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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.
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This week: The Super Bowl pours further gas on Kendrick Lamar’s still-blazing flames on streaming, while a Lady Gaga one-off gets emotionally resurrected and a Latto single gets a huge bump from a new remix with a big-name guest.
TV Off, Headphones On: Kendrick Lamar’s Daily Streams More Than Double Post-Super Bowl
Prior to the Super Bowl, Kendrick Lamar was already one of the biggest artists in the world, with five songs in the top 40 of last week’s Billboard Hot 100. Yet his explosive halftime performance at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday (Feb. 9) was a rising tide that lifted all of his respective boats on streaming services, from the superstar rapper’s latest album to his signature hits to his co-star at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
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On the day after the Super Bowl (Feb. 10), Lamar’s streaming catalog earned 70.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams — a 153% increase from the previous Monday’s total (27.5 million on Feb. 3), according to initial reports provided by Luminate. “Not Like Us,” the Drake diss heard ‘round the world and the centerpiece of the halftime show, experienced an even greater percentage uptick: the former No. 1 hit rose a whopping 222% in daily streams, to 10.4 million on Monday.
Major spikes occurred for halftime highlights “Squabble Up” (up 159% in daily streams compared to the previous Monday), “Luther” (up 150%), “TV Off” (up 139%) and “Peekaboo” (up 186%). All of those songs are featured on Lamar’s most recent album, GNX, which earned a 141% total increase in daily streams across its dozen tracks, notching 31 million plays on Monday. Meanwhile, some of the older hits that Lamar revived for the halftime show scored even bigger bumps: “Humble” was up 242%, “DNA” was up 207% and “All the Stars” was up 295%, as fans returned to some of Lamar’s biggest hits from the previous decade.
And SZA, who joined Lamar on two songs during the showcase, saw her own streams soar thanks to her first Super Bowl halftime appearance. Last Monday, her catalog earned 19.1 million streams; a week later, that number reached 30.3 million streams, a 58% increase on the day after the big game. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Lady Gaga Gets a ‘Hold’ on the iTunes Chart After Emotional Pre-Super Bowl Performance
Few would consider “Hold My Hand,” Lady Gaga’s 2022 soundtrack single from Top Gun: Maverick, to be a signature song of hers: The song charted respectably, reaching No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, but had little commercial staying power and is unlikely at this point to ever appear on a full Lady Gaga album. But it clearly has a time and a place – and that time and place may have proven to be at the Super Bowl LIX pre-show on Sunday night (Feb. 10), where she performed the piano ballad on Bourbon Street in New Orelans, as part of a tribute to the victims of numerous tragedies that struck American soul in the past year, namely the New Year’s Day attack on New Orleans that left 14 dead.
After NFL legends Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw helped introduce the tribute and the performance, the tribute cut to Gaga at her piano, playing a stripped-down rendition of the Top Gun love theme that accentuated the song’s message of support and perseverance. It clearly resonated with the global audience watching: The song was up 149% in official on-demand U.S. streams over Feb. 9-10 (the day of and day after the Super Bowl) compared to the same two-day period a week before, according to initial reports provided by Luminate, and it was up to nearly 6,000 in digital sales – topping the real-time iTunes chart on Sunday night – up thousands of percent from the negligible amount it moved the prior equivalent period.
It probably won’t be the song most Little Monsters continue streaming in the lead-up to next month’s Mayhem release, but it might have some endurance in Gaga’s catalog after all. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Latto Eyes Yet Another ‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’ Hit with Some Help from Playboi Carti
Between Grammy-nominated tracks like “Big Mama” and radio-conquering cuts like “Brokey,” Latto’s Sugar Honey Iced Tea album has been cranking out hits for several months now. Big Mama has shown no signs of slowing down in 2025, tapping Playboi Carti to boost the next single from her chart-topping third studio album.
Late last month (Jan. 27), Latto announced that she enlisted Carti for a new version of “Blick Sum.” The high-energy trap banger had been a fan-favorite since Sugar Honey Iced Tea dropped last summer (Aug. 9), but the Carti version lifted the single to new heights. In the week preceding Carti’s take on the song (Jan. 17-23), “Blick Sum” earned over 584,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. The following week – which includes a shortened tracking week for the Carti version since it dropped on Jan. 28 – that number exploded by a staggering 541% to over 3.74 million official on-demand U.S. streams (all versions combined). In its first full tracking week including the new version (Jan. 31-Feb. 5), “Blick Sum” collected over 5.34 million official on-demand streams. Over the past two weeks, streams for “Blick Sum” have been up 815%.
