Global
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YOASOBI’s “Idol” extends its record stay atop the Billboard Japan Hot 100 on the chart dated July 26, now at 15 consecutive weeks.
The Oshi no Ko opener has dominated the Japan Hot 100 since it first took the top spot on the April 19 list, and while overall points are on the decline, it continues its reign over streaming (17,831,823 streams, 15 straight weeks at No. 1), and karaoke (9 straight weeks at No. 1), while also returning to the top spot for video views from No. 2. The track also continues to perform well in downloads (16,369 units, No. 2) and radio airplay (No. 17).
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Also holding at No. 2 this week is Jung Kook’s “Seven” featuring Latto. The first solo single by the BTS member dropped July 14 and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated July 29. The track is the second solo project by a member of the K-pop group to hit No. 1 on the list, following Jimin’s “Like Crazy.” In Japan, “Seven” comes in at No. 2 for streaming (14,601,063 streams, three times more than last week), No. 4 for downloads (12,656 units), and No. 2 for video.
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Kenshi Yonezu’s “Chikyuugi” (Spinning Globe) debuts at No. 3 this week. The theme of Studio Ghibli’s latest animated movie The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki dropped July 17, three days after the movie opened in Japanese theaters. The song comes in at No. 1 for downloads (34,423 units), No. 11 for streaming (5,417,188 streams), and No. 4 for radio. The music video was released on Wednesday (July 26), adding some more fuel towards the song’s performance on next week’s chart.
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Veteran pop-rock band Southern All Stars’ “Bon-giri Koiuta” bows at No. 7. The track is the first of three consecutive releases spanning three months celebrating the group’s 45th anniversary this year. It’s off to a strong start, coming in at No. 3 for downloads (16,317 units), No. 1 for radio, and No. 48 for video.
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Tatsuya Kitani’s “Where Our Blue Is” slips 4-3 this week. The CD version of the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 opener went on sale during the chart week, and the track comes in at No. 6 for sales, No. 5 for downloads (10,046 units), and No. 3 for streaming (8,215,198 streams). While it dropped slightly on the Japan Hot 100, the track jumps 15-5 for radio and 28-8 for video, collecting points in a balanced way overall.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from July 17 to 23, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” debut at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the July 29-dated Billboard Global 200. It’s only the third time in the 150-week history of Billboard’s global charts that the top two songs are debuts by different artists. But while Jung Kook also opens atop the other global chart – the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey – Aldean is nowhere to be found on it.
The Global 200 ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world. The Global Excl. U.S. chart does the same but excludes domestic consumption, measuring the biggest hits outside the United States.
Since these two global charts launched in September 2020, there has been plenty of crossover, with No. 1 songs aligning 100 times, or two out of every three weeks on average. This week’s top 10 on the Global 200 shares eight songs with the top 10 of the Global Excl. U.S. chart. The two that miss are Gunna’s “Fukumean,” inching 7-6 on the former and surging 44-22 on the latter, and “Try That in a Small Town.”
But Aldean isn’t just outside the top 10 of Global Excl. U.S. – his hit misses the 200-position chart altogether. That makes it the highest-ranking song on the Global 200 to simultaneously be absent from its sister survey since they started three years ago. Previously, Future held that distinction, when “Puffin on Zootiez” and “712PM” hit Nos. 7 and 11, respectively, on the May 14, 2022-dated worldwide ranking.
“Try That in a Small Town” makes a notable sales-powered bow, with 233,000 downloads sold worldwide in the week ending July 20, according to Luminate. The song was released May 19 but makes its global chart debut after CMT pulled the song’s music video three days after premiering (July 14), resulting in a surge of attention.
That six-digit figure is the third-best sales week since the charts launched, behind only the 269,000 for Jung Kook’s “Seven” this week, and BTS’ “Butter,” which debuted on the June 5, 2021-dated list with 249,000.
While Aldean manages the best non-BTS/BTS-related sales week in the global charts’ archives, his track’s streaming count of 11.1 million ranks 196th among this week’s 200 charting titles.
