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Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart returns for the 2024 season, with new offerings from Dan + Shay, Bing Crosby and Jennifer Hudson dotting the top 10 of the Nov. 2-dated ranking.
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The Top Holiday Albums chart will continue to be published on a weekly basis through early January of 2025, when it will jingle away until the next holiday season. (The chart generally returns to Billboard’s weekly chart menu every October.)
The Top Holiday Albums chart ranks the 50 most popular seasonal albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each units equals one album sales, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
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Leading the new Top Holiday Albums chart is the soundtrack to Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, notching its 16th nonconsecutive week atop the tally. It earned nearly 11,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 24, according to Luminate.
Dan + Shay’s first holiday release, It’s Officially Christmas: The Double Album, debuts at No. 2 with 7,000 equivalent album units earned, with 6,000 of that sum in traditional album sales. Also new to the chart this season: Bing Crosby’s new best-of, Ultimate Christmas, at No. 6 with 3,000 units, along with Jennifer Hudson’s first holiday album, The Gift of Love, at No. 10 with 1,500 units.
As for the rest of the top 10, it’s decorated with familiar favorites: Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack (No. 3), Michael Bublé’s Christmas (No. 4), Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas (No. 5), Frank Sinatra’s Ultimate Christmas (No. 7), Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (No. 8) and Pentatonix’s The Best of Pentatonix Christmas (No. 9).
Steve Earle’s son, John Henry, was diagnosed with autism when he was 19 months old, while the singer/songwriter was on tour in Australia. He received a phone call with the news from his then-wife, country singer-songwriter Allison Moorer.
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“That was the beginning of me trying to figure out what John Henry needed,” says Earle, “and I got lucky.”
John Henry, now 14, is enrolled in the Keswell School in New York City. The year-round school nurtures and educates students with autism ages 3 to 22, with a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:1 for “pretty intense” therapy, says Earle. John Henry is non-verbal, with a diagnosis of a sensory processing disorder.
For the past decade, Earle has used his acclaimed artistry and career-long friendships to raise funds to help the school with an annual must-see performance.
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On Monday (Nov. 4), at Town Hall in New York, the 10th annual John Henry’s Friends Benefit will feature Earle with Jackson Browne, along with singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy and the husband-and wife duo of Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams.
The show is a rare opportunity to see Browne in a small venue. “Jackson and I have been showing up for each other’s causes for a long time,” says Earle. Glaspy is a New York-based singer/songwriter whose latest album Echo the Diamond was released last year. Earle has been friends for decades with Williams and Campbell, the latter the Grammy-winning producer/singer/guitarist known for his tours with Bob Dylan and as the musical director of Midnight Rambles with the late Levon Helm of The Band.
Presented by Earle and City Winery, the benefit will feature a guitar pull format, “all four artists on stage at the same time, just kind of swapping songs and telling stories,” he says. “It’s a unique experience for the audience.” Earle will draw from his repertoire of classics like “Guitar Town” and “Copperhead Road,” which he recently re-recorded live for his new solo acoustic concert album Alone Again (Live).
The community spirit of the benefit show reflects what Earle has learned about parenting an autistic child, beginning immediately after that very first phone call, he recounted recently.
In Australia, in early 2012, he was playing festivals with Crosby, Stills and Nash. “I’d never really met Stephen [Stills] before that week,” says Earle. But he knew Stills and his wife Kristen have a now-grown autistic son, Henry. (Henry Stills was featured in the 2007 HBO documentary Autism: The Musical, for which his mother was an executive producer.) “I just made a beeline for Stephen and he put me on the phone with Kristen,” recalls Earle.
Connection with others facing the challenge of autism is crucial, he says. Earle, who has overcome addiction to heroin and cocaine, recalls: “There was a guy in my twelve-step group that had a kid, who was a young teenager by that time, who had autism, and [that father] was the one that showed me the ropes in New York City.”
