Chart Beat
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Beyoncé ties-up Australia’s chart for a second week with Cowboy Carter (Columbia/Sony), while Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” makes its six weeks atop the national singles survey.
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The top debut on the latest ARIA Albums Chart belongs to U.S. rapper J.Cole, as his surprise-release mixtape Might Delete Later (Interscope/Universal) bows at No. 2. It’s the followup to 2021’s The Off-Season, which peaked No. 3, and 2018’s KOD, which went to No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.
The podium is completed by Ariana Grande’s former leader Eternal Sunshine (Universal), down 2-3 in its fifth week on the survey.
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Beloved Australian singer and songwriter Missy Higgins returns to the top 10 with her debut The Sound Of White (Eleven: A Music Company/Universal), boosted by the release of a 20th anniversary edition.
Originally issued in 2004, The Sound Of White reigned over the chart for seven non-consecutive weeks and went on to win album of the year at the 2005 ARIA Awards. Her next two LPs, 2007’s On A Clear Night and 2012’s The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle, also reached the chart zenith.
The Sound Of White returns at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, April 12, ahead of the release this September of a new album, The Second Act, which she has described as a “kind of sequel” to her debut.
Also making an impact on the latest chart is American singer and songwriter Conan Gray’s Found Heaven (Universal) at No. 10; U.S. retro psychedelic-lounge trio Khruangbin’s A La Sala (Dead Oceans/RKT), new at No. 14; and Melbourne metalcore group Alpha Wolf’s Half Living Things (CVA/Sony), which opens its account at No. 19.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (Warner Records) locks up top spot again, while the collection from which it is lifted, Fireworks & Rollerblades, arrives at No. 17 on the albums survey. Also, new release “Slow It Down” speeds 35-24 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Boone will visit Australia and New Zealand this September for a brief tour, produced by Frontier Touring, in support of his debut set.
Meanwhile, Irish singer and songwriter Hozier‘s “Too Sweet” (Columbia/Sony) improves 8-2, matching the peak of his signature song “Take Me To Church,” from 2013.
Finally, British-Cypriot producer Artemas is on the rise, as his U.K. hit “I Like The Way You Kiss Me” (10K/ADA) lifts 7-3 on the ARIA Chart, while his previous single “If U Think I’m Pretty” gains 64-37.
Enrique Iglesias is back on the top 10 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums chart as his 12th studio album, Final, Vol. 2, debuts at No. 6 on the April 13-dated ranking.
The album, released March 29, via Sony Music Latin, marks the global pop singer’s final album, as reported, and brings together a diverse display of collaborators and genres, flexing through his classic pop, reggae-pop, bachata, and even a pop English-language collab with country singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert.
Final, Vol. 2 starts at No. 6 on Latin Pop Albums with 3,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. during the March 29-April 4 tracking week, according to Luminate.
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Of Final, Vol. 2’s first-week sum, streaming activity provides 2,000 units, which equates to 2.47million official on-demand U.S. audio and video streams of the album’s songs. Traditional album sales contribute 1,000 units, with the remaining balance owed to a negligible amount of track-equivalent album units.
On Latin Pop Albums (as well as Top Latin Albums) one unit equals to one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
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With Final, Vol. 2, Iglesias scores his 13th top 10 and first since the set’s prequel, Final (Vol. 1) which took him to a No. 2 debut in 2021. In total, nine out of those top 10 albums hit No. 1 on Latin Pop Albums, including the 33-week champ Sex and Love in 2014.The latter ties with Juan Gabriel’s Los Duo 2 for the sixth-most weeks atop Latin Pop Albums since the tally launched in 1985.
Elsewhere, Final, Vol. 2 opens at No. 47 on Top Latin Albums, his 13th career entry there.
Final, Vol. 2 was preceded by three songs across Billboard’s charts, starting with the bachata “Así Es La Vida,” with Maria Becerra, which topped Tropical Airplay for eight consecutive weeks and earned Iglesias a first champ since “Bailando” in 2014.
Further, with “Fría,” with Youtuel, Iglesias earned his highest start on Latin Pop Airplay, with a No. 5 peak (March 16-dated ranking), since “Me Pasé,” featuring Farruko, for one week on top in 2021.
Lastly, thanks to “Space In My Heart,” Iglesias’ first team-up with country singer-songwriter, Miranda Lambert, the Spaniard re-enters the Adult Top 40 Airplay tally after 10 years, where the song peaked at No. 21 in March 2024.
For the better part of the last decade, Joe Keery has most of his time bouncing between worlds. In the more literal sense, he’s navigated to-and-from the Upside Down as Steve Harrington, the bad boy-turned-fan favorite, on Netflix’s Stranger Things. But outside of the hit series, he has balanced his growing prominence as an actor — recently starring in the dramedy Marmalade with Camila Morrone, and in the latest season of Fargo alongside Jon Hamm as his sheriff character’s son — with Djo, his ever-burgeoning solo music project.
