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Despite more than a decade since LLCOOLJ last released an album, the rapper picks up right where he left off. His new project, THE FORCE, debuts at No. 9 on the Top Rap Albums chart, giving the hip-hop legend his fifth consecutive top 10 result on the list, which began in 2004.
THE FORCE, released through LL COOL J’s self-titled imprint and the Def Jam Recordings record label, earned 16,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week of Sept. 6 – 12, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales contributed 11,500 units, making THE FORCE the top-selling rap title of the week. 4,000 units derive from streaming activity, with the remaining 500 coming through track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
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Robust sales likely trace to LL COOL J’s flurry of promotional performances during the tracking week, including an interview on CBS Mornings and a performance to celebrate the Def Jam label’s 40th anniversary during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, where the MC delivered a medley of his hits such as “Headsprung,” “Goin’ Back to Cali” and “Bring the Noise.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=w_XVxj035Qk%3Fsi%3Dov7qpLz2LdcK6r5h
Released Sept. 6, THE FORCE marked the first project since 2013 for LL COOL J, the hip-hop pioneer who became one of the genre’s earliest crossover stars and, in 2017, became the first rapper to receive the Kennedy Center Honors. The album, largely produced by another rap icon, Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest, boasts a strong supporting lineup, with Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Nas among the guest stars. Saweetie features on the set’s current single, “Proclivities,” which climbs 36-31 in its second week on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, while an Eminem feature on the album’s “Murdergram Deux” powers it to become the week’s top-selling (2,500 downloads) and most-streamed (2.3 million official U.S. streams) song on THE FORCE.
As noted, THE FORCE is the fifth consecutive top-10 effort for LL COOL J on Top Rap Albums. The streak began with The DEFinition, which reigned for one week in 2004, and followed with Todd Smith (No. 2, 2006), Exit 13 (No. 2, 2008) and Authentic (No. 4, 2013).
On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, which began in 1958 and encompasses the rapper’s entire career, THE FORCE launches at No. 11. It becomes his 15th album to appear on the list, dating to his debut LP, Radio, in 1985.
Gwen Stefani is ready to bloom! The superstar revealed on Wednesday (Sept. 18) that her fifth studio album, Bouquet, will be arriving on November 15. She also unveiled the album’s cover art and track list. The photo features Stefani in a cowboy hat and a brown plaid suit, laying across a bed while holding a […]
Jhayco achieves his third top 10 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart with Le Clique: Vida Rockstar, his third studio album, which debuts at No. 6 on the Sept. 21 dated list. The 29-track also launches at No. 2 on Latin Rhythm Albums chart.
Le Clique: Vida Rockstar launches at No. 6 on Top Latin Albums with 13,000 equivalent album units logged in the U.S. on the Sept. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. As it’s become a norm among Latin rhythmic artists, streams contribute most of the album’s debut week activity.
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Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums rank the week’s most popular Latin albums, and Latin rhythm albums, respectively, by multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Each unit equals one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
Le Clique: Vida Rockstar’s 13,000 opening sum is largely driven by the album’s songs generating 17 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. in the tracking week, while a negligible amount of traditional album sales and track sales supply the remaining units.
Notably, Le Clique: Vida Rockstar is just the fourth Latin rhythm set to debut in the top 10 on Top Latin Albums in 2024 among the 15 debuts this year so far –after Eladio Carrion’s Sol Maria (No. 6 debut, Feb. 3-dated chart), Young Miko’s att. (No. 9, April 20), and Myke Towers’ La Pantera Negra (No. 7, Sept. 7). The overall Latin albums raking, in contrast, boasted seven Latin rhythmic album debuts by the same point year-to-date in 2023 (two by Karol G and Yng Lvcas, while Eladio Carrión, Myke Towers and Rauw Alejandro debuted with one album each).
