Chart Beat
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Gone is the typical start and stop of touring cycles. Releasing an album and going on tour every few years can make for a simple structure for a pop star career, but particularly in the post-pandemic era, artists are blurring multiple albums into one tour. Or, after postponing a tour for a couple years due to COVID, some are ending their originally scheduled treks and then jumping into a new one the following year.
But no one is doing it quite like P!nk: After wrapping 41 stadium dates on Monday, she’s hitting pause on Summer Carnival only to kick off an entirely separate arena tour on Thursday night (Oct. 12).
So far, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, P!nk’s Summer Carnival has grossed $257.6 million and sold 1.8 million tickets across 41 shows. (P!nk will play a makeup date at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 26 before the Summer Carnival resumes Feb. 9 in Sydney for a sweep of 20 shows in Australia and New Zealand.)
Summer Carnival began with 19 shows in Europe, bringing in $106.8 million from 871,000 tickets. The run was highlighted by two shows at London’s Hyde Park on June 24-25, earning $20.9 million and selling 130,000 tickets. Just behind The Rolling Stones’ $22.4 million, it’s the biggest gross by an American act or by a soloist in the venue’s storied history.
Just over the pond, P!nk flew Stateside for a $150.7 million run in the U.S. and Canada, selling 914,000 tickets. Boston and Philadelphia earned double-header status, claiming the North American leg’s tallest tallies. Two shows at Fenway Park (July 31-Aug. 1) grossed $13.6 million and sold 78,000 tickets, while two at Philly’s Citizens Bank Park topped out at $14.2 million and 93,000.
Not only were those the two biggest engagements on P!nk’s recent domestic run, they are the biggest continental engagements of her entire career. It’s not surprising, given this was her first stint in North American stadiums, after leveling up in Europe on the Beautiful Trauma World Tour in 2019.
The upcoming run in Oceania will be P!nk’s first try in stadiums over there, but one needn’t worry. On past tours, she’s stuck to arenas but played several shows in each city, sticking around for 18 nights in Melbourne on 2013’s The Truth About Love Tour. That equaled 235,000 tickets in the market, leaving more than enough room for multiple stadiums per city for the February-March leg.
But before we get there, P!nk has a 20-date arena trek. Consider Summer Carnival to be her grand reintroduction after a four-year gap since the Beautiful Trauma World Tour, while the impending start of the Trustfall Tour acts as the true celebration of its namesake album, released in February. Kicking off Thursday night in Sacramento and wrapping Nov. 19 in Orlando, it’s expected to earn more than $70 million and sell more than 300,000 tickets, according to promoter Live Nation.
Within 12 months, P!nk will have played three legs of Summer Carnival, all while squeezing in an entirely separate tour with the Trustfall shows. It’s likely to be the biggest year of her touring career, exceeding the $397.3 million from the Beautiful Trauma World Tour in 2018-19. When that wrapped, it was one of the 10 highest-grossing tours in Boxscore history. Edged out by recent runs by Elton John, Harry Styles and others, P!nk’s all-time stature continues to rise, as her career gross climbs to $973.6 million and total attendance just under 9 million. When it’s all said and done, Billboard projects she’ll be the newest member of two elite Boxscore clubs, blowing past $1 billion and 10 million tickets.
The No. 1 song on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, for September 2023 is fitting: it’s “September,” by Earth, Wind & Fire.
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 September 2023.
“September” sported a synch in the latest season of Netflix’s Virgin River. The entire fifth season premiered Sept. 7, and the Earth, Wind & Fire classic was heard in the third episode.
In all, “September” received 19 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 8,000 downloads in September 2023, according to Luminate. Some of its metrics are also due to annual gains for the song (No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979) each September around Sept. 21, corresponding with the track’s opening lyric.
Virgin River boasts three entries on Top TV Songs this month, with fellow third episode song “In the Shadows,” by Amy Stroup, bowing at No. 3, while Lily Allen’s cover of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know,” heard in episode 10, appears at No. 8.
The top non-Virgin River entry, meanwhile, belongs to Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street,” which ranks at No. 2. Rafferty’s top-charting song on the Hot 100 (No. 2, June 1978), it appears in the second episode (Sept. 29) of new show The Continental, from Peacock, which is a newly released spinoff of the John Wick franchise.
Thanks to its The Continental synch, “Baker Street” earned 2.9 million streams and 1,000 downloads in September 2023.
Like Virgin River, The Continental also has three tracks on the latest Top TV Songs tally, with “Baker Street” followed by ZZ Top’s “La Grange” at No. 5 and Tommy James and the Shondells’ “Crimson and Clover” at No. 10.