For part of his 20s, Keery attended college and lived in Chicago, also cutting his teeth in the indie scene as part of psych-rock band Post Animal. Though he ultimately departed the band as Stranger Things caused too many constraints with his schedule, Keery continued to create music during his free time, ultimately leading to the birth of Djo. Debut album Twenty Twenty arrived in 2019 as an independent release through AWAL; three years later, he utilized the same route for his follow-up set, Decide.
Funnily enough, Keery, 31, is now returning to Chicago in a way — as his dreamy, synth-pop single “End of Beginning” from Decide has transformed into a viral hit in recent months. Reminiscent of new wave hits from the likes of Crowded House and INXS (Keery has noted influence from Annie Lennox’s “No More ‘I Love You’s’” as well), listeners have gravitated in particular to the lyrics in its chorus: “And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it/ Another version of me, I was in it/ I wave goodbye to the end of beginning.”
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“Your late 20s are a wild time,” he tells Billboard. “The gist of it is being sad that I wasn’t more appreciative for something in the moment — longing for something that’s over, but also being happy that it happened.”
Since the song has gained new legs in 2024, it has reached a No. 11 high on the Billboard Hot 100 (Djo’s first career entry on the chart), while also hitting No. 1 on Hot Alternative Songs and continuing to gain momentum at alternative radio. It could be just the start of a breakout year for Keery’s musical project, as the multi-hyphenate notes he’s finishing a third album and hopes to go on a proper tour, which he still is yet to do in support of Decide, due to his acting career.
In the meantime, he’s also currently filming the final season of Stranger Things. At the time of our Sunday morning call, he’s enjoying a day off by moseying through a number of yard sales in Atlanta, one of which he says has happily yielded a vintage edition of The Settlers of Catan for just $5. Below, Keery tells Billboard about the makings of “End of Beginning,” compares successes as an actor versus successes as a musician, previews what to expect in the year ahead and more.
How did the song come together? Was the demo you posted on social media the first time that you worked on it?
No, I had had the idea. At the time [in fall 2021], I was living in Los Angeles. I had punched the chords out really quick and had an idea for a melody. That demo that I posted was me arranging and starting to figure out what the other parts might be. Then, I banged it out in the studio, at least the instrumental, pretty much in a day, with [co-producer] Adam Thein and [Slow Pulp drummer] Teddy Mathews. We all tracked the bare bones of it — guitar, bass and drums — and filled it in from there.
It was a swift process for this one. The album [2022’s Decide] is full of extra production in a lot of places, so I was just feeling like, “Let’s just make the simplest thing we could possibly make.” Verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus and be done with it. That was the goal: Try to work fast and not overcomplicate things, and that was what we did. The lyrics came a fair bit later. I really like to take the songs outside and walk around; that’s generally when I’m best at thinking up lyrics.
When did you know the song was a finished product?
You never really get to that point. I feel that, personally. There are always things that I wish we could go back and redo or improve this or improve that. But we gave ourselves until the end of March, and then at that point, we thought, “Okay, let’s just set a date for ourselves and then be done with it.”
“End of Beginning” has plenty of accolades to go around: your first Hot 100 entry, No. 1 on Hot Alternative Songs, RIAA certified gold and many more. Do those sort of accomplishments resonate with you?
It has never even been on my radar, to be honest with you, with the style of music that I’m making. It’s really cool, but I almost feel like I don’t have the perspective to really appreciate what’s going on in a way. I think that in time, it’ll come to me even more. They’re cool milestones to hit, but at the end of the day, the greatest thing is being able to go into the studio and work.
Has the song’s meaning changed for you at all over time, or is still the same as when you created it in 2021?
I guess it does mean the same thing; I feel that I’m in a different place, though. Maybe I’ve slightly come to terms more with what I was feeling. I don’t know, your late 20s are kind of a wild time. I’m not a huge believer in astrology, but I do feel like there is something to the whole Saturn return thing.
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Are there conversations happening right now behind the scenes about pushing listeners back toward the rest of Decide or even debut album, Twenty Twenty, versus trying to strike while the iron is hot with new music?
I’m much more focused on new stuff than old stuff — and finishing the new stuff. But the song has opened up possibilities for some new ears to hear the music, and I’m looking forward to getting the new stuff out, because it has been something that I’ve been working on basically since Decide came out. I’m really trying to embrace the newness that has come along with entering my 30s and now living in a different city as well. I’m excited. I feel like it’s a little bit different. It’ll be fun to see what people think.
Do you find that the location where you’re living and recording impacts the creation of the music itself?
One hundred percent, yes I do. I also think that the process of how you go about recording [impacts the music]. To me, it’s all about process over product and letting that process inform the music you’re making. I spent a lot of the last album starting making music on the computer, and I’m trying to take a different approach this time around.
Last time we talked, you told me how the sessions at The Sound Factory really inspired your affinity for in-studio collaboration. Does that still hold true?
Definitely. I have wanted my whole life to get into the studio. So, now to have a little bit more leeway under my belt, it was really cool to get into a professional environment. When you make music at home, you have all these tools, plug-ins and stuff that try to emulate real gear that exists out in the world. To be able to use some of that gear … I don’t know. Working at home is really cool because you can do it whenever, but to be able to go into a place to work feels really good. I really enjoyed that.
How does the song’s success affect your marketing strategy for this side of your career?