With Le Clique: Vida Rockstar, released Sept. 6 on Universal Music Latino/UMLE, Jhayco secures his third top 10 debut on Top Latin Albums, two then-billed under Jhay Cortez. Here’s a review of his top 10 collection:
Peak, Title, Peak DateNo. 5, Famouz, Dec. 7, 2019No. 2, Timelezz, Sept. 18, 2021No. 9, Le Clique: Vida Rockstar, Sept. 21
Three songs preceded Le Clique in 2023: “Cuerpecito” (No. 49 peak in April), and “Ex-Special,” with Peso Pluma, and “Holanda” (No. 22 and No. 32 high, respectively, in September).
Elsewhere, Le Clique gives Jhayco his third entry on the all-genre Billboard 200, as it debuts at No. 77.
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.
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This week: VMAs winners and performers get a nice uptick in streams and sales, an outpouring of posthumous affection for Frankie Beverly results in huge gains in consumption for the Maze catalog, and Britney Spears fans have a very unusual day of celebration for one of her exes.
The VMAs Bump: Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, ‘Fortnight’ & More of the Night’s Winners See Gains
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As usual, the big wins from MTV’s 41st annual Video Music Awards on Wednesday (Sept. 11) came not only on stage, but also in the days that followed on DSPs and music retailers. A number of the reigning artists from last week — both in terms of moonpeople taken home and major performances delivered on stage — enjoyed strong gains in the consumption of their catalogs and hits following the awards show.
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And as has often been the case so far in 2024, perhaps the biggest winner there was Chappell Roan. The rising alt-pop star took home the award for best new artist, and also had perhaps the most highly anticipated (and later-buzzed-about) performance of the night, playing breakout hit “Good Luck, Babe!” in medieval armor, flanked by an array of dancing swordsmen. Over the three days following the VMAs (Sept. 12-14), “Good Luck, Babe!” racked up 9.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 2,700 digital song sales — gains of 20% and 152%, respectively, from the three-day period prior to the VMAs (Sept. 8-10), according to Luminate — while her entire catalog combined for 41.6 million streams and 6,5000 sales over that same period, gains of 22% and 116%, respectively. (In an average week, songs will often stream better from Thursday to Saturday than from Sunday to Tuesday, though usually not to such a sizable degree.)
Chappell wasn’t the only winner-performer to see such gains: Benson Boone, whose glammed-out and acrobatic performance of “Beautiful Things” was one of the evening’s highlights, also saw a 20% streaming gain (to 6.9 million streams) for his now-signature hit over the same period, while also rising 210% in sales (to 3,800). Meanwhile, Karol G lost the only award she was nominated for on the evening, but her delightful, high-energy performance of current Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” connected enough with viewers for it to see a 25% streaming bump over that period (to 5.7 million) while also rising 164% in sales (to over 800).
And of course, there was Taylor Swift — who did not perform on the evening, but did take the stage twice, to accept best collaboration and video of the year, along with Post Malone, for their Hot 100-topping team-up “Fortnight.” The evening’s big award winner was up 26% in streams over that period, to 3.6 million, while also rising 235% to over 700 in sales. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Before We Let You Go: Frankie Beverly’s Passing Spurs Massive Catalog Gains
Frankie Beverly, an R&B and soul legend who has soundtracked generations of Black gatherings from cookouts to graduations, unfortunately passed on Sept. 10 at age 77, yet another tragic loss for the music industry this month.
As the iconic voice behind anthems such as 1981’s “Before I Let Go,” Beverly’s music had an incalculable impact on countless listeners, particularly Black Americans, despite a relatively short list of appearances on the Billboard charts across his six-decade career. According to Luminate, Beverly’s catalog streams (credited to Maze feat. Frankie Beverly) jumped a whopping 970% from just over 690,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Sept. 8-10 to over 7.4 million in the three-day period following his passing (Sept. 11-13).
