Chart Beat
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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. This week: Late rock legends Tom Petty and Shane McGowan see huge gains for a pair of late-’80s favorites, a turn-of-the-century U.K. pop smash gets some U.S. love for a cheeky film synch and much more.
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‘GTA’ Trailer Leads to ‘Long’ Season for Tom Petty on Streaming
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1989’s Full Moon Fever album was a career apex for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Petty. His first LP recorded without usual backing band the Heartbreakers, the set was certified 5x platinum by the RIAA in the U.S., and spawned the massive radio and MTV hits “Free Fallin’,” “I Won’t Back Down” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” But it’s one of the album’s deeper cuts that’s lighting up streaming services this week: the hi-octane synth-rocker “Love Is a Long Road.”
The song is taking off due to its use in the recently released trailer for the highly anticipated upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, which set viewership records in its first 24 hours of release on YouTube. Though “Long Road” was only drawing between 4,000-5,000 daily official on-demand U.S. streams before over the weekend, that number was up to 78,000 on Monday (Dec. 4) – when the trailer first leaked on social media – and rocketed to 376,000 on Tuesday after the trailer’s proper release, according to preliminary numbers from Luminate: a gain of 8,421% from the prior Sunday. (The song also sold nearly 1,000 digital copies over those two days, after a negligible number the days before.)
Those numbers may only continue to increase as the GTA trailer spreads around the internet, possibly making “Long Road” a contender on some of Billboard’s rock charts next week. It wouldn’t be the first time the song made a chart impact – back in 1989, it made it to No. 7 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, despite never being released as an A-side in the U.S. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Fans Mourn the Late Shane MacGowan by Reliving a “Fairytale of New York”
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Last Thursday (Nov. 30), Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan died from pneumonia after a monthslong ICU stint earlier this year. In the days since his passing — which painfully coincided with the beginning of December, a.k.a. the height of Christmas music season – fans have rallied around the Pogues’ holiday-themed Kirsty MacColl duet “Fairytale of New York” to soundtrack their collective mourning.
On TikTok, the four official “Fairytale” sounds have a combined total of just over 10,000 posts, but that only tells half of the story. In the wake of MacGowan’s passing, several celebrity covers of the song have garnered renewed traction on TikTok – including clips of Ed Sheeran, Saoirse Ronan, and, of course, Travis Kelce, who recently earned his first Billboard chart-topper with “Fairytale of Philadelphia,” a spoof on the Pogues’ original featuring his brother Jason Kelce. The general Christmas spirit has also bolstered the song’s circulation on the app, and a microtrend of British creators highlighting the different regional uses of the F-slur between the U.S. and U.K. did the same.
According to Luminate, “Fairytale of New York” earned just under 400,000 on-demand U.S. streams the day MacGowan passed (Nov. 30), marking a 227.2% increase in streams from the day prior. During the first four days of this tracking week (Nov. 30-Dec. 3), “Fairytale” logged 1.19 million streams, a 146.1% increase from around 483,000 streams during the period of Nov. 26-29.
“Fairytale of New York” served as a single from the Pogues’ 1988 If I Should Fall From Grace With God album, which became their highest-peaking entry on the Billboard 200 (No. 88). Although none of their songs have entered the Billboard Hot 100, “Fairytale” — which is a certified Christmas classic in the U.K. — recently reached a new peak of No. 16 on Holiday Digital Song Sales (chart dated Dec. 9, 2023). Should streams continue to remain up, “Fairytale” might get within striking distance of becoming the Celtic band’s very first Hot 100 hit. – KYLE DENIS
Barry Keoghan’s Cheeky NSFW Saltburn Scene Revives a Sophie Ellis-Bextor Classic on Streaming
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Barry Keoghan’s lengthy full-frontal scene in Emerald Fennell’s much-discussed Saltburn has become an inescapable part of day-to-day social media discourse, but it’s not just the swoon-worthy actor people are fawning over. In the scene – which features the nude Oscar nominee dancing through a seemingly empty mansion – Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” booms in the background, making it a prime selection for TikTok’s latest musical obsession.