Those figures skew dramatically toward Stateside consumption, with 98% of the song’s worldwide sales and 96% of its streams stemming from the U.S. That towers over the averages among this week’s charting titles (beyond Aldean’s): 52% and 22%, respectively. Aldean’s domestic totals contrast with just 5,000 downloads and 403,000 streams from outside the U.S. during the tracking week, not enough to crack the Global Excl. U.S. chart – even if it were expanded to 600 positions.
“Try That in a Small Town” is a country song, and country has long struggled to export outside the confines of the U.S. Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” with its 14 weeks at No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, has managed to climb as high as No. 82 on Global Excl. U.S., far removed from its top 10 peak on the Global 200. Otherwise, besides Taylor Swift and holiday titles, Luke Combs is the only other core country act (in a lead role) to have appeared on the chart, as “Forever After All” spent a week at No. 105 in 2020. But not even his current crossover, a cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1989 classic “Fast Car,” is charting, despite being No. 21 on the Global 200 and No. 4 on the Hot 100.
Still, when Combs hit the global charts in 2020, 16% of the song’s streams and 10% of its sales were from outside the U.S in its debut week, indicating some interest outside his home country. Wallen, on both of this week’s editions, is up to 25% and 15% from international territories.
So while, yes, Aldean’s mere association with country music means he’s likely to spur far more U.S. activity than pop, rock or Latin acts, his international draw of 4% in streams and 2% in sales are unprecedented for such a huge hit on the Global 200.
The song’s messaging (or its controversy – however you choose to look at it) is deeply American. Even the title touches on the iconography of U.S. small towns, and its lyrics point to social hot topics. Its official video, and subsequent removal from CMT, pushed the song into the national spotlight, the clip interspersing news footage with small-town scenes to amplify the song’s references to violence and crime.
The specificity and the inevitable political fallout of “Try That in a Small Town” seemingly limits the song’s international prospects, cutting its non-U.S. sales and streams to a fraction of even those by fellow country singles. Meanwhile, although Aldean doesn’t chart on any of Billboard’s Hits of the World charts outside of North America, it debuts at No. 36 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, where Wallen and Combs sit at Nos. 1-2.
Bonjour Suzuki is a singer-songwriter who has sung and produced music for anime, video games, movies and more, demonstrating her wide-spread talent. RinRin Doll is a Japanese lolita fashion model and YouTuber active worldwide. Together, they form the unit “Bonjour Suzuki & RinRin Doll.”
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On June 30, the duo released their debut song “Carnival Dolls,” showcasing Bonjour Suzuki’s music production and RinRin Doll’s lyrics and direction, putting the unit into high gear. Both have separately enjoyed tremendous popularity within Japan and overseas in Japanese pop culture, and now they’ve combined their areas of music and fashion, opening a new door to the world. What message do the two have to share?
What led to you two deciding to form this unit?
Bonjour Suzuki: When I had performed at an Angelic Pretty fashion show (a popular lolita brand), I found myself drawn to this cute model with a curious allure. When I got a closer look, I realized that it was RinRin, who models for several magazines and brands, so I was too nervous to talk to her. But I had another chance to know her through friends and we grew close. I had known she could dance and perform, but when I heard her sing, her voice was so cute and so charming, I immediately said, “Hey! Let’s do something together!” It was only natural for us to create the unit.
Could you talk a bit about your roots and what you do?
Suzuki: I started learning classical piano when I was three. I’ve also studied the koto, shamisen, harp, and viola, among many instruments. My mother had sung jazz, so I grew up listening to soul music, jazz, Bossa Nova, and motown. I also have relatives in France so I listened to a lot of French music as well while growing up. I ended up studying French through music, movies, and anime, then went abroad to study language and music in southern France. There, I had a vocal teacher who inspired me so much with her words that I still, to this day, reflect on her advice. Following that, I started listening to even more songs from Iceland, France, and the like and discovered new vocal styles that have now reflected in my current style.
You do everything, right — not just the vocals, but also writing the lyrics and the music, performing the music, and mixing?
Suzuki: I sometimes ask other people to handle a part of it, but I usually do it all myself. I’m a big fan of French artist Emilie Simon, so I wanted to do everything myself, too, and I started studying how to do it.
RinRin, when did you get into music?
