Hot 100
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” secured a third consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart dated Jan. 25, 2025, and Mars is ready to party. “THANK YOU ALL!” he wrote alongside a cheers emoji and a screenshot of this week’s top 10 on the chart. “I’m headed to the studio […]
Imogen Heap has been releasing music for nearly three decades, winning two Grammy Awards and influencing a generation of music stars. As of this week, she’s officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, thanks to a streaming revival for her 2005 song “Headlock.”
The song, which appears on Heap’s 2005 sophomore LP, Speak for Yourself, debuts at No. 100 on the Hot 100 (dated Jan. 25) almost entirely from its streaming sum: 5.9 million official U.S. streams (up 11%) in the Jan. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also holds at its No. 10 high on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.
The song has been generating renewed interest in recent weeks thanks to a viral social media trend involving the psychological horror thriller video game Mouthwashing. Fans use the song to soundtrack various edited compilations of gameplay footage. The track has been particularly active on TikTok, where it has soundtracked over 135,000 clips on the platform to date.
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Speak for Yourself became Heap’s breakthrough album. The set also includes “Hide and Seek,” which gained traction at the time via its sync in the climactic scene in the second-season finale of The O.C., in which Marissa Cooper shoots Trey Atwood. The scene and the song were later parodied in a 2007 Saturday Night Live digital short by the Lonely Island, helping broaden its reach and turning the song into a meme. The cut was later used in other dramatic scenes in Degrassi: The Next Generation and Normal People. The song’s familiar bridge (“mmm, whatcha say”) culminated in a prominent sample – as the main hook – in Jason Derulo’s 2009 hit “Whatcha Say,” which spent a week at No. 1 on the Hot 100; Heap is credited as a co-writer on Derulo’s song.
Though “Headlock” is now Heap’s first charting Hot 100 hit as a recording artist, the U.K. native has earned one additional entry on the survey as both a co-writer and co-producer: Taylor Swift’s “Clean (Taylor’s Version),” from her 1989 (Taylor’s Version), reached No. 30 in November 2023. Heap also co-wrote and co-produced the original “Clean,” from Swift’s 1989 in 2014, but that version didn’t hit the Hot 100.
Speak for Yourself debuted at No. 182 on the Billboard 200 in November 2005. It climbed to No. 145 the following February, fueled in part by the popularity of “Hide and Seek.” The album’s influence expanded to its track “Just for Now.” The song was sampled on A$AP Rocky’s “I Smoked Away My Brain (I’m Gods x Demons Mashup),” featuring Heap and Clams Casino, in 2018. The collab hit No. 35 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Heap has charted two additional albums on the Billboard 200 in her career: Ellipse – which soared to No. 5 in 2009 – and Sparks (No. 21; 2014). Her instrumental cast recording The Music of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child: Parts One and Two reached No. 2 on the Classical Albums chart in 2018.
“Headlock” isn’t Heap’s only song currently charting on Billboard’s lists: She also appears as half of electronic duo Frou Frou (with Guy Sigsworth) on the pair’s “A New Kind of Love,” which ranks at No. 35 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, a week after reaching No. 30.
“For ‘A Bar Song’ to still be doing what it’s doing is insane,” an awestruck Shaboozey told Billboard in November about his breakout song’s then-16-week-long run atop the Billboard Hot 100. “[It’s] crazy how much the song carried on its own. We don’t even do anything and it’s like, ‘Hey, you’re aiming for a 17th week now!’ ”
Of course, monthslong No. 1 smashes don’t just happen on their own — but “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which has achieved 19 weeks at No. 1, wasn’t the only country single to reach the peak this year. Between Post Malone’s Morgan Wallen-assisted “I Had Some Help,” Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” and Wallen’s own “Love Somebody,” country has topped Billboard’s all-genre singles chart more than any other genre this year. Shaboozey’s and Post Malone’s smashes are the only 2024 releases to log more than three weeks atop the chart — a notable feat, considering that the former is a country newcomer and the latter is a pop/hip-hop crossover star.
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“I Had Some Help,” which arrived in April and debuted atop the Hot 100, marked the first major release of Post Malone’s country music foray, which Grammy Award-nominated producer Louis Bell describes as a “natural transition” from the singer-songwriter space of the artist’s 2023 Austin album. “We want each project to flow into the next,” he tells Billboard.