In the same way that we haven’t really been able to tour the music — a lot of that has been up to my schedule for shooting [Stranger Things] being all over the place — the same kind of thing with this marketing stuff. You spend all this time making the music, and you do want to market it properly. Now that the word is out a little bit more on the project, and it’s a little less of a secret between the people who know, a change in the way that the project is marketed could be cool. I’m still figuring it out, really.
You’ve talked ad nauseam about your disguises and making an effort to make Djo something of a separate entity than your acting career. When you’re having a big moment like this, is there any part of you that wants to maximize the audience by making the connection between Joe Keery and Djo abundantly clear for people?
Not sure about that. Maybe, but I’m not trying to shove it down anyone’s throat — it’s pretty easy to tell when things are like that. The fact that this all popped off naturally and happened on its own is best possible scenario for me. I’m really happy that it has happened this way. It’s cool for me because all the rules have seemed to changed a little bit.
How do you mean the rules have changed?
It just feels like the project is in a different place. Before, it was this thing that was sort of my own little secret. And now, I don’t know. It makes me think how I could treat it differently. I always am really interested when people use marketing to their advantage — that’s what I tried to last time with the disguise and the name. Maybe there’s a new way to embrace that, and I guess it’s time for me to figure out what that is.
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Is there a difference in how you feel receiving praise for something you’ve acted in versus something you’ve created as a musician?
Definitely. [Being] a performer as opposed to a writer is really the distinction to be made that I’ve found rewarding. That’s kind of the point of art, in general: To share something that people take in as their own and repurpose it for their own life. To be on the receiving end of that is really cool. Obviously, I’ve had some amazing experiences being on [Stranger Things]. The fan base is incredible. To see people wearing your character as a Halloween costume, that’s unbelievable. But [music] does scratch a different itch, and it’s really rewarding. I just feel super lucky.
Are there are any plans for a tour?
Yeah, I’ve got a fair amount of work ahead of me on the show, but the plan would be to do that sooner rather than later. And hopefully to do it right.
I would imagine it’ll be extremely cool to see all the fans in person that either found Decide immediately or as a result of this more recent wave. Looking at numbers on a page can probably only yield so much of a dopamine rush.
Yeah, it’s funny. You release something, and in this day in age — and in my situation — I kind of just released it, and then it was like, “Okay.” I didn’t really play any shows, it just came out, and that was sort of it. So, for me, it still exists as this tiny little thing. This kind of reaction to this song has been a little bit of a wake up call like, “Oh, people are actually listening to this! This exists in the world.”
To see that physically embodied at the shows would be overwhelming I’m sure, but extremely exciting. Live performance is what got me into being an artist in the first place. Just doing plays and enjoying the energy you get in a live setting. I definitely am itching to get out there. At the end of the day, it’s really about the live experience.
Are there lessons that you’ve learned from creating Decide, Twenty Twenty or anything else in the past few years that are influencing how you’re making music now?
This song has taught me the lesson of specificity being something that is important. Also, becoming less interested in something sounding perfect or polished, and more interested in trying to capture something that is a one-of-a-kind thing, whether it’s a sound or a vocal take or a drum sound. I think those are the things that stand the test of time and make things sound different. I’m chasing that more recently.
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 30, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” continues to rule the Billboard Japan Hot 100, now in its 11th straight week atop the chart released April 10.
The MASHLE season 2 opener is still at No. 1 for downloads, streaming, video views and karaoke. Downloads for the hip-hop hit are down by about 4.5% from the week before at 17,122 units, while streaming is steady at 22,797,748 streams (down 1%). Total points are at 18,799, approximately 2.2 times ahead of the track at No. 2.
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ILLIT’s “Magnetic” jumps 8-3 after debuting on the chart last week. Streaming for the new HYBE group’s single is up by about 48.6% with 10,866,450 streams, moving 7-3 for the metric, and downloads are up by about 15.4% with 2,277 units, moving 23-19. Radio moves 84-24, and the total for the song is at 6,953 points this week.
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“Tokimeki UNITED” by Real Idol Project bows at No. 5. This track by the project featuring 250 men in 38 idol groups hailing from various management companies was created as the theme song for the Real Idol Festival event being held this month at the Tokyo Garden Theater. Released Apr. 2, the CD sold 150,764 copies in its first week, topping the sales metric by a wide margin.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from April 1 to 7, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Sexyy Red gets her first top 10 in a lead role on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as “Get It Sexyy” walks 15-6 on the list dated April 13. The track, which continues to gain in streaming and radio airplay, likewise brings the rising rapper to a similar milestone on the Billboard Hot 100, where it jumps 28-20 to become her first lead top 20 hit.
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For the tracking week of March 29-April 4 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, which combines streaming, radio airplay and sales data for its results, “Get It Sexyy,” released on Open Shift/gamma, pulled 17.2 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate, up 11% from the prior week. The growth pushes “Sexyy” 11-5 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart and secures it the Greatest Gainer honor, given weekly to the song with the largest streaming increase. While streaming expands, the song’s sales suffer a slight hit: “Sexyy” sold 1,000 downloads in the same period, down 12% from the previous tracking period, and falls 6-9 on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales.