RinRin: Since I was a little kid I learned to play the piano and the guzheng (a Chinese zither). I also loved listening to all kinds of music and studied music theory in school as well.
Did you start modeling and posting on YouTube after coming to Japan?
RinRin: Yes. I started modeling for a well-known lolita fashion brand called “Angelic Pretty” in 2009 for their catalogs and fashion shows. I also became a dokusha-model (an influencer for print media) modeling lolita and street fashion in iconic subculture magazines like KERA and Gothic Lolita Bible, among others. Starting around 2013, the popularity for the style grew overseas and I was often invited as a guest to lolita fashion events and anime conventions all around the world like The Netherlands, France, Germany, Mexico, Canada, the US, Chile, Korea, China, Australia, and so on. I noticed I often get asked a lot of questions all about Lolita fashion and beauty, so I started a YouTube channel to answer commonly asked questions and post content I hope people will enjoy.
What kind of reactions have you two had from overseas audiences?
Suzuki: I sang, composed, arranged, and wrote the lyrics to the opening theme for the anime “Yurikuma Arashi” directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara, who’s famous for creating Sailor Moon R: The Movie, and he has countless fans around the world who listened to the song. People from countries like Germany, Russia, Spain, China, and Indonesia, even covered the song in their own languages! I’d been making rap and electro songs with friends overseas, but when I started working as a soloist, I wanted to make songs that fused Japan’s unique kawaii culture with a more mysterious aesthetic to create a distinctive feel. I was looking for a female artist who I could create this music with, so it was fate that I met RinRin. I want the two of us to make a lot more songs that could be used to create a cute ambiance for events like lolita tea parties.
RinRin: I get a lot of comments online asking about how to get into lolita fashion, what it’s like to work in Japan, what’s the current trends in beauty and fashion in Harajuku. I find a lot of people are interested in Japanese fashion and culture, only not knowing how to get closer to it and participate. I hope I can inspire more people who want to try kawaii subculture fashion to be able to be comfortable in expressing themselves. When I do lolita fashion tea parties (where everyone wears lolita fashion and has tea) overseas in person, I have a chance to talk to everyone directly and learn that usually everyone has an open and positive reaction. I also always request to play Bon-chan’s music at these tea parties. It really fits the vibe and everyone falls in love with it.
What’s the atmosphere like in these tea parties?
RinRin: Depending on the event, it can be anything like doing a fashion show or talk show, but I also request to go from table to table to chat directly with people about themselves and lolita fashion. No matter what country, the people who come to the tea parties see lolita fashion as a way of expressing themselves. They say that no matter what kind of difficulties they might find themselves up against, when they put on Lolita clothing, it makes them feel strong. Everyone’s happy to have this opportunity to wear cute clothes in an accepting space at lolita fashion tea parties, and there’s a tight-knit community every place I go. It makes me want to create even more opportunities and safe spaces like this and support people who enjoy cute styles. Through our unit, I’d like to connect Japan and the rest of the world and show everyone how much confidence Lolita fashion provides.
What was the idea behind your debut song, “Carnival Dolls?”
RinRin: When I first heard part of the track that Bon-chan had come up with, it immediately reminded me of faerie rings of European folklore. The story goes that if a human sees a ring of fairies dancing they would get enticed into the ring to dance with the faeries and before they know it, two decades would go by. I feel like there’s a connection between this story and current social media, where everyone looks like they’re having fun so the viewer would be drawn into it and lose track of time. However, I also felt there’s an ephemeral quality of staying in the moment and feeling like “while we’re all together, let’s just have fun and dance!”
For the music video, we knew exactly who we needed to bring on to produce the music video. Our friend, SAKUnoTORIDORI, who is an art director, set producer, photographer, and brand creator, is perfect for the image we were going for. She has a fairy-tale-like vision with all her works and we were so happy to come together as a trio to bring this vision to light.