(Although Earle recovered from his addiction, his first-born son Justin Townes Earle, 38, died in August 2020 of an accidental overdose. “I’ve had two of the worst bits of news a parent can receive,” says Earle. “One is your child has autism and the other, my son [was found] deceased on the floor of his apartment.” Earle subsequently released J.T., an album of his son’s songs on Jan. 4, 2021, which would have been Justin’s 39th birthday.)
“Everything that can happen has happened to me,” says Earle, who nevertheless responded to John Henry’s diagnosis with his instincts as an activist. “I have skin in this game,” he says. “I have something I could offer that might be able to raise some funds.”
Earle has become an advocate for those with autism, dismissing misinformation and offering guidance where he can. “It is an epidemic and, yeah, we don’t know what causes it,” he says. “Whatever else you think about vaccinations, it doesn’t cause autism.”
Earle notes that federal disability laws state that “if your public school system can’t provide what your child needs — and that’s any special needs child — then the school system has to fund that education” in a private school setting. “But you have to lawyer up,” says Earle. “You have to litigate to get those funds, even though there’s a federal law, because it’s an unfunded law. There’s a lot of those on our books.”
Earle also sought legal advice to set up what’s known as a special needs trust to provide for John Henry’s future. “It’s something you definitely need to do,” says Earle, while acknowledging that John Henry also will benefit from a strong extended family. The singer’s son, Ian, will care for John Henry when his parents are gone.
“That was decided early on,” says Earle. “I didn’t force that on him or anything. And I think my grandkids will step into the breach,” he adds. “They’ve just been raised that way. We’re that kind of family.”
Federal government support for autism crosses party lines. A renewal of the Autism CARES Act, which will provide $2 billion over the next five years for autism research and healthcare training benefiting individuals with autism, passed both the House and the Senate in September. And yet, “the truth is, any kind of services provided by the government are in danger in an election like this,” says Earle.
Perhaps surprisingly, this self-described “hard-core lefty” does not criticize those who have previously supported Donald Trump. “There’s some people whose lives just didn’t get any better in the administration before and they voted for something different. That’s heartbreaking, but it is the way that it is.”
But on this Election Day, he says, “we have a candidate on one side that really isn’t concerned about anything but lowering his taxes and [the taxes for] people like him and keeping himself out of jail.” On Monday, Earle will be focused on helping the school that has done so much for his son.
“John Henry’s improved a lot,” says Earle. “He’s still non-verbal. He navigates an iPad fairly well.” He also enjoys a wide range of music, Early explains, helping his father develop an appreciation for classical compositions and opera.
“He understands way more than we ever know,” says Earle. But he also will not respond, due to his autism — or perhaps due to him simply being a teenager.
“I’m his father, and there are other times when he understands exactly what I’m saying, and he ignores me,” Earle says with affection. “So that’s not autism. That’s just like any other 14-year-old.”
New Music Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs and albums recommended by Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors. Check out this week’s picks below.
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Grupo Marca Registrada, Evo Luxury 2 (RB Music)
If the album’s title isn’t enough indication that Grupo Marca Registrada is in their evolution era, then the album’s tracks will. Led by singer-songwriter Fidel Castro, Marca Registrada has released what can be considered their most eclectic album yet. Evo, short for evolución (or evolution) includes “Bugatti Chiron,” a piercing norteña, with the accordion as its protagonist, that has characterized the Mexican band’s sound for years. But Castro doesn’t box himself or the band in just norteño. “BW” is a departure from Bugatti with requintos leading the way, for a more tumbado approach. “En El Audi” is a standout with Castro’s light and airy vocals singing over an EDM-tinged pop track, showcasing his experimental side.
Throughout Evo, Marca Registrada winds through corridos about lavish lifestyles, ominous characters like Bruce Wayne and heartbreak. The eclectic album reflects a wider trend, as young Mexican and Mexican-American hitmakers prove Mexican music is global, no longer just regional. Still, even as Marca Registrada expands into new, more versatile, territory, their essence remains música Mexicana. — GRISELDA FLORES
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Alemán & Gera MX, Rich Mafia, Vol. 1. (Sony Music Entertainment México)
With a brash clash of electrifying beats and potent lyricism, Mexican rappers Alemán and Gera MX unite for a collaborative album in Rich Mafia, Vol. 1. Fueled with trailblazing rap virtuosity, the 12-track album feels like a grand celebration, a reunion sprinkled with stardust, proving that their eight-year absence from sharing the stage (since the “Sin Perder el Tiempo” era), only honed their edge rather than blunted it.