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“Sexyy” gives its creator her second top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and first as a lead artist. She previously reached the tier with her and SZA’s featured roles on Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy,” which peaked at No. 4 in November. As a lead, Sexyy Red’s prior best was the No. 17 result for “SkeeYee” in September.
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In the radio realm, “Sexyy” registered 6 million in total airplay audience in the same period, a 61% surge from the prior week’s 3.7 million count. “Sexyy” finds its strongest welcome on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay format, where it rockets 32-23 on the radio ranking, with a 58% increase in plays for the latest tracking week compared with the previous one. The rhythmic format also contributes significant activity, as “Sexyy” debuts at No. 35 on Rhythmic Airplay through a 110% weekly spin improvement.
By reaching No. 6, “Sexyy” bests the peak position of its prominent sample track, Hurricane Chris’ “Halle Berry (She Fine),” featuring Supastaar, which achieved a No. 7 best in 2009.
Elsewhere, “Sexyy” rebounds 13-5 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and likewise rallies eight spots on the all-genre Hot 100 (28-20), for new peaks on each ranking.
Alek Olsen’s “Someday I’ll Get It” is No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart for a third straight week, followed by G-Eazy’s “Lady Killers II” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet” on the ranking dated April 13.
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The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity April 1-7. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50. As previously noted, titles that are part of Universal Music Group’s catalog are currently unavailable on TikTok.
Olsen’s “Someday I’ll Get It” enjoys its third week at No. 1 on the chart in as many weeks. It’s the third song to lead the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for at least three weeks since the list’s September 2023 inception, following Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” (six weeks, October-December 2023) and Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” (four weeks, January-February).
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The track’s prime usage on TikTok was initially a trend remembering deceased pets – one that continues to this day, though other recent clips find creators reminiscing about other losses they’ve experienced.
The March 29-April 4 Billboard multimetric chart tracking week sees “Someday I’ll Get It” lift 20-18 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list via 3.3 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.
G-Eazy’s “Lady Killers II,” billed as the Christoph Andersson remix, lifts to No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, a new peak. Released as a follow-up to G-Eazy’s original from the 2012 album Must Be Nice, the tune premiered March 17 after the then-unreleased remix took off on TikTok via a trend in which users turn off a light illuminating them in sync with the “Make her disappear just like poof/ Then she’s gone” lyric, usually on a beach.
“Lady Killers II” concurrently enjoys a 12% boost in official U.S. streams to 4.8 million March 29-April 4. It appears at No. 49 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (after debuting at No. 47 the previous week) and also bows on the Billboard Global 200 at No. 147.
Hozier’s “Too Sweet” leaps to No. 3 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 from No. 31, also a new peak. After being teased on TikTok prior to its March 22 wide release, the song has vaulted up the chart via multiple viral usages on the platform, mostly lip-synching, covers and being attached to unrelated popular videos.
The song rises 10% in official U.S. streams toward the latest Billboard charts to a new high of 31.8 million, good enough for No. 2 on the all-format Streaming Songs list. It also ascends 5-4 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100.
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival,” a previous two-week No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, dips 2-4, and Sexyy Red’s “Get It Sexyy” rounds out the top five.
Bakar’s “Hell N Back” returns to the chart at No. 6, its first time among the ranking since January. Originally released in 2019, the song has enjoyed multiple viral moments throughout its lifetime, both on TikTok and via its placement in the trailer for the 2023 Disney/Pixar film Elemental. This time, the track’s Summer Walker remix is driving the attention, with Walker’s vocals soundtracking a trend in which users talk about their significant others to the verse “I was over love, I had enough, then I found you.”
“Hell N Back” returns to the Alternative Streaming Songs chart at No. 15 with 4.6 million official U.S. streams, a boost of 69%.
Artemas’ “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” is one of three songs, like Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” to reach the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top 10 for the first time, jumping 19-7. It’s joined by BossMan Dlow’s “Talk My Shit,” which debuts at No. 9. The latter, which was released as part of the rapper’s March 15 album Mr Beat the Road, is rising thanks to a dance trend using the song, while the former was teased on TikTok prior to release and is mostly being used in lip-synch clips.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.
J-Hope notches his second top 10-charting effort on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated April 13), as Hope On the Street, Vol. 1 bows at No. 2. He previously visited the region with Jack in the Box in 2023, which debuted and peaked at No. 2.
Hope On the Street, Vol. 1 is one of five debuting titles in the top 10 on the latest chart, as it’s joined by Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter (No. 1), Sum 41’s Heaven :X: Hell (No. 5), Aaron Lewis’ The Hill (No. 5) and mgk and Trippie Redd’s collaborative set Genre: Sadboy (No. 7).
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.
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Cowboy Carter gallops onto the chart with 168,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending April 4, according to Luminate. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 125,500 (63,500 on CD and 62,000 on vinyl) and digital download sales comprise 42,500.