Suzuki: In writing the music, I was inspired by RinRin’s faerie-like, intriguing aura. When she told me about the faerie rings, I reworked the track to include that faerie ring image. The song starts with the opening of J.S. Bach’s Fugue in G minor, layering baroque classical instruments. I brought my harp to the studio to play on the track, and violinist Asuka Mochizuki played violin and viola, which we layered on top of the programmed tracks. We used our instruments to depict this image of RinRin dancing, faerie-like, in the forest, and arranged the song like a sonic representation of the faerie ring feeling that the song had given her.
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The lyrics are in several different languages, right?
RinRin: Yes, since we wrote the lyrics together, we used our experiences and languages we know. We hope people in parts of the world have that “Oh hey!” moment when words they understand suddenly pop out.
Suzuki: French has a mysterious sound to it that creates a wonderful atmosphere, so we sprinkled it throughout. Even a single word is enough to create a vivid image. Just like how I learned French from listening to songs, I looked up words from RinRin’s English lyrics to use in my own daily life, and I think it would be wonderful if people in English-speaking countries were able to learn some new Japanese words from the song.
What kind of activities are you planning for the unit?
RinRin: I plan to continue doing lolita fashion tea parties, fashion shows, concerts, and other events within Japan and overseas, with the hope that our music can create safe spaces where we can enjoy community together. I also hope to work hard to serve as a bridge between Japan and overseas; and that more people can come to know about lolita fashion and kawaii culture.
Suzuki: I want to go with RinRin and perform shows at overseas events. I’m also going to do my best so that one day our music will be used in anime or games.
—This interview by Takayuki Okamoto firs appeared on Billboard Japan
Kenshi Yonezu’s new single “Tsuki Wo Miteita – Moongazing” is featured as the theme of Final Fantasy XVI, the latest installment in the hugely popular video game series. The J-pop hitmaker says the franchise has held a special place in his heart since childhood and that it has greatly influenced him as an artist.
In writing the song for the new game, Yonezu and game producer Naoki Yoshida held in-depth discussions to create a song that would deeply resonate with the story when heard in the context of the gameplay.
Music writer Tomonori Shiba caught up with the multi-hyphenate, who shared the process of the song’s production, his love for the Final Fantasy game franchise, how he feels about the expansion of his reach outside of his home country and more in this interview for Billboard Japan.
What was your first thought when you were tapped to write the theme for Final Fantasy XVI?
Kenshi Yonezu: I never thought I’d be able to work on the theme song for a game series that I’ve been playing since I was a kid. I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but it was simply an honor. It really felt like a unique opportunity.
What did the producers of the game discuss with you off the bat?
First, Mr. Yoshida spoke super passionately about the outline of the story and his thoughts that went into it. After that, I received a text-based script for the entire game and brief character descriptions. I was asked to create the music to be played during a particular scene in the game, so I think they were willing to let me do what I wanted with that to a certain extent, to create music based on what I felt.
Did you communicate with Mr. Yoshida while you were producing the song?
Yes, we did. Quite often. He’d come by regularly and show me visuals of how far the game development has been proceeding or how the battle system looks like at the moment. I could see how passionate he was about what he does. He spoke with great enthusiasm about what he was working on and what the game was like, while also taking pride in what he was doing. Of course it’s only natural, but I could sense that they took this project very seriously, and felt that I couldn’t take it on half-heartedly.
You’ve always mentioned Final Fantasy as one of your favorite games. How did you first come across it?
My family got a PlayStation when I was in first grade, and while I don’t remember what game I got first, I noticed one day that we had a copy of Final Fantasy VII. I don’t know if someone had bought it or if it’d been given to us, but there it was so I decided to give it a try. That’s how I started playing it.
What was that experience like for you?
Now that I think back on it, it feels like this work had a lot to do with my current tastes and preferences. The story is serious and the cityscape has a steampunk feel to it, and I still get excited when I see things like that. Looking back, I think it had a great influence on the development of my personality.
How would you say that those influences from the series appear in your own works as a musician and artist?
I’ve loved fantasy since I was a kid. I’ve been into it since I was in kindergarten or elementary school. Fantasy is a simple word to describe the concept, which is about things that could never really exist in our everyday lives, being there like they were commonplace. I spent my childhood yearning for such imaginary spaces. Looking back now, I think it’s been one of the main pillars shaping my life.