Posty’s pop-country jam started with massive streams and sales, perfectly setting the stage for the arrival of the album F-1 Trillion, which opened in the penthouse of the Billboard 200 (dated Aug. 31) with 250,000 units, according to Luminate. All 18 songs from the album’s standard edition reached the Hot 100, including 15 collaborations with country powerhouses like Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley and Chris Stapleton — a testament to the Nashville goodwill that the Grammy-nominated pop star had accrued during his formal entry into the country space.
Historically, country music has been vigilant about newcomers immersing themselves in the genre’s roots, and Post got his boots dirty to prove his bona fides. He and Bell, who co-produced every track on F-1 Trillion, began working on it in November 2023 in Nashville right before the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards — foreshadowing the four nods that “I Had Some Help” would earn at the awards show the following year.
The two collaborators worked on the first few songs of the F-1 Trillion sessions with country superstar Luke Combs. “Post started saying that it [made] sense to collaborate on a lot of these records because he wanted to show Nashville how much he loves country and shine a light on the people who are in the city that inspired him,” Bell explains. “That was always the vision from the top down.” By inviting Nashville heavyweights such as Tim McGraw to collaborate in person, Post made sure that “word spread pretty quickly of how legitimate [he] was and how much he knew about the genre.”
To fully transition into the new style, he and Bell also implemented a new approach to their creative process: mulling over stories and concepts at the onset of a session instead of building out beats and melodies they had already been tinkering with.
The month before “I Had Some Help,” Post covered Hank Williams at Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium, and in the months following the song’s release, he performed his first songwriter’s round at the Bluebird Cafe, played a set of classic country covers at Stagecoach 2024, made his Grand Ole Opry debut and brought out Blake Shelton as a surprise guest at his first-ever stadium show.
While Posty had to overcome his pop profile in his quest for crossover success, Shaboozey, a newcomer to the mainstream, had to establish who he was. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” served as the fourth single — but was the first to get a radio push — from his third studio album, Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going, which topped the Folk Albums and Independent Albums charts. With no major country collaborators, Shaboozey’s project didn’t come with the overt approval of the Nashville establishment — but it did arrive on the back of two appearances on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter in March, helping to spur eye-popping early consumption for “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” now nominated three times over at the 2025 Grammys ceremony.
“It was a bit of a fast and furious [situation],” says Heather Vassar, EMPIRE senior vp of operations, Nashville. Country radio programmers “were already familiar with Shaboozey’s name, but we had a very global, multiformat approach. When we decided to launch at country radio, we made sure they understood him and the whole project. The more authentic conversations we had, the more receptive they’ve become, and they’ve been incredible.”
Harnessing the power of his interpolation of J-Kwon’s 2004 Hot 100 No. 2 hip-hop smash, “Tipsy,” Shaboozey was able to expand the reach of “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and tap into more diverse segments of country’s listenership. The track’s whistling instrumentation kept it squarely in the country genre, while its rap-sung flow and Birkin name-check kept it accessible for hip-hop and top 40 audiences — and those who had been newly corralled into the post-Cowboy Carter country wave. Shaboozey also made his Nashville rounds, playing The Nashville East and Spotify House at CMA Fest.
“The beauty of our country ecosystem — outside of select playlists — is that genre lines have been less of a concern,” Spotify country editor Claire Heinichen says. “Pop-country was the dominant subgenre for most of the 2010s. We knew the audience would really resonate with [these] songs. The data spoke for itself.”
It will be difficult for country songs to replicate the Hot 100 dominance of “I Had Some Help” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” without the boost of 2024’s larger paradigm shift. Yet Posty’s emphasis on adhering to country traditionalism and Shaboozey’s plays to more underserved country music listeners provide equally strong blueprints for future crossover hits.
This story appears in the Dec. 14, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Prior to 2024, Sabrina Carpenter had spent most of her career trying to score a crossover pop hit. Following her years as a Disney Channel star and recording artist on the Disney-owned Hollywood Records in the 2010s, she transitioned from younger-skewing tunes to pop that targeted adult listeners; her 2022 album, Emails I Can’t Send, didn’t produce any hits upon its release, but the album’s “Nonsense” belatedly turned into a viral smash, and “Feather,” from its deluxe edition, became Carpenter’s first top 40 entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 21.