Back to Earth, Wind & Fire: the group charts two songs on two different shows in September, as “Let’s Groove,” which appears at No. 6, was heard in HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
See the full top 10, also featuring music from Wilderness and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Series (Network)1. “September,” Earth, Wind & Fire, Virgin River (Netflix)2. “Baker Street,” Gerry Rafferty, The Continental (Peacock)3. “In the Shadows,” Amy Stroup, Virgin River (Netflix)4. “Gold,” Kiiara, Wilderness (Amazon Prime Video)5. “La Grange,” ZZ Top, The Continental (Peacock)6. “Let’s Groove,” Earth, Wind & Fire, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (HBO)7. “Blue Monday,” New Order, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC)8. “Somewhere Only We Know,” Lily Allen, Virgin River (Netflix)9. “Sacrilege,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wilderness (Amazon Prime Video)10. “Crimson and Clover,” Tommy James and the Shondells, The Continental (Peacock)
Ado’s “Show” logs its third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Oct. 11, continuing to improve in various metrics in a balanced way.
On the chart tallying the week ending Oct. 8, the Halloween event theme for Universal Studios Japan holds at No. 2 for downloads for the second week with 16,486 units, increasing by 0.9 percent from the week before. The track also continues to rule streaming for the third week in a row with 14,258,058 weekly streams, also an 0.9 percent increase. In other metrics of the chart’s methodology, “Show” rises 2-1 for video views and comes in at No. 7 for radio and No. 48 for karaoke.
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YOASOBI dominate the next two slots this week, with the hit-making duo’s latest track “The Brave” rising 9-2 and former No. 1 hit “Idol” holding at No. 3. The former, the opener for the high fantasy anime Frieren, continues to rule downloads with 21,267 units. Streaming for the track soared by about three times the previous week to hit 8,139,175 streams, leaping 49-4 for the metric. The music video has currently racked up over 9 million views to rise 7-4 for video, and the song also soars 51-5 for radio.
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The latter, the 21-week record-holder for longest stay at No. 1 on the Japan Hot 100, is currently at No. 3 for streaming, No. 10 for downloads, No. 3 for video, No. 46 for radio, and logs its 20th week at No. 1 for karaoke.
NMB48‘s “Nagisa Saiko!” debuts at No. 5 this week. The girl group’s 28th single sold 262,542 copies in the first week — 67,657 more copies than its predecessor, “Sukidamushi” to rule physical sales. It’s a fitting send-off to popular member Nagisa Shibuya, who will be leaving the group after being featured in center position for the last time.
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Two tracks by BTS’s Jung Kook charts in the top 10 this week. His collaboration with Jack Harlow, “3D,” debuted on the Japan Hot 100 on the chart dated Oct. 4 at No. 17 after the single dropped Sept. 29, and climbs to No. 7 this week. The track is at No. 9 for downloads, No. 12 for streaming, No. 20 for radio, and No. 8 for video. His hit collab with Latto, “Seven,” is at No. 10 this week on its 13th week on the chart, coming in at No. 7 for streaming with 6,337,765 weekly streams, maintaining a higher count than “3D,” which logged 4,955,275 streams this week.
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Three-man band shy taupe reached a new career-high on the Japan Hot 100, with “Rendez-vous” breaking into the top 10 at No. 8. This song bowed on the chart dated Aug. 23 at No. 66, then made its way to No. 14 two weeks later. It spent the next five weeks in the top 20 and hit its current position this week. The track is powered by streaming, which increased by about 0.9 percent from the previous week at 7,235,586 weekly streams, coming in No. 6. It’s still rising in other metrics, with downloads moving 67-54, video 50-33, and karaoke 56-52 on its 10th week on the chart.
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 Oct. 2 to 8, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Feid captures his second top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart — and highest charting release yet — with his latest set Mor, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad, which debuts at No. 4 on the Oct. 14-dated survey.
Mor, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad launches with 20,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. during the Sept. 29-Oct. 5 tracking week, according to Luminate. It’s the biggest opening week in terms of units among Feid’s six career entries on the overall albums ranking.
On Top Latin Albums, an equivalent album unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album (track equivalent album units, TEA), or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album (streaming equivalent album units, SEA).
Streaming powers most of the album’s activity, with 15,000 of the first week from the consumption method. That figure equals to 20.1 million official U.S. on-demand streams for the album’s songs in its opening week. Traditional albums sales, meanwhile, account for 5,000 units, while a negligible amount derives from track-equivalent unit.
Mor, No Le Temas gives Feid, whose off-stage name is Salomón Villada Hoyos, his second top 10 on Top Latin Albums. The album was released Sept. 28 via Universal Music Latino/UMLE. Previously, Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo: Te Pirateamos El Album peaked at No. 6 in Oct. 2022. The set held in the top 10 for 12 weeks. In between, Sixdo (EP) debuted and peaked at No. 32 last December.