Two of Beverly’s biggest hits with Maze, “Before I Let Go” and 1980’s “Joy and Pain,” received particularly notable bumps. The former, which Beyoncé notably covered in 2019 (and brought to No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100), leapt 540% over that period, from 156,000 streams to just over 997,000 streams. Similarly, “Joy and Pain” ballooned a massive 1,200% from just over 50,000 to over 654,000 streams. Moreover, Beverly’s passing also spurred fans to purchase tracks across his discography, with he and Maze’s catalog scoring a 9,308% boost in sales activity. During Sept. 8-10, they sold just 95 digital tracks; by Sept. 11-13, that figure rose to over 8,900 digital tracks sold. – KYLE DENIS
You Want a Song to Soar on Streaming as a Kevin Federline Diss? You Better ‘Work Bitch’
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Last Thursday (Sept. 12), Jayden James Federline, the youngest son of Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline, turned 18 years old — and Britney fans were well aware, having circled the date in their calendars as the reported end of Spears’ child support payments to Federline, now that their two sons were no longer minors. Although reports of those child support payments ending last week have been disputed, fans engaged in a bit of Federline dunking on the big day by streaming Spears’ 2013 single “Work Bitch” — i.e., the song in which the pop superstar declares that, if you want anything extravagant in this life, you better work for it (bitch).
The lampooning resulted in tangible streaming gains for the track: daily official on-demand U.S. streams for “Work Bitch” jumped 35% between Sept. 11 and 12, from 47,000 streams to 64,000 streams, according to Luminate. It’s time to wonder what Britney Jean track could receive a similar revival — maybe “Chillin With You” with Jamie Lynn, if Spears and her sister ever make amends? – JASON LIPSHUTZ
After gaining momentum as a finalist on music competition show La Banda (where CNCO was born) and later earning his first Billboard entry with debut single “Pretty Girl (Tu Cancion)” in 2016, Johann Vera is entering a new era in his solo career — one that’s powered by authenticity and transparency.
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Last month, the bilingual pop artist of Ecuadorian descent released “Closet,” a melancholy, powerful ballad — where, for the first time, he tells his truth: “Why am I going to hate and fight with myself only because I love differently?/ How can a parent decide to lose a child only because they love differently?” he chants in the heartfelt lyrics. “I’m not going to change for anyone else.”
“It took me two years, but it pushed me to be honest and open with myself,” Vera tells Billboard of his coming out as queer. “[My previously-released single] ‘Cielo’ is talking about that first encounter and discovering this new side of liberty and happiness, and being more real about my sexuality. ‘Closet’ is about acceptance. I want to be as honest as I can be.”
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“Cielo” and “Closet” form part of Vera’s upcoming six-part EP dubbed Nada Importa En Verdad (Nothing Really Matters). “It’s about the struggles and ups-and-downs. Yes, I’m in love but also still have all these issues.”
In an interview with Billboard, the indie Latin artist talks about his coming out process, dealing with family rejection, and finding his purpose, thanks to his new single.
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How was your coming out process, and why was the moment now for you?
It was scary. I realized now that all my life I had this idea that sexuality shouldn’t be touched in my music or my art. I wanted to be a private artist, and not talk about my personal life. It’s not that I wasn’t honest — but there was always a filter, even on my social media, that was very edited and posed.
When I started therapy, almost three years ago, I began to realize a lot of things on how I’ve been handling life. Growing up with my family, I would get along with everyone and never had an issue, but I would hold back a lot of things. I wrote this song before talking to my parents. With family, it was a hard part — because coming from Ecuador, I would see their perspective on the LGBTQ community — so I always had that fear.
You mention living with fear and a filter, but can you take us back to how you felt the day “Closet” was born?
A few years ago, I wrote a letter to little Johann, and that night I had a writing session. Some words I began writing triggered me. I’ve been with girls and loved them, but at that point in my life, I was already with a man for a year. I continued writing the song, but I was struggling. So, I paused, talked to my songwriter and producer about how I was feeling, and “Closet” was born in 30 minutes. I didn’t want to continue living life that way. I had a big realization moment.
It’s a beautiful song, but also ultra-personal and very vulnerable.
I wrote the song for everyone to understand the struggle. All throughout your life, you feel like you have this flaw, deep down it felt like there was an issue. It’s very tough to break that barrier. Now it’s changing, but it’s still, even more on the Latin side, not going to be very accepting. The song happened and it was therapy for me. I didn’t have plans of releasing it, but after I started seeing how my close friends and colleagues began to react to it, I felt that I had to.
