State Champ Radio Music
Page: 366
Bobby Brown isn’t a fan of Britney Spears‘ rendition of his hit song “My Prerogative.” During a recent appearance on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe, Brown addressed whether he asks to hear an artist’s rendition of a song they want to sample or cover before giving his blessing. “Yes, I gotta hear it,” he […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated April 26, we look at the chances of rap sensation Ken Carson to depose his mentor in raging on the Billboard 200.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Ken Carson, More Chaos (Opium/Interscope): It’s a week without a major charts-proven superstar releasing either a new album, or reissuing an old one – so that opens the door for a newer artist to sneak in and grab their first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That artist next week might end up being rapper Ken Carson, whose visceral rage rap has made him one of the rising stars of his generation since his emergence in the early 2020s.
Carson’s last album, 2023’s A Great Chaos, brought him to the top 10’s doorstep, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard 200. Follow-up More Chaos, released last Friday (Apr. 11), should get him to the region for the first time – helped by a streaming friendly 21-song tracklist, which littered the real-time Apple Music chart and Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA listing upon its release, although a major breakout hit has yet to emerge from the set. It could even contend for the top spot – which could make for some (extremely minor) drama behind the scenes at Opium Records, as labelhead and emerging hip-hop superstar Playboi Carti currently holds pole position with his Music set, in its third week at No. 1.
Trending on Billboard
If Carson can’t get over the top this week, it might not be his last shot at doing so with More Chaos. The album is currently available for pre-order in his website in a variety of physical forms – including in standard-issue CD and vinyl, and in also multiple box sets also featuring an Ed Hardy collab T-shirt. Those physical editions are all scheduled to ship next Monday (Apr. 21) – which means their numbers would count towards the album’s second-week tally, likely giving it a considerable boost, and possibly putting it back in contention for the top spot if the release schedule once again proves light.
Bon Iver, SABLE, fABLE (Jagjaguwar): The only other album likely to make a major Billboard 200 next week comes from longtime indie favorite Bon Iver. The 2012 Grammy winner for best new artist is back this week with his fifth studio LP, SABLE, fABLE – a 13-track set, unevenly split into a folkier SABLE first side and the more R&B- and pop-influenced fABLE second side. While Bon Iver has collaborated with plenty of pop and hip-hop A-listers over the years, the only guests on his latest are more indie-oriented – Dijon and Flock of Dimes, who both appear on “Day One,” and Danielle Haim (of sister band HAIM) who features on “If Only I Could Wait.”
The album’s streaming profile should be relatively minimal, but it is expected to sell well – and is available on his website in vinyl, CD and cassette. His website also includes a variety of unusual complementary items to go with the new release, including a fABLE “Mood Mist” spray and candle, as well as SABLE, fABLE “Field Notes” notebooks and even a “Smoked Salmon Duo,” featuring “smoky, tender Atlantic salmon sourced from Kvarøy Arctic and hand-packed in Washington by a fifth-generation cannery” – though the latter product is already listed as sold out.
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” leads the Top Gabb Music Songs chart for a third month in a row as the most-played songs on Gabb Wireless phones, but a challenger appears on the March 2025 tally in the form of Benson Boone, whose “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” debuts at No. 2.
Billboard has partnered with Gabb Wireless, a phone company for kids and teens, to present a monthly chart tracking on-demand streams via its Gabb Music platform. Gabb Music offers a vast catalog of songs, all of which are selected by the Gabb team to include only kid- and teen-appropriate content. Gabb Music streams are not currently factored into any other Billboard charts.
“Die With a Smile” became the first song in the now-six-month history of Top Gabb Music Songs to stay at No. 1 for more than one month when it reigned on the February 2025 survey; now, it’s the inaugural track to do so for at least three editions.
Trending on Billboard
After enjoying five weeks at No. 1 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year, “Die With a Smile” spent the entirety of March 2025 in the top three of the ranking and appears at No. 3 on the latest chart, dated April 19.
Boone’s “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” however, continues to establish the singer-songwriter as a formidable presence on Top Gabb Music Songs as one of three Boone songs in the top 10 of the March 2025 list. “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” was released on Feb. 27 and debuted at No. 44 on the Hot 100 dated March 15; it’s at No. 47 on the latest chart.
“Beautiful Things,” which led the inaugural Top Gabb Music Songs in October 2024, and “Slow It Down” rank at Nos. 3 and 9, respectively. That makes Boone the second act to occupy at least three positions in the chart’s top 10 at once, following NF, whose “Let You Down,” “Hope” and “The Search” were Nos. 5, 7 and 10, respectively, on the October 2024 tally.