The Baja Californa Sur and Nuevo León rappers throw down lines brimming with bravado and sharp imagery, invoking personas to exemplify their night-prowling, unapologetic styles.The focus track, “Como Pacman,” encapsulates the themes of the entire album — audacious, relentless, and packed with clever pop culture references that hit as hard as the beats accompanying them.
“Bendición” featuring C. Tangana and “Cabo Girl” with Leonel García infuse the album with a cross-genre appeal that broadens their scope beyond hardcore rap; then their electro-corridos fusion alongside Junior H with “Close Friends,” featuring Cozy Cuz, only adds a more genre-varied listening experience. “L.A. Baby” spits out a nostalgic, electro-funk-styled beat that transports you back. Alemán and Gera MX don’t just occupy the throne of Mexican rap, they invite the entire genre to level up with them. — ISABELA RAYGOZA
Kany García & Rawayana, “La Culpa” (5020 Records)
The flavor of Puerto Rico and Venezuela come together in this fusion of plena and other Caribbean rhythms that denounces shared social problems — such as the fragility of the electrical systems and other public services — with the characteristic joy and passion of the region. “I only went out because it’s f—ing tough that the power is out/ And I went asking for a little bit of rum to be anesthetized,” García sings while Beto from Rawayana adds with grace that “in the Caribbean we make love without light and without water.” “La Culpa” is, undeniably, a deliciously portrayed social critique. — SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS
Ha*Ash & Elena Rose, “A Las 12 Te Olvidé” (Sony Music México)
Sister duo Ha*Ash and singer-songwriter Elena Rose join forces on this beautiful country-tinged ballad about a past love that returns when it’s too late. With heartfelt lyrics — like “Before I would have wanted you to fight for me, not fight with me/ You were the one who left such an unbearable silence/ And now I am the one to blame” — “A Las 12 Te Olvidé” gives the three singers the space to shine separately, while also offering some enjoyable vocal harmonies. It’s part of Ha*Ash’s new album, Haashville, released on Thursday (Oct. 31) with the premiere of this new single. — S.R.A.
Listen to more editors’ Latin recommendations in the playlist below:
Gigi Perez’s sensational breakout moment has reached new heights with her first ever No. 1 single on the U.K. Singles Chart.
The New Jersey-born, Florida-raised singer-songwriter has had a viral hit with “Sailor Song,” which recently peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Perez ends Sabrina Carpenter’s nine-week run at No. 1 with “Taste,” and is the most-streamed song of the week in the U.K. with 5 million streams, according to the Official Charts Company.
Speaking to the Official Charts on her victory, Perez says, “There’s such a big hole in the conversations that we’re having in mainstream music. There’s an entire group of people – the queer community – who need representation.”
She adds: “Knowing that ‘Sailor Song’ is a vessel for that, it’s amazing. Thank you!”
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ROSÉ and Bruno Mars rise to No. 2 with their collaboration “APT.” The song bests the BLACKPINK member’s own record after she became the first K-pop female solo act to land a U.K. top five single last week.
Gracie Abrams’ has secured two entries in the top five with the simultaneous success of “That’s So True” (No. 3) and “I Love You, I’m Sorry” (No. 4). The former jumps 16 places to land Abrams’ second top 10 hit in the U.K.
“Disease,” the first taste of Lady Gaga’s upcoming seventh studio album, lands at No. 7 to give the pop icon her 16th career U.K. top 10 single, and follows her successful “Die With a Smile” collaboration with Bruno Mars.
Elsewhere, Addison Rae has secured her first top 10 entry with “Diet Pepsi,” which lands at No. 10.