You wrote this song before telling your parents you were queer. How’s your relationship with them today?
Still not good. I actually told them two years ago, on Christmas Day, I had no expectations, but I invited them to therapy. However, there were no conversations afterward and it disconnected them even more. Now it’s not even a “How are you?” Before, I was the pride of the family — Viña del Mar, all the awards — and now, they feel like they lost a son. It’s tough.
They’ve also been clear and vocal about not supporting my new single “Closet.” Their side of the story is that I’m influencing people to do something wrong. I couldn’t fight any more. But now I know that it happened this way for some reason, and [my story] is helping people feel that they are not alone. It’s 2024 but apparently, we still need to have these conversations.
Your friends and colleagues have been very supportive.
Mau & Ricky came to my defense and called me when the song came out to tell me that God loves me. I cried so much. Lele Pons and Guaynaa came over too. I’ve been super blessed. After the song was released, I was locked in my childhood room… I just stayed there. The amount of messages and love that started coming in through DMs really helped me. The first couple of nights, I couldn’t sleep — but it was such a beautiful thing to go into my DMs and see how strangers were connecting with the song. The effect is crazy. Even if all of this is happening, I feel very happy. I’m proud.
What do you expect your music be like moving forward?
I just want to do music with purpose. I want to be more honest on that side. If I fall in love with a guy, I’ll sing about that, but it’s more about purpose. I feel that I can make an impact when talking about different topics. From all of this process, I want to be transparent and real. You realize in music how important authenticity is. It’s really about connecting.
Celebrities are just like us! Noah Kahan took to X this week to share that he’s been loving the content of viral pygmy hippo Moo Deng that’s been circulating the Internet recently. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’m late to whatever these creatures are but I […]
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 charts dated Sept. 28, we head back to the Billboard 200, where Sabrina Carpenter’s latest has reigned for its first three weeks – but now faces a familiar challenger, again revitalized.
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Sabrina Carpenter, Short N’ Sweet (Island): For a 12-track album with no expanded deluxe edition available on DSPs, the endurance in consumption for Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet has been damn impressive. After bowing atop the Billboard 200 with 362,000 units earned in its debut week, the set has not only held at No. 1 over the last two weeks (amidst a not-particularly-crowded release schedule), but continued to post unit totals in the six digits – 117,000 in its third week – a combo that only her good buddy Taylor Swift had previously managed to pull off this year, of course with her 15-week No. 1 The Tortured Poets Department.
The set should continue to slide in its fourth week, but only slowly – the album still holds four of the top 10 spots on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart and three on the Apple Music real-time update, with fan favorite “Bed Chem” slowly rising towards the territory of the set’s top-charting trio: “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste.” SnS may also benefit some from Carpenter’s well-received debut performance on the VMAs mainstage last Wednesday (Sept. 11), where she played a medley of those three hits (and made out with an alien), while also picking up the song of the year Moonperson for “Espresso.”
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Travis Scott, Days Before Rodeo (Cactus Jack/Epic): If Carpenter thought she had vanquished Travis Scott for good during their showdown for the top spot three weeks earlier – where Short N’ Sweet edged out Days Before Rodeo for No. 1 by a margin of under 1,000 units, one of the year’s closest races – she may have to think twice next week. While Scott’s album has already fallen from No. 2 to No. 106 on the Billboard 200, and the rapper already pulled out many of the stops with the digital reissue of his beloved 2014 mixtape during its first week of re-release, he had not yet pushed the button on shipping out any vinyl copies of the album.
That changes this week, as the vinyl edition of Days Before Rodeo has begun to ship to fans — both the vinyl LP (in its standard and deluxe version, with different packaging between the two) and its two deluxe vinyl boxed sets (one with a branded hoodie and an album, and one with a branded T-shirt and an album). Though the streaming presence of Days Before Rodeo is fairly minimal compared to the album-wide dominance of Short N’ Sweet, that sales advantage might be massive enough – with Scott’s fanbase long proven to be willing to shell out for his physical releases – to get it back in the hunt on the Billboard 200 this week, and very possibly over the top for the first time.