From there I got into drawing and making music, and even now that I do those things professionally, a lot of the music I make and pictures I draw still come from that fantastical, imaginary point of view. I always really liked playing alone, so I spent my childhood reading books and playing games at home, having fun letting my imagination run free and conjuring up fantastical things in my mind, rather than getting pleasure from communicating with others. That continues to this day and I think I learned a lot from it.
It’s called fantasy, but there’s quite a bit that mirrors reality. Reality is always reflected in fantasy and the two are inseparable, like the two sides of a coin. So I think there’s certainly a kind of true nature of reality that can only be acquired through fantasy, through a fantastical story. Fantasy is filled with a shape of reality that can only be expressed in that way.
What was the starting point of the idea for the song?
I thought a lot about what a theme song for a game is all about. After all, compared to movies, anime and TV drama series, a video game takes much longer to get through, as in dozens of hours. Plus, you become the player through the controller, immersing yourself in the game and experiencing the world for yourself. So I think your attachment to that world is much deeper than other media. When I was asked to write the music for this project, I felt it shouldn’t be something that evokes a kind of squalid everyday life.
So while you’re the one writing the song, the original concept was to write something that wouldn’t drag players back to reality when they heard it in the game.
Right. I’ve been asked to write many theme songs in the past and have worked with various stories, but I think I placed more emphasis on the game itself than ever before for this one. Since I make pop music, I have to create music that’s appropriate for each story while also reaching people who aren’t involved in that story, who are unfamiliar with it. Whenever I work on a theme song, I always try to find the right balance between the two, but this time the balance is quite off and the music leans heavily toward the game.
How did that change the way you wrote the song?
It became more of a selfless dedication. I had all kinds of distracting thoughts going through my mind when I was writing it. Stuff like, “Maybe I should do certain things to make it easier for people who haven’t played the game to understand” or “Maybe if I added certain sounds, it would make it better as a pop song.” Such distracting thoughts would swirl around and I tried to be aware of doing away with them this time. So it was selfless in that sense. I simply made music for the sake of the story. I really went in that direction more than ever before for this song.
So the concept of this song was different from your previous experiences writing themes for anime and drama series.
The theme song for a drama series on TV is played in every episode, and the scenes and situations where the song is heard will be different. That means the song has to be abstract in some ways. The task is to find where the root of all 10 episodes of the series lies. For example, I’d try to come up with three important elements of the story and work though various incidental details to get to what remains at the end. Then I embellish that in my own way. For a song like this one that would be played at a particular scene in a video game, I didn’t think such an approach would be appropriate.
The way the song is written, when you hear it after playing the game, you realize what it’s about and leads to a better understanding.
I mean, it’s not too much to say that I wrote it just for that purpose. When you finish playing the game and hear the song, the pieces all fit together for the first time. That’s the way it had to be done. Considering the numerous video games I’ve played in my life, I felt that if I did it any other way, I wouldn’t be sincere to who I am. I guess on a certain level it’s not sincere as a piece of pop music, but in this case, I had a feeling it was the right thing to do.
Could you share what resonated with you after you finished playing Final Fantasy XVI?
FF16 is a very serious game, and as you identify yourself with the harsh reality of the protagonist through the controller, your desire for them to be happy grows and grows. The protagonist is born under oppressive conditions and is forced to fight grinding battles all the way from there. When you think about how unfortunate that is, you begin to feel strongly about wanting them to find redemption. I thought about such things when I wrote the music. But I also had to include the scars he left behind in the song. I felt it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t, so I tried to write a song that would give a feeling of redemption while also encompassing a kind of grudge that will never completely go away.
I’d like to ask you about the international expansion of your reach. Last year you released “Kick Back,” the opener for the anime Chainsaw Man, and the track gained popularity in many countries and regions outside of Japan, among people who speak many different languages. How do you feel about that?
I’m grateful. As someone who makes popular music, I want many people to listen to what I put out. In that sense, I’m grateful to Chainsaw Man for giving me the opportunity to write that song.
And “Tsuki Wo Miteita – Moongazing” is featured in Final Fantasy, a series with ardent fans of all ages not only in Japan but also in many other countries and regions, also among people who speak various languages. What are your thoughts on that?
