five burning questions
Page: 11
In case you missed Colombian singer-songwriter Karol G‘s rise to star status in the U.S., she put the whole music industry on notice this week with the historic No. 1 bow of her fourth album, Mañana Será Bonito, on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated March 11).
The album debuts atop the Billboard 200 with 94,000 equivalent album units, making it the first Spanish-language album by a female artist (or by a Colombian artist) ever to reach the chart’s apex. In addition to featuring 2022 hits like “Provenza” and “Gatúbela,” the album also crashes the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 this week with its new Shakira team-up “TQG” — which enters at No. 7, making it Karol G’s biggest hit on the chart to date.
How significant is this debut? And which Latin artist might be next to top the Billboard 200? Billboard staffers discuss below.
1. Karol G enters the Billboard record books this week with her Mañana Será Bonito album, becoming the first female artist to score a No. 1 album with an all-Spanish-language album. On a scale from 1-10, how do you rate the historic significance of the accomplishment?
Leila Cobo: It’s a 10, for multiple reasons. Karol becomes only the second artist in history to debut at No 1 on on the Billboard 200 with an album in Spanish; she’s the first woman to place a Spanish-language album at No. 1; and she’s the first Colombian to do so as well. The latter distinction is also particularly important because Colombia’s tradition of exporting music is relatively new. Prior to Shakira — and to a lesser degree before her, Carlos Vives — Colombian artists were not heard internationally. So, to have a No. 1 from an artist born and raised in a South American country, and whose presence in our charts is relatively recent, is truly groundbreaking from a cultural standpoint.
The fact that Karol G is a woman whose fan base is mostly female is also groundbreaking. It shows that the world is ready for a different kind of superstar, one who espouses a different kind of aesthetic and message. Karol G is Colombian through and through, and the fact that the world has embraced that indicates to me that people are far more open to diversity than ever before if the music supports it.
Griselda Flores: A resounding 10. This feat is huge and marks a pivotal moment for Karol G’s career. From KG0516 — which scored her her first top 20 entry on the Billboard 200 two years ago — to her momentous Coachella debut and her history-making 2022 tour, Karol G has been consistently working toward becoming one of Latin music’s leading forces. Now, her reach and impact are undeniable and cements her as a top artist, not just a top Latin artist. It’s also an important landmark for women and Spanish-language music. Bad Bunny was the first one to score a No. 1 Spanish-language album, but for a woman to do it … a glass ceiling has been broken.
Sigal Ratner-Arias: 10. With Hispanics being the largest minority group in the U.S., and Spanish the most-spoken language after English, Karol’s No. 1 is a testament to Hispanic consumers’ power, and the need to keep opening doors to more women in Urbano music.
Isabela Raygoza: I’m giving this feat a whopping 9.9. Aside from Mañana Será Bonito’s musical merits, the data speaks for itself. As Billboard’s Keith Caulfield reported, it’s the first Latin album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Selena’s bilingual 1995 Dreaming of You; and only two all-Spanish albums had previously topped the list, both by Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti (2022) and El Último Tour del Mundo (2020) — an astonishing accomplishment. It further attests to Latin music, a genre historically dominated by male artists, being in a new era. Her achievement is not due to a trend for a selected group, nor is it a one-hit wonder. There’s a solid foundation behind her success. Plus, for a woman to achieve this victory during Women’s History Month makes it even more special.
Andrew Unterberger: I’d say a nine. As many incredible inroads that Latin artists had made stateside in the past 5-10 years — between blockbuster tours and festival headline slots, crossover hit singles and award show appearances — no one outside of Bad Bunny had been able to quite crack the code on achieving U.S. streaming stardom on the level of English-language stars. Now, Karol G undeniably has — she not only debuts in the Hot 100’s top 10 this week, but charts 11 of Mañana‘s tracks across the listing — which is a huge deal for any Latin artist, and particularly for a female artist, in what’s long been a male-dominated field.
2. Mañana debuts at No. 1 with an impressive 94,000 equivalent album units, beating out SZA’s seemingly indefatigable blockbuster SOS — by far her best career performance, and one that may take some that haven’t been paying close attention to her trajectory by surprise. What’s one important thing Karol has done in the two years since 2021’s KG0516 that’s allowed her to level up commercially like this?
Leila Cobo: She’s toured massively, and, perhaps more importantly, she really upped the level of her live show. If you compare Karol’s 2022 show with her 2021 show, the difference is big: She performs better, she sings for most of the show, and her staging, band and dancers have all been upgraded. It really signaled she was entering the major leagues, being able to deliver in the arena stage like any other act. Right now, there is no other woman in Latin music touring at that scale. It was impressive — and as an industry observer, it felt like she had deliberately upped the ante.
Griselda Flores: I want to say that there are two important things: one being the singles she released leading up to the album, including “Provenza,” and “X Si Volvemos” with Romeo Santos. Those two singles alone were a massive success, and it really kept Karol on our radar. It didn’t feel like she took a break to do an album and then came back. Meanwhile, her $trip Love Tour also plays a major role in her being able to “level up.” It’s now the highest grossing U.S. tour by a women Latin artist in history. Overall, it grossed $69.9 million across 33 shows in North America.
Sigal Ratner-Arias: Karol has been able to amass an ever-growing fan base not only with her fierce but sweet and relatable personality and female-empowering lyrics, but with real hard work, talent and dedication. She has worked non-stop, making touring history last year with her ambitious $trip Love Tour. (Her hair color changes were also a sensation.)
Isabela Raygoza: Karol G possesses tremendous charisma on and off stage. Her music is honest, and she keeps it real on her social channels. Although she’s a full-fledged Latin pop star, she somehow projects herself as relatable. She shares herself with her listeners in a way making fans feel like they know her, and they resonate with what she’s saying. Aside from putting in the work, crafting great songs, killing it on tour, and bringing fresh content to her fan base, her charisma is one of a kind.
Andrew Unterberger: She has spaced out her singles very well over the past 18 months — with each building on the last, and still feeling like its own event. When “Provenza” reached the top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100 last May without any guests or major narrative hooks, it was pretty clear that something special was happening with Karol.
3. Meanwhile, Karol’s “TQG” collab with Shakira becomes her first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, helped significantly by the starriness of the team-up and public interest in both artists’ recent high-profile real-life breakups. Do you think the song will continue to grow into one of the early year’s biggest hits, or will its debut likely be its commercial peak?
Leila Cobo: I think “TQG” has legs beyond its debut because it’s a great song. Like Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” it has a strong melody at a time when fans seem to be eager to listen to great melodies instead of simply great beats. And, of course, the story behind it is irresistible: two very public heartbreak stories, and, on top of that, the first collab between Colombia’s biggest women stars. For fans of Latin music, it’s irresistible. But, to me the secret sauce is the song itself, which is better than the story.
Griselda Flores: To be completely honest, I don’t know. But I am leaning more toward it continuing to grow with radio airplay and the fact that it’s already become a bonafide woman anthem. The reggaetón track has really catchy lyrics, which makes it just a good song. I think it will continue to be a top song — but I would love to see other songs from the album get their moment, which I think will happen once she starts releasing music videos for some of the other songs.
Sigal Ratner-Arias: I think “TQG” will continue to grow, but I’m not sure if it will become one of the biggest hits of the year. Other songs from Mañana that were recently released — including the feel-good reggae groove “Mientras Me Curo Del Cora,” about taking your time when you’re down and being hopeful about tomorrow, whose video just came out Tuesday (amassing 1.5 million views over its first four hours) — may also start growing and climbing the charts.
Isabela Raygoza: I believe that as long as more female artists continue to publicize their messy relationships via songs — a trend that is on the rise, of what I like to call “the tabloid pop hit” — the song will endure. We’ve seen this with the chart-topping “Kill Bill” by SZA, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé’s Lemonade album, and most recently Shakira’s diss track “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” The worthiness of “TQG” is all in the lyrics, rather than the beats, and their one-liner disses are worthy of slogans, which you can read here. Karol G and Shak’s highly publicized disentanglements with their respective exes have become tabloid gold, and they’ve taken control of the narrative and turned their drama into hits, a form of empowerment. Plus, listeners can enjoy the tea guilt free, sip.
Andrew Unterberger: I don’t see it fizzling out quickly, though I’m not sure it’ll ever beat its current No. 7 peak. It might follow a similar trajectory to Shakira’s other splashy top 10-debuting collab from this year, the Bizarrap team-up “Vol. 53” — a top 10 debut, followed by a very gradual tumble down the top 40. But I’ll be curious to see if either of the two songs can capture the radio support to buoy it as its streaming and sales numbers continue to recede; certainly, either would sound great blaring from car radios as the weather starts to heat up.
4. Only one other artist of any gender has ever topped the Billboard 200 with an all-Spanish-language release before: Bad Bunny. Do you see Karol G as being on the path to achieve the same kind of stateside superstardom as Bad Bunny has, or is it still too early to say?
Leila Cobo: If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said Bad Bunny was a unicorn. However, what is happening with Karol’s album, on the heels of her tour, makes me think she can definitely achieve bigger stateside superstardom. Karol is a very unique female artist. She’s remained singularly approachable and authentic, even as her popularity has increased. She’s very consistent in the themes she espouses and the message she delivers. She is the kind of woman many women, especially young women, can relate to. Her persona really resonates across generations. She’s worked extremely hard at her craft and has raised that bar high. What I love about her is she hasn’t compromised her sound or who she is as she’s gotten bigger, and her fans recognize that. I think she could definitely match Bad Bunny.
Griselda Flores: 100%. I think this No. 1 marks the beginning of a new era for Karol where possibilities are endless. Like Bad Bunny, it all started with a No. 1 album — then he went on to headline a stadium tour, have the first Spanish-language album nominated for best album at the Grammys and become the first Spanish-language artist to headline Coachella. I can see Karol G going that same route, with a stadium tour for next year and another history-making nomination at the Grammys.
Sigal Ratner-Arias: Karol G’s historic success is no accident or surprise. Although Bad Bunny had started much higher in the chart and quicky saw his albums in the top 10, Karol has been steadily climbing the Billboard 200 with every one of her sets — from No. 192 in 2017 (Unstopable) to No. 54 in 2019 (Ocean) to 20 in 2021 (KG0516) and now to No. 1. And she will probably be on tour again with Mañana, which will only push her stardom forward.
Isabela Raygoza: Karol G has already demonstrated that she’s on the path to enjoying a similar kind of stateside superstardom like that of the Bunny. She’s no stranger to the Billboard 200: In fact, every single album she’s released has peaked higher on the chart than the last. She continues to accumulate a growing fan base, and this new album certainly introduced the Colombian powerhouse star to wider audiences well beyond the Latin realm. When she starts to tour MSB, that will only elevate her star higher.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s really hard to say. Usually, when an artist shows the kind of steady and consistent growth over many years that Karol G has for the past half-decade, it’s a good idea not to underestimate them. But the kind of success (and moreover, the level of sheer global approval) that Bad Bunny has achieved is something that only a handful of artists in a generation can manage. For that reason alone, the odds are probably against Karol — but she’s made every right move to be on the road there so far, so I still probably wouldn’t bet against her.
5. Of all the contemporary hitmakers in the Latin world who still have yet to score a No. 1 album, who would you predict to be the next artist to do so?
Leila Cobo: Shakira, especially this year. And if Maluma brings in another major hit like “Hawaii,” he’s also in the running, in my eyes.
Griselda Flores: I’m a regional Mexican fan and I would love to see a Mexican music artist score a No. 1. Now, with a new generation of artists — such as Eslabon Armado, Yahritza Y Su Esencia and Ivan Cornejo — that is fusing the genre’s core sound with urban or alt-rock elements and it’s attracting a new generation and a more diverse audience, the prediction doesn’t seem too unrealistic.
Sigal Ratner-Arias: Shakira. Her Spanish-speaking fans have been patiently awaiting, and the success of her latest songs en Español just show how eager they are to see what she’ll do next. Her personal issues — namely, her recent separation from Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué — also adds fuel to the curiosity. She recently said she’s “more excited than ever” to go back to the studio, and we expect to hear more from her soon.
Isabela Raygoza: Rosalía. I would probably say that Rosalía has been one of Karol G’s main competitors in the industry, from my point of view, as both women have earned pinnacle achievements in Latin music. The Barcelona singer became the first woman in Latin Grammy history to win album of the year twice: 2019’s El Mal Querer, and 2022’s Motomami. With all her albums, including her 2017 debut Los Ángeles, she has demonstrated her masterclass ability to innovate, which has made her an exhilarating artist. She’s shown various facets of music experimentation that really impresses, whether it’s flamenco pop or glitchy reggaetón. She even won the first ever producer of the year at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music event. Although Motomami charted at 33 on the Billboard 200, I believe she can make the jump with her ability to surprise and intrigue audiences, which could land her a No. 1 album in the future.
Andrew Unterberger: They’re nowhere near the stateside recognition of either Karol G or Bad Bunny yet, but I do have my eye on Grupo Frontera. For most of 2023, the regional Meixcan group has had three concurrent hits on the Hot 100, with their own “No Se Va,” the Carin Leon collab “Que Velvas” and the Fuerza Regida team-up “Bebe Dame.” Usually, when a newer artist is able to simultaneously support three crossover hits like that at once — for months, not just a week or two — it means they’re probably already much, much bigger than we even realize.
It’s proven a successful formula before: The Weeknd scores a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit, and just when it looks to have climbed about as far as it’s likely to get, it receives a new remix starring his “Love Me Harder” co-star Ariana Grande to give it another blast of momentum.
In the case of The Weeknd‘s After Hours single “Save Your Tears,” that blast took it all the way to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in spring 2021. Now, he and Grande look to repeat their trick with “Die for You,” the artist born Abel Tesfaye’s old Starboy cut that was revitalized on TikTok and streaming and eventually radio, becoming a Hot 100 hit in late 2022. Early this year, the song climbed as high as No. 6 on the chart — where it returns to this week — and it’s likely to get a considerable boost in consumption from the new remix.
Will it be enough to get the song to No. 1? And what other pop co-stars might look to follow Grande and Tesfaye’s lead? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. Despite being over six years old, “Die for You” has stood for two months now as one of the biggest hits of the new year, climbing back to its No. 6 peak this week. Why do you think the song has the song been able to maintain its popularity — not just several months into its current chart run, but over a half-decade since its original release?
Rania Aniftos: As always with a song that’s getting a second life, we can thank TikTok. The Weeknd’s unearthed songs usually take off, because Abel really never misses. As a fan myself, I love being reminded of and revisiting some of his older songs, so I’m always happy when a track makes its way back to TikTok.
Stephen Daw: I’ve said it before, and I will say it again — never underestimate TikTok. Beyond just saying a song “is big on TikTok right now,” it’s clear that the app has become a place where even a decades-old gem can become a huge hit. “Die for You” has always had a reputation amongst The Weeknd fans as one of the best deeper cuts off Starboy — now that they have a place to focus that love and attention for their underrated fave, everyone suddenly gets to be in on it together.
Jason Lipshutz: At some point over the past few weeks, “Die for You” fully transitioned from “fan favorite album track that has garnered a surprising amount of TikTok commotion” to “one of The Weeknd’s biggest choruses to date that somehow didn’t explode upon its original release.” Hearing “Die for You” on a major streaming playlist or on top 40 radio today, it sounds just as immediate and undeniable as “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears” did two years ago — especially impressive considering how dated a lot of pop songs can sound a few years after they’re unveiled. Fans might have gotten the ball rolling here, but the timeless feel of “Die for You” helped sustain it.