The February 2025-dated chart featured just one debut among its 25 positions. Not so for March 2025; the artist behind that lone bow, Forrest Frank (via “DROP!,” at No. 19), returns again with the second-biggest start after Boone’s “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else”: “Nothing Else,” featuring Thomas Rhett, at No. 7. Like Boone’s new entry, “Nothing Else” was also a late-February release (Feb. 28); it enjoyed a No. 4 debut on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart dated March 15.
The third and final debut of the month belongs to Lady Gaga, whose “Abracadabra” bows at No. 17. “Abracadabra” was also released in February, albeit much earlier (Feb. 3). It reached a peak so far of No. 13 on the Hot 100 dated Feb. 22 and ranks at No. 38 on the most recent tally.
See the full top 25 below.
Top Gabb Music Songs
“Die With a Smile,” Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (=)
“Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” Benson Boone (debut)
“Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone (=)
“APT.,” ROSE & Bruno Mars (-2)
“God’s Plan,” Drake (+2)
“Deja Vu,” Olivia Rodrigo (+6)
“Nothing Else,” Forrest Frank feat. Thomas Rhett (debut)
“Golden Hour,” JVKE (+3)
“Slow It Down,” Benson Boone (-1)
“Butterfly Effect,” Travis Scott (+3)
“Face 2 Face,” Juice WRLD (-6)
“Stargazing,” Myles Smith (-2)
“Thick of It,” KSI feat. Trippie Redd (-9)
“Please Please Please,” Sabrina Carpenter (-5)
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” Luke Combs (-1)
“Love Somebody,” Morgan Wallen (=)
“Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga (debut)
“Heat Waves,” Glass Animals (-1)
“Too Sweet,” Hozier (-4)
“Run It,” Jelly Roll (-14)
“Let You Down,” NF (-3)
“Bones,” Imagine Dragons (-1)
“Stressed Out,” Twenty One Pilots (-3)
“Saturn,” SZA (-1)
“Hope,” NF (=)
DROPS FROM FEBRUARY 2025: “DROP!,” Forrest Frank; “Enemy,” Imagine Dragons; “Wildflower,” Billie Eilish
Sleep Token earns its first No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, bowing atop the April 19-dated survey with “Caramel.” Released April 4, the track drew 11.2 million official U.S. streams, 30,000 in radio airplay audience and sold 3,000 downloads in the week ending April 10, according to Luminate. Sleep Token tallies […]
The Weeknd is planning a unique kind of Coachella appearance during the festival’s second weekend. He announced on Wednesday (April 16) that he’s hosting a “ferris wheel takeover” from Friday to Sunday. “SEE YOU IN THE DESERT @coachella,” he wrote on Instagram underneath a poster promoting his upcoming psychological thriller film Hurry Up Tomorrow and featuring […]
It starts with one … then two, then three, and eventually 2 billion. Linkin Park‘s “In the End” music video has officially surpassed the 10-digit view-count milestone two times over, becoming the band’s second visual to do so. Uploaded in October 2009, the “In the End” video finds the group’s iconic original lineup of Chester […]
Muni Long extends her hitmaking run on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart (dated April 19) as “Superpowers” climbs one spot to reach No. 1 on the radio ranking. The single ascends after its 1% gain in weekly plays made it the most-played song on U.S. panel-contributing adult R&B radio stations in the tracking week of April 4-10, according to Luminate.
As “Superpowers” asserts its supremacy, it replaces Chris Brown’s “Residuals” after a two-week stint. The former champ slides to No. 2 with an 8% decline in plays for the week.
Thanks to “Superpowers,” Muni Long achieves her third No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay, after “Make Me Forget,” a one-week leader in August 2024, and “Ruined Me,” which logged two weeks on top last November.
Trending on Billboard
Further, with all three singles from her Revenge album, the set is the first to produce a trio of champs since Tank’s R&B Money launched three leaders in 2021-2022 from its standard edition – “Can’t Let It Show,” “I Deserve,” and “Slow,” featuring J. Valentine – and another from its 2024 deluxe reissue, “See Through Love,” featuring Chris Brown.