Cowboy Carter’s sales were supported by the album’s availability across a number of configurations, released on March 29. It was issued as standard 19-track edition on vinyl (across four variants, each pressed on different color vinyl [black, red, white and blue] with alternate back cover artwork), a CD with an additional song (“Flamenco”) and a digital download and streaming edition (both in clean and explicit versions, with three bonus songs “Flamenco,” “Spaghetti” and “Ya Ya,” plus two interludes). The CD edition was issued in four variants (each with different back cover art). Two of the variants were sold as stand-alone items, while two of the CDs were only available inside two deluxe boxed sets (each with a different branded T-shirt contained inside a branded box). All physical configurations of the album were sold exclusively through Beyoncé’s official webstore, while the digital download and streaming editions were widely available.
The vinyl edition of Cowboy Carter sold 62,000 copies (across its four variants combined), marking Beyoncé’s biggest week on vinyl and the largest week for any vinyl album in 2024.
J-Hope’s Hope On the Street, Vol. 1 debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales, scoring the second top 10-charting effort for the singer. The set bows with a little over 44,000 copies sold in the tracking week. Of that sum, a little more than 38,000 were driven by CD sales. The album’s sales were supported by eight collectible CD editions (including exclusive variants for Target, Walmart and the Weverse store), all containing branded paper merchandise.
A pair of former No. 1s from Taylor Swift follow J-Hope, as Lover rises 7-3 (10,000; up 8%) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) bumps 5-4 (9,000; down 6%).
Sum 41’s Heaven :X: Hell starts at No. 5 with a little over 7,000 sold, marking the fifth top 10-charting set and highest-charting effort ever for the act. The set’s sales were bolstered by its availability across eight vinyl variants, which combined to sell nearly 4,000 copies – the act’s best sales week on vinyl.
Aaron Lewis’ The Hill debuts at No. 6 with just under 7,000 sold – mostly from sales of its digital download album (about 4,000). It was also available as a standard CD and in two vinyl variants. The Hill is the fifth top 10-charting set for Lewis.
The first collaborative album from mgk and Trippie Redd, Genre: Sadboy, starts at No. 7 with nearly 7,000 sold (largely from its digital download). It’s the seventh top 10 for mgk and sixth for Trippie Redd.
Closing out the top 10 on Top Album Sales are three former chart-toppers: Swift’s Folklore (13-8 with nearly 6,500; down less than 1%), Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine (10-9 with just over 6,000; down 19%) and TWICE’s With YOU-th (12-10 with 6,000; down 15%).
In the week ending April 4, there were 1.343 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 11.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 997,000 (up 11.8%) and digital albums comprised 346,000 (up 12.1%).
There were 518,000 CD albums sold in the week ending April 4 (up 21.4% week-over-week) and 475,000 vinyl albums sold (up 2.9%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 6.173 million (down 32% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 6.425 million (down 48.9%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 16.883 million (down 36.9% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 12.661 million (down 41.9%) and digital album sales total 4.221 million (down 15.1%).
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: Solar eclipses, earthquakes and general bad weather lead to gains for related jams, while one of Olivia Rodrigo’s opening acts has her long-awaited streaming breakthrough and a fake artist has a real viral mashup.
Total Eclipse of the Streams: Sun & Moon Songs by Pink Floyd, Soundgarden, Bonnie Tyler & More All Way Up
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If you’re reading this week’s Trending Up newsletter, hopefully that means you took protective measures when checking out the total solar eclipse that swept up North America this Monday (Apr. 8) and managed to avoid any permanent ocular damage. And even if you did mess up your eyes, chances are your ears still managed to catch some thematically related jams on Monday, with numerous such songs exploding in streams as they found their way to eclipse soundtracks and party playlists nationwide.
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Among the most notable beneficiaries from the eclipse enhancement on Monday were LEN’s “Steal My Sunshine” (up 194% in on-demand U.S. audio streams from the previous Monday to 169,000, according to Lumiante), Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” (up a whopping 1472% to 541,000), Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” (up 48% to 559,000), The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” (up 58% to 656,000 – but actually sorta inappropriate for the occasion, no?), Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” (up 87% to 772,000) and Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” (up 123% to 806,000). And for those jokers on social media during the event, don’t worry, everyone saw your Clipse puns – as evidenced by the rap duo’s catalog also being up 21% to 66,000 for the day.
But of course, the mother of all eclipse jams proved once again to be Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 Billboard Hot 100-topper “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which was not only up 652% to nearly 1.3 million streams on Monday, but also sold nearly 4,000 digital copies on the day, an increase of 3,992%. It probably won’t be quite enough for “Total Eclipse” to make a Hot 100 return, but if the eclipse bump doesn’t totally pass by the end of this tracking week, it may end up making an appearance on some sales and/or streaming charts next week.
And that’s not all the freak phenomenon-related listening folks were doing in America the past week, of course – plenty of tri-state folks affected by the 4.8 magnitude earthquake on Friday (Apr. 5) were motivated to process their feelings on the core-shaking incident via streams of songs like Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move” (up 25% from the previous Friday to 65,000) and Tyler, the Creator’s “Earfquake” (up 13% to 459,000). Together, it was all enough to music listeners feeling downright apocalyptic – at least, as indicated by the Monday bump for R.E.M.’s end-times classic “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (up 66% to 100,000). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Chappell Roan Goes “Supernova” Following Opening Run on Guts World Tour
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One of the biggest tours of 2024 so far has been Olivia Rodrigo’s debut global arena trek, which recently wrapped its opening North American leg with four dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden before Rodrigo heads overseas for the first time. While ‘90s alt-rock vets The Breeders were tabbed by Rodrigo for leading those NY shows, her dates prior to that point were opened by rising alt-pop phenom Chappell Roan – a longtime cult favorite among critics and pop obsessives who had yet to cross over to the kind of mainstream stardom the ambitious pop singer-songwriter was clearly aiming for.