Feid also nabs his highest charting album on the all-genre Billboard 200, as Mor debuts at No. 31. Plus, the album arrives at No. 3 on Latin Rhythm Albums, likewise his highest charting album there.
Mor was previewed by two songs: Feid’s first collab with Sean Paul, “Niña Bonita,” which peaked at No. 41 on the multi-metric Hot Latin Songs chart, and “Bubalu,” with Rema, that rises 39-32. Further, “Luces de Tecno” debuts at No. 40 on the current tally.
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U2 pads its record for the most entries on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay charts as “Atomic City” debuts on multiple tallies dated Oct. 14.
The song premieres at No. 27 on Alternative Airplay. It’s the Bono-led band’s 43rd chart appearance, extending its mark for the most visits to the ranking, which began in 1988.
Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam are the next-closest acts, earning 40 entries each.
Most Appearances, Alternative Airplay:
43, U2
40, Foo Fighters
40, Pearl Jam
37, Red Hot Chili Peppers
36, Green Day
34, Weezer
30, Coldplay
30, Linkin Park
29, The Offspring
27, The Smashing Pumpkins
U2’s Alternative Airplay chart run began on the Sept. 17, 1988, survey – the list’s second week of existence – when “Jesus Christ” debuted at No. 11. With entries now in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s, the band matches Depeche Mode and Red Hot Chili Peppers as the only acts with appearances in each decade of the list’s archives.
Of U2’s 43 appearances, 23 have reached the top 10 and eight have gone No. 1, beginning with the five-week ruler “Desire” in October 1988. The band last led the chart with “Vertigo” (four weeks, November 2004) and most recently hit the top 10 with “Get On Your Boots” (No. 5, February 2009).
On Mainstream Rock Airplay, “Atomic City” debuts at No. 38, the quartet’s record-extending 51st appearance. Tom Petty, solo and with the Heartbreakers, is next with 48.
Most Appearances, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
51, U2
48, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
47, Van Halen
46, John Mellencamp
45, Pearl Jam
44, Aerosmith
43, Metallica
42, Rush
42, Bruce Springsteen (solo and with the E Street Band)
U2 gains entrance to a select club of acts that have appeared on Mainstream Rock Airplay every decade of its existence, since it began in 1981, joining AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones.
As with Alternative Airplay, U2 was on Mainstream Rock Airplay during the ranking’s inaugural year (starting in the tally’s fifth week), peaking at No. 20 with “I Will Follow” in April 1981. The act boasts 21 top 10s and seven No. 1s, last leading with “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” in August 1995 and last hitting the top 10 with “Vertigo” in November 2004.
But unlike Alternative Airplay, where U2 had gone just under six years between appearances (“You’re the Best Thing About Me” peaked at No. 21 in October 2017), the band until this week had not made Mainstream Rock Airplay since “Invisible” debuted and peaked at No. 27 in early 2014.
“Atomic City” also premieres at No. 17 on Adult Alternative Airplay, U2’s 32nd entry since the ranking began in 1996, behind only Dave Matthews (solo and with Dave Matthews Band) with 36 entries.
Most Appearances, Adult Alternative Airplay:
36, Dave Matthews (solo and with Dave Matthews Band)
32, U2
29, Coldplay
27, Jack Johnson
25, Sheryl Crow
25, John Mayer
19, Beck
18, Death Cab for Cutie
18, R.E.M.
First ranking on Adult Alternative Airplay in 1997 with “Discotheque” (No. 7, February 1997), U2 has notched 13 No. 1s, most recently the seven-week leader “You’re the Best Thing About Me” beginning in November 2014. Prior to “Atomic City,” U2 last appeared with the No. 34-peaking “Your Song Saved My Life” in January 2022.
“Atomic City” bows at No. 5 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, U2’s highest rank dating to the tally’s 2009 inception. It earned 3.7 million radio audience impressions Sept. 29-Oct. 5, according to Luminate.
U2’s previous best on Rock & Alternative Airplay had been a pair of No. 12 peaks in “Invisible” and “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone),” both in 2014.
The combination of airplay, streams and sales in its first week allows “Atomic City” to debut at No. 38 on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 1.1 million official U.S. streams and sold 3,000 downloads, the latter count good for a No. 1 debut on Alternative Digital Song Sales – U2’s first ruler dating to the chart’s 2011 debut. (U2 first led a Billboard list when “With or Without You” rose to No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in April 1987.)
“Atomic City” is currently a stand-alone single for U2, which last released a full-length of new material in 2017 with Songs of Experience. Most recently, Songs of Surrender was released this March and features re-recordings of the band’s catalog.