The new version of “Blick Sum” isn’t technically a remix; it’s actually an earlier version of the song that leaked months ago. Latto ultimately settled on the solo version for her album, but the Carti version remained in circulation, further building anticipation for its eventual release. One TikTok sound containing Carti’s leaked verse collected over 45,000 posts since last October; there was even a quasi-viral dance choreographed to the sound.
Should “Blick Sum” continue its streaming ascent, the Carti-assisted track would become the sixth track from Sugar Honey Iced Tea to do so, the most of any of Latto’s studio albums. – KYLE DENIS
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 Feb. 22, we look at the multiple Kendrick Lamar songs that could have a shot at capturing the No. 1 spot following the rapper’s Super Bowl halftime performance.
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Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us,” “Luther” (with SZA) & “TV Off” (feat. TV Gunplay) (pgLang/Interscope/ICLG): Kendrick Lamar just electrified the music-listening world with one of the most-anticipated Super Bowl halftime shows of all time — coming not just one week after a Grammy sweep on Feb. 2 that saw Lamar win all five of his nominations (including record and song of the year), but a year-long run of one W after another that saw him earn our editorial staff’s Greatest Pop Star of 2024 title. The performance was the most-watched in the show’s history, according to presenter Apple Music and the NFL, with over 133.5 million people tuning in to see K Dot take the ultimate victory lap.
And of course, the song they were most interested in seeing him play was his 2024 Billboard Hot 100-topper “Not Like Us.” The already-legendary diss track, our editorial staff’s No. 1 song of last year, had been tied up in litigation in recent months, thanks to lawsuits levied by its target, fellow rap superstar Drake, who seemed intent on making it difficult for his opponent to play the incendiary cut on the world’s biggest stage. But Lamar indeed delivered the song as his performance’s centerpiece, even offering a conspicuous (and already much-memed) smile to the camera upon his first “Say Drake…” mention.
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Though “Not Like Us” has been out for eight months already at this point, and enjoyed two separate trips to No. 1 on the Hot 100 (the second coming after the release of its similarly headline-capturing music video in July), it should have a good chance of capturing the top spot again this week. The song, which has continued to linger on the Hot 100 (already rebounding to No. 15 this week, in anticipation of Lamar’s set and following his big Grammy night), shot back to the top of the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart, the Apple Music real-time chart and the iTunes chart following Lamar’s performance, as its performance on Sunday night remains at the center of all pop- and hip-hop-related discussion this week.
But it’s not Lamar’s only track threatening the No. 1 spot this week. Lamar has also seen big gains this week for his GNX single “Luther,” which he and collaborator SZA also gave a centerpiece spot during his halftime set, and which currently ranks just below “Not Like Us” at No. 2 on each of the aforementioned rankings. And right underneath them is the Lefty Gunplay-featuring “TV Off,” which Lamar offered immediately following “Not Like Us” as the closing part of his performance – with producer Mustard coming out to dance and silently rap along to the anthem. “Luther” and “TV Off” are also in prime position on the Hot 100 currently, ranking at No. 3 and No. 10 on this week’s chart, respectively.
Radio play will also be a major factor in which of the Super Bowl-boosted Kendrick tracks plays the biggest threat to the Hot 100’s top spot next week. “Luther” is currently leading there, as it bounds from No. 14 to 11 on the Radio Songs chart this week, and has already been up another 9% in audience impressions over the first four days of this tracking week (Feb. 7-10), according to Luminate. But “TV Off” is also gaining, and “Not Like Us” is now rebounding as well, up a whopping 35% over that same four-day period.
If “Not Like Us” can sustain across streaming, sales and radio throughout the week, it might have the best chance of jumping to No. 1 next week – which would make it the extremely rare non-holiday single with three different runs at No. 1, each separated by multiple months. And regardless, we should see a whole lot of Kendrick Lamar in the top 10 next week.
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile” (Streamline/Interscope/Atlantic/ICLG) & Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra” (Interscope/ICLG): “Die With a Smile” is officially the song to beat this early 2025, with the superstar duet returning for a fifth frame at No. 1 this week, after briefly being interrupted by Travis Scott’s pole position-debuting “4×4.” The song has even finally captured the crown on Radio Songs, after Shaboozey’s historic 27-week run atop that chart with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and should also reign for a second week on that listing – though it will likely soon face serious competition from another starry Bruno Mars teamup, with ROSÉ on “APT.”
