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Tomonari Sora’s “Demons Banquet” holds at No. 1 for the second week in a row on Billboard Japan’s Heatseekers Songs chart, dated Feb. 28, tallying the week ending Feb. 25.
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This chart extracts artists rapidly on the rise based on radio airplay, downloads, streaming and video views among the metrics that make up the Billboard Japan Hot 100 weekly song chart.
The demo version of the track by the singer-songwriter born in 2002 went viral after being posted on TikTok in November, and was officially released in digital form on Jan. 10.
“Demons Banquet” comes in at No. 10 for video views, No. 59 for downloads, and No. 66 for streaming, gaining 40% in total points from the previous week.
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At No. 2 on Heatseekers Songs is swetty’s “junkie.” This track was released Dec. 4 by the artist who is active mainly on SoundCloud, and grabbed the spotlight after ONE OK ROCK frontman Taka shouted it out on Instagram Live in late January.
Meanwhile, TOMOO’s “Present” debuts on the chart at No. 7. The 28-year-old artist sings about love over a pop and upbeat, euphoric track in her latest release, which gained points mainly in radio this week.
Other first-time entries on this chart this week include Humbreaders’ (hum-bread-ers) “DANCING IN THE ROOM,” Risky Melody’s “Itai Itai Ai,” E.scene’s “Watashi to Watashi,” and WHITE SCORPION’s “Hijoshudan.” asobi’s “All In My Head,” also climbs the chart to enter the top 20 at No. 18.
Some rules regarding the Billboard Japan Heatseekers Songs chart include: songs that have entered the top 300 in at least one metric of the Japan Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks including the tallying week are eligible; the list excludes artists who have charted in the top 20 of the Japan Hot 100 or in the top 10 of the Japan Hot Albums charts after appearing on the Heatseekers list; artists / acts that have charted in the top 20 for at least 4 months (17 weeks) out of the last 6 months (26 weeks) are excluded; and if any excluded artists are clearly listed in the credited artist’s name as “Feat.” etc., their songs are also excluded.
◎Billboard JAPAN Heatseekers Songs Top 20
(Data Collected: Feb. 19-25, 2024)
1. “Demons Banquet” / Tomonari Sora
2. “junkie” / swetty
3. “Zenhoukou Bishoujo” / noa
4. “request” / krage
5. “Obsessed” / Ayumu Imazu
6. “Planet” / ako
7. “Present” / TOMOO
8. “AtoZ” / Tokimekkii
9. “SARIGIWA NO ROMANTICS” / See-Saw
10. “Konton Boogie” / Jon-YAKITORY
11. “DANCING IN THE ROOM” / Humbreaders
12. ““Itai Itai Ai” / Risky Melody
13. “LoveJetaime” / Mahiru Coda
14. “My dream girls” / NACHERRY
15. “Watashi to Watashi” / E.scene
16. “Futsunanteiranaiyo” / TENSONG
17. “ANPANMAN TAISOU” / Dreaming
18. “All In My Head” / asobi
19. “Hijoshudan” / WHITE SCORPION
20. “Ba-Bang to Suisan! Bang Bravern” / Bravern (Kenichi Suzumura)
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” extends its reign over the Billboard Japan Hot 100 to five weeks on the chart dated Feb. 28.
While slowing down slightly in streams and downloads, the MASHLE Season 2 opener remains almost stationary and adds another week at No. 1 to both metrics. Streaming is down by about 0.6% (21,661,077 streams) and downloads by about 2.3% (19,520 units). The viral hit is at No. 19 for video views and rises 9-7 for karaoke, while slipping slightly in radio (7-10) this week, leading the Japan Hot 100 by a huge margin.
Sakurazaka46’s “Nansai no koro ni modoritai no ka?” rises 15-2 after launching with 531,917 CDs in its first week (released Feb. 21). The eighth single by the J-pop girl group features Ten Yamasaki in center position of the choreography, and follows the first-week sales of its previous single, “Shoninyokkyu” (545,944 copies). The track gained points in other metrics as well, coming in at No. 4 for streaming with 7,808,921 streams, No. 11 for downloads with 3,758 units, No. 74 for radio, and No. 67 for video.
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OCTPATH’s “OCTAVE” debuts at No. 4 this week. The eight-member boy band’s fifth single sold 99,413 CDs in its first week — 14.3% more than its predecessor “Sweet” —to come in at No. 2 for sales, while also hitting No. 2 for radio.
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Omoinotake’s “IKUOKU KONEN” rises a notch to No. 7. The track is steadily on the rise figure-wise as well, moving 10-8 for downloads (4,913 units, up 10.6%), 7-6 for streaming, (7,323,028 streams, up 20.8%), and 25-22 for video.
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SPYAIR’s “Orange” jumps 19-8 this week, debuting in the top 10. The second release by the four-man band featuring new vocalist YOSUKE is being featured as the theme song for the animated feature film Haikyuu!! the Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump, which opened in Japanese theaters on Feb. 16. According to Kogyo Tsushinsha, the movie drew 2.9 million viewers and grossed over 4.18 billion yen during its first ten days. “Orange” comes in at No. 3 for downloads with 7,168 units, No. 8 for streaming with 6,492,428 streams, No. 21 for radio, and No. 13 for video.