Mitski takes over as the latest No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 with “My Love Mine All Mine,” which vaults 5-1 on the Oct. 14-dated ranking.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50, which began four weeks ago, 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 Oct. 2-8. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
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“My Love Mine All Mine” initially debuted on the Sept. 30-dated TikTok Billboard Top 50 at No. 34, followed by a leap to No. 5 Oct. 7 prior to its coronation. It becomes the first song in the chart’s five-week history to rise to No. 1 rather than debuting there.
The song was released as part of Mitski’s new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, which premiered Sept. 15 and debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums survey dated Sept. 30. The singer born Mitsuki Laycock has had a handful of successful songs on TikTok previously, including “Washing Machine Heart,” “Nobody” and more, preceding the runaway success of “My Love Mine All Mine” more recently.
There isn’t a specific throughline using the song just yet; rather, currently users are uploading clips featuring the tune to soundtrack their lives, emotional moments, referencing romance and more.
Concurrently, “My Love Mine All Mine” jumps to a new peak of No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Mitski’s first top 50-charting song. It earned 8.4 million official U.S. streams in the Hot 100’s Sept. 29-Oct. 5 tracking period, a 28% boost, according to Luminate.
The track is the first No. 1 since the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s inception that isn’t a hip-hop song, following previous rulers “SkeeYee” by Sexyy Red, “Wassup Gwayy” by FamousSally and YB and “Sky” by Playboi Carti.
Mitski reigns on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 over Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” which remains at No. 2. As noted last week, though the song – currently No. 1 on the Hot 100 – has not yet crowned the TikTok Billboard Top 50, it also hasn’t dropped below No. 3 in the tally’s five weeks.
SUICIDAL-IDOL’s “Ecstasy” reaches a new peak, jumping into the top 10 for the first time at No. 3. Billed as the “slowed” version on the chart (there are four versions in all right now, also including the original, super slowed and a remix), “Ecstasy” debuted at No. 11 on Oct. 7 and sported 3.6 million official U.S. streams toward the Billboard charts Sept. 29-Oct. 5, a jump of 14%.
The previous No. 1, Playboi Carti’s “Sky,” drops to No. 4, while Girl in Red’s “We Fell in Love in October” rounds out the top five. The latter has become a perennial riser on TikTok each October, securing gains that brought it onto Billboard’s Alternative Streaming Songs chart last October (No. 22, Oct. 15, 2022) and already this month (No. 19, Oct. 14). Many of the latest uploads using the song, which was originally released in 2018, feature users posting themselves doing various fall activities or enjoying the cooling weather.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here, including debuts from Summer Walker, Lukas Graham 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.
Usher lands in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the first time in seven years as “Good Good” with Summer Walker and 21 Savage advances 11-7 on the list dated Oct. 14. The ascent comes from the song’s sales gains and increased radio reach as it captures or nears the summit of multiple airplay charts.
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In the latest tracking week (Sept. 29 – Oct. 5), “Good Good” generated 5.4 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate, a 1% increase from the prior week, and 2,000 sales downloads (up 45%) that spark a 5-3 push for a new peak on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart. For radio airplay, “Good Good” registered 38.7 million total audience impressions, a 9% improvement from the previous frame.
Diving further into the radio ranks, “Good Good” wins a second week at No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as the most heard song on U.S. monitored R&B/hip-hop radio stations, despite a 2% drop for the week in plays. It also cracks the top 10 on Adult R&B Airplay (11-9) through a 16% surge in weekly plays and repeats at its No. 2 high on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which ranks songs by combined audience listenership on the adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop formats. There, “Good Good” climbed 2% in weekly impressions to 20.3 million at the format.