Speaking of Bruno and Gaga providing their own competition – the latter now has a breakout smash entirely of her own. Her “Abracadabra” bows at No. 29 on the Hot 100 this week with just over four days of tracking, after debuting with its music video as part of a Mastercard commercial during the Grammys. The song got off to a white-hot start on streaming, and continued growing in the days after, even briefly capturing the top spot on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart — though it has since gotten buried under an avalanche of Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Regardless, the song should make a big jump in its first full week on the Hot 100 – perhaps to the top 10, if it doesn’t get boxed out by Kendrick – and is already aiming to debut on Pop Airplay, as well.
Chappell Roan, “Pink Pony Club” (Amusement/Island): Don’t forget about the Grammys’ best new artist, who has been surging on the Hot 100 following her big win and show-stopping performance of what now appears to be the signature song of Roan’s early career, “Pink Pony Club.” Despite being originally released in 2020, the song is only now really catching on both streaming and radio, as it re-enters Streaming Songs at No. 24 and hits a new high of No. 32 on Radio Songs this week. It should continue climbing on both listings next week, and may also rise on the Hot 100, after hitting a new peak of No. 18 this week.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft surge back into the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 15). The albums jump 12-5 and 14-7, respectively, following the performers’ turns on the Grammy Awards’ broadcast on CBS (Feb. 2).
Carpenter performed a medley of the Short n’ Sweet hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” on the show, while Eilish sang her album’s “Birds of a Feather.” Carpenter also won two Grammys, including one presented during the CBS broadcast, for best pop vocal album (for Short n’ Sweet).
Short n’ Sweet sold 8,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 6 (up 42%), according to Luminate. Hit Me Hard and Soft sold a little more than 7,500 (up 46%).
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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 (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
Another Grammy performer, The Weeknd, arrives at No. 1 with his latest album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, selling 359,000 copies in its first week (his best sales week ever). Grateful Dead, who was honored as the Recording Academy’s 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year (on Feb. 1), debut at No. 2 with its latest from-the-vaults live album: Dave’s Picks, Volume 53: Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH – 10/2/76 (19,000 sold).
Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess also basks in the Grammy glow, as it climbs 10-3 with 12,000 sold (up 66%). Roan won the best new artist award and performed “Pink Pony Club” (from Princess) on the show.
Stray Kids’ former leader HOP jumps 8-4 with a little over 8,500 sold (up 6%), while the chart-topping Wicked film soundtrack steps 7-6 with 8,000 (down 8%).
Gracie Abrams’ former No. 1 The Secret of Us moves 9-8 (6,500), Mac Miller’s chart-topping Balloonerism falls 6-9 (6,000; down 32%) and Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) drops 1-10 in its second week (nearly 6,000; down 77%).
Alejandro Sanz is back in the top 10 on a Billboard U.S. chart thanks to “Hoy No Me Siento Bien,” his first team-up with Grupo Frontera. The song, which climbs 12-7 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart (dated Feb. 15), becomes the Spaniard’s first visit to the upper region since 2020.
“Hoy No Me Siento Bien,” released Jan. 24 on Sony Music Latin, climbs to No. 7 after a robust 51% gain in plays for the tracking week ending Feb. 6, according to Luminate. That increase translates to 2.7 million audience impressions in the U.S. in its second week on the chart.
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“This is not a song, this is a statement,” shared Sanz on his Instagram account, as he announced the Frontera collab on Jan. 24. The song, produced by Grammy and Latin Grammy winner Edgar Barrera, fuses Sanz’s characteristic pop and Frontera’s cumbia folk.
Sanz last scored a top 10 on Latin Pop Airplay through “For Sale,” with Carlos Vives in 2020, reaching a No. 5 high then. In between, he’s placed three other songs, among those, “Muero,” with Kany García, nearly missed the upper region, landing at No. 11 in 2022.
Frontera grabs its first top 10 on its first try. The group joined the Latin pop radio ranking last week, when “Hoy No Me Siento Bien” debuted at No. 12 on the chart dated Feb. 8.
Sanz, one of Latin pop’s earliest hitmakers, adds a 25th career top 10. The Spaniard first reached the upper region the with the No. 9-peaking “La Fuerza del Corazón” in 1995. He has since placed at least one top 10 on Latin Pop Airplay in every decade. Six out of those landed at the summit, including his featured role in Shakira’s “La Tortura,” which dominated for 10 weeks, tying with Juane’s “La Camisa Negra” for the longest-leading song in 2005.
Continued reception across Latin pop radio stations, takes “Hoy No Me Siento Bien” to a No. 43 debut on the overall Latin Airplay chart, Sanz’s first visit since “Muero,” with Kany García, in 2022.