Heran Mamo: There’s a couple of factors here: 1) TikTok’s superpower of reviving years-old deep cuts and transforming them into today’s hits, especially for new listeners; 2) The Weeknd’s performance of “Die for You” during his After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour refreshing his die-hard fans’ memories of one of his best songs to date; and 3) top 40 programmers’ strategy of satisfying his fans (after coming up short on a “Blinding Lights”-sized hit from latest album Dawn FM) and capitalizing on the recent “Die” revival. I also feel like The Weeknd’s really struck listeners’ nostalgic nerve right now, with his contribution to Metro Boomin’s “Creepin” (which partially covers Mario Winans’ 2004 track “I Don’t Wanna Know”) also remaining in the top 10 of the Hot 100 for the last two months. Dusting off not just one but two old songs and turning them into modern day smashes is very impressive, and I don’t know how many other artists would be able to pull that off.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s just kinda what The Weeknd does. “Die for You” proved a better fit for streaming and radio than anything off Dawn FM — and historically speaking, once one of his singles reaches a certain level of popularity, it’s tougher to get rid off than bedbugs. That probably would’ve been true of “Die” even without any high-profile remixes.
2. On Friday, the song’s Ariana Grande-featuring remix was released to much fanfare, marking the fourth time the two pop superstars have collaborated on a song. Why do you think their artistic partnership continues seems to make such an impact each time out?
Rania Aniftos: Their relationship is so authentic, and fans see that. They’re genuinely friends, and because of that, it doesn’t just feel like some cash-grab collaboration between two huge celebrities. You can tell from how incredible every single one of their collabs are that they actually want to make the best music possible together, and it works. Of course, their combined mega-star power doesn’t hurt.
Stephen Daw: Ari and Abel share one thing that makes them both stand out from many of their other peers: unique, singular voices. When you put them together, it feels like two perfectly fitted puzzle pieces that complete a greater picture. There’s simply no denying that they both sound phenomenal bouncing off of one another, so it makes sense that every time they collaborate, fans eat it up and ask them when they’re going to get more.
Jason Lipshutz: Abel and Ariana have a shared rhythmic-pop sensibility that allows them to approach tracks in a similar way and sound great together on the finished product. Over the past decade, both artists have enveloped themselves in R&B textures while placing high value on radio-friendly pop hooks; they often sing about love with a tinge of darkness, as if even the most romantic of scenarios contain jabs of pain mixed in with the shots of pleasure. A song like “Die for You” makes for the perfect vehicle for both talents — pillowy in parts and epic in others, the track conveys devotion through ultimate sacrifice, and meets a complicated relationship with nuanced, spectacular vocal runs.
Heran Mamo: It goes without saying that they’re two of the biggest pop stars in the world, so putting them together on one song is bound to make noise. But specifically, The Weeknd’s awe-inspiring falsetto and Ariana’s incredible upper register and piercing whistle tones always come together for the most heavenly songs that literally make you feel like you’re in the clouds. Talk about pop perfection!
Andrew Unterberger: It’s a great fit of pop voices and personas: two pop&B superstars who excel at illustrating dizzying highs and terrifying lows, who are very purposeful in the evolution of their artistry, and who always come with skyscraping and unmistakable vocals.
3. The last time Grande and Tesfaye teamed up was in a similar spot in spring 2021 — with The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” still hanging around the top 10, but likely without the commercial momentum to continue climbing much higher on its own. That collab helped “Tears” immediately shoot to No. 1, and helped it become a big- and long-lasting-enough hit to still be going in 2022. Do you see the “Die for You” having a similar-sized effect, in either the short or long terms?
Rania Aniftos: Yes, but only because Ariana Grande hasn’t put out music in a while, as she’s been busy with other endeavors like her beauty line and her role in the Wicked film. We know that her fans are dying to hear from her and support her in any musical capacity – which is more than enough to blast “Die for You” into a long-lasting hit.
Stephen Daw: Simply put, yes. I try not to make Big Predictions™ that often, but with “Die for You” already climbing back to No. 6 after just the anticipation of a new Ariana collab, it feels like there is very little that could stop it from taking the No. 1 spot in next week’s chart. Sure, they’re pulling the same play that they did with “Save Your Tears” — but if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Jason Lipshutz: Yeah, I think this gets to No. 1. The top of the Hot 100 has become a crowded spot lately, with mega-hits by Miley Cyrus and SZA joined by songs by PinkPantheress & Ice Spice and Morgan Wallen quickly becoming ubiquitous… but The Weeknd and Ariana Grande are A-list artists with sprawling fan bases, tons of radio buy-in and indisputable chemistry. Sure, the “Die for You” remix is a canny attempt to get a top 10 song into pole position on the Hot 100, but that doesn’t mean that the collaboration doesn’t work. As a pop product, the “Die for You” remix fires on all cylinders, and should become huge in the coming weeks.
Heran Mamo: Absolutely. If the six-year-old, solo version can launch to and then stay in the top 10 of the Hot 100 for two months, then the Ariana Grande remix can definitely help maintain that momentum and eventually reach the chart’s top spot. Let’s not forget that this is Ariana’s first major musical release in two years, so her fans will be eating this up. And depending on when she’ll release music again, given her busy film schedule with Wicked, the “Die for You” remix might have to tide the Arianators over for a while. The Abel-Ariana link-up is a tried-and-true formula for a smash that’s sure to work its magic once more.
Andrew Unterberger: Definitely in the short term — based on the remix’s excellent early showing on DSPs and on iTunes, it should help the song score a big chart jump this week, possibly all the way to No. 1. For the long-term, we’ll have to wait and see which version listeners continue to gravitate towards — but with the “Tears” precedent and with the remix still in the daily top 10 on Spotify and Apple Music halfway through the week, I’d probably put my money on it being the enduring version of the song as well.
4. Do you see the addition of Grande’s contributions to “Die for You” as either a major improvement or expansion of the song, or is interest in the new remix mostly just fan excitement about the two pop greats being together again?
Rania Aniftos: I thought the song was great on its own, but I’ve always loved how Ari’s voice sounds with Abel’s because it just amplifies their ethereal, atmospheric musical tastes. So even though the remix might not make the biggest difference or improvement, everything they make together is a fun listen and so, so catchy that nobody’s ever mad at it. I’m certainly not.
Stephen Daw: I think the remix is a great song that was already great before Ariana hopped on it. Her addition is certainly welcome, especially when you see the clip of her comping her own vocal takes to make sure all of her stacked harmonies were perfect. All of that being said, no, this is not a major revitalization of the song — it’s a fun remix with two artists who work well together that gets people listening to the song even more than they already were.
Jason Lipshutz: Ariana Grande joining “Die for You” turns the song into a conversation: after The Weeknd sings, “You know what I’m thinkin’, see it in your eyes/ You hate that you want me, hate it when you cry,” Grande sings the words right back at him in the next verse, as if both parties in the relationship are guilty of being addicted to an unhappy union. Hearing Grande’s voice throughout the remix applies another familiar voice to a major hook, but the real power is in the emotional layers that she adds to the track.
Heran Mamo: I’d say the latter, considering the original “Die for You” is so strong on its own – with a gut-wrenching chorus, scintillating production and The Weeknd’s swoon-worthy, signature falsetto – that it didn’t need a remix. The undeniable vocal chemistry between Abel and Ariana certainly strengthens “Die for You,” but the buzz behind its remix, which started in November when SZA confirmed a rumor she had already recorded one before The Weeknd eventually announced Ariana as his collaborator, has kept fans on their toes for a while.
Andrew Unterberger: The fan excitement was guaranteed to give it a strong push out of the gate, but I think the listeners will stick around in large part because the remix simply works — it just feels a little fuller, a little higher-stakes than the original. It’s not an enormous difference, but it might be enough to take the song from a fun surprise breakout for The Weeknd to a true signature hit.
5. What other A-list collaborators who’ve only worked together once or twice would you like to see growing into a Weeknd/Ariana Grande type relationship, where they come together for a new song or remix every couple years and see blockbuster results seemingly each time out?
Rania Aniftos: I apologize in advance, because this isn’t exactly what’s being asked here, but it must be said: Harry Styles and Taylor Swift need to have this type of collaborative relationship. Their romance-turned-friendship is so sweet and everywhere in the news when they see each other at events. Could you imagine the frenzy if Harry did a remix of Taylor’s “Style”?
Stephen Daw: Doja Cat & SZA, all day, every day. “Kiss Me More” was such a phenomenal outing for both of them because it felt like when they came together, they were bringing out different sides of each other — SZA had permission to be sillier, while Doja had an excuse to show off more of her vocal chops. Provided that Doja doesn’t actually quit the music industry, I would love to see these two get together for another track.
Jason Lipshutz: After “No Body No Crime” and the “Gasoline” remix, sign me up for like, 15 more Taylor Swift-Haim collaborations. Give me a whole album and tour together! Give me Taylor on a retroactive remix of “The Wire”! A guy can dream, right?
Heran Mamo: SZA and Travis Scott. “Love Galore” is truly such a beautiful ballad because of SZA’s emotive vocals and raw storytelling blending with Travis’ euphoric, Auto-Tuned bars and amusing ad-libs. He tapped back into his melodic pocket again on “Open Arms” from the now 10-weeks-and-counting Billboard 200 No. 1 album SOS (where he made another low-key appearance on “Low”). While “Love Galore” peaked at No. 32 on the Hot 100, I think SZA and Travis’ future collabs can build off their chemistry and previous track record (which actually dates back to 2015 with her cameo on his 2015 Rodeo cut “Ok Alright”) and take both artists to even greater heights.
Andrew Unterberger: Halsey and Post Malone seem like they should be strong candidates to have this kind of relationship — though considering Halsey recently cut an entirely solo version of her lone Posty collab to date, their partnership currently might be moving in the wrong direction for it.
Best-selling alt-metal veterans Linkin Park are certainly no strangers to the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, having previously visited the region 10 times since their early-’00s breakout. But their No. 38 debut for new single “Lost” this week still feels particularly noteworthy, for a few reasons.
First of all, it’s the band’s first top 40 hit since 2012 — and their first following the shocking death of lead singer Chester Bennington in 2017. And it comes with a song that, while seeing release for the first time this February, has existed since 2003, when it was recorded during the sessions for the band’s RIAA-certified 7x platinum sophomore album, Meteora.
Why has “Lost” done so well, so quickly? And can we expect more just-unearthed hits like it to soon follow? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. The No. 38 debut for “Lost” marks Linkin Park’s first Hot 100 top 40 hit in over a decade, since “Burn It Down” hit No. 30 in 2012. On a scale from 1-10, how surprised are you that this song was able to make such an immediate chart impact?
Katie Atkinson: Living in L.A. and still hearing Linkin Park in hourly rotation on KROQ, it’s a 1 for me. There are a lot of stations across the country that never stopped playing them, so it’s no surprise that a song recorded during sessions for their first Billboard 200 No. 1 album would still fit right in on a lot of radio (and now streaming) playlists 20 years later. It feels like a perfect gift for anyone still mourning Chester’s premature death, or for younger fans who just discovered the band’s music.
Eric Renner Brown: 5. I find it unremarkable that alt-rock radio would jump on a prime-era Linkin Park cut, especially one that – more on this below – is similar in caliber and aesthetic to the band’s other ‘00s hits. It’s tempting to think there might be another peak Linkin Park single to slot in alongside workhorses like “in The End” and “Numb”! Considering how big a factor nostalgia plays in Linkin Park fandom (or so I thought), I’m somewhat surprised that so many streamers gravitated toward a new song, but ultimately it just speaks to the power of effective digital promotion, the enduring cachet of the band’s name, and the nostalgic appeal of this general aesthetic.
Josh Glicksman: Somewhere hovering around a 4. Given the band’s longstanding success at radio, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the single would find a quick home at the format. Sure enough, “Lost” became just the fourth song ever to debut atop Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, with notable entries on many other airplay rankings in the genre. Combined with its appearance on several curated streaming playlists and a reliable, eager fan base, No. 38 is probably a bit higher than I expected, but certainly not shocking.
Joe Lynch: I think a six on first blush, but then a three when I think about it in context. It’s perhaps worth an eyebrow raise that Linkin Park is back on the Hot 100’s top 40 for the first time since 2012, but when you account for it being a song recorded for a beloved album featuring late vocalist Chester Bennington released in this streaming era, it makes a lot more sense.
Andrew Unterberger: An 8. It’s easy to look at this at a glance and think, “Well, of course a recently uncovered peak-era song from one of the most popular bands of the last three decades would do well.” But this really doesn’t happen that often — you kinda have to go back to Nirvana’s “You Know You’re Right” in 2002 to find another posthumously released rock song with this kind of immediate impact, and even that song was less than a decade old, not 20 whole years. Plus, in the streaming age, curiosity listens only take you so far if you’re not a core pop artist; the song has to really resonate to make a major impact. You can’t just walk into a top 40 debut as a legacy rock act, no matter how huge your legacy is.
2. “Lost” was discovered as part of the sessions for the band’s blockbuster 2003 album Meteora, and will be included on that set’s upcoming 20th anniversary reissue. In your opinion, had the group chosen to release it 20 years ago, would the song have been a worthy single on that set, an album track, a B-side or not really worthy at all?
Katie Atkinson: The thing that’s probably working for it in 2023 is likely also the thing that worked against it in 2003: It sounds too interchangeable with some of the other Meteora singles. In retrospect, I might find “Lost” to be slightly more interesting than lead single “Somewhere I Belong” and definitely more exciting than international single “From the Inside,” but putting that trio of songs together on one project might be too one-note. On the other hand, I don’t think “Lost” touches “Faint,” “Numb” or “Breaking the Habit” in explosiveness or catchiness. So I think it might have fit as a later single, or an album cut at the very least.
Eric Renner Brown: It’s hard to overstate just how massive Linkin Park was in the Meteora era, and just how important they were to so many fans, adolescents especially. As one of those fans, it’s fascinating to look back on how exactly the Meteora singles fared on the charts at the time – solidly, but not much more than that. I think “Lost” could’ve been a good single, but that elides a broader truth: That to Linkin Park fans, all Meteora’s songs were singles, they were all anthems. Like, “Faint” only hit No. 48 on the Hot 100 and No. 15 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs? That song defined the adolescences of millions of kids!
Josh Glicksman: Album track. It’s hard to remove the nostalgia-wrapped bias factor, but swapping out any of Meteora’s current singles feels like an extremely difficult task — billion-plus Spotify streamer “Numb” was the third single on this powerhouse. In reality, it’s going to take a bit of time to separate the excitement of a new Linkin Park single from properly judging where it fits into the band’s catalog, but after nearly two weeks of listens, it’s more than a welcome sight on the upcoming 20th anniversary release.
Joe Lynch: I could definitely see an album track — but then again, Meteora really benefited from being a lean 12 songs clocking in at 36 minutes, so perhaps B-side would have made more sense. And while it’s obviously making waves now, proving it has some chops as a single, it’s hard to argue that the band was really hurting for radio songs to release from that project.
Andrew Unterberger: By my estimation it would’ve been the 6th or 7th best song on Meteora; still a tier below the five big U.S. singles (at least three of which are stone classics) but solidly preferable to a handful of the more anonymous deep cuts found in between them on the tracklist. For a song that’s been gathering dust in the vaults for two decades, that’s pretty close to a best-case scenario.