Among albums by women, Revenge becomes just the third set with three No. 1s in the 31-year history of the Adult R&B Airplay chart. It joins Toni Braxton’s self-titled debut, which spawned four leaders, “Another Sad Love Song,” “Breathe Again,” “Seven Whole Days” and “You Mean the World to Me” in 1993-94, and Alicia Keys’ The Diary of Alicia Keys, which sent “You Don’t Know My Name,” “If I Ain’t Got You” and “Diary,” feat. Tony! Toni! Tone! to the summit in 2004.
[embedded content]
Elsewhere, “Superpowers” slips 14-13, dropping one rung from its peak, on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. There, the track registered 7 million in audience for the week, down 3% from the prior week’s total.
Beyond its radio results, “Superpowers” debuts at No. 25 on Hot R&B Songs, a multi-metric chart that combines radio airplay with streaming and sales data for its rankings. The arrival gives Muni Long her 12th entry on the list, a count that includes three top 10s: the three-week No. 1 “Hrs and Hrs” in 2022, and a pair of 2024 hits, “Made for Me” (No. 2) and “Ruined Me” (No. 10).
Sexyy Red had the stars out in Los Angeles for her 27th birthday party earlier this week as she twerked the night away at The Players Club. Among those in attendance were Justin Bieber and GloRilla. Fresh off attending Coachella with his wife, Hailey Bieber, JB pulled up to Big Sexyy’s bash in a tan […]
Tennis great Serena Williams had the honor of being named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025 and was asked about her viral cameo during Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl halftime show.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
She told Time that she and fellow Compton native Lamar have been “trying to do something together for ages,” but when he first reached out to ask if she would crip walk during his performance of “Not Like Us,” just as she did after winning Wimbledon for the fifth time in 2012, Williams admitted to being a bit confused.
Trending on Billboard
“I’m like, ‘Wait, what, you’re asking me?’” she admitted. “I’m not Taylor Swift, let’s be honest. I would have a better chance to be quarterback at the Super Bowl than dance.”
However, she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to represent for their shared hometown, even if it meant dancing while a diss aimed at her ex-boyfriend Drake was playing. “Who would have thought that a tennis player from Compton would be regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time?” she asked. “It was just putting an exclamation on it.”
Williams is still not sure if she regrets it, though, telling the outlet, “I don’t know if I regret it or not. I don’t know the answer to that.” She also doesn’t feel like she was dissing the Toronto rapper. “Absolutely not. I would never do that,” the 23-time singles champ asserted. “And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that. I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that. But absolutely not.”
She added: “I have never had negative feelings towards him. We’ve known him for so many years.”
Back in 2022, on the song “Middle of the Ocean” from his joint album Her Loss with 21 Savage, Drake called Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alex Ohanian, “a groupie,” which prompted Ohanian to respond on X. “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter,” Ohanian wrote at the time.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week: Lady Gaga, Green Day and more Coachella acts see streaming gains after weekend one, Jack Black is on his way to his second super-viral (and super-short) film soundtrack hit, a dancehall legend takes a victory lap in Brooklyn and more.
Coachella Streaming Bumps: Which Headliner (Or ‘Should Be Headliner’) Enjoyed the Greatest Gains?
The first weekend of Coachella 2025 is in the books, and along with the surprise guests, song debuts and celebrity sightings that take place in the deserts of Indio, Calif. each year, we also had a mini-controversy surrounding the Saturday night headliner. Green Day topped the Saturday bill (although Travis Scott closed out the main stage that night), while Charli XCX played ahead of the pop-punk veterans; over the weekend, however, Charli was spotted wearing a sash that read “Miss Should Be Headliner,” and whether that sash was worn in earnest or as a tongue-in-cheek statement, the social-media discourse was fast and furious.
Trending on Billboard
Yet Charli defenders can rejoice: the chatter, along with the British pop star’s actual performance (which featured guest stars Lorde and Billie Eilish), resulted in one of the biggest streaming upticks across the major Coachella acts, with Charli’s catalog earning 12.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams from Saturday (Apr. 12) through Monday (Apr. 14) — a 27% increase compared to the same period during the previous week, according to Luminate. Green Day, in turn, scored a 17% jump thanks to their headlining set, with their catalog up to 10 million streams from Apr. 12-14.