On TikTok, the most popular “Murder on the Dancefloor” sound – which originated from a June post by a Sophie Ellis-Bextor fan-page – has garnered over 99,600 posts, with the official sounds boasting a combined 2,109 posts. The vast majority of recent “Murder on the Dancefloor” posts are split between users lauding the song’s greatness outside of Saltburn and users expressing admiration and shock for Keoghan’s daring performance. “Just found out in this scene of [Saltburn], Barry Keoghan didn’t use a prosthetic,” reads one cheeky caption, while another proclaims, “Barry Keoghan twirling around a mansion naked lives rent free in my head.”
According to Luminate, “Murder” earned over 670,000 on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Nov. 24-30. That marks an enormous 362.3% increase from just under 145,000 streams during the period of Nov. 17-23. From Dec. 1-4, “Murder” had already pulled 547,000 streams, signaling an even faster rate of growth than the week prior.
“Murder on the Dancefloor” may have never reached the Hot 100, but the track did top out at No. 9 on Dance Singles Sales back in 2002. The song fared much better in Ellis-Bextor’s home of the U.K., reaching No. 2 in late 2001. With Saltburn headed to on-demand streaming later this month, “Murder on the Dancefloor” has plenty of room to keep growing. – KD
‘Little Life,’ Big Streams: Cordelia Scores Celebratory TikTok Hit
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“I think I like this little life.” So goes a refrain that’s becoming increasingly popular on TikTok, with users soundtracking sentimental moments alongside friends, as well as glistening nature shots, with “Little Life” – the gentle and emotionally arresting song by independent singer-songwriter Cordelia. “Little Life” was released as the final song on Cordelia’s four-track Caramel EP in October, and since then, the song has steadily ballooned in weekly streams to become a potential breakthrough for the rising artist.
During the week ending Nov. 9, “Little Life” earned 2,500 U.S. on-demand streams, according to Luminate; that number grew by a factor of 100 (265,000 weekly streams) by the week ending Nov. 30, and looks to keep swelling in December, as the song earned 216,000 streams in the first three days of the month. For her part, Cordelia is reveling in the TikTok explosion: “People are using my song ‘Little Life’ to soundtrack their own wonderful little lives,” she wrote last month. “It’s TOO CUTE.” – Jason Lipshutz
Q&A: Alex Tear, VP music programming at SiriusXM + Pandora, on What’s Trending Up in His World
What’s the number one trend that you think we’ll remember when we look back at 2023 in popular music?
The art and controversy of the sped-up single peaking at a new high. Although sped-up versions have been present since the 2000s, 2023 feels to have been a breakthrough year with mass appeal acceptance, charting, radio airplay and totally normalized consumption.
What was the year’s most surprising trend to you?
Music’s reset to innovate and push boundaries again vs. being predictable and formulaic. The growing mass acceptance and appetite to blur genre lines and era boundaries has allowed artists to really shine with strong audience reaction. The resurgence of retro-inspired pop that embraces the sounds of previous decades has also been very welcomed.
The charts are currently being dominated by holiday music, but do you think there are any songs from late 2023 that will carry over as big hits in early 2024?
I feel there are several that will continue to melt the snow, from Tate McRae with her new album Think Later, to Jack Harlow to Dua Lipa, and let’s keep our eye on Noah Kahan. Noah’s creeping momentum is poised to roll into 2024 with a presence.
Fill in the blank: the major artist I’m hoping has a big 2024 is ______.
Teddy Swims and Tyla. These are two artists first embraced by SiriusXM + Pandora to amazing audience reaction. We’re excited to be a part of their rise and will continue spreading the word across North America as they become major artists. – J.L.
Billboard Japan unveiled its 2023 year-end charts, tallying the weeks from Nov. 30, 2022 to Nov. 26, 2023.
The No. 1 song of the year on the Japan Hot 100 is YOASOBI’s “Idol.” The opening theme song of the anime series Oshi no Ko was released digitally in April and logged a whopping 21 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100, an all-time record in the history of the Billboard Japan charts.
The long-running hit by the male-female J-pop duo also made headlines in Japan for hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart on the list dated June 10, a first for a Japanese-language song. “Idol” racked up 509,751 downloads and 527,143,965 streams during the tracking period, taking the top spot on the ranking for the respective metrics.
