“Surround Sound,” JID featuring 21 Savage & Baby Tate, one, March 9, 2024
“Redrum,” one (to date), April 27, 2024
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With the Rhythmic Airplay crown secured, “Redrum” next looks to conquer Rap Airplay, where it ascends 3-2 and adds 3% in audience impressions. It also makes progress on Pop Airplay, holding at No. 37 for a second straight week, but with a 9% improvement in plays for the week at mainstream top-40 stations. Gains at the rhythmic and pop formats spur its 28-27 bump on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, where it added 3% in total audience to reach 20.7 million in the tracking week.
“Redrum” appears on 21 Savage’s latest studio album, American Dream. The set, released in January, topped the all-genre Billboard 200 for two weeks and posted three weeks at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming the rapper’s fourth consecutive leader on each list.
04/24/2024
Hazbin Hotel is unique among the longest-running No. 1 soundtracks for two reasons.
04/24/2024
Blink and you might’ve missed it: Dua Lipa’s “Illusion” inched onto Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart a week ago at No. 42, from one day of activity.
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A week later, the song soars to No. 1 on the April 27-dated list, as Lipa makes history at Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
“Illusion” vaults to the summit with 9.1 million official streams, 7.4 million in radio airplay audience and 2,000 sold in the United States April 12-18 following its April 11 release, according to Luminate.
With the coronation, Lipa adds her third Hot Dance/Electronic Songs No. 1 – tying Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga for the most among women since the survey began in 2013. (The only acts with more overall: The Chainsmokers, with six, and Calvin Harris and Zedd, each with four; Marshmello also has three.)
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A new No. 1 song and matching the top mark among women would be enough reason to celebrate for Lipa, but that isn’t the end of her milestone week on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. Her own “Houdini,” which reigned for 16 of the last 22 weeks, follows at No. 2, while “Training Season” sits snug at No. 3, making her the first woman to claim the top three in a single week. Among all acts, she scores just the third such triple, following The Chainsmokers, with “Something Just Like This ” (with Coldplay), “Paris,” and “Closer” (featuring Halsey; on the March 18, 2017-dated chart) and Drake, with “Falling Back,” “Texts Go Green” and “Massive” (July 2, 2022).
If Lipa’s trio of tracks can hold in the top three next week, she’ll become the first artist to achieve this feat twice.
Plus, rocketing 41 positions in just one week, “Illusion” achieves the biggest leap to No. 1 in the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart’s 11-year history, nearly doubling the 22-1 jump for Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” in 2020. Further, “Illusion” ties Calvin Harris’ “Slide,” featuring Frank Ocean and Migos, for the chart’s biggest one-week surge overall (48-7; March 18, 2017).
“Illusion,” “Houdini” and “Training Season” are all slated to appear on Radical Optimism, Lipa’s forthcoming third studio album, due out May 3.
Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, crowning the March 2024 survey after a synch in the new Netflix series 3 Body Problem.
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Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of March 2024.
“Video Games” bows following the premiere of 3 Body Problem’s full first season on Netflix on March 21. The song is heard in the show’s sixth episode.
In March 2024, “Video Games” accumulated 8.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads, according to Luminate. The song was Del Rey’s breakout track and her first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting and peaking at No. 91 in January 2012.
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“Video Games” leads a trio of songs from 3 Body Problem onto Top TV Songs, giving the new series an admirable coronation on the first chart for which it’s eligible. Echo & the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” follows at No. 4 (1.5 million streams), and The Rolling Stones’ “Moonlight Mile” also makes the tally at No. 8 (310,000 streams). “The Killing Moon” is from the series premiere, while “Moonlight Mile” can be heard in episode two.
The top non-3 Body Problem song, meanwhile, belongs to Resident Alien, following its usage of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle.” The track bows at No. 2 thanks to 4.2 million streams and 1,000 downloads.
Resident Alien, a Syfy series that premiered its third season in February, boasted “Cat’s in the Cradle” in the seventh episode of the season, which premiered March 27. It was a No. 1 hit for Chapin on the Hot 100 in 1974, his only ruler.
See the full chart, also featuring music from Young Royals, Invincible, Will Trent and The Gentlemen, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Show (Network)
“Video Games,” Lana Del Rey, 3 Body Problem (Netflix)
“Cat’s in the Cradle,” Harry Chapin, Resident Alien (Syfy)
“Arcade,” Duncan Laurence, Young Royals (Netflix)
“The Killing Moon,” Echo & the Bunnymen, 3 Body Problem (Netflix)
“Dream Team,” Aidan Knight, Invincible (Amazon Prime Video)
“Breaking Point,” Leon Thomas, Will Trent (ABC)
“Count Your Blessings,” Mattiel, The Gentlemen (Netflix)
“Moonlight Mile,” The Rolling Stones, 3 Body Problem (Netflix)
“Genesis,” Justice, The Gentlemen (Netflix)
“Baby Drummer,” Bad Nerves, Invincible (Amazon Prime Video)
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated May 4), Taylor Swift zooms past her own already-historic career-best marks with the first week of her much-anticipated Tortured Poets Department album.