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With “Good Good,” Usher achieves his 29th career top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and first since “No Limit” featuring Young Thug in 2016. Here’s a full rundown of his top 10 collection:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Usher), Peak Position, Peak Date
“Think of You,” No. 8, April 29, 1995
“You Make Me Wanna…,” No. 1 (11 weeks), Sept. 6, 1997
“Nice & Slow,” No. 1 (eight), Jan. 24, 1998
“My Way,” No. 4, July 4, 1998
“U Remind Me,” No. 1 (four), July 7, 2001
“U Got It Bad,” No. 1 (seven), Nov. 17, 2001
“U Don’t Have to Call,” No. 2, March 23, 2002
“I Need a Girl (Part One),” No. 2, May 25, 2002
“Yeah!,” featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris, No. 1 (eight), March 6, 2004
“Burn,” No. 1 (four), June 5, 2004
“Confessions Part II,” No. 1 (two), July 10, 2004
“My Boo,” with Alicia Keys, No. 1 (three), Oct. 23, 2004
“Lovers & Friends,” Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Usher & Ludacris, No. 2, Jan. 22, 2005
“Same Girl,” with R. Kelly, No. 4, July 28, 2007
“Love in This Club,” featuring Young Jeezy, No. 1 (four), April 12, 2008
“Love in This Club Part II,” featuring Beyoncé & Lil Wayne, No. 7, June 21, 2008
“Trading Places,” No. 4, Jan. 3, 2009
“Papers,” No. 1 (two), Dec. 12, 2009
“Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home),” featuring Plies, No. 2, April 10, 2010
“Lil Freak,” featuring Nicki Minaj, No. 8, May 1, 2010
“There Goes My Baby,” No. 1 (four), Aug. 14, 2010
“OMG,” featuring will.i.am, No. 3, June 26, 2010
“Hot Tottie,” featuring Jay-Z, No. 9, Oct. 23, 2010
“Climax,” No. 1 (11), April 28, 2012
“Lemme See,” featuring Rick Ross, No. 2, Aug. 4, 2012
“New Flame,” Chris Brown featuring Usher & Rick Ross, No. 6, Oct. 4, 2014
“I Don’t Mind,” featuring Juicy J, No. 1 (one), Feb. 14, 2015
“No Limit,” featuring Young Thug, No. 9, Oct. 8, 2016
“Good Good,” with Summer Walker & 21 Savage, No. 7, Oct. 14, 2023
Summer Walker nabs her fourth Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs top 10, after 2019’s “Playing Games” (No. 9) and 2021’s “No Love” with SZA (No. 5) and “Bitter” with Cardi B (No. 9). 21 Savage, meanwhile, secures his 30th top 10, and fourth this year.
Elsewhere, “Good Good” rises 4-3 on the Hot R&B Songs chart and jumps 36-28 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The single will appear on Usher’s next album, Coming Home, which will be released on Feb. 11, the same day that the superstar will headline the halftime show of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
Becky G debuts at No. 3 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Albums chart (dated Sept. 14) with Esquinas. The Edgar Barrera-produced album is Becky G’s first entry on the Regional Mexican Albums tally, after notching previous entries on Billboard‘s Latin Pop Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums rankings. The new set concurrently debuts at No. 7 on the overall Top Latin Albums chart.
Esquinas was released Sept. 28 via Kemosabe/RCA and launches at No. 3 on Regional Mexican Albums with 11,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending Oct. 5 in the U.S., according to Luminate. Streaming powers nearly all the album’s first week, with 10,000 of them from the consumption method. That equals to 14.1 million official on-demand streams for the album’s songs.
Esquinas is Becky G’s third full-length album and first appearance on Regional Mexican Albums. The 13-track set’s title, which translates to “corners,” references the intersection between her American style with her Mexican roots. It includes collabs by Peso Pluma, Ivan Cornejo, Gabito Ballesteros, Yahritza y Su Esencia, Chiquis and DannyLux. The album’s cover art was revealed through Becky G’s Instagram account on Sept. 12: “I could not be more excited to share the cover of my new album Esquinas…” she posted, with a baby photo of herself on braids, a sombrero, and a red bandana covering her chest.
Esquinas finds the 26-year-old artist at a crossroads of two cultures, a sketch which shows throughout her Billboard chart career spanning over a decade. The album also gifts Becky G with two top 10 albums after the rhythmic Mala Santa (No. 3 high on Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums, 2019) which included team-ups with Bad Bunny, Sech, Natti Natasha, and others, while the pop-filled Esquemas (eight-week champ on Latin Pop Albums, 2022) added partnerships with Karol G, El Alfa and Guaynaa.
As mentioned, Esquinas also bows at No. 7 on Top Latin Albums, after Esquemas debuted and reached No. 5 high in May 2022. Meanwhile, it earns her third chart appearance on the overall Billboard 200, at No. 109.
As Esquinas lands, two songs debut across Latin charts: “2do Chance,” with Ivan Cornejo, one of two pop songs on the album, launches at No. 34 on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs tally, fueled by streaming activity; it logged 2.7 million U.S. clicks during the same tracking week. Meanwhile, “Por El Contrario,” with siblings Leonardo Aguilar and Angela Aguilar, debuts at No. 19 on Latin Digital Songs.
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: Noah Kahan sees two of his Stick Season songs take off — one thanks to a new duet, one thanks to a recent cover — while Drake’s For All the Dogs starts barking, his old collaborators Migos have a revived hit, and more.
‘Stick’ The Landing: Noah Kahan Receives New Boosts From Kacey Musgraves & Olivia Rodrigo
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Noah Kahan has become one of the breakout artists of 2023, thanks to quickly increasing interest in a project he released last year: Stick Season, his third studio album which was released one year ago this week, is now a mainstay of the top 20 of the Billboard 200, rising four spots to No. 13 this week. The folk-rock project received a boost last July from a deluxe edition that included the viral hit “Dial Drunk” (which then received a new version featuring Post Malone), and last week, Kacey Musgraves hopped on a new version of “She Calls Me Back,” a standout from the original album track list.