Those singles hinted at a breakthrough moment for Carpenter — and in 2024, the floodgates opened. She earned her first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her sixth album, Short n’ Sweet; headlined her first arena shows; and earned her first Grammy nominations, including in album, record and song of the year and best new artist. Yet the songs that became her sought-after smashes weren’t just her first Hot 100 top 10s — they remained in the upper tier for long enough to make chart history.
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From the Hot 100 charts dated Sept. 7 through Oct. 26, Carpenter boasted three songs — “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste” — in the top 10, making her the first artist this decade to score a run of as many as eight weeks with at least three simultaneous top 10s on the chart. Although a few artists, including 50 Cent and Drake, have juggled three songs in the top 10 for more than eight weeks, only Carpenter, The Beatles and Justin Bieber have done so as solo-billed acts. And Carpenter now owns the longest such streak among women, surpassing Cardi B, who had three concurrent top 10s for four weeks in 2018.
Alex Tear, vp of music programming at SiriusXM and Pandora, says that, between a significant longtime fan base and the momentum leading up to 2024, Carpenter was always primed for a major year. “The audience appetite is amazing,” he says. “She really came into focus with the masses, but she had her Disney audience. When she was on Hollywood Records 10 years ago, she was grinding, she had a loyal following, she had a great presence and she was strong onstage.”
While songs like “Nonsense” and “Feather” didn’t become inescapable, both turned into slow-growing hits that introduced Carpenter’s melodic instincts and tongue-in-cheek wordplay to radio listeners and swelling audiences. Before “Espresso” made its live debut at Coachella, for instance, fans flocked to see how Carpenter was going to end “Nonsense” during her set, since she had been flooding TikTok feeds with her customized, often R-rated outros in concert.
“Her musicality and personality blow me away every time that we work together,” Amy Allen, who co-wrote every song on Short n’ Sweet (and is now nominated for the songwriter of the year, non-classical Grammy), told Billboard in August. Island Records vp of A&R Jackie Winkler told Billboard earlier this year, “At the core, the music Sabrina makes is perfectly reflective of who she is as a person, and all the quirks and character are what give her such a strong musical identity.”
That identity was on full display with “Espresso,” which zoomed into the top 10 upon its April release and peaked at No. 3, and continued with “Please Please Please,” which became Carpenter’s first Hot 100 chart-topper in June. When Short n’ Sweet arrived in August, opener “Taste” was positioned as an immediate standout (with a music video co-starring Jenna Ortega) and has climbed to No. 2.
Tear notes that the timing of those releases helped let each one breathe as a focus track and gave listeners time to latch onto their hooks before Carpenter presented another mainstream offering. And as the songs lingered in the top 10 for weeks, their respective sounds — with “Espresso” as her summer-ready synth-pop confection, “Please Please Please” her glittery alt-country riff and “Taste” her guitar-heavy ’80s pop anthem — were different enough to help her avoid oversaturation on streaming playlists and in radio blocks.
“Espresso” and “Please Please Please” have both topped the Pop Airplay chart, while “Taste” is still climbing, peaking at No. 3 so far. “Pop channels can kill a song by playing it over and over again,” Tear says. “I really like the fact that we have multiple choices that are very popular with our audience, that we can alternate with, therefore diminishing burn [and] giving a better variety of Sabrina.”
The trio of singles settled into the top 10 of the Hot 100 just as Carpenter kicked off her Short n’ Sweet tour in September, performing all three hits to arena audiences and reposting fan videos from the shows. And multiple hits were highlighted when the Grammy nominations were announced Nov. 8: “Espresso” scored a record of the year nod while “Please Please Please” will compete for song of the year.
The 2025 Grammys ceremony will showcase Carpenter’s immense 2024, but don’t expect her run of hits to dry up as the calendar flips. As the Short n’ Sweet tour is set to continue in Europe in March, “Bed Chem,” a sensual rhythmic pop track from the album, may also reach a new Hot 100 peak, as the song has climbed to No. 30 on the chart.
“I don’t know how many albums come out where you can go, ‘OK, this is five or six [hits] deep,’ ” Tear says. “It’s not going anywhere.”