The song is in Japanese and I’m not sure how people will feel about this Japanese song. I feel nervous about how people interpret it, and right now I’m just hoping that the game hasn’t been ruined because of the song’s inclusion in it.
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I think emotions expressed in music transcend borders and languages, and kind of imagine you want that to be the case, too.
Yes. The song is basically in Japanese, so what’s being sung won’t come across (to speakers of other languages). But I’ve experienced moments where I’m moved by something even though I’m far removed from its meaning linguistically. I’ve certainly had experiences where I’m strongly drawn to a voice or the music from foreign countries, in foreign languages I’m not familiar with. I hope this song will be taken in that way.
One last question. Aside from Final Fantasy XVI, are there any other video games that you’re into or curious about?
I’ve been playing Minesweeper all the time lately. I’ve talked about it a lot at my concerts, and I’ve been feeling firsthand how addictive it is because of its simplicity.
—This interview by Tomonori Shiba first appeared in Billboard Japan
J Hus bags the U.K. chart crown with Beautiful and Brutal Yard, new at No. 1.
The leader at the halfway mark, Beautiful and Brutal Yard (via Black Butter) becomes the Stratford, England-born rapper and singer’s second leader, following 2020’s Big Conspiracy, and his third career top 10 placing (his 2017 debut Common Sense peaked at No. 6).
Three tracks from Beautiful and Brutal Yard appear in the current U.K. singles chart top 40: “Who Told You” with Drake (down 4-5), “Militerian” featuring Naira Marley (new at No. 23), and “Masculine” with Burna Boy (new at No. 24).
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Taylor Swift continues to swamp the U.K. albums chart, led by Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), down 1-2. It’s one of six Swift titles on the climb in the top 20 (all via EMI), no doubt fueled by the excitement surrounding the ticket onsale for the 2024 U.K. leg of The Eras Tour. Further down the Official U.K. Albums Chart, 2022’s Midnights is up 9-5, 2014’s 1989 gains 10-8, 2019’s Lover improves 12-9, 2017’s Reputation lifts 21-15 and 2019’s folklore spikes 25-16.
Rita Ora’s return with You & I (BMG) nets her a second top 10 entry. The British artist’s new album bows at No. 6, for her highest-charting LP in over a decade. Her 2012 debut ORA peaked at No. 1, and its 2018 followup Phoenix hit No. 11.
Further down the list, British-born Canadian singer and songwriter Lauren Spencer Smith just misses out on a top 10 debut with Mirror (Island), new at No. 11; while Glasgow, Scotland singer and songwriter Gerry Cinnamon nabs his third top 40, with Live at Hampden Park (Little Runaway) appearing at No. 12. The live collection is the week’s best-seller on wax.
Also impacting the albums survey for the first time are titles from DJ and producer Joel Corry (Another Friday Night at No. 24 via Atlantic); U.S. pop band Pvris (EVERGREEN at No. 25 via Hopeless); New York rapper and singer Lil Tjay (222 at No. 26 via Columbia) and British singer-songwriter Mahalia (IRL at No. 31 via Atlantic).
It’s a great week for BTS‘s Jung Kook, who establishes a chart record in the U.K. with “Seven.”
The K-pop star’s hit lands at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published July 21, for the highest-charting debut by a solo Korean act.
The singer’s hot start with “Seven” (via BigHit Entertainment) surpasses the first-week bows by BTS bandmates j-hope and Jimin, the Official Charts Company reports.
All seven members of the K-pop phenomenon – Jin, Jimin, Suga, Jung Kook, RM, V and J-Hope – have shared solo material, with Jimin setting the bar with a top 10 for “Like Crazy” (peaking at No. 8) in March; he separately secured a top 40 appearance with “Set Me Free Pt. 2,” hitting No. 30.
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J-hope was the first member of BTS to bag a U.K. top 40 single, thanks to his J. Cole collaboration “On The Street” peaking at No. 37.
With his podium finish, Jung Kook matches BTS’ best U.K. chart positions so far — 2020’s “Dynamite,” plus “Butter” and “My Universe” with Coldplay (both from 2021) all debuted and peaked at No. 3.