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“I’m elated. It’s no exaggeration to say I’ve been working hard for this,” says Ayase, YOASOBI’s producer and songwriter. “Of course, I don’t make music for the sake of the charts, but we came in a close second both last year and the year before, and it kind of felt like defeat. I found myself feeling like I had to hit No. 1 (on the year-end charts) to move forward. Looks like my gears will start to move at last.”
Singer ikura adds, “I really feel the same way, and the fact that we were able to reach No. 1 in our third year is the result of YOASOBI having made progress and updated itself. I’m happy to be able to actually feel that.”
At No. 2 this year is “Subtitle” by Official HIGE DANdism, the theme of the popular drama series called silent. Vaundy’s “Kaiju no Hanauta” follows at No. 3, a track that has been charting consistently in the top 10 after being boosted by the 23-year-old hitmaker’s first-ever performance on NHK’s prestigious year-end music show Kohaku Uta Gassen last year.
King & Prince
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The No. 1 album of the year on Billboard Japan’s Hot Albums chart is Mr. 5, the greatest hits collection by King & Prince. The set sold 1,408,873 copies total during the tracking period after dropping April 19. “Our best-of album Mr. 5 hitting No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Albums of the Year 2023 is an honor,” said Ren Nagase and Kaito Takahashi of King & Prince. “While this will be a repeat of what we said when it hit No. 1 on the mid-year chart, again we’d like to sincerely thank everyone who picked it up and everyone who was involved in its production.”
“This year marks our fifth anniversary, and we’re so grateful to receive such major recognition during our milestone year,” they continued. “It proves many people listened to and saw the works and activities that our group has created since our debut. Thank you to our Tiaras (King & Prince fans) for watching over us all these years. We’ll work even harder next year and beyond so that our works and activities will please those who listen to us. Thank you so much.”
Snow Man’s i DO ME comes in at No. 2 and Stray Kids’ Social Path (feat. LiSA)/Super Bowl -Japanese ver. follows at No. 3.
YOASOBI also tops the Artist 100 ranking compiled from the results of the Japan Hot 100 and Hot Albums charts. With “Idol” and “The Blessing” (No. 15 on the year-end list) showing strong performance in streaming and downloads throughout the year, YOASOBI charted a total of six songs and three albums on the respective year-end top 100 lists. Following at No. 2 on the Artist tally is Mrs. GREEN APPLE with ten songs and Official HIGE DANdism at No. 3 with eight songs on the year-end Japan Hot 100.
YOASOBI’s “Idol” is currently the record-holder in Japan for a song that surpassed 500 million streams the fastest and continues to steadily increase that monumental figure. Meanwhile, HIGE DAN’s “Subtitle” was the record-holder for that same milestone before “Idol” came along, meaning the year-end chart for 2023 sees historic chart results with the biggest hits of the century in Japan dominating the top two spots.
With many reports of international successes and achievements by J-pop acts including YOASOBI, Fujii Kaze, XG, imase and more, we can expect more artists to proceed with a global perspective in 2024. The end of the pandemic will likely lead to more Japanese artists expanding their scope of activities outside of their country, and 2024 looks to be a promising year with music by domestic and international acts intermingling in an unprecedented and exciting way.
Billboard JAPAN Hot 100 of the Year 2023
1. “Idol” / YOASOBI
2. “Subtitle” / Official HIGE DANdism
3. “Kaijuu no Hanauta” / Vaundy
4. “KICK BACK” / Kenshi Yonezu
5. “Dai Zero Kan” / 10-FEET
6. “New Genesis (Uta from ONE PIECE FILM RED)” / Ado
7. “Dance Hall” / Mrs. GREEN APPLE
8. “W/X/Y” / Tani Yuuki
9. “Overdose” / Natori
10. “Utsukushii Hiré” / Spitz
Billboard JAPAN Hot Albums of the Year 2023
1. Mr.5 / King & Prince
2. i DO ME / Snow Man
3. Social Path (feat. LiSA) / Super Bowl -Japanese ver.- / SEVENTEEN
4. FML / SEVENTEEN
5. ALWAYS YOURS / SEVENTEEN
6. THE SOUND / Stray Kids
7. SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN / SEVENTEEN
8. Koe / SixTONES
9. POPMALL / Naniwa Danshi
10. SWEET / TOMORROW X TOGETHER
Billboard JAPAN Artist 100 of the Year 2023
1. YOASOBI
2. Mrs. GREEN APPLE
3. Official HIGE DANdism
4. Vaundy
5. Ado
6. back number
7. Yuuri
8. Kenshi Yonezu
9. King & Prince
10. SEVENTEEN
Ado’s “Show” continues to rule the Billboard Japan Hot 100, now in its 10th week atop the list dated Dec. 6.