This story appears in the Dec. 14, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Mustard is celebrating a major Billboard Hot 100 accomplishment. Seven of the tracks off Kendrick Lamar’s surprise album GNX hit the top 10 of the all-genre songs chart this week, two of which were produced by Mustard — “TV Off” and “Hey Now” featuring Dody6, which hit No. 2 and 5, respectively. The producer took […]
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” notched a record-tying 19th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, claiming the same amount of weeks at the summit as Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus), which previously held the longest reign in the chart’s 66-year history. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and […]
When it comes to pop music track records, Cirkut’s illustrious résumé in the genre speaks for itself.
As a sought after electro-pop producer and songwriter, the 38-year-old artist born Henry Walter has spent the last two decades churning out hits for artists like The Weeknd (“Starboy, “Die For You”), Rihanna (“Where Have You Been”), Katy Perry (“Roar,” “Dark Horse”), Miley Cyrus (“Wrecking Ball”), Charli XCX (“360”) and dozens of others. But as he explains to Billboard, he goes out of his way to not get too comfortable with his success.
“I never want to rest on my past accomplishments, and that vibe of ‘Oh, do you know all my work? Do you know all my hits?’” he explains. “That doesn’t mean anything to me. Whether I’m working with the biggest star in the world or the newest artist, you have to prove yourself over and over again.”
By his own definition, Cirkut has done just that: Over the last month, the producer has helped launch two artists into the upper echelons of the Billboard Hot 100. His work with veteran hitmaker Lady Gaga on her dark pop single “Disease” sent the song to a No. 27 debut on the chart. Meanwhile K-pop sensation ROSÉ earned her highest-charting solo single with “APT.,” featuring Bruno Mars, arriving at No. 8, thanks in no small part to Cirkut’s catchy production. He earned writing credits on both tracks as well.
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The producer attributes the successes of both Gaga and ROSÉ to their singular ideas of what they want in their music — a trait he looks for in all the artists he works with. “When an artist doesn’t really know what they want to say, or is like, ‘I don’t know, just make me a song,’ that doesn’t interest me,” he says. “The best artists always have some kind of vision, whether it’s how they see the visuals coming together, how they want the guitar to sound, or how hard the kick drums hit.”
Below, Cirkut breaks down the writing processes for both “Disease” and “APT.,” why Lady Gaga stands out in a crowded field of pop stars, how an ad-libbed drinking game inspired ROSÉ’s hit song, and what he envisions for the future of pop music.
Let’s go all the way back to the beginning — when and how did you first get involved with Gaga and her team for this project?
It happened sometime last year — I had been working with [“Disease” co-writer/co-producer] Andrew Watt for a while. We [had] worked on a few different things together, and one day he called me and said, “What do you think about working with Gaga?” He said that we would be a great fit to do this project together. So, I met Gaga for the first time in the studio, and it was amazing. I was really excited to work with her, we were off to the races as soon as we met.
What immediately appealed to you about the prospect of working with Gaga?
I’ve been a fan over the years, she is just a legendary artist. There’s only one Gaga, and she has influenced so many of the artists who are out now. I think her music paved the way for so many people. Selfishly, I did want to see what I could accomplish with her. Just the thought of wondering what a Gaga record would sound like if I produced it was really exciting from the get-go.
When you look back on the inception of “Disease,” was there a stated goal with that song? What were you aiming to accomplish?
It was just one song in a collection that we worked on together, but fairly early in the process, we all loved it and knew that it would be some kind of cornerstone of this body of work. “Disease” [is] a daring record to me. It’s very aggressive. I wouldn’t say it’s a safe, “nice” song to ease you into things. I was spending some time with my mom the other day and she asked what I’d been working on — I threw on the music video for “Disease,” and she was just stunned and saying “oh my God” a lot. It’s a very in-your-face kind of record.
I do all kinds of music, but I love aggressive electronic music. When Watt and I get together, something just kind of happens — with his rock background, we end up bringing in a lot of heavy guitars, and I wanted to make it this cool, industrial synth dance record. When you listen to the final result, I’m pretty happy with how we melded those two things.
What do you remember from the studio sessions with Gaga here — were there any particular moments where it felt like things really locked in for you?