3. A bow like this — with strong metrics across the board — suggests that real-time affection for and interest in Linkin Park is still high, despite the group’s commercial heyday now being decades in the rearview. What is it about Linkin Park that make them still this accessible to streaming-era audiences, even with an obviously older-sounding song?
Katie Atkinson: The sound they helped pioneer – merging rap, electronic and hard rock – is now the norm more than the exception. So while it definitely sounds like a 2003 nu-metal song, it also isn’t too far from, say, Imagine Dragons’ massive hit “Enemy” with rapper J.I.D from last year. So it’s working the nostalgia angle, and still isn’t really too left-field from what would fit in on contemporary modern rock radio.
Eric Renner Brown: The success of “Lost,” and by extension the way it demonstrates Linkin Park’s enduring appeal, is a new, compelling piece of evidence in a broader thesis: ’90s and ‘00s rock bands are now firmly in their legacy phases. From the ‘90s onward, labels and promoters have cashed in on the biggest rock acts of the ’60s and ‘70s, harnessing aging audiences with nostalgia for their youth – and plenty of disposable income to relive it.
Today, we’re as far from Meteora as a 40-year-old fan in the early ‘90s would’ve been from Woodstock. Go to a concert by a legacy artist like Dead & Company or Billy Joel today, and chances are, they’re not busting out any new stuff – and if they are, it probably isn’t going to sound much different from the classic stuff the fans came for. On the recorded side, Boomers have reliably been wanted to go back to the well for every morsel of music recorded in the studios by their favorite legacy artists during their respective peaks, so it makes sense to me Millennials would behave similarly with their touchstones. (All this before even getting into the way that the early ‘00s nu-metal aesthetic has recently returned in a big way with Gen Z.)
Josh Glicksman: I don’t know that I would say decades, as in plural, for the band’s commercial heyday — Living Things and One More Light both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2012 and 2017, respectively. That said, its biggest hits from closer to the turn of the century have never really faded away from public purview: “In the End” and “Numb” are still instantly recognizable crowd-pleasers. Plus, some of the more commercially viable rock artists today, including Machine Gun Kelly, citing late frontman Chester Bennington as a source of inspiration has helped to introduce the band’s discography to a new, streaming-heavy generation of listeners.
Joe Lynch: I think “decades in the rearview” is overstating it. Every album up until 2014’s The Hunting Party sold well over half a million in America, and on the Hot 100, “New Divide” from one of those idiotic Transformers movies was a top 10 hit in 2009. And honestly, that “Heavy” song hit No. 45 in 2017, which really isn’t a world of difference between this song reaching No. 38 in 2023.
Now that I’m done picking apart the question, I’ll answer it: In hindsight, Linkin Park’s guileless blend of rock, hip-hop and electronic music was clearly more influential than the more critically lauded work the White Stripes, the Strokes, et. al, were doing around the same time. So to me, it’s not shocking that in a genre-agnostic streaming era, a vintage track featuring the band’s late singer is able to become a hit.
Andrew Unterberger: I’ve always thought that Linkin Park were ahead of their time, as the first group to rise to Biggest Band in the World status while viewing rock music primarily through a digital prism — with electronic-based, studio-oriented and heavily adaptable songs that pointed towards an era when guitars would be just one layer of many in a typical rock production. (Not to mention that their frank lyrics about despair, alienation and suffering mental health, while viewed by many as over-the-top in their heyday, sound more at home in 2020s pop than ever before — and also were largely free of the kind of sexist, narcissistic mookishness of many of their ’00s rock peers.) It’s hardly surprising that their music continues to hit with audiences who wouldn’t give a f–k about most GWB-era bands.
4. With modern audiences evidently less concerned than ever about songs being “new” in embracing them as contemporary hits, is there a higher commercial ceiling for recently unearthed songs by familiar artists? Would you expect to see a number of such previously unreleased catalog songs following “Lost” onto the Hot 100 in the next few years?
Katie Atkinson: I don’t see why not. Fans seem much less beholden to artists’ “album cycles” and just want to hear their favorite sounds and their favorite voices on the radio and streaming. What’s interesting is that someone like The Weeknd will go to great lengths to create a theme around an album – like his Dawn FM radio theme or his bloody-faced character from After Hours – and then TikTok and radio programmers will go back and make a hit out of a Starboy album cut from seven years ago when he was in a whole different mind-set. Same thing for Lady Gaga’s many album-based personas, and then “Bloody Mary” just comes roaring out of nowhere 12 years later. Why can’t Linkin Park have a “new” hit in 2023 when the sound of 2023 has no real cohesive personality?
Eric Renner Brown: Audiences are definitely less concerned about songs being “new,” and I think “Lost” will be an instructive case study for anyone in the business who has been on the fence about releasing an archival single by similarly esteemed contemporaries of Linkin Park. Of course, Linkin Park’s case – frontman Chester Bennington no longer being with us – makes it unique. Many of the band’s peers continue to release new music that they might not want overshadowed by material from their respective “classic” eras.
Josh Glicksman: Absolutely there’s a higher commercial ceiling. You don’t need to look beyond this week’s Hot 100: “I’m Good” by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha was recorded years before its eventual release last summer, and in its 25th week on the chart, it’s holding in the top 10. Even songs like The Weeknd’s “Die For You” and Miguel’s “Sure Thing” — which, to be fair, are hardly unearthed — have taken on a second life and are indicative that recording dates don’t carry all that much weight at the moment. I’d expect loads of artists to try to replicate such success, even if only to serve as in-between-albums fodder for their fans.
Joe Lynch: Oh for sure. Without sounding morbid, I’m sure a number of classic millennial and/or Gen X bands are scouring their archives to find something from a long-gone frontperson that could give the remaining members a chart boost in the 2020s. But it isn’t going to work for everyone; it’s very telling to me that even as the Beatles and Prince have opened the flood gates on vault cuts, it’s a song that fits squarely within the 20-year nostalgia cycle that did the thing (not unlike Angela Bassett).
Andrew Unterberger: For sure, but… the songs still have to be good. “Lost” is not exactly a lost classic, but if you heard it on the radio before knowing about its backstory you’d have no problem assuming it was just a lesser-remembered minor hit single you’d forgotten about. Most major artists (and/or their labels) don’t sit on songs like that for 20 years, they’re exhumed long before and milked for all their worth at the first possible notice. It’s serendipitous (or just well-planned) that “Lost” was rediscovered in time for the Meteora 20th anniversary; the timing is perfect, and it’s been long enough now since Bennington’s passing that the release of a new-old single doesn’t feel too raw or potentially exploitative.
5. Of course, the success of “Lost” comes after the tragic death of Linkin Park’s celebrated frontman Chester Bennington in 2017. What’s the first song you think of when it comes to posthumous artist releases that really continued and expanded that artist’s legacy?
Katie Atkinson: There are so many options here, but I’m going to go with The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems.” It’s Biggie’s biggest Hot 100 hit and it was released as a single four months after his murder. It mostly goes to prove just how earth-shatteringly huge he was when he died and that the best was likely still yet to come if his life hadn’t been cut short.
Eric Renner Brown: For so many major artists, especially the ones who die young, a cottage industry pops up posthumously mining their archives. My introduction to this was as a Hendrix-obsessed teenager – but Hendrix’s posthumous releases, as is often the case, were hardly essential. The best and most influential posthumous releases, naturally, are usually the ones that were actively intended for imminent release by artists – and the gold standard is Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” You can’t really understand Otis’s legacy without this song, recorded in two sessions within the three weeks before his December 1967 death in a plane crash at age 26, and released just a month after he died. It’s the definitive Redding cut: his only Hot 100 No. 1, the perfect summation of his style and genius, and a profoundly influential song too, with a rich sampling history in hip-hop. It’s a tragedy he never saw what it became.
Josh Glicksman: Biggie’s first few singles from Life After Death. “Hypnotize” was released just before he died, but it became his first Hot 100 No. 1 less than two months after. Its follow-up single, “Mo Money Mo Problems” with Mase and Diddy repeated the accomplishment that summer.
Joe Lynch: Nirvana’s “You Know You’re Right” is the first that comes to mind. It was released eight years after Cobain’s shocking death; this comes six years after Bennington’s shocking death. It brought the band to No. 45 on the Hot 100; so far, this one brought the band back to No. 38. Did that song expand or continue their legacy, though? Eh. For that, I’m going all the way back to 1968, when Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” – certainly a signature song from a soul GOAT for many – became the first posthumous single to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Andrew Unterberger: I still find “You Know You’re Right” to be staggering — a Nirvana song that not only ranks among their most visceral singles of their career, but somehow sounded far more at home amid the alt-rock of 2002 than it would’ve in their own lifetime.
While we’ve already seen a few proven hitmakers — Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Morgan Wallen — zooming onto the Billboard Hot 100 with splashy hits so far this year, this week we get something a little different: a top 15 debut from two rising pop artists who’ve never reached higher than No. 82 on the chart before.
“Boy’s a Liar” was already a modest streaming success for acclaimed pop&B singer-songwriter PinkPantheress, racking up millions of plays a week. But it didn’t really threaten the Hot 100 until its “Pt. 2” remix premiered on Feb. 3, alongside viral rapper Ice Spice. The new version took off almost immediately, and continued climbing for all last week — resulting in a No. 14 Hot 100 debut on the chart dated Feb. 18.
Why did their combination prove so potent? And which artist does the breakthrough mean more for? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. PinkPantheress’ and Ice Spice’s names won’t be unfamiliar to anyone who’s paid close attention to pop music over the past couple years — particularly online — but their individual solo Hot 100 histories to this point are minimal. What is about their team-up that allowed “Boy’s a Liar” to have such an explosive Hot 100 debut?
Rania Aniftos: PinkPantheress and Ice Spice teamed up at the perfect point in their careers, where they both had just enough buzz for the collaboration to take off. Also, “Boy’s a Liar” is two cute, fun women singing about how men are trash. It was made for the Hot 100.
Jason Lipshutz: Sometimes, online popularity is multiplied thanks to a collaboration between two well-known (if not high-charting) artists, and then applied to the right song to have both artists explode up the Hot 100. The effect that we’re seeing from “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” reminds me a little of Migos and Lil Uzi Vert’s No. 1 smash from 2017, “Bad and Boujee” — not that those songs sound anything alike, but they both soared up the Hot 100 at a time when their respective creators had been cult favorites for a while without a full-on mainstream embrace. We’ll see how high “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” can climb, but PinkPantheress and Ice Spice are likely about to experience highly expanded profiles because of it.
Heran Mamo: TikTok has been an impressive launchpad for both artists, so for PinkPantheress and Ice Spice to join forces (and online fanbases), their collaboration was sure to make a lot of noise on the Billboard charts. Sonically, Pink’s U.K. drum and bass-meets-bubblegum pop and Ice’s Brooklyn drill sounds complement one another with their uniquely frenetic rhythms, while Pink’s sweet-sounding, shrill voice and Ice’s bold, raspier voice delivery provide a noteworthy contrast. Not to mention, the “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” music video — which currently sits at No. 1 on YouTube’s U.S. Trending music chart — adds to their indomitable power as Gen-Z’s it-girlies.
Andrew Unterberger: Sometimes it just takes a small boost for artists who have long been knocking on the door of the mainstream to break all the way through. The pairing of PinkPantheress and Ice Spice was unexpected but intriguing — and, once you got the chance to hear and see it, pretty logical. If you were interested in either artist, chances are you were checking this out, and you were probably satisfied enough to share it on put it on your heavy-rotation playlists. To see it just snowball from there — to the point where the song now likely has plenty of listeners who were previously unfamiliar with either artist — is mostly just a testament to the song being real good.
Christine Werthman: PinkPantheress and Ice Spice both get a lot of streaming and TikTok love on their own, though that doesn’t necessarily translate to Hot 100 success. But their team-up on “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2″ — not just for a song but also a video — made for a perfect joining of forces that united their fanbases, and their numbers, and catapulted this vulnerable 2:11-long callout to that impressive No. 14 debut. PinkPantheress recently admitted to being picky about her collaborators, and it seems like she held out for the perfect one.
2. The original “Liar” had been lingering around the Spotify daily charts as one of PinkPantheress’ bigger streaming hits, but could never quite seem to get the juice to cross over on its own. Do you think the Pt. 2 with Ice Spice is a superior and/or more commercial version of the song, or do you think it’s mostly excitement over the combination of artists that’s propelling it so far?
Rania Aniftos: The online hype surrounding Ice Spice lately definitely didn’t hurt. Her soothing rap verse adds a digestible, radio-ready quality to the song without sacrificing its unique sound. Fans in general also seem to be loving female collaborations, as we’ve seen through various team-ups Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion have done over the past few years. The unexpected-but-so-natural decision for PinkPantheress and Ice Spice to work together was such a good move, and allowed the song to propel into the mainstream.
Jason Lipshutz: Why not both? The remix has certainly benefited from the presence of Ice Spice, who’s been a prominent figure in popular hip-hop throughout this year, thanks in part to her Like.. ? EP. But her presence on “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” isn’t a gimmick: even though the song lengths of the original and remix are exactly the same, Ice Spice balances out PinkPantheress’ melodic sighs and jingly chorus with weighty bars, making the song less of a delightful trifle and more of a fleshed-out pop hit.
Heran Mamo: I’d say both. Adding another fast-growing internet sensation like Ice Spice into the mix is the perfect ingredient to make “Boy’s a Liar” a commercial hit. Even leaked TikTok videos of them filming the “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” music video in New York made waves before the song was ever released because fans were in disbelief that their favorites were coming together. Additionally, the beginning of Ice’s verse – “He say that I’m good enough, grabbin’ my duh-duh-duh/ Thinkin’ ‘bout sh— that I shouldn’t have (Huh)” – has proven to be one of the most lyrically memorable components of the track, so she adds more value to “Boy’s a Liar” beyond her presence.
Andrew Unterberger: I wouldn’t say the new version is better, necessarily, but it does make “Liar” feel more like a commercial pop song. The “Pt. 2” version of “Boy’s a Liar” isn’t actually any longer than the original — both run 2:11, just with Ice Spice’s new verse subbed in for PinkPantheress’ second verse on “Pt. 2” — it just feels fuller, thanks the switch-up to Spice’s completely different (but still well-matching) flow. For two artists whose singles have been consistently satisfying, but maybe a little too clipped and weightless for certain pop audiences to really give them full consideration, the combination ends up being more than the sum of its parts.
Christine Werthman: The Bronx rapper brings a grounding element to the original track, which flits about as the British dance-pop artist vocalizes relationship insecurities and frustrations. “Pt. 2” also catches Ice Spice in a less guarded place than usual, and though there’s something novel about that for fans, I don’t think it upped the song’s commercial appeal. Instead, I think it just granted each artist exclusive access to the other’s fanbase, and that combination propelled the plays.
The video dropped 11 days ago, and it already has 12 million views — so watching these two link, looking ultra cool against a New York City backdrop, is enough to get people excited. That said, if “Pt. 2” (or even the original “Boy’s a Liar”) weren’t such a strong track on its own, the collab might not have had such an impact. But the audio plus the visual made it take off.
3. Which of the two artists do you think this debut ultimately means more for?
Rania Aniftos: I really want to say both, but I’m not going to cheat on this answer. I’m going to say PinkPantheress, because I’ve always known that she’s great, and it’s about time everyone else does too.