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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 Feb. 19 to 25, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
It takes around 30 minutes, but eventually, TWICE relaxes enough in their New York City hotel room to chitchat and laugh out loud among their nine-member huddle — a stark difference from the professionally guarded and admittedly “nervous” girl group that Billboard spoke with at their first U.S. appearance in 2016.
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Ever the humble professionals, the K-pop heroines and their loyal fans have earned the right to comfortably settle into a new, happier routine after growing for nearly nine years together.
Nearly immediately following TWICE’s entry into the K-pop scene in late 2015, members Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Mina, Sana, Momo, Dahyun, Chaeyeon and Tzuyu became reliable chart-toppers and commanded the industry’s attention with every release. Not only did they set the standard for their generation of K-pop acts with nine consecutive No. 1 singles on South Korea’s Circle Chart, the nontet replicated their prominence in the Japanese market (with 20 top 10 entries in the Billboard Japan Hot 100) with a next natural step in cracking the world’s largest industry, the United States.
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With a lineup from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the U.S. is a trickier and far less obvious market to embrace TWICE. In K-pop’s ongoing global crossover, where more acts have fluent English speakers and Billboard-charting girl groups are trending towards six or fewer singers, TWICE remains strong with all nine of its original members. After taking over K-pop with the viral performances and dances accompanying singles like “Cheer Up” and “TT,” and solidifying a deeper connection with tracks like their biographical “Feel Special” and the encouragement anthem “Talk That Talk,” now is the moment for the group to let the material strengthen the bond with U.S. audiences.
“‘I Got You’ was influenced by TWICE,” leader Jihyo explains of their latest original English single that kicked off their new era in early February. “It’s us speaking to each other and encouraging each other, which is really great that we can do this together because there are members who can help me when I’m having a hard time, there are members who see me when I’m in a good mood — just being together is encouraging…just like how PD [producer-director J.Y. Park] first made ‘Feel Special,’ the album concept itself is putting together our story. We wanted to showcase how the fans look at our teamwork, and that’s why we chose this song.”
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The JYP Entertainment founder and producer behind TWICE hits like “Signal,” “What Is Love?” and “Alcohol-Free,” Park previously told Billboard how a teary meeting discussing relying on their team mates through the hardships of K-pop idol fame inspired him to write the No. 1 single on the spot in 2019. But if “Feel Special” was birthed from TWICE’s hardships and growing pains, “I Got You” and its quick-selling accompanying mini album EP With YOU-th comes from reaching a point of happy stability.
“Up ’til now, we’ve never done a song like this before,” Jihyo adds. “We’ve always been singing songs about the theme of love, and this is more about our friendship, kind of similar to ‘Feel Special,’ and it was really comforting to us because of that…It was actually one of the songs on the album that the members reacted to really well. I thought it was new, but it also felt comfortable. We liked the lyrics [for] the fans and thought the fans would like the lyrics as well.” Momo adds, “While we were performing this song outside [in Mexico City] on tour, the weather was nice, it went so well with the song — just seeing the fans’ expressions was really great to see.”
The sentiment extends to their upbeat lead single, “One Spark,” released alongside With YOU-th on Feb. 23, originally in Korean before the English version dropped days later for maximum global consumption. Lyrics in both versions speak to a unique, undeniable ally through an effervescent tempo-hopping pop jam: “If I lose my rhythm/ Then your beat goes on and on,” Mina and Tzuyu sing on the pre-chorus, with the English version’s chorus shouting out “My favorite person, it’s our golden days/ My heart is burning, burning, burning/ Don’t lose this spark, baby.”
“Actually, we were thinking a lot about which title song [single] we should do between ‘One Spark’ and ‘I Got You,’” explains youngest member Tzuyu, sharing the group’s opinion heavily influences their musical path today, but joke they’ll take 100 percent creative control at 10 years. “We voted between the two songs of what should be the title track single. I think ‘One Spark’ is actually a great song performance-wise and we can put on quite a powerful stage performance.”
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“Compared to, let’s say, ‘Set Me Free,’ the choreo is a bit more complicated with a lot more movement to consider with our stage outfits,” Chaeyoung adds about bringing the new single to life. “It’s a faster song. It’s tough, but we worked hard on this choreo and felt like we grew, so I’m glad we’re doing it. Even in the music video, once we’re together and partying, the mood explodes. Of course, people can take it in this way, and others might see it a little bit differently, but overall, we just wanted to showcase the good energy among us and how much synergy we have within the group.”
But alongside the celebratory mood, a poignant moment in the music video comes during a flashback when viewers see Dahyun crying in the dance studio with several members trying to cheer her up. While Dahyun admits she had a tear dropper on set just in case, she ultimately “really wanted to express my own emotions, so I just cried by myself without any tools.”
“The music video shows us in their past during our trainee times when we were going through a hard time,” Jihyo says. “We wanted to showcase how we push each other throughout those hard times working as a team.”
Admitting that the trip down memory lane brought back “sad emotions,” Nayeon adds how “even if this didn’t happen during that trainee time exactly, we thought about how, throughout our history, there were a lot of these kinds of moments.”
Momo says the new album process brought back her experiences with Sixteen, the 2015 singing competition show that created the group. “I was actually remembering when I was first eliminated on Sixteen and crying,” she shares. “All the members were there with me. And when we were filming, one of us had to go to the emergency room and all the members were together.”