We all huddled up at the beginning to see if we had any common ground when it came to taste in music and the places we wanted to go with the sound. She was very instrumental in leading that discussion. We all wanted to make something that still felt like it was decidedly Gaga, but always asking the question of “What does that sound like today?” That’s always a challenge, especially with artists who have established themselves so firmly in pop culture, to figure out that balance. Do you do something so different that you move away from the things that you are known for? But if you just do the same thing that you’ve been known for, does that end up feeling like a “more-of-the-same” type situation? I wanted to make sure that we brought the essence of Gaga into this song and all of the things that are so great about her — the drama, the theatrics, that in-your-face sound — but still putting a fresh spin on it. That said, you also cannot overthink things too much on something like this. Ultimately, you just have to get in there and have fun.
We definitely had a synergy in the studio. In the beginning, it is kind of a trial run [with a new collaborator]. It felt a little bit like she was feeling me out, trying to figure out where I was coming from when it came to production. But then there was kind of a breakthrough moment — I had been working through something over my headphones, and when I played it out loud, she was just like, “Oh my God, Cirkut, that’s crazy.” And as soon as that happened it was like, “Great, I got through to her.” It’s not like she was difficult to impress, but I wanted us to be on the same page. I treat every project I work on like that — you have to approach it from the mind of being a student always, rather than a know-it-all. I’m always learning from new people.
You’ve worked on massive hits from artists like The Weeknd, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Kesha and Charli XCX. As someone who has been in the room with so many of these major pop stars, how does Gaga stand out amongst that pack?
I think something all the great artists that I’ve worked with have in common is that they all have a vision. Whether it’s fully realized or not doesn’t matter — there is always intention and direction behind the art that they’re making. Even if that’s not fully fleshed out, I find that to be really important. There is always an opinion.
Gaga is very much like that — she is very interested in the sonics of everything. She would say, “Maybe try a different drum here,” or she would hop on the synths and start playing things. She’s a musician and a visionary, and she knew all about the attack, decay, sustain and release settings on a synth. She is all about the details, which definitely sets her apart from a lot of artists. Also, the passion that she puts into her work is amazing. She really lives and breathes and eats and sweats and bleeds this music.
“Disease” is not the only track of yours currently on the Hot 100 — ROSÉ’s “APT.,” featuring Bruno Mars debuted at No. 8 debut earlier this month. Tell me a little bit about how you got involved on that song, and what ROSÉ and Bruno were like to work with?
I don’t try to say, “Oh, I knew this would be a hit,” because I simply do not have that kind of foresight. But I thought this one was a really great, fun, catchy song, and I really loved working with Rosie. I was so excited when she had played the song for Bruno and I heard that he was getting involved, because I genuinely feel like he took it to another level.
We worked together probably three days in a row in the studio, and I think [“APT.”] was one of the last ideas we started. It was the end of the night, we had just done a song or two, and we were like, “Might be time to go home.” And Rosie was sitting there and just sort of chanting to herself, “apateu, apateu.” I think it was [co-writer] Theron [Thomas] who stopped her and asked what it was. She said, “It’s just a Korean thing, it’s basically a drinking game.” All of us were immediately like, “Why is that not a song?” We took that and put together a very quick hook. It was kind of random — I love it when stuff like that happens! It’s not always planned. It’s not always, “We’re going to get in the studio and make a mega hit featuring Bruno Mars.” Sometimes it’s a spontaneous session based on a drinking game. Sometimes somebody is whispering something in the corner, and it becomes this incredible hook.
As someone who has been as vital as you are in creating these massive pop moments throughout your career, how do you view the direction pop music is headed today? What are you seeing in the pop space right now that feels like something that will continue on into the future?
More than ever, almost anything goes. Nowadays, because there’s so much music out there, listeners are so discerning. They like what they like, and it is up to us — creators, producers, songwriters, artists — to show people fresh, new things that they haven’t heard 1,000 times already. Sure, there are trends that go in and out of style, but sometimes, it can be about just changing one thing, and all of a sudden you’ve got a fresh new sound.
Honestly, I try not to think about all of this too much because it can be a little overwhelming. The “next sound” could literally be anything. I really try to just create and not think about the future because that can ultimately remove the spontaneity of it. Messing around and stumbling upon something you love is kind of the random magic that happens. In the age of [artificial intelligence], I think that’s a tool that is here to stay, whether people like it or not, and I do think it could help when it comes to creativity in the studio. But, at the end of the day, it’s the human element of production and songwriting that succeeds. People care about authenticity, they want something that’s real, and listeners are not stupid.