The enigmatic songstress has been ramping up exposure on terrestrial TV as the year-end festivities draw near, kicking off her string of appearances on NTV’s Best Artist 2023, a four-hour music extravaganza broadcast on Dec. 2 featuring some of this year’s biggest acts. She performed “Show” and “Tot Musica,” a track off the ONE PIECE FILM RED soundtrack onstage in an elaborate cage-like set, her face veiled in the shadows the entire time.
The USJ Halloween event theme is at No. 3 for downloads this week with 9,991 units, up 6 percent from the week before. Streaming and video views are on the decline but still at No. 1 — both down by about 7 percent with the former at 10,522,262 streams and the latter at 3,296,075 views. The track also comes in at No. 8 for karaoke and No. 38 for radio airplay.
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The 21-year-old singer’s next scheduled TV appearance will be on the FNS Music Festival Day 1 on Wednesday (Dec. 6), where she is set to perform “Show” and “Ibara,” a song written by 23-year-old J-pop hitmaker Vaundy (whose “Kaiju no Hanauta,” by the way, is at No. 7 this week). As the song continues to hit terrestrial waves during the year-end and New Year’s holidays, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on how the exposure will be reflected on the Japan charts.
=LOVE’s “Last Note shika shiranai” debuts at No. 3 this week. It’s the 15th single by the group produced by former AKB48 member Rino Sashihara, who also wrote the lyrics of this wistful love song about the lingering notes of a perfume. The track featuring youngest member, Kiara Saito (19), in center position of the choreography achieved the group’s best first-week CD sales with 256,835 copies (No. 1), about 7 percent higher than the 239,196 copies sold in the first week of the previous single, “Natsumatope.”
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Following at No. 4 is KID PHENOMENON’s “Sonzai Shoumei” (“Proof of Existence”). The Exile Tribe boy band’s second single is featured as the ending theme for Season 2 of the new Rurouni Kenshin anime series. The track launches with 67,853 CDs — not quite reaching the 84,185 copies sold in the first week of the group’s debut single “Wheelie” — and bows at No. 2 for sales. It also hits No. 1 for radio this week.
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“Bansanka” by tuki. entered the Japan Hot 100 top 10 for the first time at No. 8, giving the 15-year-old singer-songwriter her first-ever top 10 single. Points for both downloads and streaming for the track soared by about 113 percent from last week, the former climbing to No. 7 and the latter to No. 6. Video also rose by about 11 percent to hit No. 13, and karaoke is at No. 38 after gaining 7 percent. The overall increase in points indicates that the song’s popularity is gradually on the rise.
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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 Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Playboi Carti’s “Sky” returns to No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” creeping even closer to the top of the list, rising 3-2 on the ranking dated Dec. 9. Tetris Kelly:Playboy Carti returns to the top while Mariah Carey inches her way closer to […]
Playboi Carti’s “Sky” returns to No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” creeping even closer to the top of the list, rising 3-2 on the ranking dated Dec. 9.
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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 Nov. 27-Dec. 3. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
“Sky,” featured on Playboi Carti’s 2020 album Whole Lotta Red, is a monthly visitor to the top reaches of the TikTok Billboard Top 50 – and on TikTok as a whole prior to the chart’s September 2023 inception – thanks to start-of-the-month trends highlighting the song’s “Wake up/ It’s the first of the month” lyric. In the spirit of the holidays, some of the latest uploads even utilize a Christmas-themed remix of the tune as it vaults to the top.