Following her stretch of dates on the Guts World Tour, that last part may now be on its way. Roan’s streams have increased throughout her weeks touring with Rodrigo – also helped by a well-received performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk series on Mar. 21 – with her attention-grabbing opening set exposing new audiences to the songs from her acclaimed 2023 debut full-length The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess (released on Amusement Records, the imprint launched by regular Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro). The album has even made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 as a result, debuting at No. 127 on the chart dated Apr. 6.
Over the past six weeks, total official on-demand U.S. streams of Roan’s catalog have spiked from 3.7 million to nearly 11.7 million, according to Luminate – a gain of 215% – with her Princess single “Red Wine Supernova” leading the way with over 2.3 million streams for the tracking week ending Apr. 4. It would seem like perfect timing for Roan to release a new single – and she did just that on Friday (Apr. 5) with “Good Luck, Babe!,” which is off to the hottest start for any Roan single to date, racking up 2.5 million official on-demand streams in its first three days of release and climbing into the top 30 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart.
It would seem like Roan may be on track to be graduating from opener to headliner status in due time – and certainly, pop watchers will have their eyes on the numbers for fellow acclaimed up-and-comers Remi Wolf and PinkPantheress as they take their turns kicking off the remaining Guts World Tour dates from here. – AU
Lay Bankz Nets Another Streaming Smash With Bubbly “Tell Ur Girlfriend”
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Just a few months after Lay Bankz first landed on Trending Up with “Ick” — which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard TikTok Top 50 (chart dated Oct. 7, 2023) — the Artist Partner-signed Philly rapper is back with a new joint titled “Tell Ur Girlfriend.”
Another bouncy dance track, “Tell Ur Girlfriend” pulls from ’90s R&B and synthpop, marking a departure from the stronger Jersey club bent of “Ick.” While the latter benefited from organic virality, “Tell Ur Girlfriend” is making impressive gains with a formal promotional campaign. During the period of March 29-April 4, “Tell Ur Girlfriend” collected over 2.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That’s an eye-popping 587% increase from three weeks prior (March 8-14) when it pulled just under 425,000 streams.
“Tell Ur Girlfriend” owes a significant chunk of its traction to a dance trend sparked by a post shared by user @laurieluna13 on March 19. Choreographed by @who.is.ga6y, the trend has sparked tens of thousands of clips, including one from Lay Bankz herself on April 8, which earned 1.3 million views. The official “Tell Ur Girlfriend” sound boasts 10,200 posts, while a pair of unofficial sounds houses an additional 36,8000 and 81,700 posts, respectively. On YouTube, the official “Tell Ur Girlfriend” audio clip has pulled in nearly a million hits in less than two months, and a live “From the Block” performance video brought in nearly a quarter million views in a month.
Looks like Lay Bankz is two for two. – KYLE DENIS
“Aurbley” Bags Surprise Hit With Help From Tay-K, Jay-Z & Anime
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The thing about Aurbley is that Aurbley doesn’t actually seem to exist. There isn’t much available on the internet about the artist, save for an auto-generated YouTube topic page that houses just three audio clips and a Spotify bio that links to an Instagram account that’s been inactive since Nov. 2022.
During the period of March 29-April 4, Aurbley’s “Get Wid Lemonade” garnered just over 990,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, marking a 123% increase from the 445,000 streams it pulled the week prior (March 22-28).
“Get Wid Lemonade” is an unofficial mashup of Tay-K’s “Lemonade” and Jay-Z‘s “Who You Wit II.” Kyle Davis, a Brooklyn DJ and producer, created the mashup in 2022, and uploaded it to streaming services on March 24, 2024, under the title “Lemonade.” Somewhat inexplicably, a version of the mashup titled “Get Wid Lemonade” was uploaded to Spotify by Aurbley on Feb. 15. This version – which has already earned over three million streams on the platform – cuts the Derrick Rose buzzer-beater intro from Davis’ upload.
Of course, years of built-in hype and grassroots love for the mashup have resulted in its major streaming gains since landing on Spotify, but the TikTok anime community has also embraced the mashup. Just one post using “Get Wid Lemonade” to soundtrack a fancam of Samurai Champloo garnered over 1.3 million views and nearly 290,000 likes.
Although it’s been several years since Jay-Z’s last album and Tay-K is currently awaiting trial in his ongoing murder case, both rappers have a surprise hit on their hands thanks to the dexterity of their catalogs and the bright mind of a Dallas-bred DJ. – KD
Q&A: Matt McLernon, Senior Manager of YouTube Artist Partnerships, on What’s Trending Up in His World
What’s new this year with YouTube’s Coachella livestream?