A version of this story appears in the Nov. 16, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Someone pour Shaboozey up a double shot of whiskey, because he’s continuing to dominate the charts with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” seven months after its release. The smash hit is at No. 1 for a 17th total week atop the Billboard Hot 100. Over the chart’s 66-year history, the song is now the longest-leading No. 1 […]
By the time surging newcomer Zach Top released his debut country album, Cold Beer & Country Music, in April, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter was already seeing a groundswell of support from fans and his fellow artists. With his unabashed devotion to traditional country sounds on songs like “Bad Luck” and “There’s The Sun,” matched with his unmistakably country drawl, the singer-songwriter from Sunnyside, Wash., has drawn comparisons to such ’90s country luminaries as Alan Jackson, Doug Stone and one of his musical heroes, Keith Whitley.
Top, who is signed with label Leo33 and managed and published by Major Bob Music, has been on tour with reigning CMA entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson since May. He was a guest at Dierks Bentley’s early September headlining show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and most recently teamed with bluegrass luminary Billy Strings to release a trio of collaborations for Apple Music.
As Top’s “Sounds Like the Radio” continues to grow on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, reaching a new No. 16 high on the Nov. 9-dated list, another track from Cold Beer & Country Music has also grown into a chart hit: “I Never Lie.” After the slow grooving, sarcastic song became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in September (it has since reached a No. 68 high), his team pushed “I Never Lie” to country radio. It debuted on Country Airplay in late October, giving Top two songs simultaneously on the ranking — a feat more typically reserved for arena- and stadium-headlining stars in the genre.
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He’s up for new artist of the year at the CMA Awards later this month, and his rising career has led to additional dates to his 2025 Cold Beer & Country Music Tour, which launches Jan. 16 in Nebraska, with openers Jake Worthington and Cole Goodwin.
Billboard caught up with Top to discuss “I Never Lie” reaching new chart heights, as well as his thoughts on his upcoming CMA Award nomination for new artist of the year and who he thinks will take home the entertainer of the year honor.
“I Never Lie” was included on your debut studio album, Cold Beer & Country Music. How did the song come together?
I wrote it with Carson Chamberlain and Tim Nichols. I have one of my more clever rhymes on there, with the “Angel” and “April” rhyme in the first verse [“You still look like an angel/I heard you’re doin’ fine, got promoted back in April”]. We cut it pretty old-school with the band, and I sang and tracked the vocals as they were playing. They never hear the song until the day we record it. I’ll have an acoustic recording of it on my phone, and they hear it once or twice, and that’s it. It’s two or three takes and we play it like we feel it. We might overdub a thing or two or add some fills, but it’s all played live, nothing computerized about it. Carson produced it and [engineer] Matt [Rovey] mixed it up.
What has been your reaction to it connecting with fans on this level?
It may be the countriest song on the record. It sticks out and there’s nothing but steel guitar on there — you haven’t heard a song like that, sonically, in a long time. I think people have had an appetite for my kind of country for a little while, and we’re getting a dose of it. Songs like “Sounds Like the Radio” and “Cold Beer & Country Music,” you would expect those to be hits because they are up-tempo. This song goes in the face of what’s out there right now.
When did you first realize the song was a hit?
We had been playing it in live shows, so people already knew it. Around April 5, we had our album release show, and over the last four months, it has really taken off. Our fans know every word of every song on the album — they are not just waiting to hear one song. It gives me chills every night when we play that first riff [of “I Never Lie”]. They don’t need to hear no words, they know it from that first note.
“I Never Lie” debuted on Country Airplay in late October, giving you two current hits on the Billboard chart, including the top 20 hit “Sounds Like The Radio.” How does that feel?
I’m excited, because you don’t see that a lot with an artist as new as me. I’m proud to have the success so far and not be just a one-hit wonder.
You’ve also gained traction on TikTok with “I Never Lie.” What is your approach to social media?