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Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (Republic): Apologies to grunge greats Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter, which should have a very nice first-week sales debut – but this week, it’s simply all about Taylor Swift. Her 16-track, much-hyped new album’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was expanded to 31 tracks mere hours after its initial release with the set’s subsequent Anthology Edition, is set to put up some absolutely stratospheric first-week numbers – zooming past the totals even for her recent Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) releases, which already but her in a class by herself this decade as far as debut tallies go.
Billboard has reported on her Poets numbers throughout the week, most recently updating them yesterday (April 23) for the days of April 19-22. Through those first four days of release, the album had racked up 1.6 million traditional album sales, including a modern-era record 800,000 of that in vinyl, according to initial reports to Luminate – both easily the highest such first-week numbers for the decade, passing Swift’s prior marks of 1.359 million and 693,000 for 1989 (TV). It’s also already the fifth-highest single-week sales mark for an album of the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). The album is available for purchase in six vinyl variants, including editions named after album cuts “The Albatross,” “The Bolter,” “The Manuscript” and “The Black Dog,” which all also have CD versions available for sale on her webstore.
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Additionally, the 31 total tracks have amassed a combined 602.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams, which passes the 549.3 million streams posted by Midnights upon its October 2022 debut for the highest single-week mark for an album by a female artist. The only other albums that have posted higher single-week streaming marks are both by Drake — Scorpion posted 745.92 million in 2018 with its 25 tracks, and Certified Lover Boy totaled 743.67 million in 2021 with its 21 – both of which Swift would seem to be on pace to pass, with three days still to be accounted for in the Poets tracking week.
All in all, Tortured Poets Department is already up to 2.1 million equivalent album units in its first week of release, making it only the second album since the Billboard 200 began measuring by equivalent album units in December 2014 to clear the two million mark in a single week. The other, of course, is Adele’s 25, which posted a still-staggering 3.482 million first-week units (including 3.378 million in straight sales) upon its debut in November 2015. (*NSYNC’s No Strings Attached also earned 2.416 million in straight sales during its 2000 debut week, obviously long before Billboard calculations accounted for streaming.)
With sales and streams both slowing for Poets as the week goes on – a very normal arc for a blockbuster album release – it’s unlikely that the album will approach either of those Adele numbers. The album would have to average around 460,000 units a day over the final three days of the tracking week to challenge Adele’s 3.482 million total, and it added around 200,000 additional units on the 22nd. You can never count out a last-minute extra edition or two as far as Taylor Swift is concerned, and 2.5 million is definitely in range for her, but failing some extraordinary surge, it seems like the three-million mark will likely remain Adele-only territory for at least one more Swift album.
Swift should also remain in a class by herself when it comes to space occupied at the top of the Hot 100, however. For the second album of all-new material in a row – following Midnights in 2022 – Swift is a threat to lock down each of the top 10 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 with debuting tracks from the set, and this time her uninterrupted dominance could stretch into the teens as well, according to early data from Luminate. (Swift charting all 31 songs from Anthology is also certainly a possibility.)
The main threats to her top-dozen Hot 100 supremacy are of course Hozier’s “Too Sweet” and Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That,” which occupy the top two spots on the chart this week (dated April 27), and Republic labelmate Drake’s own new release “Push Ups,” which debuted on streaming and at digital retailers on Friday after being available via internet leaks for the prior week. “Push Ups” is unlikely to get the streaming edge on any of Taylor’s top dozen Poets tracks, but its sales advantage – it remains in the top 20 on the iTunes real time chart, behind just eight of the Poets cuts – may be enough for it to get in the way if it continues through the end of the week.
Usher and H.E.R. combine forces to rule Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart as the pair’s “Risk It All” collaboration rises from the runner-up rank to reach No. 1 on the list dated April 27. The new champ adds to both artists’ already-stacked ledger on the chart, where they have each accumulated several No. 1s in recent years.
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“Risk It All” appears on the soundtrack to the 2023 musical film adaptation of The Color Purple. The duet tops Adult R&B Airplay after a 7% increase in plays that made it the most played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the tracking week of April 12-18, according to Luminate.
The new leader is also the first soundtrack single to top Adult R&B Airplay since Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up,” which accompanied Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, reigned for four weeks from December 2022 – January 2023.
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With “Risk It All,” Usher achieves his ninth No. 1 Adult R&B Airplay and ties Charlie Wilson for the most among male artists since the chart launched in 1993. The two R&B superstars share third place on the overall leaderboard: Alicia Keys ranks first, with 14 champs, while Toni Braxton is second, with 11.