Musgraves — who recently scored her first career Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 with the Zach Bryan duet, “I Remember Everything” — has injected new life into “She Calls Me Back.” Following its release last Friday (Oct. 6), the collaboration earned 3.87 million U.S. on-demand streams in the first four days of its release, according to Luminate; that’s a 341% increase in streams for “She Calls Me Back” from the previous Friday-to-Monday period.
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Meanwhile, another crossover star has given a Kahan song a streaming boost — not with a collaboration, but with a cover version. Last week, Olivia Rodrigo stopped by BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge and performed a soulful take on the Stick Season title track, a major Kahan co-sign that also caused his still-rising “Stick Season” – which was already up enough to debut at No. 80 on the Hot 100 this week – to enjoy another streaming uptick. The song earned 3.89 million streams from Oct. 6-9, a 39% jump from the same tracking period during the previous week. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Drake’s Streaming Dominance Extends to Samples & Interpolations, Too
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It’s not a shock that Drake‘s new album For All the Dogs is off to a smashing start on streaming platforms: in the first four days of its release (Oct. 6-9), the album earned a whopping 356 million U.S. official on-demand streams, according to Luminate. Some highlights within that enormous number include strong beginnings for the J. Cole team-up “First Person Shooter” (28.26 million streams in its first four days of release), as well as for the Yeat collaboration “IDGAF” (25.31 million streams).
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For All the Dogs has garnered so much streaming attention, in fact, that even some of the songs sampled and interpolated for the new full-length have scored new listeners this week as well. “The Tunnel,” a track from the British jazz trio Azimuth that is sampled on “IDGAF,” rose from a negligible streaming number last week to nearly 10,000 streams between Oct. 6-9. And “West End Girls,” the synth-pop classic from the Pet Shop Boys that Drake sings a bit of at the end of “All the Parties” — and which the British group alleged was an interpolation that never received approval — also experienced a slight uptick in streams, with some Drake listeners undoubtedly curious to hear what he was reviving. “West End Girls” earned 416,000 streams from Oct. 6-9, a 12% increase from the previous Friday-to-Monday period. – JL
Revival of 10-Year-Old Dance Trend Spurs Streaming Resurgence for Migos’ “Handsome & Wealthy”
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Although Offset is currently prepping the release of his forthcoming sophomore solo studio album – Set It Off is due Oct. 13 – music listeners seem to be gravitating towards a seminal decade-old single from Migos, the rap trio comprised of him, Quavo and the late Takeoff.
10 years ago, an Instagram user named Mr. WoopWoop helped popularize a simple dance trend that quickly took over Instagram and Vine alike. Now, the simple arm-flailing body-rocking dance has taken on a new life on TikTok – a social media app that notably did not exist at the time of the dance move’s creation. On TikTok, users have chosen Migos’ “Handsome & Wealthy” to soundtrack their take on the infectious dance. The song selection is a nod to the most widely circulated video of Mr. WoopWoop and his friends hitting the dance.
According to Luminate, Migos’ “Handsome & Wealthy” — a single from their 2014 No Label 2 mixtape , whichpeaked at No. 79 on the Hot 100 – earned just over one million official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of September 29 to October 5. That’s an 85.4% increase in streams compared to the week prior (Sept. 22-28). Several different TikTok sounds have emerged as popular choices for users jumping on this trend; the official “Handsome And Wealthy” sound has nearly 7,400 posts, another untitled sound using audio from the song boasts 21,400 posts, and yet another untitled sound plays in the background of a further 14,700 posts.
We may not get any new Migos music in the foreseeable future, but their catalog of indelible hits and cultural impact will continue to inspire and entertain generations to come. – KYLE DENIS
Suicidal-Idol Earns Big Streaming Gains, Thanks to TikTok’s “Slowed Down” Music Trend
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As more and more mainstream major-label artists continue to release “sped up” and “slowed down” versions of their songs, it’s clear that TikTok’s affinity for altered versions of tracks is having a material impact on the music industry. In the latest major example of such, the mysterious emo-informed musical artist Suicidal-Idol is earning sizable streaming returns for his TikTok smash “Ecstacy.”
After initially going viral in July with a collection of different trending videos, “Ecstacy” has since grown into a TikTok hit that has transcended its original wave of virality. No longer connected to a specific trend or challenge, slowed down versions of “Ecstacy” have been used in hundreds of thousands of TikTok posts to add to the overarching emo aesthetic of the accompanying videos.