I don’t get on social media much. There is a girl named Cheyenne in my band who has TikTok and she’ll tell me about videos that have “I Never Lie” or other songs in them. I was never very into social media — it was just a tool to get music out there. Early this year, I turned it all over [to my team]. I don’t have the apps on my phone, and I don’t think I have the logins. It can suck you in, scrolling through, and I think it’s probably healthy for me to stay off it.
You are nominated for new artist of the year at the CMA Awards on Nov. 20. What do you remember about finding out about your nomination?
It’s funny because I got a couple of texts that said, “Congratulations,” and I was like, “It’s not my birthday. What’s going on?” They sent me screenshots and filled me in. There are a bunch of big artists on that list, and I’m proud to be in this group.
Who do you think will win entertainer of the year at the CMA Awards?
I think Lainey [Wilson] would be a good pick. She puts on a hell of a show and is a great entertainer. And [Chris] Stapleton, I saw his show at [Nashville’s] Nissan Stadium, and I had not seen his show before and it’s pretty old-school with the band up there. He sings and captivates people with his voice and music, so he gets my vote, too.
A version of this story appears in the Oct. 26, 2024, issue of Billboard.
By the mid-2000s, Swedish songwriter and producer ILYA — who was then in his late teens — was “grinding, grinding, grinding” without gaining much momentum. It wasn’t until years later, thanks to a fortuitous meeting, that his career finally took off.
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ILYA, now 38, recalls how meeting producer Shellback changed his life, as the latter introduced him to the acclaimed and mysterious Max Martin. Soon after, ILYA scored his first smash hit co-producing and co-writing on Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea’s 2014 collaboration “Problem,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. His working relationship with Martin — and Grande — has continued, most recently on the pop star’s sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Eternal Sunshine.
The album produced two Hot 100 No. 1s: lead single “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” both of which credit ILYA. But those are from far the only hits he’s had a hand in this year; ILYA’s 2024 credits also include Conan Gray, Coldplay and Tate McRae, the latter of whom ILYA helped score her highest Hot 100 debut to date with “It’s ok I’m ok.”
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“It wasn’t that long after [McRae’s 2023 second album] Think Later that we were in the studio again,” says ILYA, who reveals that they ideated her current smash before Think Later even arrived. “It was just an idea that just popped back into our life and we were like, ‘Actually, let’s finish this thing.’ It’s just been continuous since that.”
You’ve worked with Tate before. What is your metric of, “I want to keep this relationship going?”
Nowadays, it’s just good vibes. I don’t want to be stressed at work because I’ve been doing it for such a long time now. So my main thing is just like, can we just have fun in the studio?
When did sessions start after her 2023 album, Think Later?
It was a little continuous because she loves writing and being in the studio. “It’s ok I’m ok” is one of those records where it was like, “Let’s just have fun; let’s make something weird.” I think it shows a brand-new side to her. The more I’ve worked with her, the more I feel like she knows herself as an artist. This one was [started] before Think Later — she knew that it wasn’t right for that moment, but she picked it back up and we really worked to make it into her vision of what she was seeing the song as. That, to me, is really amazing to see.
Tell me more about how the song came together.
The chorus started as a joke. We were in Sweden writing, and when she’s in the studio and so focused, she doesn’t want to eat or drink anything. She’s just like, “I need to finish this song now.” Me being the way I am, I’m always like, “Do you want something to drink? Do you want something to eat?” And she would be like, “It’s OK, I’m OK,” [always] in the same note. And I was just like, “Wait, that’s actually kind of catchy.” And now it’s a song. I like it because it came from her — that’s how she says it.
Do you have a favorite part of this song?
It’s harder for me to listen in that sense, because I’m a part of the song. But I do love when people pinpoint little details that you’ve put there on purpose. I love that.
You have to let go of analyzing. Once the song is out, depending on how people [react] to it, I’m also affected on how I’m listening. If a song comes out and it doesn’t work or it’s not a big thing, then I’m trying to analyze why it wasn’t instead of just enjoying the song. But nowadays I’m a little bit better at that.
Your credits in 2024 include other notable projects such as Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine. With the Grammys approaching, what are your hopes?
I think next year’s Grammys [ceremony on Feb. 2] is going to be insane. I’m hoping we’re going to get nominated, but it’s going to be such a competitive year. It might be the best Grammys in a long time in the sense of who’s going to be nominated and what potential performances there might be. There was so much good music this year.
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.