The Dec. 9 survey is the second time “Sky” has ruled the chart, following the tally dated Oct. 7. It returned at No. 2 on the Nov. 11 list.
“Sky” isn’t the only song whose appearance on the latest TikTok Billboard Top 50 is spurred by first-of-the-month trends, either. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “1st of Tha Month” returns at No. 27, after debuting at No. 22 on the Nov. 11 chart. That’s no accident, of course; the “Wake up/ It’s the first of the month” lyric from “Sky” is itself an interpolation of the chorus of “1st of Tha Month.”
The ascension of “Sky” concludes a three-week run at No. 1 for Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine,” which drops to No. 3. It’s also passed by Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which continues its march to the top of the ranking with a new peak of No. 2.
Continuing with the weekly holiday-themed check-in, Carey leads five holiday tunes on the Dec. 9 tally, up from four the previous frame. Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” joins “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in the top 10, leaping 18-9, and Wham!’s “Last Christmas” rises 14-13. The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” jumps 46-30, one spot behind a debut in Michael Buble’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” at No. 29.
The week’s top debut on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 belongs to Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman,” which starts at No. 12. Released in 1981, the experimental electronic track has gone viral after a Nov. 22 upload of a user looking at a photo of her great-great-grandmother who had died 100 years before. The trend centers on the lyrics “Well, you don’t know me/ But I know you,” with creators using the song to delve into their own family histories, discuss supernatural happenings and strange coincidences, and more.
Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” also sports a sizable start, appearing on the chart for the first time at No. 14. The song has gone through multiple waves of virality over the years, with the most recent trend highlighting a filter that slowly ages the user all the way to 2073, 50 years in the future.
And though it’s far from a newcomer on the viral TikTok scene, Conan Gray’s “Heather” also debuts, bowing at No. 23. It originally went viral on the platform in 2020, eventually vaulting to a No. 46 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 that September. Why’s it back now? The song’s opening lyrics reference Dec. 3, the closing day of the latest TikTok Billboard Top 50’s tracking week.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here, which also features debuts from Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Rod Wave and more. 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.
Last week, Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues and promoters of 2023. That coverage included analysis of the new wave of genre diverse artists crashing stadium stages and in turn, our charts. This week, we are breaking down the year’s biggest tours, genre by genre. Here, we continue with R&B.
R&B has some humongous contemporary stars – Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Usher and more – but in the last decade, it’s been too reliant on those stars to keep it afloat. The graph below shows how the genre has experienced severe spikes and drops, often victim to the scheduling whims of a small group of headliners.
In 2016, when Beyoncé mounted The Formation World Tour, R&B spiked from 3.5% of the overall top 100 gross, to 8%. But in 2019, after Bruno Mars wrapped his globe-conquering 24K Magic Tour, its share plummeted from 11.5% to 2.7%.
In 2023, R&B is hitting from all sides. The established superstars named above – Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Usher – were all active, joining forces with next-gen headliners such as SZA and The Weeknd. More than that, Lionel Richie, New Edition and others are harnessing their legacies to build the next phase of their touring careers. All of that builds to the genre’s biggest share of the top 100 tours, dating back more than a decade.
That mix of classic artists and ascendant stars bodes well for the genre, even when its biggest icons are off cycle.
Keep reading to check out the top 10 highest grossing tours by R&B artists, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. All reported shows worldwide between Nov. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023, are eligible. Here, we define R&B acts as artists who have recently featured on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums or Hot R&B Songs charts.
Lionel Richie
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Republic Records has a historic week on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 9), as the label holds the top six titles. It is the first time a label has claimed the entire top six, or even top five, since the chart combined its previously separate mono and stereo album charts into one all-encompassing chart in August 1963.
On the Dec. 9 chart, the Nos. 1-6 titles are: Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (rebounding 2-1 for its third non-consecutive week in the lead); Drake’s For All the Dogs (released via OVO Sound/Republic, falling to No. 2); Swift’s Midnights (6-3); Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic, 5-4); and Swift’s Folklore (9-5) and Lover (8-6). (All of the top six albums have spent time at No. 1.)
For good measure, Republic has a seventh title in the current top 10, as Swift’s chart-topping Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) jumps 17-10.