“Hoy No Me Siento Bien” will appear on Sanz’s 15th studio project. It follows first single, “Palmeras En El Jardín,” a No. 13 high on Latin Pop Airplay (Dec. 2024).
If Hurry Up Tomorrow is indeed his final album — as the artist born Abel Tesfaye has hinted at it being, at least under his current artist name — then The Weeknd is certainly going out with a bang.
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Tomorrow bows atop the Billboard 200 albums chart this week (dated Feb. 16) with 490,500 first-week units (with 359,000 in sales), according to Luminate. The debut is the strongest of The Weeknd’s career, beating his previous high of 444,000 (posted by his After Hours blockbuster in 2020) and nearly tripling the 148,000 number that Dawn FM, his prior LP, entered with in 2021. Meanwhile, the set lands 14 tracks on the Billboard Hot 100, led by the Playboi Carti teamup “Timeless” at No. 7.
What does the big debut mean for The Weeknd? And if this is the end of The Weeknd, what could Tesfaye possibly do next? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
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1. The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow debuts with 490,500 first-week units, the best first-week numbers of his career and nearly three times more than the number moved by predecessor Dawn FM in its first week in 2021. On a scale from 1-10, how big a deal is this for The Weeknd?
Rania Aniftos: 9 — it would be a 10, but he’s no stranger to successful albums and likely isn’t too surprised at how well this one performed. However, since he teased this album as the end of The Weeknd (more on that later), it must be validating to have such an impressive end to an even more impressive career.
Kyle Denis: It’s gotta be a 9. The road to Hurry Up Tomorrow was notably rocky, slightly stained by The Idol and bereft of pre-release hits the size of “Heartless” or “Starboy,” so to pull off the best first-week numbers of your career with so many odds stacked against you is nothing less than impressive. With a figure like this, The Weeknd is also bidding farewell to this character while he’s still on top. Narratively, this is a big win for him; imagine if the album touted as the grand finale of his decade-plus career opened with numbers closer to that of Dawn FM’s opening week?
Jason Lipshutz: A 9. This debut demonstrates that interest in The Weeknd remains sky-high, at a moment when he hasn’t had a huge hit in a few years and is about to play stadium shows in a few months. The Weeknd would be an A-lister regardless of what this first-week total had been, but with Hurry Up Tomorrow’s gargantuan debut, he proves that he is still a commercial blockbuster, capable of turning out fans in droves for more than just the old hits.
Heran Mamo: I’d say 9. For a superstar of The Weeknd’s caliber, you’d expect him to go out with a bang if this is really his last album under his current stage name.The only reason I’m not saying 10 is because while Dawn FM might not have been The Weeknd’s best-performing album at the time of its release, its well-conceived concept and ultra-polished production have allowed it to age incredibly.
Andrew Unterberger: Let’s say 8. It’s a big deal, but Tesfaye’s got a lot of big-deal stuff going on right now — from a surprise Grammys comeback to a still-expanding big stadium tour — and I’m not sure it totally stands out from the pack there.
2. What do you see as being the biggest factor in Hurry Up Tomorrow’s stellar early performance?
Rania Aniftos: He really leaned into the idea of “rebirth” and coming back to himself throughout the promo process, which makes me think that fans were more curious than ever about what Hurry Up Tomorrow might sound like. Would it continue be like After Hours and Starboy, or would he return to his House of Balloons or Trilogy roots? To me, it was a seamless mix of both musical eras, appealing to OG fans and ones he made along the way.
Kyle Denis: In his Billboard 200 roundup, our very own Keith Caulfield noted that Hurry Up Tomorrow was available across eight vinyl variants, eight CD variants, a cassette tape, and nine deluxe boxed sets in addition to its standard configurations and access on DSPs. Of course, someone still needs to buy these versions, so the real credit for Hurry Up Tomorrow’s early performance is due to The Weeknd’s deep relationship with his XO fan community. Over the course of his career and the unfurling of the character of The Weeknd, the four-time Grammy winner has garnered an incredibly dedicated fanbase who want to feel as immersed in the story as possible – whether that means collecting album variants, selling out stadiums, or buying tickets for the forthcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow film.
Jason Lipshutz: Unlike the star-heavy start of 2024, the beginning of 2025 has not been jammed with big new album releases — just Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos, really — and Hurry Up Tomorrow took advantage of that relative silence. Plus, The Weeknd made fans wait three years for a new project after being omnipresent at the start of the decade, resulting in a thirst for new music that was slaked by a 22-song opus ripe for racking up major streaming totals.