In addition to his first No. 1 LP on the U.K. Albums Chart, three songs from Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia arrive in the top 40. Album opener “St. Chroma,” featuring Daniel Caesar, becomes the rapper’s highest ever charting single in the U.K. at No. 15, while “Noid” lands a spot later at No. 16 and “Darling, I” finishes at No. 24.
See the full Official Singles Chart here.
Tyler, the Creator has landed his first chart-topping LP on the U.K. Albums Chart with Chromakopia.
Released on Monday (Oct. 28) – away from the standard Friday release date – the rap superstar’s eighth studio album still made up enough ground on Manchester band Courteeners to pip them to the top spot by 800 units across physical sales, downloads and streaming.
Chromakopia bests Tyler’s previous high of No. 4, which he achieved with both 2019’s Igor and 2021’s Call Me If You Get Lost.
Courteneers held the lead until Thursday (Oct. 31), according to an official release by the Official Charts Company, and follows their maiden No. 1 album last year with a reissue of debut album St Jude. Their seventh album, Pink Cactus Café, tops the Official Vinyl Albums Chart and was the most purchased LP at independent record stores over the past week.
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Bastille’s Dan Smith’s first solo album & also features in the top 10, landing at No. 4. Three of the London band’s four studio albums – Bad Blood (2013), Wild World (2016) and Give Me The Future (2022) – have previously charted at No. 1.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Charli XCX’s Brat continue their lengthy runs in the top 10, finishing at No. 3 and No. 5, respectively.
Pop icons Tears for Fears debut at No. 6 with Songs for a Nervous Planet, their seventh top 10 on the charts and their second studio release since their 2022 reunion.
Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) returns to top 10 following the physical release of the expanded Mourner’s Edition; the record initially spent three weeks at No. 1 following its original release in August, and finishes the week at No. 8.
There’s a first top 10 placing for Aussie punks Amyl & The Sniffers, whose third album, Cartoon Darkness, slots in at No. 9, and Queen’s 1973 debut album, Queen I, reaches a new high of No. 10 following a 50th anniversary reissue.
Halsey’s The Great Impersonator finishes at No. 19; their previous high on the Albums Chart came in 2022 with If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which finished at No. 5.
See the full Official Albums Chart here.
Ariana Grande says she absolutely had to “earn” the right to play Glinda in the upcoming two-part big screen adaptation of Wicked. Speaking to Sentimental Men podcast hosts Quincy Born and Kevin Bianchi this week, Grande said she’s “always been a Wizard of Oz person,” but despite her global pop fame — including nine No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits — and deep knowledge and love for the original 1939 Judy Garland movie The Wizard of Oz and the 2003 Tony-winning Broadway production of Wicked, it was not a given that she’d land the gig in director Jon M. Chu’s fantastical re-imagining.
“People sometimes say to me, ‘you had to audition?’ Of course, are you out of your gourd?,” she said about earning the right to step into the beloved role opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. “It’s Wicked! And it requires a totally different skill set than people know me for and have ever seen me do anything like,” she explained. “It’s Wicked! That’s the most respectful thing! It has to be earned… period!”
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If anything, Grande said her pop stardom could have worked against her in certain ways. “When you have this characterized persona that’s out there and people know you very well as this one thing, is this person going to be able to erase that and disappear into a character?,” she said, stressing that nothing about her playing Glinda is about herself, but only about inhabiting the beloved character.
During the pod recording where the singer apologized several times for her dog Myron’s incessant barking, Grande told the hosts that she has often turned to the Broadway Wicked original cast album for comfort and a “safe space” if she is nervous or needs to warm up her voice.
Grande also recalled that she first saw Wicked on Broadway when she was just 10, feeling “very, very, very fortunate” to see the original cast at a time when it was the show that “everyone was talking about.” In addition to repeatedly seeing the show on the Great White Way, after bidding way too much in a Broadway Cares Equity Fight AIDS auction for a backstage tour, the budding star was gifted a “little wand” and “magical body wash” by star Kristin Chenoweth.