Jason Lipshutz: Probably Ice Spice — who appears to be on the verge of full-blown stardom, after a months-long run of positively received music, increasing meme-ability and growing respect for her microphone skills from the old school and new school hip-hop communities. Make no mistake, “Boy’s a Liar” represents a significant win for PinkPantheress, a critically adored pop savant who is about to play bigger stages. Yet the song feels like another checked box in Ice Spice’s rapid breakthrough as a major artist.
Heran Mamo: PinkPantheress, considering she’s the lead artist on the track and this marks her career-first entry on the Hot 100. She released her debut mixtape, To Hell With It, in October 2021, and besides her latest slew of singles (which includes “Boy’s a Liar”), it’s been relatively quiet on her end. Her evolution from a faceless singer who teases her music on TikTok via viral snippets to charting star with increasing momentum and an actual physical presence has been remarkable to witness in the short years she’s been on the scene.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s tough, because it means a whole lot for both in different ways. But I’d say Ice Spice gets the slightly bigger boost here as the difference-maker; she also debuts her own slowly growing solo hit “In Ha Mood” at No. 85 this week, and seems well on her way to being one of the most ubiquitous pop figures of 2023. This is a big breakthrough for PinkPantheress and should help her visibility significantly, but if she went back to being a mostly cult-level pop hitmaker after this it wouldn’t be shocking.
Christine Werthman: Ice Spice, since it looks like her co-sign/feature can boost songs to new heights.
4. Once the initial excitement passes, do you see “Liar” continuing to grow into one of the biggest hits of early 2023? Or do you think this strong start is about as good as it will get for the song?
Rania Aniftos: It’s hard to say because I still haven’t been able to pinpoint what the major 2023 trend in music is yet. It seems like this is going to be the viral song that stays through the summer due to its bubbly nature, but you really never know with the Internet. Every time we think we figured out what’s viral, another random smash comes out of nowhere.
Jason Lipshutz: Although it will be tough for “Liar” to challenge smashes from A-list artists like Miley Cyrus, SZA, Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift at the top of the Hot 100 in the coming weeks, I do expect the song to keep rising and make a top 10 bow sooner than later. “Liar” is too damn catchy and well-made to be relegated to “viral hit” status, and even though PinkPantheress and Ice Spice have zero track record at pop radio, I could see top 40 programmers taking a chance on a single that’s this accessible, and help its upward momentum continue.
Heran Mamo: I have hope that “Boy’s a Liar” has the momentum to become one of the year’s earliest hits. Pink’s catchy “Good eno-o-ough, good eno-o-ough” post-chorus, cheeky Ice Spice-isms like “grabbin’ my duh-duh-duh” and the candy-coated production ensure this track will be a mainstay. I mean, how could they lose if they’re already chose… like?
Andrew Unterberger: It’s really never a good idea to underestimate the commercial ceiling for a song that debuts strong out the gate and just keeps growing from there. The song has continued to climb on streaming services’ daily charts — and not just one of them; it’s in the daily top 10 for each of Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube — and radio shouldn’t be far behind. It’ll have its work cut out for it passing some of those bigger names currently occupying the chart’s top spots, so No. 1 might end up being out of reach for it. But the top five feels like a distinct possibility, and sooner than later.
Christine Werthman: All the attention is boosting “Liar” beyond the Ice Spice and PinkPantheress fan spheres, so I think it will climb a little higher from here. Maybe even top 10 material.
5. When a song like this comes out of nowhere (relatively speaking) and zooms into a debut like this, it’s guaranteed the industry will sit up and pay attention to it. So what important industry lessons, if any, do you think can be taken from the early success of “Boy’s a Liar”?
Rania Aniftos: Songs that sound like Paris Hilton listened to them in 2005 are still very much in – and so are female collaborations! We’ve been on this early 2000’s nostalgia wave in music over the past few months, and I think it’s going to continue well into 2003. I expect to see more of these pop, digital-sounding hooks in the future.
Jason Lipshutz: A decade ago, there were certain indie-pop artists who were never going to remove the “indie-“ prefix from their categorization and score a mainstream hit; now, in the age of TikTok, left-of-center artists have a very real shot at scoring top 40 hits under the right circumstances. So as unlikely as a hit PinkPantheress single may have seemed a few weeks ago, the industry cannot afford to shrug off the mainstream potential of singer-songwriters who continue to produce top-notch pop. You never know which “Boy’s a Liar” is just around the corner.
Heran Mamo: Make remixes that make sense. Sometimes, songs that are already performing well on their own will be supplemented with remixes that don’t necessarily add to the track beside A-list names (e.g., the Justin Bieber and J Balvin remix of 24k Goldn and iann dior’s “Mood”) and end up doing nothing. PinkPantheress and Ice Spice are two 20-something, pop and rap princesses of the digital age with a similarly eclectic taste in beats. Even Pink said it herself in a cover interview with NME that “when it comes to collaborations, I’m quite picky: I always want someone who can match me well on a track.” And Ice does exactly that on “Boy’s a Liar.”
Andrew Unterberger: I think there’s something to be said about looking out for buzzy singles that internalize trends that have been going on for some time in the underground, while filtering them through a more accessible pop framework. You can hear some of the frenetic airiness of hyperpop and even a little bit of the bounce of Jersey club in “Boy’s a Liar,” but at the end of the day you wouldn’t say it really belongs to either of those genres — you’d just call it a pop song. Songs that can pull that off, without seeming trend-hoppy or late… the sky’s the limit for ’em, really.
Christine Werthman: PinkPantheress has more monthly listeners on Spotify than Ice Spice (20 million vs. 14 million, respectively), but they’re not lightyears apart in terms of popularity. Perhaps the takeaway is that you don’t need a big Drake-sized feature on your track to make it soar — you just need a smart pairing of artists who naturally vibe, who differ stylistically but aren’t total opposites and, sure, who have each found love in the streaming world.
They were the final rapper to appear in the Grammys’ 50th anniversary tribute to hip-hop mega-medley, and now they’re back in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100: Lil Uzi Vert, whose “Just Wanna Rock” climbs from 12 to 10 on the chart dated Feb. 11.
Uzi started the 2020s as one of the biggest artists in popular music, with their Eternal Atake album blanketing the Hot 100 and posting one of the year’s best first-week numbers. But they haven’t released a new album since then, and their single and EP releases over the last three years failed to generate the same level of excitement — until the Jersey Club-influenced “Rock” started taking off in late 2022.
Is Uzi officially back? And what might be able to put “Rock” over the top on the Hot 100? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
1. “Just Wanna Rock” peeks into the top 10 this week, in its 16th week on the listing. What do you think the biggest reason is behind its late growth into a top 10 hit?
Carl Lamarre: I think it took people time to get it. The Jersey Club sound has a place in hip-hop but picked up incredible steam as of late, courtesy of “Rock” and the DJ Smallz 732 remix of Coi Leray’s “Players.” Later, it became a huge hit — as most of Uzi’s records do — on social media. And, of course, Uzi’s penchant for showy dance moves also gave the track an extra boost, as previously proven with their “Futsal Shuffle.”
Cydney Lee: Good question. I’m going to throw a dart and say the timing of its release. Uzi dropped this in October and the video came a month later then the holidays hit which slowed things down. Now it’s a new year, people’s energy is different and the countdown to spring and summer has started. Maybe that’s it. But “Just Wanna Rock” and Jersey Club in general, has been going crazy on TikTok, being the soundtrack to viral dance trends and I think this popularity and growth is mostly coming from the youth. (Also, the song will climb even higher when my (the) Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl!!!)
Elias Leight: The track’s growing presence at radio helped push it into the upper reaches of the Hot 100. “Just Wanna Rock” has been earning more than 18 million on-demand streams a week (including UGC) since back in November, according to Luminate. (That number was actually above 21 million for much of December.) Radio often lags behind streaming, and sure enough, the audience that encountered “Just WannaRock” on the airwaves has grown more slowly. But it has risen considerably since Christmas, closing in on 30 million and helping to propel Lil Uzi Vert back into the top 10.
Jason Lipshutz: “Just Wanna Rock” is a proudly strange single that rejects normal song structure, swerves away from Lil Uzi Vert’s established sound and deploys hooks that take time to worm their way into your heart; I was reluctant to embrace “Rock” when it was first released, and now, I play it multiple times a day. I’d bet that plenty of Uzi fans and casual hip-hop listeners have experienced a similar evolution — perhaps spurred on a little by hearing the song in a sports arena, where it’s been absolutely inescapable this winter. “Just Wanna Rock” is not a one-listen type of smash, so it makes sense that it needed a few months (a several dozen NBA arena spins) to surge into the top 10.
Andrew Unterberger: Not sure if it’s the biggest reason, but I do think its increased use within the sports world — as both a go-to jock jam in arenas and stadiums and a locker-room favorite of teams (including Uzi’s Super Bowl-bound hometown Philadelphia Eagles) has helped its momentum, and given it much-needed pop culture context for those who might’ve otherwise found it confusing. Regardless, I look forward to hearing it during pre-game intros and timeouts for the next few decades.
2. “Rock” already marks the seventh top 10 hit of Lil Uzi Vert’s career — though it’s their first in three years now. Are you surprised that “Rock” would be the song to return Uzi to the chart’s top tier?
Carl Lamarre: Again, with Uzi, I think you never know what to expect. The unpredictability of their music makes them an enviable threat in rap culture. Sonically, Uzi rarely misses, but you never know if the records will be appreciated commercially the same way it’s received culturally. Thankfully for them, they’ve been able to straddle the lines seamlessly.
Cydney Lee: Not surprised! Given the type of artist Uzi is and the fact that Philly, Jersey and Baltimore club are so similar, them making a Jersey Club song seemed bound to happen. Uzi is no stranger to tying dance moves with their songs also (their little shoulder move and 2020’s “Futsal Shuffle”?) so adding a hip dance to “Just Wanna Rock” was the perfect recipe for TikTok creators to recreate and even add their own moves.
Elias Leight: “Just Wanna Rock” is a ferocious intro, a frenzied ramp-up, the musical equivalent of a violently shaken champagne bottle. But it never fully explodes — it’s a lot of build with little release. Lil Uzi Vert’s music is often deliciously off-kilter, and “Just Wanna Rock” fits the bill.
Jason Lipshutz: I am, simply because Uzi is prolific enough that I would have assumed a new single attached to a major album, or a high-profile guest spot, would have gotten them there first. And maybe “Rock” will lead into a new Uzi full-length to follow 2020’s Eternal Atake, or at least point to where their sound is headed next, but regardless, its success is divorced from any larger project or grand plan. “Rock” is a singular smash, accentuating itself from the rest of Uzi’s discography and becoming one of the more uncompromising top 10 hits of the decade.
Andrew Unterberger: A little, just because Uzi had been trending so far in the wrong direction over the few years leading up to it, and because the song seemed pretty alien and unfamiliar to the current mainstream, even by the artist’s already-extraterrestrial standards. But maybe I just didn’t realize how much Jersey Club had begun to spread nationally, or how much fans were just waiting for the right Uzi song to jump back on board with.
3. When Uzi released Eternal Atake in early 2020, it debuted to blockbuster numbers and mostly rave reviews. After a tumultuous past three years — both commercially and legally — is the strong response to “Rock” an indication to you that Uzi’s next full-length will be similarly greeted as Atake? Or are they unilikely to match that level of pre-pandemic stardom again?
Carl Lamarre: Their new album, which I believe is the Pink Tape, will be greeted with incredible fanfare. Since their 2017 mainstream breakout Luv Is Rage 2, Uzi’s fanbase has grown exponentially, and the demand for their music has since followed suit. If you check out the festival lineups, they’ve ascended to headline status. There’s been pandemonium for them, whether a single or a mixtape. For the younger generation, only Uzi and Playboi Carti can accrue that type of interest and eagerness in new music –because they’ve also mastered the beauty behind the rollout, making every release an event.
Cydney Lee: This might be a toss-up, and I say this because they released an EP Red & White last year, and I don’t remember hearing too much buzz around it. It peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, so obviously people were listening, but “Just Wanna Rock” seems so niche that I’m not sure which way their next full-length will lean.
Elias Leight: Lil Uzi Vert fans are a dedicated bunch. While it may be hard for the rapper to match Eternal Atake‘s 400 million first-week streams, they’ll almost certainly have a big bow with their follow-up and debut at No. 1 (barring a surprise album from someone like Drake).
Jason Lipshutz: I think Uzi’s next project will be even bigger than their last. Although some of its commercial effect got overshadowed by the pandemic shutdown of March 2020, Eternal Atake (including its full-length deluxe edition that followed a week after its release) was a blockbuster, particularly when it came to Uzi’s younger audience (400 million streams in its first week!) — and keep in mind, the album thrived even without a mainstream-courting single, mostly functioning as a showcase for Uzi’s heliocentric flow. If its follow-up includes hits with the chart impact of “Just Wanna Rock,” watch out: we are in for one of the biggest album releases of the year.
Andrew Unterberger: They’re probably closer than I would’ve guessed a few months ago, certainly. I do think it’s worth remembering that it wasn’t just underwhelming song releases that have hurt Uzi’s momentum — they were accused of felony assault in 2021, with some pretty gnarly specifics, to which they ultimately pleaded no contest. But have those headlines really stuck to them, to the point of altering their career trajectory? Maybe not.
4. The clear Jersey Club influence evident in “Just Wanna Rock” has been much discussed as a potential bellwether crossover moment for the dance subgenre. Do you see “Rock” as the start of a larger Jersey Club presence in the mainstream, or do you see it mostly being kept to the underground outside of this hit?
Carl Lamarre: The dance subgenre can swell into something bigger if another notable artist takes a crack at it. Dance enjoyed a splashy moment with Drake and Beyonce dipping their feet in the genre last year, and artists are becoming a bit captivated with what they can deliver on their own accord. With “Rock” and the “Players” remix generating interest on the mainstream level, all it takes is a resounding third hit to shift the paradigm.
Cydney Lee: I think the song is exposing a wider audience to the Jersey Club sound, but I do think its popularity will stay regional. Like NYC drill. In other words, we’ll probably only hear songs like this by artists from the mid-Atlantic region, with maybe a few exceptions (NLE Choppa and 2Rare’s “Do It Again”).
Elias Leight: Rap that nods to Jersey Club has already been seeping into the mainstream. Not surprisingly, the breakneck tempos make it popular for TikTok dance videos, and one of the scene’s rising stars, Newark rapper Bandmanrill, landed a deal with Warner Records last year. (Bandmanrill works frequently with Mcvertt, who co-produced “Just Wanna Rock.”) Philadelphia also has its own variant of this sound, which has helped rapper 2Rare go viral and score collaborations with Lil Durk and NLE Choppa. 2Rare is signed to a joint venture with Warner as well, and he appeared in Drake’s “Sticky” video.
Jason Lipshutz: I’d love a full-on Jersey Club movement in the upper reaches of the Hot 100, but I’m predicting that “Just Wanna Rock” is instead a lone crossover moment. That propulsive sound is simply difficult to translate into a mass-appeal single, and even “Just Wanna Rock” took months until it beguiled enough listeners and grew into a top 10 hit. Happy to be proven wrong, but I doubt we look back on this moment as the start of a major trend.