Heran Mamo: Literally, I would say album sales since they accounted for 359,000 of the LP’s 490,500 first-week equivalent album units. But considering this has been touted as The Weeknd’s final album as “The Weeknd,” there’s a lot more riding on this than if it was just another album in his discography, and that’s bound to bring more attention to Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Andrew Unterberger: Good planning with the available variants, combined with strong messaging about the album’s place in his catalog — both as the end of this current 2020s album trilogy, and possibly the end of his entire career arc as The Weeknd.
3. “Timeless” is the highest-charting song from the new set in its first week, returning to the Hot 100’s top 10 at No. 7 after having previously peaked at No. 3. Do you think it will stand as the biggest hit from the set, or do you think another song on the album might pass it?
Rania Aniftos: I do think “Timeless” will continue to be the standout hit from the album, especially since he’s going on tour with his collaborator Playboi Carti, which will likely give the song another boost. I would, selfishly, love to see “The Abyss” with Lana Del Rey have a moment, because I’m a huge Lana fan and I think she and The Weeknd have some serious musical chemistry.
Kyle Denis: In terms of chart peaks, I think “Timeless” will probably remain the biggest hit from the set. In a just world “Cry for Me” is a massive spring hit, but we’ll see how that shakes out. “Wake Me Up” deserves some love too, but people seem to be a bit tired of disco/synthpop Weeknd (R.I.P. “Dancing in the Flames”). If he can convince frequent duet partner Ariana Grande to escape Oz for a moment to record a remix, perhaps she can turn “Open Hearts” into a “Save Your Tears”-esque hit.
Jason Lipshutz: “Timeless” will keep performing well — Playboi Carti’s red-hot streak is still intact, after all — but the focus track “Cry For Me,” which debuted on this week’s Hot 100 at No. 12, sounds like a durable hit, and the type of darkly lit, emotionally heightened synth-pop track that The Weeknd has turned into months-long smashes time and again. It’s unlikely to ever reach “Blinding Lights” heights, but “Cry For Me” should stick around through the spring, at least.
Heran Mamo: It’s hard to say considering “Timeless” had a four-month lead start as a single compared to most of the album’s songs. That 00XO connection between The Weeknd and Playboi Carti has grown stronger and stronger since their “Popular” collaboration with Madonna, and their unreleased “Lose You” joint has been getting a lot of hype since Carti’s Rolling Loud Miami performance last December. And considering “Timeless” is the latest new music release from Carti, fans will be clinging onto that single until I AM MUSIC finally drops (hopefully this year).
I don’t know if “Cry For Me” will surpass “Timeless,” but it’s solidifying itself as one of the most standout tracks from the album. The Weeknd performed both songs during his surprise set at the 2025 Grammys, and “Cry For Me” was No. 1 on the Global Apple Music chart, debuted at No. 5 on the Global Spotify chart and debuted at No. 12 on the Hot 100 this week, making it the second highest-charting track from the LP after “Timeless.”
Andrew Unterberger: Given that The Weeknd seems to be struggling to connect commercially with his more traditional pop songs since “Save Your Tears,” and that his more dramatic left turns like “Sao Paulo” haven’t fared much better, I imagine the halfway-point territory of “Timeless” (with a red-hot collaborator in Playboi Carti) will probably end up faring best from this one. Rooting for “I Can’t Wait to Get There” though.
4. Hurry Up Tomorrow has been teased to be The Weeknd’s final album, at least as The Weeknd. If so, how do you feel it rates as a grand finale for his superstar artistic persona?
Rania Aniftos: I’m very much satisfied. It feels like the end of a decade-plus character arc, a tribute to the mixtapes that put him on the map and a display of his captivating artistic growth ever since.
Kyle Denis: The more I sit with the album, the happier I am with it as a finale for The Weeknd. You get notes of all his past eras and some of his most bone-chilling songwriting (shoutout to “Baptized in Fear”), and he sounds great. His voice is notably more robust which makes for ballads that pack a much heavier punch than some of his earlier efforts in that space. My only hope is that this movie doesn’t ruin the album for me.
Jason Lipshutz: If The Weeknd does stick to this statement, this persona will have gone out on its own terms — the shadowy figure from the PBR&B days of the early 2010s lasting through the mid-2020s, a mystery morphed into a Super Bowl headliner. Hurry Up Tomorrow closes out a trilogy of albums, but it also puts a bow on the maximalist, bleary-eyed, synth-heavy sound that The Weeknd has been tinkering with for over a decade in the spotlight; it’s not his complete project, but it might be the one that’s most representative of who he is, and what he set out to do. And if that’s the case, Tomorrow is a hell of a parting shot.