How obsessed was she? At one point Grande erased every single song on her iPod with the exception of the Wicked soundtrack, further proof that this dream gig might have been in the stars all along. And, when the first murmurings about the film version reached her desk before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the singer said she told her team that she was willing to immediately pull the plug on her 2019 Sweetener world tour so she could go home and start on voice and acting lessons.
“‘I’m gonna turn this s–t out,’” Grande said she told her team more than a year before her August 2021 audition. “‘This is all I want. It’s done.’” Though they appreciated her enthusiasm, Grande said her management politely said no way to cancelling the tour at a time when the singer thought she might be brought in to read for both lead roles.
She knew, however, that Glinda was the part she was destined to inhabit. When Chenoweth gave her the thumbs up, Ariana said she lost it. “We had talked about it for years and years and years, but me finally confessing to her that I wanted to go in for Glinda was like a whole different thing,” Grande said about asking Chenoweth for guidance on how to really nail the part and make it her own without resorting to an impersonation.
“I said, ‘Hey, I think they’re doing this now, and I think that I wanna go for Glinda,’ and she went into the bathroom and closed the door and started crying,” Grande said beginning to tear up herself at the memory. “It was the sweetest thing in the world. Oh my god, it makes me emotional. It was so cute. She was just like, ‘I was hoping this would happen. I love you, and I trust you with it, baby girl.’ She was like, ‘Just do your thing. Just do your thing. You are so funny and you have great instincts and no one knows that.”
The first part of the movie that also co-stars Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Bowen Yang, Jonathan Bailey and Marissa Bode, opens in theaters on Nov. 22.
Watch Grande talk Wicked below.
Interviewing an artist of Angham’s caliber presents a unique challenge and a thrill, merging anticipation with the weight of her legacy. Angham is, after all, a towering figure in Arabic music, an extraordinary voice whose career bridges the classical foundations of Arabic song with its modern evolution over two dozen studio albums. This was not just an interview – it was an exploration into the journey of authentic art that has shaped contemporary Arabic music.
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As expectations filled the air, they quickly dissipated when Angham appeared in white, radiating a captivating smile. Angham takes in all opinions and comments with a calm demeanor, soothing the room’s tension. When she begins to speak, the atmosphere transforms: her words reflect a powerful personality, expressing complex ideas with simplicity and an undeniable charm that enchants her audience.
There’s no doubt that Angham has emerged as one of Egypt’s most impactful modern voices. Her journey began in the late 1980s, nurtured by her father, the renowned musician Mohamed Ali Suleiman, whose guidance and influence helped unlock her early talent. With training in music and piano, she developed a solid foundation in the musical arts, initially singing traditional Tarab (classical Arabic music) pieces that bore her father’s distinct artistic signature, such as the album Ila Ana (Except Me), in parallel with her collaborations with classical composers of Khaleeji music such as Talal Maddah, Suleiman Al Mulla and Sami Ihsan. Yet, in the late 1990s, after professionally parting ways with her father, Angham redefined her path.
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She embraced a modern style closer to Arab pop and reached a major milestone with the 2001 album Leih Sebtaha (Why Did You Leave Her?), marking her first collaboration with composer Tarek Madkour and Sherif Taj. The early 2000s also saw Angham experimenting with Latin pop, in the release of one of her most prominent hits, “Sidi Wasalak” (Why Aren’t You With Me?), and with it she established her new artistic identity, which she continued to grow and develop while absorbing new musical trends, and integrating them into the context of her own musical experience and identity. Through these works, she expanded her reach to a broader audience, solidifying her status as a central figure in the Arab music scene and maintaining her role as a bridge between Arabic music’s rich history and its present.
While it is difficult to pin any one of Angham’s albums over the other, another massive success for Angham was her album Hala Khassa Gdean (A Very Special Case) with hit songs “Ya Retak Fahemny” (I Wish You Understood Me), where we hear her nuance for emotional complexities of love develop more with each work, in addition to her vocal delivery and performance. With 29 studio albums under her belt, Angham’s prolific body of work has found a home in the hearts of her listeners year after year, where she has come to be known for her unique ability to sing a range of emotional experiences found in each stage of love.