In 2023, Coachella on YouTube took a huge step forward expanding to six livestream feeds across both weekends. With so many more shows to see, it created a new opportunity for us to help people easily find who’s playing right now and show people even more of the festival. This year, we are taking another big step forward where you can watch up to 4 stages live at the same time in multiview on your TV.
The dedicated feeds for each stage also give Coachella the chance to use stage turnovers to keep fans entertained with custom artist content, archived performances and more.
How will the YouTube team be coordinating behind-the-scenes content in the middle of the chaos?
With this as our 12th Coachella livestream we have a healthy momentum going into navigating the backstage energy, but every year brings its own magic. This time we have a content studio both weekends where artists film for Shorts and socials, Highsnobiety curating a portrait studio, a lounge to catch some shade between sets and of course our surprise popsicle drops. We’ll also be hosting incredible content creators onsite to give fans on YouTube all kinds of looks into the experience. Come through if you’re at the festival!
Festivals have taken varying approaches to livestreaming over the past decade. What is it about the Coachella brand that elevates interest and viewership each year?
Coachella’s decision to film the festival from the very beginning was as progressive of a move as their choice to start livestreaming on YouTube in 2011. Now we work year-round to keep that progressive vibe going with new features, more music and of course supporting the special moments.
Coachella has a super clear vision and is always open to considering new ideas, which is why our partnership is so unique. We’re also focused on the long game, so we have new things launching this year that have been in the works for a while and already have ideas in development for next year.
This adds up to Coachella translating their world-class festival experience into a world-class livestream, and the world keeps showing up for it. Global viewership now accounts for 65% of the live tune in, and Coachella keeps building on that by booking some of the most exciting artists from more and more countries.
Fill in the blank: one non-headliner that you think will draw a ton of livestream interest is ____.
Peso Pluma. Last year, during his first appearance at the festival, Peso Pluma was also the very first artist to come through our YouTube content studio. It was a sign of things to come for him as he became the #1 most viewed artist on YouTube in 2023, and another example of the expanding global presence of Coachella. I’ll either see you there or on the livestream. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Season’s Gainings: ‘Sometimes It Snows in April’ – Or It’s Just Rainy and Miserable
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Happens every March: The clouds part, the sun comes out, the temperature rises and those of us in medium-climate areas declare winter to be at long last dead and buried. Then, the clouds return, the temperatures plummet, the skies dump all sorts of messiness on us and we realize how foolishly premature we were in our celebrations (again). In such cases, at least we have the perfect song to turn to on streaming: Prince’s eternally wise “Sometimes It Snows in April,” which soundtracked the lousy first few days of the month for many fans, as it collected 22,000 official on-demand U.S. streams from Apr. 2-5 – a gain of 119% from the prior four-day period, according to Luminate. – AU
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 Hot 100 dated April 20), things get tight at the top for Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar, with lingering threats from Benson Boone and Hozier and a new direct response from J. Cole.
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Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar, “Like That” (Boominati/Freebandz/Republic/Epic): After spending its first two weeks at No. 1, the excitement has finally started to settle down a bit over Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar’s fiery hip-hop missive. The song is still a top performer, however, remaining in the top two on both Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart and the Apple Music real-time listings. And the song saw revived interest over the weekend in the headlines, at least, as rap superstar J. Cole memorably responded to the song’s apparent callout as part of his own Might Delete Later mixtape, before expressing his regrets over doing so during the headlining set at his Dreamville Festival that Sunday.
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“Like That” is also starting to be embraced by radio, as the song leaps 34-21 as the Greatest Gainer on this week’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart (up 77% in audience), according to Luminate, and is trending towards a debut on the all-format Radio Songs chart. The big question for “Like That” may be on how it is able to maintain its performance beyond next week, however, as the sequel to its We Don’t Trust You parent set – aptly titled We Still Don’t Trust You – is scheduled to drop this Friday from Future and Metro Boomin, with who knows what kind of additional surprises in store. Will “Like That” remain top of mind for streamers and radio programmers through that release, or will its heat be swiped by an even newer, more exciting single?
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Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (Night Street/Warner): Will it ever be Benson Boone’s turn at the top? “Beautiful Things” has been hanging around the Hot 100’s top tier for nearly a couple months now but has still yet to get past the runner-up spot – lingering at No. 3 this week behind “Like That” and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter-revived “Texas Hold ‘Em.” Next week could provide another real chance for the singer-songwriter, though, as “Things” should see a boost from Boone’s full-length debut Fireworks & Rollerblades, which of course features the breakout hit within its 15-song tracklist.
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In the meantime, “Beautiful Things” continues to grow at radio, as the song jumps 9-4 on Radio Songs, rising another 15% in all-format airplay audience this week. It’s currently the only song to rank in the top five of Radio Songs, Digital Song Sales and Streaming Songs, so with the expected consumption lift from Fireworks (and the start of his accompanying headlining tour), it may be now or never for Boone’s breakout smash to finally grab the Hot 100’s top spot.