Heran Mamo: 10/10. His consistent, intentional execution of callbacks to earlier moments from his career have made Hurry Up Tomorrow a compelling closing chapter for The Weeknd. As an artist who’s always idolized and been inspired by Michael Jackson, interpolating “Thriller” on the opening track “Wake Me Up” was an incredible homage. Flipping the song titles and motifs from his previous albums, like “Save Your Tears” to “Cry for Me” and “Escape From LA” to “Take Me Back to LA,” nicely brought things back around. And having the end of “Hurry Up Tomorrow” seamlessly transition into the beginning of “High For This,” the opening song from his debut mixtape House of Balloons 14 years ago, the first chapter of his primary Trilogy, was the LP’s quintessential full-circle moment.
Andrew Unterberger: Yeah, it’s a strong finale — better on each listen and rich enough that I’m still uncovering new details and personal favorites. I do still wish it had one absolute can’t-miss standout smash on it that could sorta live outside the album a bit, but maybe that song just hasn’t quite revealed itself yet. Wouldn’t be the first time one of his deep cuts took a minute to reveal its charms and find its audience.
5. If this is indeed the end for The Weeknd as The Weeknd, what’s your bold prediction for what Abel Tesfaye might do next?
Rania Aniftos: It’s no bold prediction that he’ll make a home in the horror movie world — he’s already working on a psychological thriller. So, I’ll take it a few steps further. I loved his haunted house at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights, so why couldn’t he have a whole haunted theme park of his own where fans can experience the dark, twisted aspects of his music in real life?
Kyle Denis: Hopefully, more acting projects that aren’t connected to pop stardom/music… I feel like some space from that world might do him so good.
Jason Lipshutz: The Idol 2: Tedros’ Revenge. I’m half-kidding! I do think he might take a break to explore Hollywood before eventually dipping back into music and reclaiming what is his.
Heran Mamo: He’s going to dive deeper into the TV and film world. His HBO TV series The Idol seemed to be a bit of a false start, but by co-writing, co-producing and starring in his first feature film Hurry Up Tomorrow and launching his own Manic Phase production company, it seems like Tesfaye is creatively rerouting to something he’s always dreamed of doing.
Andrew Unterberger: I’ve said it before, but I think Tesfaye starts anew as a recording artist under a totally different name — and doesn’t let us know for sure that it’s him until well into the project.
It’s been a busy start of 2025 for Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart, with five acts occupying the No. 1 spot at least for one week across the year’s seven chart weeks thus far. The latest leader is Gerardo Coronel “El Jerry,” who slides to the top of the list with “CHSM El Hígado,” as […]
The 2025 Grammy Awards held Feb. 2 shine bright on both the Billboard 200 albums and Billboard Hot 100 songs charts (dated Feb. 15), as a starry lineup of winners and performers racked up big gains. Let’s take a look at some notable movers and shakers on both lists.
On the Billboard 200
Kendrick Lamar’s GNX gains 9% in equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the tracking week ending Feb. 6 (65,000), according to Luminate, though the album is pushed down a spot to No. 4. While Lamar did not perform on the Grammy Awards, he did win five trophies — the most of any artist this year — with two of those presented on-air during the CBS television broadcast: record of the year and song of the year, both for “Not Like Us.” Lamar also took home the awards for best rap performance, best rap song and best music video – all for “Not Like Us.” (“Not Like Us” is not included on any of Lamar’s albums, but GNX is his most recent album release.)
Lamar has four more albums on the Billboard 200 — and all post gains. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City climbs 31-27 (21,000; up 11%), DAMN. rises 36-29 (20,000; up 9%), To Pimp a Butterfly rises 196-167 (9,000; up 9%) and Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers reenters at No. 185 (8,500; up 13%).
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft gains 47% (jumping 10-5), following her performance of the album’s “Birds of a Feather” on the show. The album was also nominated for multiple awards, though did not win. Eilish also logs gains on the Billboard 200 with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (95-83; up 10%), Happier Than Ever (135-115; up 17%) and Dont Smile at Me (reentering at No. 160; up 14%).
Best new artist winner Chappell Roan sees her The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess bound 14-6 with a 56% gain in units earned. Roan performed the album’s “Pink Pony Club” on the show.