Billboard Arabia’s conversation for the October cover began with her latest album, Tigi Neseeb (Let’s Leave). Each song, a journey into the depths of emotion, allowed Angham to share pieces of herself and the untold stories embedded within the lyrics. She describes the album as a story, explaining, “This album is like a story with a beginning and an end. It’s filled with stories of people and situations – very real and relatable. What ties it all together is the music, the expressive kind I resonate with.”
Angham’s musical expertise shines through as she discusses her talent for weaving stories from real-life experiences — narratives that listeners might recognize from their own daily lives or even feel personally connected to. She notes, “The album is like a drama; it’s as if you’re witnessing the stories of many people around you. Sometimes, you see yourself in the narrative, or you recognize two or three others whose stories you’re familiar with. It’s that simple, yet it’s a core reason for my success.” Angham unveils that the key to her songs’ success and uniqueness lies in her deep connection with her audience and the relatable stories they share. Each song she performs embodies a sense of authenticity, forging a personal bond between the music and the listener, as though she shares in the daily experiences.
She approached her latest album, Tigi Neseeb, not as a fixed blueprint but as a dynamic journey filled with transformations and experiences. “I wouldn’t lie to you and say I knew exactly what I was going to do; the album developed gradually, with changes in lyrics and musical arrangements. There was a plan, but it evolved for the better.”
After discussing her latest album, Angham elaborates on her artistic choices and musical collaborations. With dozens of albums under her belt, she articulates her philosophy regarding song selection, highlighting the stage’s pivotal role in her decisions: “I’m always focused on how a song will translate on stage; my choices are guided by this aspect because the stage is my essence. My concert is my soul.” Angham expressed her enthusiasm for direct audience interaction, an essential element in her creative process. “When I choose a song and its arrangement, I consider how it will start, end, and engage the audience; I’ll re-record as many as two or three times to reach that perfect ending that commands applause.”
For Tigi Neseeb, Angham maintained a thoughtful balance between longtime collaborators and fresh names she worked with for the first time. She sustained her successful collaborations with producer Tarek Madkour and lyricist Amir Teima, with whom she’s worked for over 20 years, crediting these long-standing collaborations with upholding her distinctive musical identity. At the same time, she brought in new, unexpected collaborations. In her conversation with Billboard Arabia, Angham highlights the album’s surprise: collaborating with Akram Hosny, initially an Egyptian comedian, who contributed songs like “Khalik Ma’aha” (Stay With Her) and the title track.
Angham
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On her album, Angham also introduced new vocabulary into her piece with lyricist Mostafa Hadouta, whose background in mahraganat music added a fresh layer to the song “Mowafaqa” (l Agree). Unpacking the album’s rich collaborations, she also praises three poets she worked with for the first time on Tigi Neseeb, including Hala El Zayat, whose song “Howa Enta Meen” (Who Are You Anyway) achieved remarkable success, landing in the No. 9 position on Billboard Arab Hot 100. Tigi Neseeb’s performance on the Billboard Arabia charts proves its remarkable success, with 10 out of 12 songs finding a home on Billboard Arabia’s Hot 100.
But Angham isn’t just a singer, performer and classically trained musician — she is also a businesswoman. In her interview, she unveils her most ambitious endeavor to date: her own production company, Sowt Masr (The Sound of Egypt), which launched with its debut album, Tigi Neseeb. Established between 2014 and 2015, the company initially aimed to produce her personal projects, yet Angham’s vision extends far beyond her own artistic ambitions. She expresses, “Deep down, I aspire to nurture new voices, and with time, I will make that happen.” Angham emphasizes that her role as a producer is not merely to finance projects but to guide emerging talent on the right path. Her insight highlights a transformative view of the producer’s role – one that encompasses organizing and creatively directing rather than just providing funding.
Looking ahead, Angham was unequivocal about her commitment to continuous innovation. “As I speak, I’m actively engaged in new projects. Music constantly flows through my mind, inspired by the words I hear and read, along with new songs and fresh collaborations,” she shared. Her boundless ambition drives her to enhance her artistic repertoire through collaborations with new composers and artists who can add their flair to her work.