Andrew Unterberger: Jumping on a Jersey Club trend is perhaps easier said than done, since it requires an adjustment to energy and flow that a lot of rappers might not be inclined (or equipped) to make — though it’s a great fit for an already frenetic, right-brained MC like Uzi. More likely perhaps, we’ll see the trend explode through DJs remixing established hits; lord knows folks can’t seem to get enough of sped-up versions these days, so at least going the Jersey Club route with remixes would allow producers to be a little more creative and specific with their edits while cranking up the BPMs.
5. A climb into the top 10 for “Rock” is impressive, but it’ll be hard for the song to threaten the top five without major radio support — which it seems unlikely to get, as a two-minute and largely structureless song without an obvious format radio base. If you were to commission a new remix to help get it over the top, which special guest would be your first call to be the remix’s featured star?
Carl Lamarre: Playboi Carti. If anyone can fully immerse themselves into the jungle gym of Lil Uzi Vert, it’s their one-time partner in crime. Let’s make it happen and finally get the album we’ve been dying to hear.
Cydney Lee: Coi Leray. She’s from Jersey and has already dabbled in Jersey Club. A Jersey or Philly artist is the only right answer here and I think she has the right energy for a track like this.
Elias Leight: Several radio formats are actually embracing “Just Wanna Rock.” The single has become Lil Uzi Vert’s third most-played track of all time on the airwaves — behind “XO Tour Llif3” and “You Was Right” — according to Mediabase, and it’s currently inside the top 5 on both Mediabase’s Rhythmic chart and its Urban chart. Where “Just Wanna Rock” lags behind other Hot 100 hits right now is pop airplay, a format that isn’t always receptive to rap singles. A remix may not help sway pop radio, but Cardi B had fun last year jumping on tracks like Kay Flock’s “Shake It,” and she’s on the same label as Lil Uzi Vert…
Jason Lipshutz: How about Quavo and Offset? Following the death of Takeoff last year and reports of feuding between the remaining Migos members, a reunion on a “Just Wanna Rock” remix would be major news and a must-listen. Plus, Migos gave Uzi their star-making turn on their No. 1 hit “Bad and Boujee” — time for Uzi to return the favor.
Andrew Unterberger: Too much to hope Dee Snider has a great-nephew or someone who’d be willing to introduce him to Uzi? Even if not, maybe let’s just imagine a cut-up duet with Snider barking those “ROCK!” response vocals. There’s some Billy Ray + Lil Nas cross-generational potential here, certainly.
As a prodigious young singer-songwriter and popular social media personality, Jacob Lawson has grown a devoted following over his past few years as a recording artist. But this week is something of a coronation for the artist now known as JVKE as a crossover star, as he scores his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Golden Hour,” the breakout single from his 2022 breakup song cycle This Is What ____ Feels Like (Vol. 1-4), climbs 11-10 on the Hot 100 dated Feb. 4, thanks to growing pop radio support and steady streaming success. The lush pop ballad is JVKE’s first Hot 100 entry of any kind, though he’d already proven a reliable streaming performer with prior singles “Upside Down,” “Dandelion” and the This Is What title track.
How big will “Golden Hour” get from here? And which bubbling-under pop sensation might be the next to score a crossover chart hit? Billboard writers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Golden Hour” makes the top 10 in its 12th week on the listing. What do you think has been the biggest factor in its chart rise?
Stephen Daw: While TikTok was the obvious defining factor in the song’s initial success, pop radio appears to be the big driver for “Golden Hour” right now. Along with his first Hot 100 top 10, JVKE also scored his first top 10 on our Pop Airplay chart thanks to increased radio play of the single — sure, the sound is still everywhere on TikTok, but its crossover onto mainstream radio is what’s sending it way up the charts.
Lyndsey Havens: My best guess is we’re seeing a spike thanks to his year-end performance at Jingle Ball. It was a well-timed live set that primed JVKE for this post-holiday climb. And while “Golden Hour” may have taken off on TikTok first, it’s been growing at radio as well, also entering the top 10 on the Pop Airplay chart this week. And it’s important to remember this is all happening without any major label push.
Jason Lipshutz: “Golden Hour” has a winning formula: semi-rapped verses full of romantic observations and modern music references, boiling into an enormous, crooned-from-the-gut chorus. JVKE, to his credit, nails the push-pull at the heart of the song — nimble enough to sound nonchalant during the lead-up, then giving his absolute all on the hook — while the racing piano line beneath him is a memorable piece of production that simultaneously doesn’t distract from the vocal take.
Glenn Rowley: I would chalk it up in large part to timing. Outside of Miley’s “Flowers” and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” the chart hasn’t exactly been inundated with new releases. It’s still mostly filled with pre-holiday holdovers, which has left some room for JVKE to sneak into the top 10 after a three-month climb.
Andrew Unterberger: A combination of a strong social following and presence (over 10 million followers on TikTok) and legitimate musical talent (displayed with this song’s frantic piano hook and soaring vocals) is usually a pretty good starting point for pop success. The interest had been there for a couple years already with JVKE; once he had a song that broke through a little bit it was pretty clear it was going to go pretty far from there.
2. JVKE has seen some streaming success before — three of his earlier songs have over 100 million plays on Spotify — but this is his first Hot 100 hit. Does it make sense to you that “Golden Hour” would be the song to put him over the top?
Stephen Daw: For sure. While I think there are more obvious “pop hit”-sounding singles in JVKE’s catalog, but “Golden Hour” stands out. The song has a sense of orchestral drama to it that makes it sound at least moderately different from other viral songs right now — which then makes it a lot easier for fans to go searching for “that one song I heard on TikTok.”
Lyndsey Havens: Totally. This song is not only incredibly well-crafted and fresh sounding, but the way he introduced it — with a simple TikTok clip in which his childhood piano teacher tears up at him playing the song for her — pushed it over the edge. I can’t quite remember the last time an artist who grew up inspired by both Christian music and hip-hop, with a knack for intricate piano melodies and soaring vocals, put it all together. The result is, well… a top 10 hit.
Jason Lipshutz: It does, simply because “Golden Hour” has demonstrated a pop radio appeal that JVKE’s other hits have not. The key to “Golden Hour” crossing into the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart may be its move up to No. 25 on the Radio Songs chart this week, with that soaring hook sounding right at home on top 40 radio. “Golden Hour” had already reached the top 10 of the Streaming Songs chart (and sits at No. 13 this week), but winning over another format has helped create a multi-platform smash.
Glenn Rowley: Honestly, it makes sense from a strategy perspective — what, with countless remixes, a holiday version and assists from the likes of Ruel and Henry. But musically, the song feels like such an anomaly to me; certainly not what I’d expect to hear at the top of the chart at the moment.
Andrew Unterberger: I didn’t think so at first, though I’m sorta coming around to it. Parts of it feel more like an album interlude (or really an intro) than a big single, but such distinctions are increasingly irrelevant in 2023: Look at Steve Lacy’s “Static,” the beatless opening track to his Gemini Rights that never really properly kicks in, but was still pretty easily the album’s second biggest hit after the chart-conquering “Bad Habit.” This song doesn’t feel like his most radio-ready, but it does feel like his most striking, and in modern pop the latter is probably more important.
3. Do you see the song continuing to climb on the Hot 100 from here? How high do you think it might go?
Stephen Daw: Without a remix or an updated version of some kind, I don’t see the song going that much further up the chart — especially when you have tracks with a proven track record of chart longevity like “As It Was,” “Rich Flex” and “Die For You” in the way. Maybe “Golden Hour” will be able overtake one or two of those tracks, but I doubt it will crack the seemingly impenetrable Top 5 we currently have.
Lyndsey Havens: When you consider some expected post-Grammy bumps, the No. 10 spot may be where “Golden Hour” peaks for now. Unless he and his team have an official music video up their sleeves — or something else — to regenerate buzz, the timing may be a bit off for it to climb any higher. But hey, the upper echelon is the upper echelon. And it could leave room for his follow-up hit to get even closer to the summit.
Jason Lipshutz: I could see “Golden Hour” challenging for a top 5 spot on the Hot 100, considering how some songs above it on the chart, like Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue),” have presided in the top 10 for months and could start slipping in the coming weeks. However, I don’t envision “Golden Hour” challenging the “Flowers”/“Kill Bill”/“Anti-Hero” triumvirate at the top of the tally anytime soon — which says less about JVKE’s breakout hit and more about how sturdy those Miley Cyrus, SZA and Taylor Swift tracks have become at the Hot 100 summit.
Glenn Rowley: I think it’s probably reached its summit. It’ll be harder for it to climb much higher as the industry thaws from its January gloom and the release calendar starts heating up again.
Andrew Unterberger: Could maybe get another spot higher or two, but would probably need a major moment to get much higher than that. Speaking of which, though: Why is JVKE not booked to play the Grammys this year? He’s not a household name yet, but he could’ve brought some younger viewers to the ceremonies, and the ornate production and majestic presentation of “Golden Hour” actually makes it more auditorium-ready than a lot of the songs we’ll likely hear at the awards this year. (Plus his instrumental ability should make him an easier sell than most young artists to the stodgier Recording Academy members in attendance.) Could’ve been a win for both show and performer. Maybe next year.
4. Artists with TikTok-assisted breakouts sometimes find difficulty scoring a follow-up hit of comparable size — do you think JVKE has more high-level pop success in him, or is this likely closer to a charts one-off?
Stephen Daw: I think it depends on how JVKE proceeds from here; if he tries to go about replicating the sound and feel of “Golden Hour” in another song, then I don’t think it’ll work. “Golden Hour” succeeded because it stood out from a lot of what’s big on TikTok right now. If JVKE follows that gut instinct of making something that is as immediately striking thanks to its individuality, then I think there’s a very good chance that we’ll be seeing him again.
Lyndsey Havens: I do think there’s more here. Because of the way in which he blends his skills as a pianist, vocalist and lyricist, his music stands out and makes me intrigued to hear what’s next. And, of course, there’s the key part of him choosing to remain independent… helping me feel confident that without any outside forces suggesting or perhaps pushing him down alternate paths, what follows will be just as impressive — and entirely JVKE.
Jason Lipshutz: I do think JVKE will be heard from after “Golden Hour,” mostly because of the personality he flaunts on its verses — the way he comfortably sets the scene, distinguishes his voice and showcases his multi-faceted skill set in a short amount of time. “Golden Hour” isn’t a hit because of a quick, catchy melody or production gimmick, but because the artist powering it intrigues the listener throughout; maybe he won’t have another hit as big as “Golden Hour,” but JVKE has definitely caught the attention of a lot of people.
Glenn Rowley: I do think JVKE has potential to build on this moment. He clearly has the musical chops, which are demonstrated here far better than they were on, say, “Upside Down” back in 2020. This Is What ____ Feels Like (Vol. 1-4) is just such a unique beast as a debut album that wherever he does go from here, there’s no doubt it’ll certainly be interesting.
Andrew Unterberger: He might not be the type to chart with every song, but I’d bet we see JVKE again on the Hot 100 before long. He’s got the talent, the drive and the following — he’ll get his chances, and now that he’s got the one legitimate crossover hit, it probably won’t be so hard for him to score a second. And it wouldn’t be shocking to see him enlisted as a guest player on other stars’ records either; lord knows there are a lot of rappers out there who love a good dramatic piano loop.
5. Who’s another young pop artist that’s sorta been bubbling just below the mainstream so far this decade who you think might be due for a breakout hit like “Golden Hour” in the near future?
Stephen Daw: Do not sleep on Ashnikko. She has been just on the periphery of mainstream chart success — “Daisy” entered both the Pop and Alternative Airplay charts, but never quite managed to crack the Hot 100. But with every subsequent release, Ashnikko’s sound gets more and more refined and specific, so I think 2023 could be the year we finally see her make her way to a debut Hot 100 single.
Lyndsey Havens: I can see “Red Flags,” the latest single from British singer-songwriter Mimi Webb, enjoying a slow climb onto — and eventually up — the Hot 100. It’s a pure pop banger, and her upcoming debut album out this March could very well help with that journey.
Jason Lipshutz: I’m betting big on Gracie Abrams, who has been releasing pop songs over the past three years without impacting the Hot 100 but whose songs keep getting stronger as she gears up for her debut album, Good Riddance, next month. Don’t be surprised if an Abrams song is dominating the cultural conversation by the end of February.
Glenn Rowley: Four months ago, my immediate answer would’ve been Kim Petras, but “Unholy” obviously delivered a much-deserved breakout hit for her and then some. Shout-out to Maisie Peters, though — the U.K. pop darling people should keep a close eye on as she gears up for her sophomore album. You heard it here first: she has the songwriting chops to rival Olivia Rodrigo as Gen Z’s answer to Taylor Swift.
Andrew Unterberger: PinkPantheress just keeps getting closer to true breakout success, and her late 2022 single “Boy’s a Liar” might end up being her biggest streaming hit yet. She’s a pretty prolific creator, so it seems like only a matter of time before the right release at the right time puts her over the top; I’d almost be more surprised if she didn’t end up with a Hot 100 hit before 2023 was up.
The year in mega-pop is officially underway with the debut of Miley Cyrus‘ “Flowers.” The disco-pop post-breakup anthem is the first new Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 of 2023, bowing atop the chart dated Jan. 28 with 52.6 million streams, 70,000 digital songs sold and 33.5 million radio airplay impressions, according to Luminate.
Despite Cyrus’s 15-year career of hitmaking prior to “Flowers,” the song marks just her second visit to the Hot 100’s top spot (following “Wrecking Ball” in 2013) — and her first-ever No. 1 debut. The level of cross-platform success for the new song is due in part to fan speculation over the song’s real-life inspirations, including several well-circulated theories about Easter-egg allusions to Cyrus’ relationship with ex Liam Hemsworth buried throughout the song and its video.
What does the song mostly owe its tremendous initial success to? And are there any lessons other artists can take from it? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Flowers” debuts at No. 1 this week, marking Miley Cyrus’ first solo single to reach higher than No. 10 on the Hot 100 since “Wrecking Ball” in late 2013. Which part of that do you find more surprising — that “Flowers” has enjoyed such a blazing start, or that it’s been nearly a decade since Miley’s last hit on this level?
Rania Aniftos: The latter. Justice for Plastic Hearts! I can’t believe “Midnight Sky” wasn’t a No. 1 hit, or at least in the top five. Miley hasn’t stopped giving us hits, and I’m glad everyone else sees that now.
Katie Atkinson: Both? I think “Flowers” is a great, instantly catchy song with a universal (and empowering) message, but I’ve been partial to quite a few Miley songs over the last decade – namely “Midnight Sky” (especially its Stevie Nicks-assisted “Edge of Midnight” remix) and really her whole rock-star Plastic Hearts era; or her twangy Mark Ronson collab “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart”; or if you’re digging the ex-husband dirt on “Flowers,” might I suggest the sweeping, confessional “Slide Away”? Perhaps all of those (excellent) music moments from Miley over the past five years set the table for her to finally be back on top, where she clearly belongs.
Josh Glicksman: The latter is pretty stunning to me, though she has come close-ish a few times — previous lead singles “Malibu” and “Midnight Sky” reached No. 10 and No. 14, respectively. Of course, Miley Cyrus shifting her sonic direction a few times over that span is likely a factor, especially with regard to her resulting radio spin (her last time cracking the top 10 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay or Radio Songs chart is also “Wrecking Ball”). But perhaps equally shocking to me is that her last No. 1 album is Bangerz in 2013. Hopefully that gets resolved in short order as well.