Here’s a review of Usher’s chart-toppers on Adult R&B Airplay:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Usher), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Here I Stand,” seven, Dec. 6, 2008
“Papers,” three, Jan. 2, 2010
“There Goes My Baby,” one, July 31, 2010
“Climax,” one, July 7, 2012
“Don’t Waste My Time,” featuring Ella Mai, two, June 13, 2020
“Bad Habits,” one, Dec. 5, 2020
“Glu,” two, June 24, 2023
“Good Good,” with Summer Walker & 21 Savage, six, Nov. 18, 2023
“Risk It All,” with H.E.R., one (to date), April 27, 2024
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For H.E.R., “Risk It All” becomes the hitmaker’s eighth No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay. To recap her collection:
Song Title, Artist (if other than H.E.R.), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Focus,” one, Oct. 6, 2018
“Best Part,” Daniel Caesar featuring H.E.R., four, Oct. 20, 2018
“Slow Down,” with Skip Marley, three, May 23, 2020
“Make the Most,” Lonr. featuring H.E.R., one, Oct. 24, 2020
“Gotta Move On,” Toni Braxton featuring H.E.R., Feb. 20, 2021
“Damage,” eight, June 26, 2021
“Come Through,” featuring Chris Brown, one, Jan. 1, 2022
“Risk It All,” with Usher, one (to date), April 27, 2024
In addition to performing on the single, H.E.R., whose real name is Gabrielle Wilson, produced the track and co-wrote it with Jimmy Napes.
Elsewhere, “Risk It All” rises 23-22, after having reached No. 15, on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the duet improved 12% to 6.2 million audience impressions in the April 12-18 period. While momentum is gaining on the adult R&B side, “Risk It All” has wrapped its stay on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. It peaked at No. 22 on the list in February, and last appeared on the chart dated March 9.
Radio gains help “Risk It All” return to the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart, which blends airplay results with streaming and sales data for its ranks. The single re-enters at No. 23 for its 17th week on the list, after having claimed a No. 17 high in February.
Luminate, which provides data to the Billboard charts, has signed a new partnership that will enable it to report more direct U.S. independent music retail data than ever before, the company announced Wednesday (April 24).
Under the partnership — which took effect Friday (April 19) and was jointly reached by the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, Alliance of Independent Media Stores and Department of Record Stores (who work together as Record Store Day) along with the Music Business Association — Luminate will collect independent physical music sales from StreetPulse, a music industry data provider that receives daily sales metrics directly from retailers. The data, which encompasses sales of CDs, vinyl and cassettes, will be incorporated into the physical sales data Luminate already collects directly from other stores.
To better recognize the impact of music sales at indie retail, Billboard has rebranded its Tastemaker Albums chart to Indie Store Album Sales. The weekly tally reflects top-selling titles at indie stores in the United States.
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The news follows Luminate’s controversial decision last year to retire the weighted data modeling it previously used to measure physical sales in the indie retail sector in an effort to increase the quality and accuracy of its sales metrics.
“I’d like to thank the coalitions, the retail stores, and Luminate for taking this issue seriously and working together to reach a deal,” said Portia Sabin, president of the Music Business Association, in a statement.
“Sometimes it takes a pinch to bring people together, and the industry response to the unweighting of physical data was perhaps necessary to highlight the importance of that data to our industry,” Sabin added. “I’d also like to thank so many people at the labels, distributors, and even individual artists for speaking out and helping us to reach an agreement, because whenever our industry comes together to achieve a common goal it is inspiring for our future.”
“This new partnership is the most significant development in the independent music retail industry since the creation of Record Store Day,” said Andrea Paschal of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores. “Our goal has always been to ensure comprehensive physical sales reporting, and bringing in data from StreetPulse, which collects actual sales from more U.S. indie retailers than ever before, will ensure that every purchase is cataloged and counted correctly.”
“Luminate is always working towards the goal of providing quality and accurate data to the industry,” added Chris Muratore, director of partnerships at Luminate. “We always strive to be a good partner to those across the many sectors of the music and entertainment industries, and we are happy to announce this new partnership in alignment with that mission and our values.”
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, who served as Record Store Day ambassador in 2019, said in his own statement, “We truly love …the [independent] shops. They’ve always meant the world to us. When it gets to this time when you can help out the community and the community record stores, it’s a no brainer.”
Upon hearing about the new agreement, Pearl Jam also put out a statement from the full band: “For nearly as long as we’ve been a band, there’d been a system that worked. We’re just honored to play a part… so that our beloved record stores can again have a real seat at the table.”
“Comprehensive sales figures are crucial for everyone: for artists and their label partners, for Luminate to provide accurate marketplace reporting, and for independent retailers who rightly own and control their data and the subsequent insights,” said Hannah Carlen, marketing director at Secretly Group. “Physical retail remains strong and growing, and this deal will ensure that reality is reflected in sales and total consumption figures.”
Note: Luminate is an independently operated company owned by PME TopCo, a PMC subsidiary and joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge. Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.