According to Luminate, “Ecstacy” posted just under five million official on-demand U.S. streams during Sept. 29-Oct. 5, a 35.6% increase from 3.64 million streams during Sept. 22-28, and a whopping 374.3% increase from five weeks ago during Sept. 1-7. On TikTok, the slowed down version of “Ecstacy” soundtracks over 267,000 posts, while the original boasts over 40,700 videos. An additional sound has over 92,300 posts, and a sped-up version of the song plays in the background of 16,800 videos.
After floating around on the internet for a few months, “Ecstacy” officially hit streaming platforms in February of last year – a testament to the slow-burn route that so many hit songs take in 2023. – KD
Q&A: Andre Stapleton, Global Head of Artist and Label Relations at Amazon Music, on What’s Trending Up in His World
What music trends have stood out to you most clearly over the first three quarters of 2023?
There have been a multitude of really amazing cultural celebrations for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop all across the country. That was especially the case in NYC, where – for obvious reasons – there have been almost constant events honoring hip-hop’s global importance. We are super proud of the celebratory performance series that Amazon Music held to pay homage to the various eras, which included outstanding artists such as Wale, Rick Ross, T.I., Clipse, The Lox, Method Man and Redman, to name just a few.
At the same time, we went an unprecedented half year in which there weren’t any new hip-hop releases atop the charts, until Travis Scott, during which period we saw other genres continue to evolve like Afrobeat (Rema, Davido) and R&B (especially with SZA’s unbelievably great return). One of the biggest upward trends, however, has been in the country/Americana spaces with incredible music and storytelling from the likes of Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll, Tyler Childers and Lainey Wilson, who are reaching new (and younger) audiences as they push boundaries genre-wise.
The industry’s country music streams YTD are up by a third on last year, which is more than double that seen across all genres, and we see our label partners paying very close attention to these trends, and prioritizing accordingly – even outside of Nashville. Equally, in the dance and electronic space, we’ve seen outstanding new records from a mix of newer talent like SG Lewis, LP Giobbi, and Yaeji alongside returning legends like Chemical Brothers, Disclosure, Laurent Garnier, Jungle and Sault. One thing is for sure – it’s been a banner year for great music.
What trend do you foresee making noise before the end of this year?
One trend is simply that a bunch of amazing new music is dropping! I’m personally super excited for new records from artists like Sufjan Stevens, Sampha, DJ Shadow, the Stones, Chris Stapleton and Jorja Smith, and that’s only looking at releases filed under ‘S’! And on another ‘S’-themed topic, I think soundtracks are going to trend up, continuing the momentum established by Barbie, given some very compelling titles that will likely be announced soon.
I think we are going to see even more focus on developing connections between artists and fans and on helping artists cut through the digital clutter. At Amazon Music, we’ve developed a lot of tools to help artists engage their audiences, for example, by using their voice to reach fans, or by livestreaming their performances and content. On that note, Amazon Music has been bringing livestream concerts exclusively to fans via the Amazon Music app, Twitch and Prime Video — from Primavera Sound to Stagecoach, and intimate performances with our “City Sessions” and “Breakthrough Live” series. Not to mention our Amazon Music Live program. Millions of fans watched the first season, which is back for a second season, featuring performances from Ed Sheeran, Feid, Lil Durk and more to be announced.
What Amazon Music campaign or partnership do you think exemplifies how listeners are experiencing popular music in 2023?
In particular, I’d really like to shine a light on Amazon Music’s Breakthrough campaigns. Breakthrough is our global developing artists series and is one of the programs I am most proud of. We put an enormous amount of energy and creativity into bringing all our resources to bear, so that we may play a part, in helping to break a number of rising artists each year. So far in 2023 we’ve partnered with Bailey Zimmerman, Chappell Roan, Stephen Sanchez and Lola Brooke, with two more to be announced by the end of the year.
Every artist campaign we develop is bespoke to the artist in which we are ultimately aiming to develop interest. We do that through a combination of powerful music experience levers, such as the creation of stunning branded street art, compelling original video content, interview/non-music audio content, exclusive music projects (such as Amazon Music Originals), livestreams, merch opportunities, experiential activations and so on. It’s incredibly exciting and exemplifies the very best of what we can do, in aid of who we believe could be the megastars of tomorrow. We see this program as a vital tool to help command the attention of music fans to some truly deserving artists, and hopefully play a very meaningful role in breaking these acts.
Fill in the blank: the most exciting development in music that not enough people are discussing is ______.
Stephen Sanchez! This is an incredible debut album and I’m absolutely hooked! If it’s good enough for Elton, it’s good enough for me!