Jason Lipshutz: The No. 1 debut for “Flowers.” I’m a pretty huge Miley fan, but she doesn’t have any singles over the past decade that leave me shocked that they didn’t make it to the top of the Hot 100 (although, in my heart, “Slide Away” was one of the biggest songs of 2019). The fact that “Flowers” has scored an enormous No. 1 debut isn’t too surprising when considering that Cyrus is still an A-list pop artist, and that the song has arrived during a slower part of the release calendar… but when reviewing her recent chart history, yeah, this is pretty unexpected.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s the new song’s performance for me. I’d grown used to Miley Cyrus as a pop star whose name recognition and general media interest has long outstripped her streaming or top 40 prowess — she’s had hits, but none of her singles since “Wrecking Ball” have been anywhere near unavoidable, excellent though many of them were. For her to come zooming in with an asteroid-sized hit that already seems a lock for year-end honors contention just three weeks into 2023… well, I would’ve needed quite the telescope to see it coming.
2. We’ve talked a little about some of the reasons behind the explosive debut of “Flowers” — which do you see as being the biggest factor in the song’s early success?
Rania Aniftos: While I think the fan theories surrounding how some of the lyrics may relate to her former marriage with Liam Hemsworth led people to listen to the song for the tea, at the end of the day, it’s an uplifting breakup song. No matter how many of those get released, it’s proven time and time again that people need music to heal from a heartbreak – and Miley delivered the perfect antidote for the newly single people out there.
Katie Atkinson: I’m going to vote a tie between January’s rapt music audience and the radio sheen of the Harry’s House crew. I’ve already heard the song on adult pop radio in heavy rotation, even though AC stations typically play established hits long after their debuts (alongside decades-old classics), not singles released a week prior. (Even Taylor Swift had to wait months for “Anti-Hero” to get adult pop action.) But when Diane Keaton is dancing to the song in her backyard and Gloria Gaynor is christening it the heir apparent to “I Will Survive,” the AC train apparently kicks into high gear.
Josh Glicksman: My lame instinct is to tell you that it’s a combination of these factors, but it’s hard to look past the power of a good fan theory in conjunction with TikTok’s impact. There are already more than 1.2 million user-created clips on the platform that use the song as a backdrop, and the additional layers to the perceived deeper meaning behind it all continue to roll in. Also, as a footnote to this factor, just the general presence of having a hype-worthy music video goes a long way in reaching an additional audience.
Jason Lipshutz: While “Flowers” is a strong entry in Cyrus’ singles discography, and I’m sure the Hemsworth Easter eggs drove some listenership, the timing of this rollout couldn’t have been more advantageous for its chances to hit No. 1. Announcing “Flowers” on a network television New Year’s Eve show watched by millions around the world, followed by a single release at a moment where holiday music had fallen off the charts and listeners were starving for a new jam, was a stroke of genius by Team Cyrus. Casual listeners and pop diehards alike were aware that “Flowers” was coming out on Jan. 13, and when it arrived, the single dominated the cultural conversation before streaking to No. 1.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s gotta be the social media interest. “Flowers” would’ve been a hit regardless, but unless you’re Adele, Taylor Swift or Harry Styles, you don’t score a debut this massive this quickly without a significant amount of extra-musical interest — interest in the backstory, interest in the discussion and drama around it, interest in related memes even. For better or worse, that’s the kind of stuff that really drives culture in 2023 — though it should be said that none of this off-court interest would last (or likely even exist at the first place) without a dynamite pop song at the center of it.
3. Given that the strategy and promotion behind “Flowers” seems to have paid off pretty well, what’s a lesson (if any) that you think other artists and their teams might be able take from its resounding debut?
Rania Aniftos: Be mysterious! Those posters around Los Angeles got fans so excited with little to no information. Instead of shoving the promo down their throats, Miley let the music speak for itself — and that worked out so well for her.
Katie Atkinson: I think this one might be a tad too complex to distill into advice for other artists. It goes something like this: Start out with the goodwill of a generation of tweens thanks to your wildly popular Disney Channel series, movies and albums; transition to a hip-hop-infused pop sound that nets you your first Hot 100 No. 1 and forces people to see you as an adult artist; make a decade worth of beloved-but-not-as-commercially-blazing albums that quietly win over new corners of fans and supporters; and finally, create a radio-friendly song with an undeniably universal message that arrives just at the right time to capitalize on the widest audience. That’s it!
Josh Glicksman: I’d have two big takeaways here: First, lean into a little mystique! It’d be a lot less exciting if Miley were to explicitly address all of the rumors circulating about what may and may not be a subtle jab. Instead, leave it to the listeners to speculate and continue looping back the song to check every square inch of the song and video for clues. And secondly, don’t overthink the lead single. Oftentimes, the down-the-middle fastball of a pop hit works wonders, and it’ll dance around in radio programmers’ heads long after the rest of the album rolls out.
Jason Lipshutz: I’d expect more jockeying for the First Big Release of the Year in the future. January has always been a sleepy time for pop releases, with major artists opting to save their hits for the summer months… but the way that Cyrus has been able to rule the discourse during this month must have other major artists and labels rethinking their strategies. People want new hits to kick off their year following the holidays, and in 2024 and beyond, I’d bet more artists make bids to efficiently supply those new hits.
Andrew Unterberger: Drop in January. Drop in January. Drop in January. I don’t know how many times we have to see this happen before major artists take the hint — everyone seems to think that the winter months are a dead zone for commercial releases, but that’s only because our biggest artists treat them like one. Time and time again, we see hitmakers new and established taking advantage of the lack of major competition early in the calendar and scoring career-changing hits as a result. (Hell, even the flops don’t flop as hard early in the year — you probably haven’t thought about Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion’s disappointing March release “Sweetest Pie” since at least last summer, but damn if it didn’t show up at No. 62 on our 2022 Year-End Hot 100 just the same.)
4. Now that Miley has scored her first no-doubt crossover smash in a while, who’s another veteran pop star with lesser commercial returns recently who you think might be due for a home-run comeback in 2023?
Rania Aniftos: Selena Gomez. Let’s revive the old school Disney Channel days once and for all.
Katie Atkinson: We can look at the exact same 10-year time frame as Miley and see that Katy Perry’s only top 10 Hot 100 hit since 2013 is “Chained to the Rhythm” with Skip Marley, which peaked at No. 4 in 2017 and quickly dissipated. Knowing what a major force she was in pop – with nine Hot 100 No. 1s and 14 top 10s – she could be just one song away from her own renaissance.
Josh Glicksman: How about Camila Cabello? I don’t necessarily expect her to release another album on the heels of Familia, but I could see a handful of singles or notable collaborations that propel her back into the top 10 — a region that has eluded her since “Señorita,” which reached the top of the Hot 100 in 2019. She’s come close a few times since then (with “My Oh My” peaking at No. 12 in 2020 and “Bam Bam” reaching a No. 21 high last May), but perhaps 2023 is the year of the return.
Jason Lipshutz: Over the past half-decade, Demi Lovato has veered away from traditional pop in favor of genre exploration, most recently with last year’s great pop-punk exercise Holy Fvck. Discount Demi The Pop Star at your own risk, though: with a still-immaculate voice, plenty of mid-2010s hits and a ton of industry goodwill, the singer-songwriter could seamlessly return with a new hit in 2023 — especially considering that Lovato returned with an old smash going viral in 2022.
Andrew Unterberger: Kesha hasn’t seemed to have much interest in a full-bore top 40 return since her post-Dr. Luke return to recording, favoring a more personal and rock-based brand of her trademark pop assault that wasn’t much in step with radio trends of the late 2010s. But with pop-rock on the commercial upswing again and Kesha’s signature hits starting to fall in that magical nostalgia zone of 10-15 years past, I feel like her next album could have some much greater commercial potential — at least if she works with the right people on it, and if it’s something she wants in general.
5. With “Flower” power once again in full bloom on the Billboard charts, what’s your favorite flower-themed pop song of past years?
Rania Aniftos: “Bloom” by Troye Sivan perfectly blends being cheeky with being consumable for the pop audiences. It’s funny and catchy and so underrated.
Katie Atkinson: I love “Sunflower, Vol. 6” from Harry Styles’ Fine line, but it wasn’t a hit on our charts as a non-single, so maybe “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse),” the 2018 Hot 100 topper from Post Malone and Swae Lee, is a better… pick.
Josh Glicksman: Hard to beat Outkast’s “Roses” from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, though I’m more of a hydrangeas kind of guy, myself.
Jason Lipshutz: “Sunflower” by Swae Lee & Post Malone rules — so catchy, so guileless! — as does Harry Styles’ warmth-radiating pop-rocker “Sunflower, Vol. 6.” When are we getting “Sunflower Vol. 2-5,” though? The cycle needs to be completed, gentlemen!
Andrew Unterberger: Oh yeah, we’re taking it all the way back to 1959, with Chris Barber’s Jazz Band’s version of “Petite Fleur (Little Flower),” a hypnotic instrumental and top 5 Hot 100 hit that basically does for the clarinet what Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” does for the synthesizer. (You might also know it from a dance scene in season seven of Mad Men, or from a brilliant Dr. Dre interpolation in his supergroup The Firm’s 1997 almost-hit “Phone Tap.”)
Rising country/Americana star Zach Bryan spent most of 2022 gradually crossing over to the mainstream, as his viral success online began translating to massive streaming numbers — particularly for 34-track official debut LP American Heartbreak, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in June and is still in the chart’s top 10 seven months later.
This week, Bryan adds another big item to his chart resumé, as Heartbreak single “Something in the Orange” finishes its slow climb to the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 10 — 38 weeks, tied for the second-longest in chart history (behind only Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves”) — as it lands at No. 10 this week. It’s a particularly impressive rise for Bryan, who has found most of his success outside of the traditional Nashville path, with country radio in particular still appearing hesitant to fully embrace his breakout smash.
How did Zach Bryan get here? And which ascendant country artist might be next to follow in his chart footsteps? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Something in the Orange” reaches No. 10 in its 38th week on the chart. On a scale of 1-10, how surprised are you that this song is finally a top 10 hit?
Jason Lipshutz: A 6. As a Zach Bryan fan who has witnessed his surge in popularity and the groundswell of support around “Something in the Orange,” its slow ascent up into the top 10 doesn’t arrive as a shock. Yet sparse, heartbroken country ballads, from a relatively new artist with a muted presence at country radio, aren’t regular fixtures within the upper reaches of the Hot 100, either. Standing back from the situation, “Something in the Orange” has experienced a singular rise as a crossover smash — even if I’ve been waiting for this day to come for the past month or two.
Melinda Newman: 5. Though it’s still relatively rare for country songs to reach such heights on the Hot 100, it is becoming increasingly more common as country catches up with other genres in streaming (the Hot 100 combines sales, radio play and streaming). In the last year alone Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen (twice!) have also reached the top 10. What is surprising is that Bryan accomplished the feat after 38 weeks on the chart. On Country Airplay, such a long trek to the top 10 is commonplace, but Hot 100 drives are usually much quicker—so much so that Bryan’s climb is the second-longest trip to the top 10.
Jessica Nicholson: 3. The song has been a mainstay since debuting on the Billboard charts in May 2022, and has spent three weeks at the pinnacle of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Andrew Unterberger: Probably an 8, and it might’ve been higher if you asked me back when I first heard the song in mid-2021. This sort of rawer, rockier, Americana-leaning country has been a major part of the musical landscape for most of the last decade — but it’s had virtually no Hot 100 presence whatsoever, as artists like Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson have notched their successes almost exclusively on the albums side of things. But streaming (and TikTok specifically) continue to rewrite the rule book on this stuff, and now you can notch a dusty heartbreak power ballad up there on the Hot 100 alongside Harry Styles and Drake/21 Savage. Not mad at it, but definitely surprised.
Christine Werthman: I am a 7. Bryan’s career has seen a rapid rise over the last year, thanks to his extensive touring and impressive streaming numbers, but I wasn’t sure if that would be enough to hoist this modest superstar into the top 10. Clearly, it was, and it’s nice to see him up there.
2. Bryan has been one of the past year’s biggest breakthrough artists — with his American Heartbreak album sticking in or around the Billboard 200’s top 10 for nearly its whole run since debuting last spring — despite being a country-rooted artist who didn’t go through the traditional Nashville machine. What’s the biggest factor you attribute his high level of success to?
Jason Lipshutz: Sometimes the songs, and the voice delivering them, simply transcend the context around them. Bryan is not your typical country star, American Heartbreak is far from an accessible project for country interlopers, and “Something in the Orange” doesn’t sound like a no-brainer breakout hit… but Bryan’s grizzled delivery is undeniable, Heartbreak has some of the most effective runs of any country album in recent memory, and “Something in the Orange” packs an emotional wallop on every listen. None of it should make sense as a commercial entity, but it doesn’t have to if the message resonates this clearly.
Melinda Newman: There is an authentic rawness and tough vulnerability to Bryan’s songs that is extremely appealing and that cuts through much of the overproduced clutter on radio — but part of American Heartbreak’s staying power in the top 10 is also a numbers game. The album has 34 tracks, and with streaming a major determining factor in chart positions, there are three times the number of tracks on many standard albums. There is still plenty there for people to discover, even seven months later.
Jessica Nicholson: His excels at translating his life’s journey into poetic, vulnerable lyrics with a sparse production, which is a change from the slick, homogenous productions and sometimes surface-level lyrics that have dominated many radio and streaming hits over the past decade or so. At the same time, he’s been fairly prolific in releasing new music, adding his Summertime Blues EP and December’s All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks) album to his American Heartbreak album — something that hyper-consuming, streaming-oriented fans have appreciated.
Andrew Unterberger: I dunno if it’s the biggest factor, but I gotta say that since I’ve been catching up on Yellowstone — the most popular melodrama on TV right now, though you might not know it from critics’ lists or social media buzz — Zach Bryan’s mega-success is starting to make a lot more sense to me. His windswept lonely-traveler anthems have made the perfect soundtrack for the show’s Montana sunset vibe on multiple occasions, both adding to his exposure and giving his aesthetic a foothold at the center of pop culture. It’s raised the commercial ceiling for Bryan and likeminded artists, at the very least.
Christine Werthman: Bryan is a 26-year-old Navy veteran who writes from the heart and isn’t afraid to share his pain and loss in his music, elements that make him relatable to a wide swath of people. He also knows how to get a crowd going, as you can hear on the live album he put out at the end of 2022, and he gave fans upward of 60 chances to see him on the road last year. He also put out a 34-song album, which never hurts your streaming count if you’ve got the listeners to tune in. These might not be the surest options for some new artists trying to get off the ground, but all these factors combined to grow Bryan’s audience and help him map a viable detour around Nashville.
3. While “Something” continues to scale the Hot 100, Bryan has multiple other songs also currently climbing on streaming — including fellow Heartbreak tracks in “From Austin” and “Sun to Me,” as well as his original viral breakout hit, 2019’s “Heading South.” Do either of them feel to you like they could cross over like “Something” has, or will a potential next hit have to wait for his follow-up album?
Jason Lipshutz: “From Austin” sounds like the one that could potentially take off next: it sports the fragile production and well-worn lyricism of “Something in the Orange” in its verses, but then opens up into a swelling chorus, which eventually crests when horns come crashing in. A song that’s reminiscent of “Orange,” then takes a left turn towards more rousing territory, sounds like the perfect blueprint for a follow-up hit for Bryan — and although his path to fame has been far from traditional, “From Austin” remains unassailable in this context.