Angham is not just an artist; she embodies a modern classic Arabic voice and serves as a vital link between musical generations. With her album Tigi Neseeb, its diverse collaborations and her production venture, Sowt Masr, she demonstrates her remarkable ability to adapt and innovate while remaining true to her artistic roots. The interview concluded on an inspiring note, envisioning a bright future not only for Angham but also for emerging artists who may find her label Sowt Masr a springboard to new horizons in the music industry. As she continues to pave the way, Angham’s legacy promises to illuminate a path for the next wave of talent and Arabic music at large.
Angham
Sharbel Boumansour/Billboard Arabia
Seventeen years before Justice brought a boundary-smashing stage setup to the Outdoor Stage at Coachella 2024, they were just two young producers from France wondering if their work would ever translate into a real career in live music.
For the duo — Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé — the answer became a definitive oui after their 2007 debut performance at Coachella, which was also their first ever live performance.
Now, the two are looking back on their four Coachella performances — which happened at the fest in 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2024 — in new mini-documentary produced by the festival. The eight-minute visual, titled …And Justice for All: Coachella Edition, is comprised of archival footage and new interviews with Justice, their team and a few of the many people who helped put the show together at Coachella 2024 this past April.
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“I remember after we played our first set we felt so relieved,” de Rosnay says of the duo’s 2007 set in the doc, “because we had spent the four previous years thinking, ‘Maybe we are just meant to make remixes and not even albums,’ and then here we were in the desert thinking, ‘Well, maybe we are actually a real band.’”
The doc puts a special focus on duo’s 2024 performance on Coachella’s Outdoor Stage. Justice and their creative team spent six months working with seven computer scientists to make the show, which they’ve toured the world with over the last six months. The doc features an interview with the group’s longtime technical director Manu Mouton.
The documentary was directed by photographer and filmmaker Connor Brashier, who’s worked on projects with artists including Shawn Mendes, Niall Horan and Kygo. The film was produced by Goldenvoice’s Ike Adler, Mikhail Mehra and David Prince as part of a new initiative at Coachella focused on creating original content.
“As this piece became to come together, I quickly realized I was making this for my younger, nerdy self, who dug for hours and hours trying to find out more about the people and processes behind the iconic Justice shows both past and present,” Brashier tells Billboard. “I hope someone out there is as giddy as I was to see a few of these monumental Coachella performances in HD and meet a small portion of the magician-like talents who played a part in putting them all on.”
Watch the mini-documentary below:
In 2022 — the same year “Big Energy” became her first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit — Latto got her first run at performing in arenas when she served as one of the openers for the North American leg of Lizzo‘s Special Tour. Just two years later, the Clayton County emcee headlined a major New York arena on her own when she graced Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Halloween (Oct. 31) for the fifth stop of her Sugar Honey Iced Tea Tour.
Latto’s latest trek is in support of her third studio album of the same name, which debuted atop Rap Albums and reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200. A sprawling love letter to the sonic fabric of Atlanta rap, Sugar Honey Iced Tea features the Hot 100 hits “Big Mama” (No. 92), “Sunday Service” (No. 100, with Megan Thee Stallion & Flo Milli) and “Put It on Da Floor Again” (No. 13, with Cardi B), as well as collaborations with Ciara, Coco Jones, Hunxho, Teezo Touchdown, Young Nudy and Mariah the Scientist.
The night began with a brief performance from Karrahboo — who brought out Gio, an Atlanta-based model attached to Lil Yachty‘s Concrete Boys collective — and a particularly heartfelt set from Mariah the Scientist. “Let’s just make it to the end so I can get on this jet!” she quipped mid-set, one of several times she alluded to the good news that rocked the hip-hop world mere hours before she took the stage: Young Thug, Grammy-winning rapper and beau to Mariah the Scientist, was sentenced to 15 years probation and no prison time after pleading guilty in the two-year criminal case alleging that he was the leader of a violent Atlanta street gang.