While Sunday headliner Post Malone scored a 5% bump from Saturday to Monday (albeit with a much larger catalog total of 30.3 million streams), Friday headliner Lady Gaga earned an almost identical streaming bump to Charli XCX — up 27%, from 20.6 million between Apr. 5-7 to 26.3 million between Apr. 12-14. In particular, Little Monsters were putting their paws up to Mayhem single “Abracadabra” (up 34% in streams) and Born This Way throwback “Judas” (up 66%), with an ultra-cool transition between the two songs in Gaga’s Coachella set list. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Jack Black’s ‘Lava Chicken’ Song for ‘Minecraft’ Movie Erupting on Streaming
Remember “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie – the 95-second piano ballad that film voice actor Jack Black sung in the blockbuster as the villainous Bowser, which became an improbable Billboard Hot 100 hit in 2023? That song may have been abbreviated, but it’s basically “Bohemian Rhapsody” compared to the Jack Black song now taking off from the similarly successful A Minecraft Movie: “Steve’s Lava Chicken.”
Co-penned with film director Jared Hess, the one-verse, no-chorus song finds the actor-rocker’s Steve character singing about his delicious lava chicken for its :34 second runtime. Though the would-be jingle’s lack of catchiness is immediately pointed out by Jason Mamoa’s protagonist character Garrett in the movie, the song is apparently sticking pretty firmly in the heads of those who’ve seen it – $283.9 million’s worth of viewers and counting. The song racked up 2.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracking week ending Apr. 10, according to Luminate – up 1,973% from the week before, prior to the film’s release.
It’s not alone on the soundtrack, either – Jack Black’s “I Feel Alive,” penned by hitmaker Andrew Wyatt and released as the set’s official lead single, was also up 261% to 584,000 streams, while the total soundtrack rose 838% to just over 5 million total streams. But it’s “Steve’s Lava Chicken” – which has continued to rise so far this week – which is currently threatening to give Jack Black his second sub-two-minute Hot 100 hit of the 2020s. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Vybz Kartel’s Stateside Comeback Sparks Strong Streaming Gains
Last weekend (April 11-12), King of Dancehall Vybz Kartel played his first U.S. headlining shows in over 20 years with two sold-out nights at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The Jamaican icon played over two hours of hits, including “Benz Punany,” “Fever,” “Clarks,” “Summertime” and “Brooklyn Anthem,” with special guests like Busta Rhymes and Spice surprising the rowdy crowd.
According to Luminate, Kartel’s three-decade-spanning catalog — which is still in the process of being properly tagged and organized on DSPs — earned over 1.43 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the weekend preceding his Reggae Fest-presented concert (April 5-7). During the weekend immediately following the shows (April 12-14), however, streaming activity for Kartel’s discography leapt 62%, to over 2.32 million official on-demand streams, according to Luminate
Earlier this year, the Billboard cover star earned his ninth top 10 entry on the Reggae Albums chart with Viking: 10 Year Anniversary, an expanded edition of 2015’s Viking (Vybz Is King), which previously reached No. 3. With more new music and additional performances – including a forthcoming Wireless set in London – on the way, Kartel’s comeback just keeps on giving. – KYLE DENIS
Moliy’s ‘Shake It to the Max’ Slowly Plots Worldwide Takeover
In late 2024 (Dec. 3), after weeks of teasing the track on social media, Ghanaian-American singer Moliy unleashed her team-up with Jamaican producer Silent Addy: an infectious afro-dancehall track called “Shake It to the Max.” Two months later (Feb. 21), Moliy — who previously reached the Hot 100 as a feature on Amaarae’s “Sad Gurlz Luv Money” (No. 80) — tapped Jamaican dancehall superstars Shenseea and Skillibeng for the remix, further boosting the track’s virality and easing its crossover into Caribbean and Caribbean-American markets. If the track’s steady streaming increases are anything to go by, Moliy has been handling her rising hit perfectly.
During the period of Feb. 28 to March 6, “Shake” earned just over 385,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. Five weeks later, that figure rose 212% to over 1.2 million official streams logged during the week of April 4-10, according to Luminate. The song has risen steadily each of those five weeks, aided in large part by a trending, hip-rolling dance that’s been performed by the likes of Davido, Shenseea and Victoria Monét, Tiwa Savage and Afro B. The official “Shake” TikTok sound currently boasts over 666,000 posts, while the official “Shake (Remix)” sound plays in an additional 195,000 clips.
On the World Digital Song Sales chart dated April 19, “Shake” reached No. 3, a new peak that could soar even higher as more fans get acquainted with the song. And during Vybz Kartel’s aforementioned sold-out April 12 Brooklyn Show, he brought out Moliy, Shenseea, Silent Addy and Skillibeng for a “Shake” performance that should only further amplify the song in the States. – KD