Melinda Newman: “Heading South” is the obviously successor here given its streaming numbers, which are far ahead of “From Austin” and “Sun To Me.” Plus, thematically, it’s different as can be from “Something,” whereas “From Austin’ and “Sun to Me” both similarly deal with relationships where Bryan is seeking some kind of salvation. The autobiographical “Heading South” is about redemption of another kind- the kind that comes from following your dreams. It packs a different kind of emotional wallop than the quietly devastating “Something.”
Jessica Nicholson: “Sun to Me” trades the anguish found in “Something in the Orange” for an aura of gratitude, but is still filled with detailed imagery and stirring lyrics, such as “Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest parts of you.” The song has gained traction on the Hot Country Songs chart and the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, meanwhile, his “Oklahoma Smoke Show,” currently in the top 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart, also shows potential for big chart success.
Andrew Unterberger: Feels weird to say about a song that’s already four years old — and probably the first song a lot of current folks heard of his — but it’s “Heading South.” It’s got an anthemic, almost fist-pumping quality that makes a proper contrast to the more mournful “Orange,” and to the thousands (millions?) of new fans who came around to Bryan because of that song and Heartbreak, it may as well be a brand-new single. Plus, if you hear the version found on Bryan’s excellent new live set All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster, you’ll know the power the song has in enrapturing large crowds.
Christine Werthman: I do love “Heading South,” but I think “From Austin” is the next potential hit. It’s nostalgic, sweet and finds Bryan facing his demons, or as he says, “repression is my heaven, but I’d rather go through hell.” With a driving rhythm, meaty guitars and a growling chorus, this could be a country banger.
4. The numbers from Bryan’s rookie season certainly suggest a future superstar, but do you feel he’s gotten the national attention from the public or the media that his stats would usually merit? If not, why do you think that’s been lagging?
Jason Lipshutz: From his lack of media appearances to the decision to title a recent live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster, Bryan portrays himself as an outsider, and doesn’t jump through the traditional hoops that popular country music has constructed for a rising star. Of course, that approach has earned him a ton of fans — aside from his music, his image is easy to buy into and root for, particularly if you’re a country fan searching for someone with a fresh perspective. Maybe he’s been dinged within and outside of Nashville for shrugging off longstanding levels of country fame and fortune, but his stats and audience sizes suggest that any lag hasn’t really mattered — and that Bryan is going to stick with what’s worked for him thus far.
Melinda Newman: Bryan’s building an audience based on streaming and touring and it’s working. His songs have been streamed more than 2.5 million times and he’s already selling out venues like Denver’s Red Rocks. While he’s gotten some airplay, he eschews traditional promotional means including interviews — he’s talked only to the New York Times — or television. He’s performed on no late night or daytime shows. If he’s not getting the national attention he deserves, that’s simply because he’s taken himself out of that equation.
Jessica Nicholson: He certainly has a fervent fanbase — and one factor in the reason for the relative lack of national media looks is that he has chosen to connect directly to his fans first, rather than primarily through media outlets.
Andrew Unterberger: I think the national public and media are always a little slow to catch on when it comes to new country phenoms — a lot of the genre still gets silo’d from the larger musical mainstream, particularly in markets like New York and Los Angeles — and that’s particularly true with independent successes like Bryan, who don’t have a major presence at festivals or award shows or other potential crossover platforms yet. You hoped the Grammys might’ve provided that first true national look for Bryan, but given his snubbing among this year’s best new artist nominees (when he seemed like a lock for a nod), it might have to wait until next year.
Christine Werthman: Not quite, and maybe that’s lagging because he didn’t go the traditional Nashville route and is missing out on some of the levers that that machine would have been able to pull. But with a top 10 hit, it seems like the public and the media will catch up soon even without that intervention.
5. Now that Bryan has hit the top 10, what other country singer-songwriter on the rise do you think has the best shot at joining him in the Hot 100’s top tier before the end of 2023?
Jason Lipshutz: Ashley McBryde is one of the best singer-songwriters in country music with a ton of industry goodwill and even more hooks begging for massive audiences. She spent last year releasing and supporting Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, a multi-artist concept album brimming with heart and ambition; if she releases a traditional project in 2023, I’d bet that she finally crosses over with it.
Melinda Newman: Bailey Zimmerman. He’s only 22, but Zimmerman made history on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in August when he landed three career-opening entries in the top 10 simultaneously. Leading the pack was “Rock and a Hard Place,” a gritty tune about a busted relationship that also hit the top 20 on Country Airplay. He’s off to an auspicious start.
Jessica Nicholson: Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place” is currently at No. 17 on the Hot 100. He’s seen two additional songs — “Where It Ends” and “Fall in Love” — reach the top 40 on the Hot 100 over the past year, and all three of those songs reached the top 10 on Hot Country Songs chart. “Fall in Love” also topped the Country Airplay chart. However, Lainey Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck” is also in the top 40. With her recent CMA Awards wins and additional exposure from her recent role on Yellowstone, there is potential for this track reach the top 10 as well.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s gotta be either Zimmerman or Wilson — with the former probably getting a bit of an edge due to his early head-start on streaming.
Christine Werthman: I’ve got my eye on Megan Moroney, the Georgia singer-songwriter who signed with Sony Music Nashville and Columbia Records last year. She’s got a little rasp to her voice and a heart-on-her-sleeve style, and her song “Tennessee Orange” is currently at No. 58 on the Hot 100.
While the first new Billboard Hot 100 of 2023 was still overrun by holiday songs from Mariah Carey, Brenda Lee and many more, every one of them departs the listing for the chart dated Jan. 14 — giving us our first real look at the current landscape of pop hits as we get into the new year.
With “All I Want for Christmas Is You” vacating the top spot, the void is once again filled by Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” notching its seventh week at No. 1, followed by Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” and Drake & 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex.” Slightly lower on the chart, two songs hit the top 10 for the first time: The Weeknd’s recently revived “Die for You” (No. 8) and Beyoncé’s slow-burning “Cuff It” (No. 10).
What’s the most telling thing about the Hot 100’s current top tier? And what might still be in store for chart watchers this month based on these early returns? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. With the holiday music cobwebs being swept away from the Hot 100, we’re back to the top of the chart being ruled by late last year’s hits. Is there anything about the top five as it currently stands that you find particularly interesting or surprising?
Katie Atkinson: The staying power of David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” continues to surprise me – as I’m sure it does David and Bebe themselves. We’ve been talking about the unlikely global success of this song since September, and it just keeps getting unlikelier as it debuts in the top five this week (No. 4). This is only Rexha’s second top five hit on the Hot 100 (following her unstoppable country team-up with Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be”) and Guetta’s fourth, with his most recent (“Turn Me On” with Nicki Minaj) peaking more than a decade ago now, in February 2012. It’s an eccentric ‘90s interpolation recorded by the duo years ago and then unearthed by eager fans on TikTok – and it’s not going anywhere.
Stephen Daw: David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” launching from 19-4 isn’t necessarily shocking, but I certainly did not have that song breaking into the top five on my 2023 bingo card, let alone reaching that spot just two weeks into the year. Between the song’s aggressive marketing on TikTok and at radio and the typically slow start to the year, though, it makes sense why a slow-burning hit like this would be such a big draw for the post-holiday charts. But I was certainly surprised, considering that I had assumed that the song’s cultural capital was already on the decline.
Lyndsey Havens: The two things that surprise me are that “Anti-Hero” returned to the chart’s summit and the fact that David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” has crept into the top five. Given the sustained success of SOS on the Billboard 200 albums chart, I would have guessed that SZA would also be able to score the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 after the holiday fallout … but perhaps in good time. And by in good time, I mean by the time the anticipated music video for “Kill Bill” arrives.
Jason Lipshutz: I wrote about SZA’s “Kill Bill” in this space last week, but its return to its No. 3 peak this week underlines just how huge of a solo hit it’s becoming for an artist who’s not generally known for her solo hits. Although it’s sitting behind Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” and Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy” — two singles with an enormous presence on top 40 radio — on this week’s chart, “Kill Bill” is likely going to receive more radio play soon, and if its streaming presence remains rock-solid, SZA’s highest-charting solo song to date could climb even higher in the coming weeks.
Andrew Unterberger: I think “Unholy” holding at No. 2 — higher than “Kill Bill,” which already feels like the first major pop hit of 2023 — is a little surprising, given that the cultural peak of that song seems a few months in the rearview already. That’ll probably even out in the weeks to come, but the song holding this strong shows how “Unholy” wasn’t just a TikTok moment, it’s legitimately one of the biggest pop hits of the decade so far.
2. At No. 8, a song hits the top 10 for the first time that makes all the other leftovers feel farm-to-table fresh by comparison: The Weeknd’s “Die for You,” a revived track off his 2016 album Starboy. Why do you think the song has proven to have such legs this late in its lifespan?
Katie Atkinson: I think pop radio fans had an insatiable appetite for The Weeknd that the release of his Dawn FM album a year ago this week didn’t quite feed. So as “Die for You” gained traction via TikTok concurrent to his new album’s release, The Weeknd benefited from music’s everything-old-is-new-again moment. Most casual pop radio listeners likely have no idea it’s a “deep cut” from 2016 and are just appreciating his latest hit.
Stephen Daw: TikTok works in mysterious ways, especially when it comes to deep cut, fan-favorite tracks from a pop megastar. “Die for You” has a universal appeal to its production and vocal, which is what helped it achieve cult-like fave status from The Weeknd’s fervid fans — so once fans begin posting about revisiting their favorite Weeknd songs on TikTok, a groovy earworm like “Die for You” is bound to catch fire.
Lyndsey Havens: Honestly, I forgot “Die for You” was years old — and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. While much of the Starboy era felt like a bit more of a mainstream grab compared to The Weeknd’s prior work, years later, “Die For You” sounds right at home with the artist he is today. Plus, with the rumors of his last two albums being part of a trilogy, perhaps fans just got impatient while waiting for the finale. If the song’s sudden rise is more strategic than that, though, as most things are today … I’m curious to know if “Die for You” is a teaser of what to expect from what’s still to come.
Jason Lipshutz: In my mind, the “Die for You” TikTok revival-turned-mainstream adoption is a cross between Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” comeback, as a fan-favorite song from a superstar getting a long second look, and David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” success, as a long-delayed explosion for a years-old song that still sounds current despite its release date. “Die for You” is another mid-tempo Weeknd sing-along with a catchy-as-hell chorus, and once fans — some of whom had been championing the song for years — started watching it flicker to life on social media, they raised it up with undeniable streaming numbers, radio took notice, and now it’s a top 10 hit.
Andrew Unterberger: It seems like a “well, why not?” sort of hit to me: The song had been viral forever and top 40 programmers didn’t find anything they liked enough on Dawn FM to make an After Hours-sized hit out of, and so they decided to fill the Weeknd-sized void on their playlists with… more Weeknd. I’m surprised it’s gone this long and this strong, but the competition just isn’t that strong near the top of the charts right now, and hey, who doesn’t like “Die for You”?
3. Also new to the top 10 this week is Beyoncé’s “Cuff It,” which marks her second top 10 hit off Renaissance following the chart-topping “Break My Soul.” Is the second hit a big deal for the Queen and her latest album, or more of a pleasant New Year’s bonus?
Katie Atkinson: It’s definitely a big deal. It feels like fans have ordained this one the pop hit from the album, and I could see it marking the second No. 1 from Renaissance – especially if Queen B gifts fans with a music video. “Cuff It” has had a life of its own, starting with a dance challenge back in August and going strong into 2023 thanks to a crafty radio edit finally getting its airplay due.
Stephen Daw: It’s very much a big deal. Much like how “Break My Soul” was Beyoncé’s first solo No. 1 hit since “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” in 2008, Renaissance now becomes the first Beyoncé album since I Am … Sasha Fierce (2008) to spawn at least two of her 21 top 10 hits. The fact that Bey can re-reach the heights of her cultural dominance more than a decade after the fact is a feat that very few pop stars could manage in their careers. Though the headliner of Renaissance will forever be “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It” deserves recognition for only further solidifying Queen Bey’s regal status.
Lyndsey Havens: I think it’s a big deal for one reason: Fans are begging for more content — aka music videos. To have “Cuff It” go top 10 without it, or without any push from Queen B herself, proves that whatever she does or wants to do going forward will always work.
Jason Lipshutz: I’m not sure how much it matters for an artist like Beyoncé if her widely beloved and commercially successful new album only had one top 10 hit instead of two… but now it doesn’t! So yes, more of a pleasant New Year’s bonus for Queen Bey than important milestone, but also, “Cuff It” rules, a killer dance track with tons of interesting sonic details and one of the cooler breakdowns in pop music last year. It’s a deserving top 10 hit, and I’m glad it finally got there.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s a big deal mostly because it’s good timing for the Queen. It keeps her in the mainstream while she preps whatever transmission is to come next from the Renaissanceverse, and also keeping her top of mind with Grammy voters as she gears up for perhaps the best opportunity of her career to finally grab the coveted album of the year trophy. Also worth noting that while “Cuff It” may not match the No. 1 Hot 100 peak of “Break My Soul,” it’s already passed it in terms of endurance — the song reaches the top 10 in its 21st week, while “Soul” was off the chart altogether by its 19th week.
4. Lower in the top 40, is there any song you’re looking to maybe make a jump into the top 10 in the weeks to come?
Katie Atkinson: This feels like a cop-out because it only has to climb one spot, but I think Zach Bryan peaking at No. 11 this week with “Something in the Orange” shows that his breakthrough hit still has legs and could definitely make it to the top 10. It’s been out since April, but it also just climbed to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart last week.
Stephen Daw: I think these coming few weeks are Meghan Trainor’s chance to get the top 10 hit she’s looking for in “Made You Look.” You cannot open TikTok at this point without hearing about the singer having her Gucci on, and as longer-lasting hits like “Bad Habit” and “As It Was” begin to lose steam again, “Made You Look” could find its moment in the spotlight if it manages to keep its trajectory up on streaming and radio.
Lyndsey Havens: If by top 40 you mean top 100, then yes: I have my eye on the Lewis Capaldi slow-burner of a comeback, “Forget Me.” Having made the jump from No. 98 to No. 74 this week — and given his previous two top 10 hits, one of which went to No. 1 (who could forget “Someone You Loved”?) — I think he’s more than capable of making another big leap.
Jason Lipshutz: Now is the time for the “Just Wanna Rock” takeover: Lil Uzi Vert’s Jersey club riff jumps up to a new peak of No. 16 this week, its furious energy and frenzied yelps making its presence known in clubs and sports arenas this winter. After a relatively slow start, “Just Wanna Rock” feels primed to become one of the defining songs of the first few months of the year, and should be another top 10 entry for Uzi.
Andrew Unterberger: “Made You Look.” For better or worse, it’s all aboard the M-Train for the next couple months on radio and streaming.
5. While the Hot 100 being largely static and leftover-dominated is certainly nothing new for the month of January, the previous two years also saw the tedium cut into by fresher cultural phenoms like Olivia Rodrigo and the Encanto soundtrack. Do you think we’ll get something like that this January — and if so, might we have any clue of what it will be yet?
Katie Atkinson: I would love to see “Titanium (M3GAN’s Version)” be our next top 10 Hot 100 hit! In all seriousness, though, I don’t think a chart-smashing new artist or film soundtrack has arrived this year (yet). Maybe Rodrigo herself, who just teased that she’s working on music, could once again own January.