With Thugger coming home, Mariah implored that fans “burn [their] ‘Free Thug’ shirts” and start saying the phrase backward (“Thug free!”). Buoyed by an extra boost of passion and energy sourced from the Young Thug news, Mariah the Scientist rocked Barclays Center with a set that smartly played on the emotional vulnerability of her catalog. She’s been very open about continuing to ride for her man no matter the outcome of the case, so songs like “Spread Thin” felt especially poignant as they blasted through the arena.
Latto finally took the stage around 10:30 p.m., kicking off her set with the viral Sugar Honey Iced Tea opener “Georgia Peach.” From the classic first verse of “Georgia on My Mind” to the retro advertisements and tongue-in-cheek video interludes, Latto delivered an incredibly streamlined visual interpretation of the Sugar Honey Iced Tea aesthetic, which she described in her July Billboard cover story as “Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Lil’ Kim and Kelis… but obviously with a Southern hip-hop twist. They have very feminine energy, but masculine in the sense of confidence.”
In a nod to the holiday, Latto donned a Playboy bunny Halloween costume as she ripped her way through a setlist that prioritized her rap catalog. Though two of the biggest songs of her career are “Big Energy” and “Seven,” her Hot 100-topping collaboration with Jung Kook, Latto largely shied away from her pop fare, opting to focus on her recent hip-hop hits like “Brokey” and “Back Outside” and her earlier rap bangers like “Muwop” and “B—h from da Souf.” Despite a bit of sickness working against her, Latto delivered a remarkably high-energy show that featured tight choreography, an emphasis on live rapping and multiple levels of fan engagement — from the freaky Jumbotron moment of “Copper Cove” to the audience poll that gave way to heartfelt renditions of “Prized Possession” and “S/O to Me.”
Here are the five best moments of Latto’s Sugar Honey Iced Tea tour.
Mariah the Scientist Celebrates Young Thug’s Release
Jelly Roll banks his sixth No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “I Am Not Okay” rises a rung on the Nov. 9-dated ranking. It increased by 12% to 33. 8 million audience impressions Oct. 25-31, according to Luminate.
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The Nashville native (born Jason DeFord) co-authored the inspirational song with Casey Brown, Ashley Gorley and Taylor Phillips, and Zach Crowell produced it. The track is the lead single from Jelly Roll’s LP Beautifully Broken, which bowed at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and the all-genre Billboard 200 dated Oct. 26 with 161,000 equivalent album units, marking his initial leader on each list. His preceding set, Whitsitt Chapel, entered and peaked at Nos. 2 and 3 on the charts, respectively, in June 2023.
“I believe in the power that music has to connect with people, and being able to see the response out on the road touring and seeing and hearing from people about this song – it’s been unreal,” Jelly Roll tells Billboard. To fans and programmers, he added, “Thank you for continuing to shine a light on therapeutic music.”
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All six of Jelly Roll’s Country Airplay entries have reigned, marking the second-longest active No. 1 run. On the Oct. 26 chart, Kane Brown added his seventh consecutive leader with “Miles on It,” with Marshmello.
Jelly Roll previously topped Country Airplay as featured on Dustin Lynch’s “Chevrolet,” for a week in September, and as a lead artist with “Halfway to Hell” (one week, June); “Save Me,” with Lainey Wilson (two weeks, December 2023); “Need a Favor” (four, beginning in August 2023); and his debut entry at the format, “Son of a Sinner” (one week, January 2023).
Birge Moseys to Top 10
Plus, George Birge achieves his second Country Airplay top 10 as “Cowboy Songs” trots two spots to No. 10 (16.4 million, up 10%). The Austin, Texas, native’s “Mind on You” hit No. 2 in January.
Per his current hit’s traditional title, it joins 10 prior top 10s, dating to the chart’s 1990 start, with “cowboy” in their titles. Chris LeDoux lassoed the first with the No. 7-peaking “Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy” in 1992. Most recently, Jon Pardi’s “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” hit No. 3 in 2020.