Exploring a deeper connection with each other and their loyal fans — affectionately known as ONCE — is a central theme in With YOU-th.
A teaser video previewing all six new tracks on the EP shows what one might imagine a longtime superfan’s room may look like, with different memorabilia, imagery, and visual references from past eras accompanying the audio. With YOU-th is not just a message of togetherness but marks them moving and maturing through the years.
“Around our debut, or even a few years ago, many of our fans still went to school and now go to work. Or there may have been a few in middle school and now in high school,” Sana reflects. “We take a lot of pride in seeing them and how they grow. We’re really thankful that we have fans who have been with us throughout their time as we grew with our career.” TWICE even know two ONCEs who ended up marrying each other.
TWICE
Courtesy of JYP Entertainment
Three B-side tracks on With YOU-th feature three TWICE members as sole songwriters sharing their experience of growing more mature and fearless in their creative processes.
“‘Bloom’ is a song about asking someone to wait,” Jeongyeon shares of the track she wrote. “Referencing a flower, the last step would be when the flower blooms, meaning I will come to grab you then and hold you.”
Chaeyoung felt inspired by alt-pop star PinkPantheress while writing “Rush.” “While I was listening, I felt like a Jersey Club rhythm, kind of like PinkPantheress’ music, and thought the sound itself was quite cute and lovely, so I wanted to bring that in the emotions in the lyrics in a fun way,” the Seoul native says. “Lyric-wise, it’s about approaching something or someone, so I wrote it in a more fun way.”
Bringing the record full circle, With YOU-th closes with the Dahyun-penned “You Get Me” that connects to “I Got You” by expanding on a relationship more profound than words.
“The lyrics say how ‘even if we don’t say anything, you already know me,’” explains Dahyun. “It’s a warm, easy-listening song, and I really wanted to write the lyrics as soon as I heard it. I was able to do that, so I’m really happy about that and can’t wait for the fans to listen.”
While teasing that “ONCEs are going to be really busy this year,” there is certainly a concerted focus on ensuring TWICE can and will keep developing.
“The biggest thing is that K-pop has become so global,” reflects Mina, as TWICE moves into contention for their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — an arguably overdue feat as they hold the largest U.S. sales week for a female K-pop act when Ready to Be earned 153,000 equivalent album units last year. “I think that teams’ lifespans have generally been extended a lot and that we’ll be able to do much more in the future. There have been a lot more opportunities to take advantage of because of the global expansion of K-pop. If there’s something wrong, we’ll tell the company, but as long as the fans want to meet us, we want to go until the end.”
“There’s not so much meaning behind setting goals now; we put a bigger priority on promoting longer and spending meaningful time with the fans,” Jihyo adds. “Of course, the company might have a goal. But personally, we think that having a happy time with fans is the goal right now.”
Despite the warm contentment felt inside With YOU-th, and within the TWICE members’ tight-knit cluster after nearly an hour of chatting, there’s one quick glimmer of hesitancy from Jihyo after a mention of their exciting chart prospects in their latest crossover push into America.
“You know how you mentioned, ‘Isn’t it time for America to focus on TWICE?’” the group leader says quietly but firmly, as their final word. “Please do focus on us.”
In the 15 years since K-pop’s early international pioneers BoA and the Wonder Girls made their respective marks on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 charts back in 2009, the Korean pop industry has made significant strides on the Billboard charts — and never has its crossover success been more apparent than now.
In 2023 alone, 35 different K-pop albums entered the Billboard 200, and five took the No. 1 spot. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION hit the top spot in February, Stray Kids’ 5-STAR reigned for a week in June, NewJeans’ Get Up took over in August, Stray Kids scored a second No. 1 this year with ROCK-STAR in November, before ATEEZ snagged their first chart-topper with The World EP.Fin: Will in December.
Over on the Hot 100, Jimin of BTS opened a new chapter of K-pop history when he became the first South Korean solo artist to hit No. 1 on the chart with his solo single “Like Crazy.” His bandmate Jung Kook followed soon after when “Seven” (featuring Latto) debuted atop the Hot 100 and set the stage for the star to set a new record with three top five solo hits so far. Elsewhere, artists like BIGBANG’s Taeyang, NewJeans, FIFTY FIFTY, Stray Kids and Jennie of BLACKPINK all earned their first Hot 100 entries, while TWICE and BTS members J-Hope, Agust D and V all added additional entries to their Hot 100 collections.
Of course, many artists also spent time connecting with their global fans, thanks to massive tours across the globe. Acts like SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, NCT, TWICE, aespa, LE SSERAFIM, (G)I-DLE, ITZY, Agust D and more played the largest venues of their career, further displaying K-pop’s impact on the live market.
Ahead of the launch of Billboard Korea — with a kick-off event in Seoul set for May, where the artists on this list will be invited as the guests of honor, and the first issue, Billboard K Vol.1, scheduled for release in June — we’ve compiled the inaugural Billboard K-Pop Artist 100 list, with rankings based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard Boxscore (touring) data for the charts dated Jan. 7, 2023, through Dec. 30, 2023. (In most cases, group members are listed together, except for where notable solo activity separates the artists.)