Stephen Daw: Look, I’m biased, but I’m rooting for Sam Smith to keep their momentum going well into January and beyond. They have a highly anticipated new album out at the end of the month, and a trop-house-infused new single with Jessie Reyez and Koffee, “Gimme,” dropping tomorrow. If they can continue their excellent work at promoting their material via TikTok, that song could sweep through the charts and make January Sam Smith’s best month yet.
Lyndsey Havens: Though it wouldn’t be as surprising as the sudden runaway success stories of Olivia and Encanto, I do think that Miss Miley may soon own the month of January — and maybe even the whole year. After kicking things off with another successful NYE show, during which she announced her upcoming single “Flowers,” and subsequently revealing her new album Endless Summer Vacation to be coming in March, Cyrus is poised to dominate early 2023.
Jason Lipshutz: It’s going to be interesting to see what Miley Cyrus, whose new single “Flowers” arrives this Friday, has in her holster this time around. Cyrus is a superstar with a track record of making hits and a ton of goodwill, who’s coming off of a great album, 2020’s Plastic Hearts, that didn’t really produce a smash. If “Flowers” delivers, though, Cyrus has a relatively clear lane to the first big new pop single of 2023.
Andrew Unterberger: I think we actually got the January phenom a couple weeks early this year, with SZA’s SOS album in mid-December. And based on the fact that the album is still No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its fourth week — and still claiming a whopping 15 entries on the Hot 100 — it looks like the set may still carry the first month of 2023 anyway.
As we begin 2023, the Billboard 200 albums chart is once again dominated by the same set that crowned the chart the final two weeks of 2022: R&B superstar SZA‘s long-awaited sophomore effort SOS.
The album, which bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated Dec. 24) with 318,000 equivalent album units, has continued to move well over 100,000 units each week of its release — posting 128,000 this most recent week (dated Jan. 7), enough to land it comfortably in the top spot. Meanwhile, breakout cut “Kill Bill” remains lingering just outside of the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, two weeks after scoring the album’s highest debut on the chart with its No. 3 entrance.
Are these numbers surprising for SZA at this point in her career? And which other R&B artists have the most-anticipated upcoming projects for 2023 and beyond? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
1. SZA’s first-week bow for SOS was resounding — a career-best 318,000 equivalent album units — and the album has continued to crank out six-figure weeks, topping the Billboard 200 for a third frame with 128,000 units this week, even in the midst of the holiday season. Which is more impressive to you, the album’s debut or its endurance?
Cydney Lee: If I had to choose, I’d say its endurance is more impressive, but even that’s not surprising to me. Not only was SZA’s next album highly anticipated by nearly everyone, I also think timing worked in her favor too. For her to basically cap off the year with her comeback album, and at a time when major music releases are starting to slow down due to the holidays, there was no doubt she would dominate the night of her release and subsequent weeks. Not that she wouldn’t have all eyes/ears on her if she dropped at any other time, either — but the timing, obviously along with the music itself, is what officially made this “SZA Season.”
Jason Lipshutz: Definitely its endurance. If SZA was a cult R&B figure, a major debut that snaps a prolonged absence (and then plummets down the Billboard 200 chart) would make sense — but the continued performance of SZA’s first album in five years confirms that she’s transcended that status, has far more fans than just the diehards, and is now a straight-up superstar. SZA’s Ctrl follow-up was always going to be a major moment, but the endurance of SOS atop the Billboard 200 — with six-figure equivalent album unit totals each week! — represents a groundbreaking moment for her mainstream profile.
Heran Mamo: The album’s endurance. SZA has never had a No. 1 album until now. Despite Ctrl’s ability toshift the culture, it never moved past its No. 3 debut on the Billboard 200 back in June 2017. To launch at the top of the chart is impressive albeit expected given it’s her first new album in five years and there was a lot of hype (I’m talking years’ worth) surrounding SOS. prior to its release. And sure, it’s been a relatively quiet winter so far in terms of new music releases, so SZA didn’t have much competition. But putting up six-figure equivalent album units for the last three consecutive weeks – and becoming the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 since Beyonce’s self-titled in 2013 – are much harder feats to accomplish. And she did that!
Kristin Robinson: This album was highly anticipated, given the critical and commercial success of Ctrl and other singles she’s worked on, so I am not surprised there was a lot of initial interest in this album. In the streaming age, when there no financial barrier to testing out a new album in full, an artist as beloved as SZA can anticipate solid numbers for the first few days — because this indicates that many people were at least curious about the project and gave it a couple spins.
True success for an artist today comes in the form of streaming endurance. If people didn’t like this album, the streaming numbers for this album would’ve fallen off of a cliff after the first or second week, but it totally didn’t. The endurance of SOS. is even more impressive when you also consider people were busy with the holidays, likely spending much of their time listening to seasonal music. Still, they kept SZA in rotation. It’s a clear testament to the quality of her work.
Andrew Unterberger: Yeah, it’s gotta be the endurance. It’d be over-simplifying to say that anyone can post a six-digit first week in 2023 — obviously, it’s still only a select class of artists that can do that — but most true stars can do so on name recognition alone. It takes a great album to continue putting those numbers up week after week. Several albums last year had bigger opening weeks than Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti in 2022, but the reason why it ended as the year’s No. 1 album (by both Billboard chart metrics and staff estimation) is because folks couldn’t stop listening to it for months after. SOS may be headed for a similar trajectory.
2. Though SZA has long been one of the bigger names in popular music, this is her first time putting up blockbuster numbers like this — in large part because it’s still only her second album. Do the numbers surprise you, or did you see them coming for her at this point in her career?
Cydney Lee: I’m not surprised. SZA came out swinging with Ctrl, then only poked her head out here-and-there and offered crumbs for the past five years. Her trajectory is interesting, though. I think the anticipation of her next project is what maybe drove her to more of a mainstream status.
If one thing about SZA’s recent success surprised me, it’s the fact that she’s headlining an arena tour. Despite her success and popularity, I honestly didn’t think she would be at arena-level quite yet, but maybe theater venues. Regardless, I love this for her, and I hope she can find a balance between this increasing fame and protecting her mental health and peace.
Jason Lipshutz: Considering how well Ctrl has aged since its release — becoming one of the more fiercely beloved R&B releases of the decade — and how SZA has showcased her crossover appeal by guesting on top 10 Hot 100 hits by Kendrick Lamar and Doja Cat since its release, her second album was always headed toward a ton of fanfare and a likely No. 1 debut. Yet that debut number of 318,000 equivalent album units surprised me — a huge sum for any artist, but especially for an idiosyncratic R&B artist who’s never tried to cater to the mainstream. It’s the sort of debut that demonstrates how many people were waiting for SZA to return, and how many are rooting for her now that she has.
Heran Mamo: Considering the blockbuster streaming numbers that her advance singles like “Good Days” and “I Hate U” were putting up (“Good Days” had earned more than 500 million official on-demand U.S. streams prior to SOS’ arrival), I’m not totally caught off guard by the entire LP’s six-digit figures. Her strength is certainly in streaming, considering how in its first week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, SOS garnered the biggest streaming week ever for an R&B album, and the third-largest of 2022 among all albums.
Kristin Robinson: I saw these numbers coming for her, because I’ve always believed in her one-in-a-million kind of talent — but that doesn’t mean it was easy or guaranteed. Starting off with a debut album as well-crafted as Ctrl means that the bar was set incredibly high for SZA, almost insurmountably high. If listeners didn’t like this album, they would’ve been quick to abandon it and write her off as a one-album wonder, but she took her time and came back with a wonderful project that can stand proudly beside Ctrl. It was worth the wait. Of course, these numbers were also aided by the large track list, but I think they indicate people are ready to accept SZA as the true star she is.
Andrew Unterberger: They’re maybe at the high-end of my expectations, but they’re still not that surprising. SZA has proven herself as a generational R&B artist with crossover hitmaker potential, and those are the kind of artists that post huge numbers whenever they drop new albums — especially if it’s been a half-decade since the last one, with the excitement only ever crescendoing over that period.
3. Of the album’s 22 tracks, the best-performing by far has been “Kill Bill” — which has the advantage of coming early in the album, but also has been easily outpacing its surrounding tracks. What do you think is the biggest factor in its early success, and do you see it continuing throughout the early months of 2023?
Cydney Lee: “Kill Bill” is a song for people who love hard. “I might kill my ex/ Not the best idea/ His new girlfriend’s next/ How’d I get here?,” that chorus is so blunt, and while I obviously am not encouraging anyone to act on this, what woman (especially) hasn’t emotionally been there before?? Also, people just love violence, and seem to have a weird fascination with “crazy in love” relationship dynamics — and with it being track two on SOS, it almost felt like it was setting the tone for the album. So I can see why people are latching on to this one.
As far as longevity, I see “Kill Bill” fizzling out over time, and maybe a song like “Conceited” or something more cheery and uplifting taking over, especially as people start activating their “new year, new me” moods. It’s OK to sulk in those explosive emotions — but remember your worth!!!
Jason Lipshutz: I was initially surprised that “Kill Bill” became the breakout hit of SOS when songs like “Nobody Gets Me” and “F2F” sounded more immediate, but its lyrics — especially that stinging final line “Rather be in hell than alone” — linger in your brain, begging to be hoisted up, replayed and presented in TikTok clips. “Kill Bill” is going to be one of the defining hits of the first quarter of 2023, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it became SZA’s first career Hot 100-topper in the next few weeks.
Heran Mamo: It’s a mix of the pop culture reference to the Kill Bill movies as well as her deliciously vengeful and emotionally impactful songwriting. Even when I heard “Kill Bill” in an early studio session while writing the SZA cover story, the lyrics “I might kill my ex, not the best idea/ His new girlfriend’s next, how’d I get here?” and “You was at the farmer’s market with your perfect peach” immediately stood out to me as proof SZA had stepped up her pen game. Additionally, I think the Kill Bill inspo fueled anticipation for the upcoming music video, which SZA herself wrote under the official teaser “It’s what y’all deserve.” Hopefully, after all the Christmas songs gradually come off the Hot 100 in the coming weeks, we’ll see “Kill Bill” return to the chart’s top 10.
Kristin Robinson: In a track list this long, it certainly helps that it comes early in the album, but the melody of “Kill Bill” is was really makes it irresistible. It’s always stuck in my head. I think it’s a perfect hit to represent SZA’s career. The title is an allusion to a film, which falls in line with her relatable girl-next-door persona and is reminiscent of Ctrl hit “Drew Barrymore,” which alludes to the film actress. Overall, the lyrics are also just melodramatic fun.
Andrew Unterberger: Don’t have a great answer here yet — the song hasn’t grabbed me the way some others have so far, though it’s starting to win me over — but obviously the chorus is both striking and catchy enough that it was bound to make a rather wide impression fairly quickly. And based on its continually staggering streaming numbers, it’s not going away anytime soon; if and when radio decides to embrace it in a similar fashion, it may contend for No. 1 on the Hot 100 sooner than later.
4. Though SOS comes a full half-decade after SZA’s beloved debut Ctrl, after years of much-discussed delays and false starts and label disputes, the set’s early performance suggests the layover period might’ve had a positive effect on her career momentum if anything. What’s something you think she’s done well or smartly over the past five years to really set the stage for SOS‘ huge bow?
Cydney Lee: Something SZA’s done well is that she didn’t completely disappear in between albums. She dropped singles here and there, was semi-active on social media, teased new songs, etc. — and even closer to SOS, the rollout and press she did was great considering her resistance to it sometimes. Also, no one really knew what the theme/concept of the follow-up would be until she started rolling it out. I think that added level of mystery over what direction she would go in upon returning added to the fans’ eagerness to see what was coming next.
Jason Lipshutz: One could point to SZA’s collaborations with A-listers like Kendrick Lamar, Justin Timberlake and Doja Cat as flash points that kept her in the public consciousness; the solo tracks that she released in the two years prior to SOS, including “Good Days” and “I Hate U,” also whet R&B fans’ appetites for the Ctrl follow-up. But really, both of SZA’s albums are so bulletproof that she could have vanished in the half-decade between them and still found a sizable audience for both. The commercial performance of SOS didn’t rely upon the new fans gained from her pop collaborations or one-off singles, but represented an amalgamation of all of the excitement around her artistry, as a singular voice in modern music.
Heran Mamo: She expertly promoted the first slew of singles (e.g., “Good Days,” “I Hate U” and “Shirt”) by teasing them at the tail-end of music videos, thus building anticipation for months, even years, before they’re officially released. And in the age of TikTok, SZA could just sit back, relax and watch her songs blow up before they were even out by going to TikTok and seeing how fans were ravenously consuming those snippets. “They told us what they wanted,” said Carolyn Williams, executive vp of RCA, in SZA’s aforementioned cover story about their single release strategy – and it totally paid off for Team SZA.
Kristin Robinson: In her break between albums, SZA smartly asserted that she was not just the cool artist who made the critically-lauded Ctrl, but she could also top charts. It’s a hard line to walk, trying to get more mainstream popularity but maintaining her core fans, but collaborating on songs like “Kiss Me More” proved to radio programmers and to the general public that she was capable of top 40-level adoration. Now, the sky’s the limit for the breakout hits from SOS (yes, I anticipate more than just “Kill Bill” will blow up in the coming months).
Andrew Unterberger: Certainly helps that she just kept getting better over that period. The three advance singles for SOS — “Good Days,” “I Hate U” and “Shirt,” released between 2020 and 2022 — are simply three of her best songs yet, pushing her into new sonic territory while also confirming and building on past strengths. And the fact that all three show up towards the end of SOS as near afterthoughts show just how strong her songcraft is across the board right now.
5. Now that SZA’s sophomore set is finally out in the world, which artist do you think currently holds the status of being the R&B star with the most-anticipated long-awaited new album?
Cydney Lee: Frank Ocean. I’d even say Daniel Caesar too, but he teased his return recently, so a project from him might already be coming sooner than we think.
Jason Lipshutz: Don’t look now, but the wait between D’Angelo’s 2014 opus Black Messiah and his next album is now more than half as long as the wait was between 2000’s Voodoo and Black Messiah, which was more of the most infamous long-gestating albums ever released. No clue on when (or if) a new D’Angelo project will actually surface, but here’s hoping that we won’t have to wait another six years to hear it.
Heran Mamo: Kelela. The “When the world needed her most… she vanished” jokes (as inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender) certainly didn’t write themselves on Twitter. Like SZA, she’s also gone five years without dropping a full-length album and her fans have been desperately waiting for one. Lucky for them, her sophomore album Raven will arrive on February 10, and I’ve already chatted with her about the details if anyone wants to read the full interview here.
Kristin Robinson: I’d like to see something new from Daniel Caesar. I enjoyed 2019’s CASE STUDY 01, even though it fell short of the popularity of 2017’s Freudian, and I’m hoping to hear more from him this year. Similarly to SZA’s success as a featured artist on “Kiss Me More,” Caesar topped charts with his feature on “Peaches” by Justin Bieber last year. I wonder if that radio hit could open Caesar up to a bigger, more mainstream audience when he opts to drop his third album.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s probably Frank Ocean, but let’s not forget about Janelle Monáe, who released arguably her best-received album to date in 2018’s ambitious Dirty Computer, and has only seen her multi-platform star grow in the years since — most recently with her lead turn in Netflix’s blockbuster Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Monáe has yet to post true superstar numbers with a new album, but the next time around, it might be more surprising if she didn’t see those kinds of commercial returns. (Of course, whether it’ll be with a truly R&B-based album or some kind of indie-funk space-rock opera remains to be seen.)