Two-time winner Sabrina Carpenter is pushed down 6-7 with Short n’ Sweet, despite a gain of 20%. Carpenter won best pop vocal album (for Short n’ Sweet), which was presented on air, and best pop solo vocal performance (for the album’s “Espresso”). Carpenter also performed a medley of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” on the broadcast. An earlier Carpenter album, Emails I Can’t Send, also logs a gain on the chart, increasing by 8% and climbing 131-125.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department bumps 11-9 with an 8% increase, even though the album didn’t win any of the six awards it and its songs were nominated for. Still, Swift was an attendee at the event, was frequently seen by the CBS cameras, and presented the best country album award to Beyoncé for Cowboy Carter.
Speaking of Cowboy Carter, the album of the year winner gallops back onto the chart, reentering at No. 19 with 25,000 units earned — up 254%.
Doechii, who performed on the show and won the on-air-presented best rap album award for Alligator Bites Never Heal, sees that album vault 62-14 for its best week yet, gaining 107% to 31,000 units earned.
Best new artist nominee and show performer Benson Boone gets a big boost, as his Fireworks & Rollerblades album rises 49-23 with 24,000 units earned — up 44%. On the show, he performed an acrobatic rendition of the album’s “Beautiful Things.” Fellow best new artist nominees, and performers, Teddy Swims and Shaboozey also see gains — the former for I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), which rises 25-24 with an 8% increase, and the latter for Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which rises 50-38 with a 13% gain.
All eight of the best new artist nominees had their own dedicated solo performance on the CBS broadcast: Boone, Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, Raye, Roan, Shaboozey and Swims. (While Raye and Khruangbin aren’t on the Billboard 200, they also see gains with their most recent albums. Raye’s My 21st Century Blues is up 65% to 5,500 units; and Khruangbin’s A La Sala is up 36% to nearly 2,000 units.)
Performer and three-time winner Charli XCX sees her Brat album bump 52-26 with 22,000 units earned — up 38%. Brat won best dance/electronic album and best recording package, while the set’s “Von Dutch” won best dance pop recording. While none of Charli’s awards were presented during the CBS broadcast, she performed a medley of the album’s “Von Dutch” and “Guess” on the show.
Kendrick Lamar & More Leap on the Hot 100
As previously reported, the Hot 100’s top 10 reflects Grammy action, led by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile,” which won for best pop duo/group performance during the CBS broadcast. The pair also performed on the show, but didn’t sing “Die With a Smile,” instead, they did a cover of The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” in tribute to Los Angeles following the January wildfires in the area.
Songs in the top 10 by Eilish, Shaboozey, The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, and Benson Boone also bask in a post-Grammy glow.
Just outside the Hot 100’s top 10, Lamar’s “Not Like Us” vaults 29-15 with a 55% blast to 19.2 million official U.S. streams. The Drake-eviscerating track, which topped the chart for two weeks last May and July, swept all five of its Grammy nominations.
Roan surges with two songs in the Hot 100’s top 25: “Pink Pony Club” (45-18, a new high, surpassing its prior No. 26 peak) and “Good Luck, Babe!” (30-23, after reaching No. 6). The songs soared by 98% to 13.4 million streams and 26% to 13.2 million streams, respectively, after she performed “Pink Pony Club” and won the Grammy for best new artist, accepting the award with her buzzy speech calling for improvements in artists’ healthcare.
Plus, Doechii’s “Denial Is a River” hits the Hot 100’s top 40, jumping 55-27, up 66% to 13.8 million streams. It’s a new best rank for the rapper, who previously hit a No. 29 high in October 2013 with “What It Is (Block Boy)” featuring Kodak Black.
Chris Brown scores a historic milestone on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, becoming the second artist to reach 100 cumulative weeks at No. 1 on the radio ranking, across 11 No. 1 songs in his career. The R&B hitmaker achieves the feat on the list dated Feb. 15 as current single “Residuals” jumps 2-1 for its first week in the top slot. The singer joins Drake, who has a record 176 weeks at No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, in the triple-digit club among all artists since the chart launched in 1992.
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A CBE/RCA Records release, “Residuals” crowns R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations, with 15.8 million audience impressions in the tracking week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, according to Luminate, up 3% from the previous week’s 15.3 million.
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The single advances to the summit in its 27th week on the list, the seventh-longest wait in the chart’s history. After 11 nonconsecutive weeks in the runner-up spot, “Residuals” likely crosses the finish line with added buzz from its official music video release on Jan. 23 and its nomination for best R&B performance at the Grammy Awards. While the track lost its nod at the Feb. 2 ceremony, Brown won best R&B album for 11:11, his second career trophy.