Many albums on the chart, including Swift’s, see gains encouraged by retail promotions for Black Friday and holiday shopping.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Swift, with five titles in the top 10, became the first living artist with at least five of the top 10 titles in a single week since August 1963.
Republic’s triumph with the top six adds luster to an already big year for the company, as it finished 2023 at No. 1 on Billboard’s three leading year-end label rankings: Top Labels, Billboard 200 Labels and Billboard Hot 100 Labels. It was the third year in a row Republic led all three year-end rankings.
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. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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 Dec. 2), a South Korean group hopes to get the early holiday gift of its first No. 1 album, with the debut of its fourth studio LP.
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ATEEZ, The World Ep.Fin : Will (KQ/RCA/Hello82): Eight-piece South Korean boy band ATEEZ has been swelling in stateside popularity since its 2019 debut. Though it has yet to find major airplay or streaming success in the U.S., the group has scored three top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 — most recently reaching No. 2 on the chart with July’s The World EP.2 Outlaw, held off only by Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time blockbuster in the midst of its non-continuous 16-week run atop the chart.
Next week, the group may get its chance at the top spot. Ep.Fin is available for purchase in a whopping 33 different physical editions — 26 CD packages and seven vinyl packages – all with collectible branded merchandise inside. Among the 33 iterations are exclusive CDs and vinyls for Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart, — all with retail-exclusive randomized photo cards inside. – Of the seven vinyl LPs, six are color vinyls (four “bone” colored, one magenta and one light blue, while one is a picture disc).
The group will again face stiff competition from a strong reigning champion: Taylor Swift, whose 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has spent three of the last five weeks atop the Billboard 200, and which is still posting weekly unit totals well into the six digits. Still, the time is now for ATEEZ. With a long-anticipated Nicki Minaj album due this Friday (Dec. 8) and the holiday season kicking into full swing shortly after, this upcoming chart week is likely its best remaining chance of finishing the year with a No. 1 album.
Michael Bublé, Christmas (143/Reprise/Warner): Bublé’s holiday perennial always starts to make noise on the charts around this time of year — and indeed, on the current week’s Billboard 200 (dated Dec. 9), the album pokes its head into the top 10 for the first time, jumping 24-9. Bublé leads the Christmas rush of albums expected to storm the chart in the weeks to come – but unlike on the Billboard Hot 100, where Mariah Carey (and now Brenda Lee) have ruled each year since 2019, a holiday album has not actually reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 since Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas reigned for two weeks in January 2017.
Speaking of Pentatonix, along with some of the usual returning suspects – Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas, Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song, Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas – there’s also a new collection from the a cappella group, The Greatest Christmas Hits, which may challenge its usual holiday contender, The Best Pentatonix Christmas. (The former rates at No. 23 on this week’s chart.) There’s also Cher’s new Christmas album, up 66-46 this week, which should benefit from perhaps the closest thing this holiday season has to a new breakout hit: “DJ Play a Christmas Love Song,” which has performed well on streaming, while also topping both radio and sales charts.
Peter Gabriel, I/O (Real World): Peter Gabriel’s days as a major pop hitmaker are now about 30 years in the rearview, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (both solo and as part of Genesis) still commands attention with his new album releases – and I/O is his first since 2011’s New Blood. The album is available in 2CD, digital download and 2CD/blu-ray editions, as well as separate vinyl LP offerings of its “bright-side” and “dark-side” mixes. Gabriel also employed the unusual strategy of releasing a new song from the album every full moon in the 11 months leading up to its release – ultimately releasing all 12 tracks in advance.
After their first collab reached the top 20 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, Kali Uchis and Karol G linked up for “Labios Mordidos,” which debuts at No. 10 on the chart dated Dec. 9. Karol G extends her record for the most female pairings to debut in the top 10 in the list’s 37-year-old history, with five all-women collaborations.
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“Labios Mordidos” is the third preview from Uchis’ fourth studio album Orquídeas, the all-Spanish-language set due Jan. 12. The Colombian now repays the favor, after “Me Tengo Que Ir” — from Karol G’s No. 1 album Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season) — placed the pair at No. 19 on Hot Latin Songs last August.