Find our full 2024 list below:
Yuna (ITZY)
Image Credit: JYP Entertainment
Billboard Japan‘s “MONTHLY FEATURE” series presents various artists and works that have caught our eye. February’s featured artist is Japanese three-piece band shy taupe, formed in June 2022 by members of a university music club. On April 25, 2023, they released the digital single “Rendezvous,” which became frequently covered on TikTok and other social media, both in vocal covers and guitar-accompanied performances. The song turned into a charting viral hit in August 2023 and in November, shy taupe reached 100 million total streams.
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On their first full album, Hors D’oeuvre, released in February of this year, the band combines pop sensibilities and sentimentalism. The lyrics are beautiful and go right to the heart. The vocals deftly change tone from song to song, conveying the feelings of the persona of each song. It’s an album with a rich variety of tunes that convey the sway of emotions that are part of the human experience. Billboard Japan caught up with the three members of shy taupe on their first-ever nationwide tour and discussed their aesthetics and musical philosophy.
You’re in the middle of your first Japanese tour, right? How’s it going?
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So Sasaki (vocals/guitar): We’ve finished playing three of the shows on the tour so far, and playing each venue has been a blast. I’m thinking that our experiences will have opened up new perspectives when the tour finishes, so I’m looking forward to seeing them.
Takatoman (drums): The mood of the audience varies depending on where we’re playing, so each show, I’m thinking “What kind of show should we put on?” Each show, I want to put on an even better performance than the last. Without ever losing sight of that spirit, I want to keep showing the audience new things. I think that, through this process, we’ll grow as a band.
Masaki Fukunaga (bass): Just changing a single song in the set list totally changes the atmosphere of the show. It feels like the more shows we put on, the better our shows are getting, so I’m looking forward to the final show of the tour on March 31.
You formed as a band in June 2022, and now you’ve reached the phase of your musical career where you can’t ignore the potential for viral hits on social media. What do you think about that aspect of the music scene?
Sasaki: I’ve never said “Let’s try to build some buzz and make it big.” When writing songs, I’ve never thought about what kinds of themes or lyrics or melodies would help it go viral. But I do have a strong desire for a lot of people to hear our music. So it’s been a bit of a struggle — I want lots of people to hear our music, but I don’t want to be focused on trying to create buzz.
I can see that. Your lyrics are easy to understand, but it’s also clear that you’ve taken a lot of care to write them beautifully.
Sasaki: That’s right (laughs). I could write lyrics that are super-straightforward, but I prefer more poetic expressions. When you see the lyrics, I want them to look like a poem, not just a paragraph. I guess this will be a conflict that I’ll always be facing. I’ll just keep pushing forward, struggling and using trial-and-error.
During the course of following that vision, in September 2023, “Rendezvous” became a viral hit.
Fukunaga: Listeners have had more opportunities to hear us through songs like “Heya” and “pink,” but it came as a surprise to us to see shy taupe showing up even in rankings we were familiar with.
Takatoman: But I don’t think our attitude or approach to music has changed. The numbers and rankings have changed so much that it hardly feels real, and while we’re happy to have this recognition, there’s also a lot of pressure to become stronger as a band and live up to expectations.
Sasaki: When we wrote “Rendezvous,” it didn’t feel like we’d written a masterpiece. It didn’t feel like a masterpiece when we released it, either. But that’s made us realize that this is what it feels like when you write something that a lot of people will listen to. When people started listening to “pink,” there were a lot of unexpected reactions online. I was surprised to see how people interpreted the lyrics.
That’s not what you’d written the lyrics to mean.
Sasaki: Right. But I’m actually glad to see those kinds of misinterpretations. It’s not all about having listeners receive my lyrics the way I intended. If listeners interpret my lyrics in a different way, and that helps them through hard times, then that’s even better, and it makes me happy that I wrote the song. I write songs partly for myself, but that alone isn’t enough. No man is an island. I think that deep in their hearts, everyone, to some degree or another, wants what they do to benefit others, too.
Your first album, Hors D’oeuvre, which includes “Rendezvous,” shows that shy taupe is a many-faceted band. It feels like you took a lot of care with balancing the album.
Sasaki: I’ve gotten the feeling that it’s become rarer nowadays for people to listen to music in the form of entire albums. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but in our case, we’re going to keep paying a lot of attention to the order of songs on our albums for the sake of the people who listen to our albums as albums. I’d like us to do interesting things with album song order, like making the title track the last track on an album.
Fukunaga: I fell in love with music through the CD albums my parents would play in the car. I also listen to individual songs here and there, but I feel like Sasaki understands what makes albums great, as well, so I agree with him.
Takatoman: When I pick up an album, I feel like I get a sense of something that’s important to the artist that can’t be expressed electronically in the form of a playlist or the like. That’s why I always want to take great care with our albums.
The fact that you place such importance on the expressive medium of albums could be seen as the reason for your creating such a diversity of songs.