The highest-charting U.K. solo single by a Korean act belongs to Psy, whose “Gangnam Style” dropped in September 2012 at No. 61, then climbed to No. 1 in its fourth week on the tally. The viral hit clocked 55 weeks on the chart, last appearing in 2014.
“Seven,” which features vocals from U.S. rapper Latto, and blasts to No. 2 on Australia’s ARIA Chart, is pipped in the U.K. by Dave and Central Cee’s hip-hop hit “Sprinter” (Live Yours/Neighbourhood), which races to a seventh consecutive chart title. Following a tight three-way race at the top, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” (Geffen) flies in at No. 2, unchanged from the previous week.
Finally, U.S. pop star Billie Eilish lands her ninth U.K. top 10 single with “What Was I Made For?” (Interscope). The new release, lifted from the Barbie movie soundtrack, is new at No. 10.
More than half of the debuts on this week’s July 22-dated Billboard global charts come from Taylor Swift, as she lands 22 new entries from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). But despite her record-tying haul, she doesn’t score the highest new entry on either list.
This week’s Hot Shot Debut comes courtesy of NewJeans, starting at No. 2 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. rankings with “Super Shy.” For good measure, the South Korean group adds a second arrival, the eponymous “New Jeans,” at Nos. 32 and 19, respectively.
“Super Shy” starts with 63 million streams and 6,000 downloads sold worldwide in the week ending July 13, according to Luminate. Not only is it NewJeans’ highest-charting single yet, its first frame yields the biggest one-week streaming total of the group’s career, surpassing the 46.5 million clicks for “Ditto” in the week ending Jan. 5.
NewJeans’ new peak is another in a year of building success. The five-person group – Danielle, Haerin, Hanni, Hyein, and Minji – earned its first global chart hit when “Attention” debuted on the Aug. 13, 2022-dated Global Excl. U.S. listing at No. 174. “Hype Boy” debuted one week later, and “Cookie” the week after that, signaling the arrival of K-Pop’s new contenders.
At the turn of the year, “Ditto” and “OMG” hit the top 10 of both lists, with the former reaching as high as No. 4 on Global Excl. U.S.
Just before the one-year anniversary of NewJeans’ global chart debut, “Super Shy” extends the group’s peak, blocked from the top spot by Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” on the Global 200 and by Myke Towers’ “LaLa” on the Global Excl. U.S. tally.
NewJeans’ international strength continues to spread. The group’s roster of hits has performed well on Billboard’s Hits of the World charts, crowning lists across Asia, including multiple No. 1s in Singapore, Taiwan and its native South Korea. “Super Shy” debuts atop those rankings and marks the group’s first chart-topper in Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Further, “Super Shy” is breaking ground in English-language markets as the first NewJeans track on Australia Songs, debuting at No. 22. In the U.S., it instantly becomes the group’s highest-charting entry on the Billboard Hot 100, arriving at No. 66.
BTS star Jung Kook just misses out on his first solo chart crown in Australia, as “Seven” starts at No. 2.
Featuring rapper Latto, “Seven” (via ING/Universal) arrives on the ARIA Chart, published July 21, behind Dave and Central Cee’s “Sprinter” (Virgin Music Australia/Universal), which races away for its sixth non-consecutive week at No. 1.
That’s easily the best solo effort for the K-pop superstar, who featured on Charlie Puth’s 2022 release “Left And Right,” peaking at No. 19 on the national tally. Latto’s previous best was a No. 6 peak for 2021’s “Big Energy” featuring DJ Khaled.
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Also new to the ARIA Singles Chart is Billie Eilish, with “What Was I Made For?” (Interscope/Universal) from the soundtrack to the Barbie movie, which has opened in theaters countrywide. “What Was I Made For?” debuts at No. 8, for the U.S. pop star’s 14th top 10 single in these parts, a collection that includes her chart-leader from 2019, “Bad Guy.”
Two other Barbie numbers are on the climb this week: “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and AQUA (up 42-23) and Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” (up 40-27), both via Atlantic/Warner.