“Labios Mordidos” which translates to “Bitten Lips,” arrives at No. 10 on the strength of streaming activity. The song logged 5.6 million official U.S. streams on latest tracking week of Nov. 24-30, according to Luminate. The seven-figure sum sparks a No. 9 start on the Latin Streaming Songs chart.
Further, “Labios” also begins with 500 downloads sold in the same period, enough for a No. 3 arrival on Latin Digital Song Sales.
With “Labios,” Uchis ups her career top 10 count on Hot Latin Songs to two and her first equal-billed top 10 debut. The new top 10 follows the eight-week ruler “Telepatía” (2021). The ranking blends weekly streaming, sales, and radio airplay data.
Karol, meanwhile, collects her 25th top 10, extending her second-most among women, trailing only Shakira who leads with 35 top 10s. Plus, as“Labios” debuts on the upper tier, la bichota captures her fifth all-women pair-up top 10 debut, the most by a woman in the history of Hot Latin Songs, which dates to 1986. Only one other female pair has racked up a top 10 launch without Karol G as one of the collaborators, Becky G and Natti Natasha with “Sin Pijama” in May 2018.
Here’s the full list of top 10 debuts by two co-billed women:
Debut Date, Debut Position, Title, ArtistMay 5, 2018, 10, “Sin Pijama,” Becky G & Natti NatashaNov. 23, 2019, No. 1, “Tusa,” Karol G & Nicki MinajApril 10, 2021, No. 9, “El Makinon,” Karol G & Mariah AngeliqFeb. 26, 2022, No. 1, “MAMIII,” Becky G & Karol GMarch 11, No. 1, “TQG,” Karol G & ShakiraDec. 9, No. 10, “Labios Mordidos,” Kali Uchis & Karol G
Elsewhere, “Labios” gives Uchis her second all-Spanish-language entry on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, at No. 97. For Karol, it becomes her 29th career entry – still the most for a Latin female artist with all-Spanish-language songs.
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Busta Rhymes bounds back onto Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as his new effort, Blockbusta, debuts at No. 10 on the list dated Dec. 9. The set, released on The Conglomerate/Epic Records, becomes the rapper’s 10th top 10 album and extends his perfect streak among his original studio albums.
Blockbusta, which dropped on Nov. 24, earned just under 23,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week of Nov. 24 – 30, according to Luminate. Traditional album sales contribute 14,000 of the first-week total, with streaming activity in second place, at a little below 8,000 units – equaling 11.1 million official on-demand audio and video streams of the album’s tracks. The remaining 1,000 units come from track-equivalent album units (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: 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.)
As Blockbusta launches, it secures Busta Rhymes’ 10th top 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Of his 14 charted titles, the only set to miss the top tier was, perhaps ironically, the compilation The Best of Busta Rhymes, which charted for one week at No. 97 in 2001. With the list updating this week, here’s a full review of Busta Rhymes’ top 10 projects on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums:
Album Title, Peak Position, Peak DateThe Coming, No. 1 (one week), April 13, 1996When Disaster Strikes, No. 1 (one week), Oct. 4, 1997E.L.E.: Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front, No. 2, Jan. 2, 1999Anarchy, No. 1 (one week), July 8, 2000Genesis, No. 2, Dec. 15, 2001It Ain’t Safe No More…, No. 10, May 3, 2003The Big Bang, No. 1 (one week), July 1, 2006Back on My B.S., No. 2, June 6, 2009ELE 2: The Wrath of God, No. 4, Nov. 14, 2020Blockbusta, No. 10 (to date), Dec. 9, 2023
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The new album has already spun off two singles that have charted on some Billboard radio charts. “Beach Ball,” with BIA, reached No. 29 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in September, while “Luxury Life,” featuring Coi Leray, did one better, peaking at No. 28 on the same radio ranking last month.
Elsewhere, Blockbusta debuts at No. 6 on the Top Rap Albums chart and at No. 42 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Part of the latter’s fortunes are due to timing, with 10 Christmas or holiday-themed albums parked above it as the chart’s annual rush of holiday titles picks up steam as the season approaches.