Sasaki: When I write songs, balance is very important to me. I don’t want to just keep creating ballad after ballad and being a “ballad band.” I want people who hear “Rendezvous” to pick up Hors D’oeuvre and hear songs with a different feel, like “Burn!!” We picked these songs with the desire to be a band that has a balanced repertoire of different songs. That’s why we chose the title Hors D’oeuvre, because we’re a band with a lot of variety, like a plate of hors d’oeuvre at a party, and because, like hors d’oeuvre, it conveys the sense that there’s a main course to come in the future. We want to live up to people’s expectations and show people that we are versatile — that we write the lyrics we want, the way we want, and we make the music we want to make. I hope we can maintain a good balance and develop along both of those axes.
You’ve mentioned that the songs you write are about things people experience in their everyday life, but many of the songs are about love, about chasing your dreams, and about observations from daily life.
Sasaki: When you boil down my everyday life, it comes down to those three things. That’s why our songs are very true-to-life.
So shy taupe is now serving hors d’oeuvres across Japan, and the best is yet to come?
Sasaki: I think the kinds of songs we should make, and the kinds of songs we want to make, are going to vary every time we work on new music. Those changes themselves can be interesting, and I think we can create interesting music if we reflect those changes in our songs. I’ve always had a lot of admiration for Mr. Children. They’re really good at balancing what they want to do and living up to others’ expectations for them. I want for shy taupe, too, to constantly be exploring, imagining, having fun, and struggling with our music, without ever slacking.
Fukunaga: I think you need to have real skill to do what you want to do. That’s why I’m trying to learn even more musical phrases and absorb even more influences, building up my own abilities so I can do what I want.
Takatoman: The future isn’t all going to be wine and roses. I’m sure there are also going to be hard times. That’s why I need to not only improve my technique as a musician but also to grow as a human. I feel like if you don’t grow as a person, you’ll lose the power you need to keep doing what you want to do, and the power you need to keep making music. That’s why during this tour, and in the future, I want to keep growing while maintaining a good balance.
—This interview by Sayako Oki first appeared on Billboard Japan
What exactly was Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Vultures Listening Experience” at Milan’s Mediolanum Forum on Thursday (Feb. 22) night? Some sort of pagan mass where the audience celebrated his myth? A branch of the Milano Fashion Week where the important thing was just to be there? Or maybe a huge party where the fans themselves became the protagonists? Well, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s performance was all that and more.
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Some people expected something particularly crazy to happen, like a Vultures 2 spoiler or a short speech. But during the hour-long show, none of this happened.
Before the eyes of the audience was a completely empty parterre overlooked by only a floating cylindrical LED wall, the only illuminated part of the show. All around there was only smoke and, literally, nothing. An almost dystopian scenario, too minimal to be defined as apocalyptic, in which only silence dominated – that of the music (there was no selection accompanying the beginning of the show) and that of the audience waiting for Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign who, once they arrived, positioned themselves at the center of the scene with their faces completely covered, without even a microphone in hand, moving to the rhythm of their latest album and approaching the crowd.
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With them there was a platoon of top-notch guests, the same ones from Vultures 1. Among these, Quavo, Playboi Carti, Freddie Gibbs, Rich the Kid and Jaden Smith.
Some people might have been taken aback by all this – as it was a gathering to listen to an album exactly as they could have done in their car or bedroom, with the difference of watching Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign and some of the spearheads of the U.S. rap scene vibe on their own songs without rapping. But true Kanye West fans know this: the only thing you can expect from him is the unexpected, and for many of them the thing that really mattered was just being there, regardless of the content of the show.
The public’s attention was entirely focused on Kanye – on his movements, on his progressive approach to them and then disappearing into the darkness like something elusive, very close and very distant at the same time.
At exactly 10:30 p.m. Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign disappeared (not before having gathered everyone for the encore with “Carnival”), and West’s wife Bianca Censori left the bleachers, like the influencers and the fashion addicts of the Fashion Week.
Yet the show was not over — it entered its heart, in a way. There remained the kids who got excited like never before about Kanye’s older hit songs: “Runaway,” the 2010 single with Pusha-T, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and many others.
The audience became the true protagonist for the rest of the listening party – In front of an empty venue, illuminated only by the lights of cell phones. Will this be a new frontier of live performances? Or will it be a unique thing that only Kanye could do in Italy? The show will be replicated tomorrow in Bologna and on Sunday in Paris.
This article originally appeared on Billboard Italy.
It was already understood that the songs of Sanremo 2024 were a success in streaming — in Italy and globally. In the days following its release, the “Sanremo 2024” Spotify playlist was the most listened-to playlist in the world, and seven of the top 10 tracks on the platform’s Debut Global chart came from the song contest.
Now that Billboard has updated its Global 200 and the Global Excl. US charts, the picture is even more complete. In the charts dated Feb. 24, four and seven songs from Sanremo 2024 appear, respectively.
The Global 200 includes Mahmood’s “Tuta Gold” (No. 52), Geolier’s “I p’ me, tu p’ te” (No. 91), Annalisa’s “Sinceramente” (No. 95) and winner Angelina Mango’s “La Noia” (No. 110).
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In the Global Excl. US chart, these same songs appear higher up (at Nos. 19, 33, 36 and 51, respectively), followed by three other songs of Sanremo 2024: Ghali’s “Casa Mia” (No. 87), Irama’s “Tu No” (No. 100) and The Kolors’ “Un ragazzo una ragazza” (No. 179).
Data provided by Luminate allows a more analytical look. The company traced the global streaming trends (audio and video) of Sanremo songs during the festival in the 50 most relevant markets worldwide (Italy and the United States included).