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Brown’s 100 weeks at No. 1 are spread across 11 No. 1s. Notably, more than half of his career total derives from just two songs: “No Guidance” featuring Drake, and a collaboration with Young Thug, “Go Crazy.” The former logged 27 weeks on top in 2019-2020, while the latter dominated for 29 frames in 2020-21. At the time, both tracks set records for the longest run by any song in the chart’s history; SZA’s “Snooze,” at 37 weeks in charge, now holds the title.
To recap his 100 weeks at the summit, here’s a review of Brown’s 11 No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
“Say Goodbye,” six weeks at No. 1, beginning Oct. 14, 2006
“Deuces,” feat. Tyga and Kevin McCall, nine, Sept. 11, 2010
“Look at Me Now,” feat. Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, eight, April 2, 2011
“Loyal,” feat. Lil Wayne and French Montana or Too $hort or Tyga, eight, June 7, 2014
“New Flame,” feat. Usher and Rick Ross, four, Oct. 25, 2014
“Hold You Down,” DJ Khaled feat. Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future and Jeremih, five, Nov. 15, 2014
“All Eyes on You,” Meek Mill feat. Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj, one, Sept. 26, 2015
“No Guidance,” feat. Drake, 27, Aug. 24, 2019
“Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, 29, Aug. 22, 2020
“Under the Influence,” two, March 25, 2023
“Residuals,” one (to date), Feb. 15, 2025
With an 11th No. 1, Brown breaks a tie with Beyoncé for sole possession of the fourth-most leaders on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. Drake leads the count with 29, with Usher (16) and Lil Wayne (12) in second and third place, respectively.
Elsewhere, “Residuals” pushes 15-13 on Adult R&B Airplay, sparked by a 49% surge in weekly plays. It also repeats at No. 6 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, a chart it topped for four weeks in December-January, and essentially remains even in plays with last week’s total.
R&B girl group Psiryn earns its first No. 1 on a Billboard chart as its single “Sober” rules the Adult R&B Airplay chart. The track ascends from No. 2 after an 8% jump that made it the most played song on U.S. panel-contributing adult R&B radio stations for the tracking week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, according to Luminate.
In taking the summit, Psiryn — comprised of Anaya Chayenne, Jada Denise and Victoria McQueen — becomes the first all-female duo or group to crown the Adult R&B Airplay chart in nearly 23 years. The last? The duo Floetry, whose “Say Yes” ruled for seven weeks in May-June 2003. Among acts with at least three members, Psiryn is only the second girl group to reign on the 31-year-old Adult R&B Airplay chart. The trio joins Brownstone, which scored a pair of one-week leaders — “If You Love Me” and “Grapevyne” — in 1995.
As “Sober” advances, it knocks Coco Jones’ “Here We Go (Uh Oh)” from the top spot. The former champ ruled for seven nonconsecutive weeks beginning last December, including the last two frames.
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“It feels surreal and is an absolute honor,” Psiryn tells Billboard of its new No. 1. “We are the first girl group in 20 years to achieve this, and it feels truly out of this world – we still can’t believe this is happening!”
The journey to summit began nearly six months ago, when “Sober” debuted at No. 23 in September. A steady climb followed, but the single ran the risk of falling short of the apex — with five straight weeks at No. 5 around the holidays — before a final push put it to the finish line. The week-in, week-out support, the group notes, likely aligns with a wider mood. “The relatability of this record speaks volumes. So many people connect with ‘Sober’ and the feeling of needing a break from the real world,” the trio adds. “People just gravitate toward it, just like we did when we first heard it!”
“Sober” was released through independent label Kandi Koated Entertainment, a multimedia agency owned by Kandi Burruss. The entrepreneur rose to fame as a member of R&B group Xscape, which logged 10 hits on the Adult R&B Airplay chart in the 1990s, including “Just Kickin It” (No. 4), “Understanding” (No. 3) and “Who Can I Run To” (No. 2), all of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As a songwriter, Burruss co-penned hits include No. 1 Hot 100 hits from TLC (“No Scrubs”) and Destiny’s Child (“Bills Bills Bills.”)
Elsewhere, “Sober” repeats at its No. 18 high on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from monitored adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the single climbed to 6.2 million audience impressions in the week, up 13% from 5.5 million in the previous tracking window.
Celebrating six decades of soul – from favorites by Stevie Wonder to The Weeknd and the Supremes to SZA – SiriusXM brought back the Billboard Top 500 R&B Countdown on Tuesday (Feb. 11). In honor of Black History Month, the countdown spotlights the top 500 R&B classics by Black artists spanning the past six decades […]