Hozier, “Too Sweet” (Rubyworks/Columbia): Few would’ve gone into 2024 expecting to involve Hozier in any discussions about the top of the Hot 100 – before last year’s comeback, he hadn’t even appeared on the chart since his No. 2-peaking “Take Me to Church” in 2015. But with 2023’s well-received Unreal Unearth and subsequent tour and an ever-growing TikTok presence, the Irish singer-songwriter is once again proving to be a real factor on the chart: He debuted three songs last week from the new Unheard EP, led by the No. 5-entering “Too Sweet.”
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“Sweet” climbs one spot to No. 4 this week, even outpacing any of the new debuts from Beyoncé’s blockbuster set Cowboy Carter. And there’s every indication that the song isn’t going to stop there: It’s climbed past “Like That” to the top of the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart, while also starting to find its footing on radio, trending towards debuts on the Adult Alternative Airplay, Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay charts. If its trajectory continues, it might not be more than a week or two away from matching Hozier’s previous “Church” peak of No. 2 – if not even one-upping that enduring smash.
J. Cole, “7 Minute Drill” (Interscope/ICLG): While “Like That” has multiple challengers for Hot 100 supremacy next week, only one of them can claim to be a direct answer to it: J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” was written in response to Kendrick Lamar’s tough-talking verse on the No. 1 hit, with Cole taking aim at Lamar’s catalog spottiness and general lack of recent productivity. It didn’t quite detonate on impact the way “Like That” did, with many pundits taking issue with its more measured, perhaps less-committed tone, but it still shot up to near the top of the DSPs’ daily charts and remained the most-debated song on social media all weekend.
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Complicating the chances for “7 Minute Drill” to achieve maximum chart impact is Cole himself walking the song back a couple days later, apologizing at his Dreamville headlining set for letting himself be dragged into the muck of the beef and announcing his intention to remove the song from streaming services. As of Wednesday morning (April 10) “Drill” was still available for listening on DSPs, but Cole’s repudiation of a song that many fans were already somewhat conflicted about may have cost it any chance of being a real threat to “Like That” on the chart next week anyway.
On top of scoring her eighth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé also reigns on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters, Hot 100 Producers, Country Songwriters and Country Producers charts (dated April 13).
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Beyoncé rules the Hot 100 lists thanks to 23 total songs on the Billboard Hot 100. She’s credited as a co-writer on 20 and a co-producer on 21.
Here’s a look at all of Beyoncé’s songs on the latest Hot 100:
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No. 2, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
No. 6, “II Most Wanted,” with Miley Cyrus
No. 7, “Jolene”
No. 16, “Levii’s Jeans,” with Post Malone
No. 26, “Bodyguard”
No. 27, “Blackbiird,” with Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts
No. 30, “Ameriican Requiem”
No. 31, “Spaghettii,” with Linda Martell & Shaboozey
No. 37, “Daughter”
No. 38, “16 Carriages”
No. 39, “Ya Ya”
No. 42, “Protector,” with Rumi Carter
No. 44, “Tyrant,” with Dolly Parton
No. 51, “Riiverdance”
No. 52, “Alliigator Tears”
No. 54, “My Rose”
No. 59, “Just for Fun,” with Willie Jones
No. 60, “II Hands II Heaven”
No. 61, “Sweet * Honey * Buckiin’,” with Shaboozey
No. 63, “Flamenco”
No. 65, “Desert Eagle”
No. 70, “Oh Louisiana”
No. 87, “Amen”
Beyoncé is credited as a songwriter on all songs above except “Jolene,” “Blackbiird” and “Oh Louisiana” and as a producer on all except “Bodyguard” and “Tyrant.” Despite recording her version with added lyrics, Parton is credited as the sole songwriter of “Jolene.” John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote “Blackbiird” (as “Blackbird,” released by The Beatles in 1968) and Chuck Berry penned “Oh Louisiana.”
For “Bodyguard,” Raphael Saadiq is credited as the sole producer and David Doman (aka D.A. Got That Dope) and Dave Hamelin produced “Tyrant.”
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While Beyoncé tops Hot 100 Songwriters for the first time, she returns to No. 1 on Hot 100 Producers, which she first led for a week in 2022 upon the chart start of her album Renaissance.
Beyoncé also leads both Country Songwriters and Country Producers for the first time, thanks to 16 entries on Hot Country Songs. She co-wrote 13 of those tracks and co-produced 15.
Further, Beyoncé returns to No. 1 for a third total week atop the Billboard Artist 100.
Here’s a look at every U.S.-based Billboard chart dated April 13 on which Beyoncé is No. 1:
Billboard Artist 100
Hot 100 Songwriters
Hot 100 Producers
Country Songwriters
Country Producers
Billboard 200, Cowboy Carter
Top Streaming Albums, Cowboy Carter
Top Album Sales, Cowboy Carter
Top Current Album Sales, Cowboy Carter
Top Country Albums, Cowboy Carter
Americana/Folk Albums, Cowboy Carter
Tastemakers Albums, Cowboy Carter
Vinyl Albums, Cowboy Carter
Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Renaissance
Digital Song Sales, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Hot Country Songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Country Digital Song Sales, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Country Streaming Songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Billboard’s weekly Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings). Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic in June 2019. Alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022.