From Feb. 7-10 (the festival started Feb. 6 and crowned a winner Feb. 10), the first three positions were constantly dominated — in various orders — by Geolier, Mahmood and Annalisa. Only on Feb. 11 does winner Angelina Mango make her appearance.
Below are the top three positions day by day.
Feb. 7: “I p’ me, tu p’ te” by Geolier (3.4 million global audio and video streams), “Sinceramente” by Annalisa (3 million), “Tuta Gold” by Mahmood (2.6 million)
Feb. 8: “I p’ me, tu p’ te” by Geolier (3.4 million), “Tuta Gold” by Mahmood (3.2 million), “Sinceramente” by Annalisa (2.9 million)
Feb. 9: “Tuta Gold” by Mahmood (3.7 million), “I p’ me, tu p’ te” by Geolier (3.5 million), “Sinceramente” by Annalisa (3.1 million)
Feb. 10: “I p’ me, tu p’ te” by Geolier (3.85 million), “Tuta Gold” by Mahmood (3.78 million), “Sinceramente” by Annalisa (3.3 million)
Feb. 11: “Tuta Gold” by Mahmood (4.1 million), “I p’ me, tu p’ te” by Geolier (4.07 million), “La Noia” by Angelina Mango (3.9 million). These are also the highest figures on a daily basis
Since Billboard launched the two global charts in 2020, the most successful songs of Sanremo have regularly appeared. It has been a constant phenomenon since the 2021 edition, the first in which the Global 200 and Global Excl. US charts were active.
Last year, Lazza’s “Cenere” (No. 68), winner Marco Mengoni’s “Due Vite” (No. 80) and Mr.Rain’s “Supereroi” (No. 97) entered the Global 200. In the Global Excl. US, these songs appeared at Nos. 29, 32 and 42, followed by Madame’s “Il Bene nel Male” (No. 104) and Tananai’s “Tango” (No. 195).
In 2022, “Brividi” by Mahmood and Blanco (who won that edition) came close to the top 10, in 15th position. It was followed at a distance by Irama’s “Ovunque Sarai” (No. 118) and La Rappresentante di Lista’s “Ciao Ciao” (No. 158). On the Global Excl. US chart, those songs reached Nos. 7, 56, and 112, followed by Sangiovanni’s “Farfalle” (n. 112), Dargen D’Amico’s “Dove Si Balla” (n. 126) and Rkomi’s “Insuperabile” (n. 149).
Creepy Nuts’ new song “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” is blasting its way up the charts — not only in Japan, but on a global scale.
Creepy Nuts is a hip-hop unit consisting of R-shitei (R-rated), the first MC in J-rap history to win the country’s top MC battle competition UMB Grand Championship three times consecutively, and DJ Matsunaga, who won the world’s largest DJ competition DMC World DJ Championships in 2019 and performed at the closing ceremony of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. While they both have such impressive titles under their belts, both members of Creepy Nuts are known in their home country for their laid-back personalities and talk skills, making them popular staples in TV variety shows. They have also been regular hosts on the historic All Night Nippon radio program for five years, and many people probably recognize them as radio stars as well.
Music-wise, their mini-album To Us Former Prodigies, released August 2020, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. Also, their track “Nobishiro” from the album Case became their first song to surpass 100 million streams (as of Dec. 1, 2022), and “Daten” — the opener for the anime Yofukashi no uta, which is based on the duo’s song of the same title — released in 2022, reached No. 35 on the Japan Hot 100, the highest position for them at the time. On their tour promoting the album Ensemble Play that includes this track, they sold out the Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo, the largest capacity venue in their career up to that point.
Then, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” shot to No. 5 on the Japan Hot 100 on the chart dated Jan. 24, the week after it debuted No. 27, which was already higher than the duo’s record for “Daten.” The following week, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” became Creepy Nuts’ first-ever No. 1 hit.
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This track is actually gaining more traction outside of Japan. Featured as the opener for the anime series MASHLE Season 2, the comical dance by the protagonist Mash set to the refrain of the song’s title attracted attention on TikTok. The song was downloaded and streamed on a global scale before it reached Japanese audiences. As a result, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” hit No. 8 on the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart (Jan. 18), which ranks “songs from Japan” being listened to in more than 200 countries and regions around the world outside of the country. In its second week on the tally, the viral hit hopped over the top seven songs from the week before to take the top spot. Total points and streams earned by “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” that week broke the chart’s all-time high, and the following week it quickly rewrote its own record to hold at No. 1 for the second week in a row (Feb. 1). The track is still at No. 1 for the fifth week on the chart dated Feb. 22.
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Looking closer at the rankings for each country calculated from the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart’s data, we can see that “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” has accomplished an unprecedented feat, dominating seven of the nine countries currently included in the tally: Thailand, Singapore, France, the U.K., South Africa, the U.S. and Brazil. In terms of points gained, the song’s popularity in the U.S. is exceptionally high, followed by France.