I also remain excited by the constant level of innovation happening at Amazon Music because I truly believe we are doing amazing and industry-leading work, and I want everyone to know about it. Prime members now have access to stream a full catalog of 100 million songs ad-free in shuffle mode, as well as incredible programming and some of the biggest albums on demand – that’s incredible, if you think about it for a moment, relative to the marketplace. We’ve also taken our livestreaming business to new heights from both a creative and audience reach perspective, and are continuing to innovate in the merch category. We continue to evolve both our app and Alexa as a key tool for artists to engage fans, and have built a library of spatial and ultra-high-definition audio spanning genres. We are also introducing industry leading and artist-forward content spaces around the world where artists love to visit and create with us – and we are having a blast! – JL
Season’s Gainings: Listeners Keep Falling in Love With Girl in Red’s “October”
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“That’s why I love fall,” Marie Ulven Ringheim – better known as indie-pop singer-songwriter Girl in Red – declares in “We Fell in Love in October.” She’s had another reason for the last few years: Since 2020, when Billboard first reported on it, her “October” has seen major streaming gains annually around the start of Spooky Season. While in 2020, “October” spiked to 2.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams, this year it’s up from just under three million for the week ending Sept. 28 to over 4.6 million for the first not-quite-full week of the new month. If the song keeps rising every year like this, Ray Parker Jr. and Bobby “Boris” Pickett might soon have some less-Halloween-y competition as far as older songs looking to impact the October Hot 100. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER
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 charts dated Oct. 21), Drake seems sure to land one of the year’s biggest first weeks with his latest album For All the Dogs, but will have to do so without much in the way of physical sales.
Drake, For All the Dogs (OVO/Republic): After seemingly countless delays and false starts, Drake’s long-anticipated For All the Dogs finally arrived at 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday morning (Oct. 6). The rapper’s eighth official solo studio album – not counting collaborative sets, compilations, mixtapes or “playlists” — came not only as the superstar rapper was winding down his It’s All a Blur tour alongside Her Loss co-lead 21 Savage, but right before he announced that Dogs would be his last work before an extended hiatus, as he tended to health issues.
If it’s the last of Drake that fans will get for a while, Dogs is certainly plenty: 23 tracks and 84 minutes, including guest appearances from fellow stars J. Cole, Bad Bunny, SZA (again) and of course Savage, among other big-name and rising artists. The album has received mostly unflattering reviews, but has still dominated streaming services, with 12 of its tracks still in the top 25 of Spotify’s Daily Top USA chart, and all 23 tracks still in the Apple Music real-time top 25 — both currently led by the set’s “IDGAF” featuring Yeat, the leading early contender to become the set’s major breakout hit.
The album should not have a ton of competition for the Billboard 200’s top spot next week – it’s more of a question of how big his debut atop the chart will be. It will have to come without help from a physical release: Despite other A-list stars of his level putting increasing emphasis on vinyl and CD sets to help bolster their first-week numbers, Drake continues to be digital-only, likely in large part due to his tendency to make last-minute edits to his albums. Nonetheless, lack of physical product didn’t hold Her Loss from posting over 400,000 units in its first week last year, or Certified Lover Boy from over 600,000 in 2021 – with For All the Dogs likely to fall somewhere between those two sets in its debut frame.
IN THE MIX
NCT 127, The 5th Album Fact Check (SM Entertainment): South Korean pop group NCT 127 has been a strong contender on the Billboard 200 with each release this decade, hitting the chart’s top five with each of their last three albums (2020’s Neo Zone, 2021’s Sticker and 2022’s Baddies). The group hopes to make it four albums in four years with their fifth LP, Fact Check. Sales of the set will be bolstered by multiple CD packages, including retailer-exclusive variants for Target and Walmart, while the group’s official webstore is also selling nine different alternative versions of the album digitally (each with a different cover and an additional unique bonus track) and three deluxe boxed sets, containing a branded piece of clothing or accessory, along with a physical copy of the album.
(G)I-dle, Heat (88 Rising/Cube Entertainment): Elsewhere in South Korea, popular girl group (G)I-dle are also back with a new set, the Heat EP. This set is for sale in multiple collectible physical versions (all CD packages), including retailer-exclusive variants for Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Target, with some containing randomized merchandise contents (including photocards and bookmarks). The quintet hit No. 41 on the Billboard 200 earlier this year with their prior EP, I Feel.
Junior H, $ad Boyz 4 Life II (Warner Music Latina/Rancho Humilde): Junior H has long been one of the most exciting and acclaimed young artists in Mexican music, but his status hasn’t always shown on the Billboard 200, where he’s yet to reach above No. 138. That should change next week with the release of his latest corridos tumbados collection $ad Boyz 4 Life II – his first since gaining extra crossover attention alongside superstar Peso Pluma on hits like “Lady Gaga” and “Bipolar,” both of which are still on the Hot 100 this week. None of those are on his own album, however, which does not include any collaborations – or have any physical versions for sale — but is still expected to stream very well.