Australian pop artist Troye Sivan bags his 12th top 50 single with “Rush” (EMI), lifted from his forthcoming album, Something To Give Each Other, slated to drop in October. “Rush” is new at No. 12, and not far from his career best chart position, a No. 10 peak for 2014’s “Happy Little Pill.”
It’s all Taylor Swift on the ARIA Albums Chart as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) retains top spot for a second week. A week ago, Swift’s third and latest “Version” LP replaced her own Midnights album at the summit, a handover never seen before on the Australian chart.
The two-week stint for Swift’s recorded Speak Now album eclipses the one-week reign for its original, from 2010, ARIA reports.
The highest debut on the albums tally belongs to legendary Australian artist Tina Arena, whose new set Love Saves (Positive Dream/ADA) starts at No. 2. Arena now boasts nine top 10 albums, including No. 1s for 1994’s Don’t Ask and 1997’s In Deep. Earlier this year, Arena was the inaugural recipient of Rolling Stone Australia’s Icon Award, which she received during a ceremony in Sydney.
Swift secures three of the top 5, with Midnights holding at No. 3 and Lover unchanged at No. 4.
YOASOBI’s “Idol” sets a new record this week on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, logging its 14th consecutive week at No. 1 on the chart unveiled July 19.
The Oshi no Ko opener debuted atop the chart released April 19 and has stayed there ever since, now breaking Billboard Japan’s all-time record for consecutive weeks at No. 1. While overall points for the track is moderately declining, points for downloads increased slightly (No. 2). It continues to dominate streaming and karaoke for the 8th straight week and also comes in at No. 2 for video views and No. 10 for radio airplay, still ahead of the No. 2 song by approximately 1.8 times the total points. In addition, the song hit 300 million total streams this week, which also breaks Billboard Japan’s record for fastest to mark the milestone.
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Notably, YOASOBI’s Ayase’s collaborative project with Creepy Nuts rapper R-Shitei (R-rated) called “Hiten” debuts on the Japan Hot 100 at No. 73. The opener for the new TV anime series Rurouni Kenshin was digitally released July 6 and hits the Japan song chart this week after reaching No. 14 for downloads and jumping 55-24 for radio.
At No. 2 this week is BTS member Jung Kook’s solo single “Seven (feat. Latto),” released July 14. Campaigns on streaming platforms played a part in the track hitting 4,608,696 streams to come in at No. 14 for the metric. The song also ruled downloads with 39,170 units, while the music video released on July 15 hit 74.88 million views on YouTube alone (as of July 19) in just four days since its release (No. 1 for video).
Kitani Tatsuya’s “Where Our Blue Is” rises 8-3 after debuting on the Japan Hot 100 last week. Streaming for the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 opener increased 2.3 times from the previous week to 8,907,498 streams, landing the song at No. 2 behind “Idol” for the metric. It also came in at No. 3 for downloads (14,362 units), No. 15 for radio, and No. 28 for video. With the CD version coming out today (July 19), its performance on next week’s chart is something to keep an eye on.
NewJeans’ new song “Super Shy,” released digitally on July 7, breaks into the top 10 this week from No. 60. This is the lead track off the breakout K-pop girl group’s second EP Get Up, due July 21 in Japan. It’s off to a good start ahead of the “Ditto” group’s first new release in about six months, reaching No. 7 for streaming (6,167,279 streams), No. 7 for radio, No. 8 for video and No. 39 for downloads (1,641 units).
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Mrs. GREEN APPLE, currently on their domestic arena tour, charted four songs in the top 20 this week. While “Magic” off the pop-rock band’s latest album, ANTENNA, slips 5-6 on the Japan Hot 100, it rises to No. 6 for downloads and video. “Que Sera, Sera” rises 11-8 powered by a significant increase in downloads. “Dancehall” holds at No. 16 and “Ao to Natsu” moves 14-11, with points in karaoke showing a gradual increase overall.
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The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from July 10 to 16, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Kenshi Yonezu released his new single “Chikyuugi” (Globe) on digital services July 17. The song serves as the theme of Studio Ghibli’s highly anticipated latest animated movie The Boy and the Heron, which opened in Japanese theaters on Friday. The artwork features an original layout illustration of a scene from the Hayao Miyazaki-directed movie. The […]