The duo’s breakthrough didn’t stop there. The following week, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” debuted at No. 77 on Billboard’s Global 200 chart (Jan. 27) that ranks streaming and downloads on major digital platforms in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. It surpassed even YOASOBI’s “Idol” and King Gnu’s “SPECIALZ” — two recent J-pop hits with an established global following — to become the highest-ranking song on that week’s list by Japanese artists. It also bowed at No. 48 on the Global Excl. US tally that week. “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” continued to ascend, and is currently at No. 12 on the former and No. 2 on the latter (Feb. 24) — again the highest position for Japanese artists on those weeks, indicating that the growing support in the Japanese market played a significant role in the breakthrough on both global charts.
Why did “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” suddenly attract so much attention on a global scale? The reason is simple: the synergistic effect of TikTok, dance, and animation. Encouraging users to participate in TikTok dance challenges is now a promotional standard, but that alone isn’t enough. Adding the element of a tie-in with an anime series, especially one being distributed worldwide on Netflix and other global platforms, to the synergy brings a song to the forefront of public attention.
Of the top 20 songs on the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart, about half are anime tie-ins most weeks, indicating that being attached to a major anime title is enough to draw worldwide attention to new J-pop songs. Anime songs are particularly popular in France; about 14 songs out of the top 20 and over 65% of the total data collected are tracks linked to anime titles. Other such anime tie-ins that have made the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan top 3 include YOASOBI’s “Idol” (Oshi no Ko opener), Tatsuya Kitani’s “Where Our Blue Is” (Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 opener), and King Gnu’s “SPECIALZ” (Jujutsu Kaisen Shibuya Incident story arc opener), all of which became hits in Japan and began climbing the charts worldwide at about the same time, then suddenly spread explosively on a global scale. This trend of simultaneous sharing is likely to become more prominent in the future, and not only with anime tie-ins.
But the reason “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” became such an breakout hit can be attributed to the fact that in addition to its link to a popular anime title, it became a TikTok favorite where non-anime fans could share the song, combined with the element of dance, which has strong distribution potential. Plus, the original manga that the anime was based on was serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, released worldwide in multiple languages via the official MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA app, so the already established global fan base for the original manga gave “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” an advantage.
The track also adopts the Jersey club sound, a global trend originating in the U.S. used in music by other recent breakout acts such as NewJeans (“Super Shy” etc.) and LE SSERAFIM (“Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife”), and this is probably another reason why it caught the attention of listeners around the world, centering around the U.S.
The fact that the part used for the TikTok dance challenge was the refrain of the simple and catchy title may also have contributed to the song’s widespread popularity. The aforementioned NewJeans’ “Super Shy” and LE SSERAFIM’s “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” were also popular dance challenges on TikTok, and the viral snippets featured short rhymes in the lyrics or refrains of the same word, not limited to the songs’ hooks. While equipped with this type of TikTok-friendly refrain, the lyrics of “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” as a whole overlap sympathy with the position of MASHLE’s main character Mash with the rapper’s own braggadocio in a clever way. It’s brilliant as an anime theme song and a hip-hop single, a high-quality number that can satisfy both fans of the original work and fans of hip-hop.
After making an unexpected, yet understandable impact on a global scale with their first release of 2024, Creepy Nuts followed up with another Jersey club-infused track called “Nidone” (“Back to Sleep”) on Jan. 27, which is being featured as the theme song for the time-traveling drama series Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru! (which loosely translates to “That’s so Inappropriate”). As they begin to expand their reach beyond their home country, we can look forward to more “Nobishiro” (“Room for Growth”) from the duo.
—This article by Maiko Murata first appeared on Billboard Japan
Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” holds atop the Billboard Japan Hot 100 on the chart dated Feb. 21, extending its record to four consecutive weeks at No. 1.
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The MASHLE Season 2 opener continues to rule downloads and streaming, with the former increasing by 21.4% from last week to 19,980 units and the latter by 8.4% to 21,812,337 streams. The hip-hop banger also climbed 13-7 for radio airplay and jumped 32-9 for karaoke. The song’s momentum continues to grow as it draws increasing attention, with overall points gaining 11.7% from the week before.
Snow Man’s “LOVE TRIGGER” debuts at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100 after launching with over a million CDs. The boy band’s 10th single called “LOVE TRIGGER / We’ll go together” dropped on Valentine’s Day and sold 1,224,902 copies in its first week, a record for the nine-member group. The CD is also the first by the group to launch with more than a million copies. The two tracks are the theme songs for drama series featuring members Hikaru Iwamoto and Shota Watanabe, respectively in their first starring roles. The single is off to a good start, coming in at No. 3 for radio and No. 7 for video views.
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Hikaru Utada’s “A Flower of No Color” debuts at No. 4. The theme song for Fuji TV’s latest “getsu-ku” (Monday nights at 9:00) drama series is the J-pop superstar’s first new release after celebrating the 25th anniversary of her debut. The song was unveiled during the drama’s premiere, then digitally released on Feb. 12. It launched at No. 2 for downloads with 11,704 units, No. 1 for radio, and No. 10 for video views. It’s still at No. 40 for streaming with 2,793,660 weekly streams, but the track is expected to gain in this metric as well in the coming weeks.
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Omoinotake snags its first top 10 hit with “IKUOKU KONEN,” the theme song for the TBS Tuesday drama Eye Love You. The track moves 13-8 this week, coming in at No. 10 for downloads with 4,441 units, No. 7 for streaming with 6,058,030 streams, No. 11 for radio, and No. 25 for video, collecting points in a balanced way. The piano trio performed this love song on YouTube’s “THE FIRST TAKE” and the video has racked up 1.36 million views in four days after dropping Feb. 16.
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WOLF HOWL HARMONY from EXILE TRIBE’s “Frozen Butterfly” debuts at No. 9. The four-member group’s second single hits No. 2 for physical sales with 40,160 CDs sold in its first week, No. 4 for radio and No. 39 for downloads.
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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 Feb. 12 to 18, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English Twitter account.
Singer-songwriters Leo Ieiri and Miliyah Kato graced the stage for a double-headlining show at Tokyo City Hall for Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 2 concert on Feb. 8. The two J-pop stars collaborated with the Tokyo Philharmonic Billboard Classics Orchestra, led by conductor Yukari Saito, for a one-night-only performance featuring special renditions of familiar hits and uplifting messages with an underlying theme of inspiring and empowering women.
First up was Ieiri, who appeared onstage dressed in an elegant beige top with puffy translucent sleeves and matching pants, following the members of the orchestra at the start of the show. As the 29-year-old singer bowed deeply and greeted the audience, the piano sounded and the concert kicked off with “Zutto, Futari De” (Always, Together). The combination of Ieiri’s clear vocals and the orchestra’s solid performance instantly filled all corners of the venue with a luscious soundscape. The next song, “Kimi Ga Kureta Natsu” (The Summer You Gave Me), also sounded more dramatic than usual thanks to the orchestral arrangement. It was clear from the beginning of the show that everyone in attendance was in for a special evening that they couldn’t miss for a moment.
The singer addressed the crowd in the middle of her set and shared some thoughts on gender, inclusivity, and diversity, noting, “These past few years, I’ve been writing and singing songs while being mindful about how to carve out a path as a woman.” She also mused, “Since we live in times of diversity, I think we should expand our sexuality more.” Also, her remark about how “female empowerment can’t be achieved without cooperation from men, so I think it’s actually a theme for all human beings” left an impression, reminding that while the recent move towards gender equality encourages men and women to live under the same conditions, the important thing to remember is to respect each other’s differences and to help each other.
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Ieiri also performed “to U” by Bank Band with Salyu in the second half of the set, launching into the song a cappella and gradually adding minimal sounds of piano and harp in the first half, then building up the second half with a grand string arrangement. Ieiri’s voice and the orchestra’s performance showered the venue with a lush sound, creating an immersive environment that drew the crowd into the world of the song. During “Taiyo No Megami” (Goddess of The Sun), she turned her body left and right as she sang, visually accentuating the fact that she was singing for each and every person in the audience. Ieiri closed her set with the uplifting “Sora To Ao” (Sky And Blue), spinning around during the interlude while the crowd clapped along to the beat, leaving fans feeling euphoric by the end of her hit-filled stage.
After a short break, Miliyah Kato appeared on stage decked in a flowing black tiered tulle dress for the second half of the concert. After opening her set with “Respect Me,” the 35-year-old songstress addressed the crowd, saying, “I’m sure there will be many moments when (the music) will pass through your skin and cells and make your heart tremble. It’ll be an evening where something will reach you through this air. Please enjoy it to the end,” then went on to perform “Goodbye Darling,” “With U,” and other familiar hits in succession. Kato’s sultry vocals and the orchestral performance combined resulted in a more dynamic sound than the original versions of her recordings. Like the singer said, it felt like we were taking in the gorgeous sound through our skin and it was settling deep into the cells of our bodies.
Midway into her set, she opened up about her stance as a woman in the music industry. “I’ve always been very aware that I’ve lived my life as a woman. I love it, I enjoy it, and sometimes I’m sad about it,” she said. “I struggle with it every day, but music is what helps me during those times. Female artists were the reason I started music in the first place.” She then covered Hikaru Utada’s “First Love” as a tribute to one of the female artists who inspired her. She drew in the audience with her majestic performance, singing the longing ballad beautifully with both hands clutching the microphone against the backdrop of an orchestra. Each lyric seemed to linger in the air, showering over the audience in a luxurious blend of voice and sound.
Kato then launched into her iconic hit from 2009, “Aitai” (I Miss You). The evergreen, poignant love song is definitely heartbreaking yet sonically comforting, making you wish it never ends. Kato closed the evening with “JOYRIDE,” a song half in English and half in Japanese that she wrote with her hometown in mind. Kato’s vocals, the orchestra’s performance and the audience clapping along to the elevating single ended the show on a joyous note.
The aim of Billboard Japan’s Women In Music concerts is to play a part in encouraging women’s empowerment, and the Vol. 2 show delivered energy in various forms including the mesmerizing vocals by the two songstresses, the performances by the orchestra, the words spoken by the artists, and the sense of unity in the venue. People in the audience enjoyed the concert in different ways, with some rocking back and forth to the music while others listening intently, and many probably were inspired by what the artists had to say.
The synergetic effect of J-pop and orchestral music was more than expected, and was a good reminder that there are no barriers between musical genres. The people who gathered at the venue that day were probably diverse in terms of gender, age, and the music they like. But the fact that they were united by listening to the same music at the same place on this day will surely be an unforgettable memory for all.
—This article by Misaki Ito first appeared on Billboard Japan