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Eminem, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope): Speaking of last week’s VMAs – they were led by MTV icon Eminem, who reassembled the Slim Shady Army from his classic 2000 performance of “The Real Slim Shady” for his show-opening performance of current hit “Houdini.” That song’s parent album, his career-bookending The Death of Slim Shady, should see a small bump from that performance next week – but will be helped out even more by a new deluxe edition of the set, which reached digital retailers and streamers on Friday, as well as the release of the album’s CD version, both in a wide general release, and as a d2c-exclusive version with an alternate album cover.
Miranda Lambert, Postcards From Texas (Vanner/Republic/Big Loud): Always good to get a new LP from country great Miranda Lambert, who has reached the Billboard 200’s top 10 with each of her last seven unaccompanied solo sets – most recently with the No. 4-charting Palomino in 2021. The album is available for sale on CD and vinyl, with signed copies also purchasable of both through her webstore.
Ariana Grande is bringing some Wicked good makeup items to fans with her upcoming R.E.M. Beauty collection, which is inspired by the upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical in which Grande portrays Glinda the Good Witch. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I pulled inspiration for […]
These days, Morgan Wallen typically plays for crowds that number in the tens of thousands – but on Tuesday (Sept. 17) night in New York City, the country juggernaut performed a pared-down set alongside HARDY and ERNEST for an audience that measured in the hundreds at the 2024 T.J. Martell Foundation gala fundraiser.
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The trio of Big Loud artists delivered a performance that felt like a casual writers’ round – the kind of thing you’re more likely to see at Nashville’s Bluebird Café than the Midtown Manhattan Cipriani. Carrying their own gear up to the stage, Wallen, HARDY and ERNEST perched atop stools and strummed their signature songs on acoustic guitars, occasionally leaning into the microphone to add backing vocals to each other’s songs when moved by the music.
The genre-melding HARDY kicked things off with a stripped-down version of his fist-pumping Country Airplay topper “Truck Bed”; ERNEST and Wallen blended voices effortlessly on their collab “Flower Shops”; and Wallen even trotted out his unreleased song “Love Somebody,” marking the live debut of the tune on American soil. (Yes, he also played the crowd-pleasing Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Last Night,” which had everyone’s phone up in the air and recording.)
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Few people could pull together a night of this caliber, but Seth England is not like most. The Big Loud partner/CEO was honored Tuesday night by the T.J. Martell Foundation – which funds trailblazing research in the fight to end cancer — with the lifetime music industry award. And the crowd that turned out to help raise money and honor England was packed with artists (such as Miranda Lambert), songwriters (including Craig Wiseman, England’s partner at Big Loud), producers and music industry executives from Nashville to New York to Los Angeles and beyond.
“When I asked Seth England to be this year’s honoree, he didn’t hesitate, he didn’t need to check his schedule, he just said ‘yes,’” said Steve Gawley, the foundation’s chairman-elect of the board of trustees. “Seth’s only question was, ‘How do we make the most impact?’ Because Seth always thinks big.” England’s ability to bring his country music Rat Pack together for the gala certainly paid off for the good cause – the T.J. Martell Foundation reports it raised a record-breaking $2.6 million for 2024.
“This year, I’ve had a massive learning curve about all that this organization means to folks — learning about the people it’s helped save and the money raised that continues to go to cancer research,” England said in his speech. “The work that the T.J. Martell Foundation has done has touched countless lives, and being a part of that legacy is beyond humbling. I’m honored to be able to contribute to this mission in tonight’s small way.”
John Esposito, Lynn-Anne Huck, Seth England, and Steve Gawley attend the T.J. Martell Foundation 49th annual New York Honors Gala on Sept. 17, 2024 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
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Tyla is set to perform on the runway of this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which was announced Wednesday (Sept. 18). Rolling Stone originally reported that Victoria’s Secret said it chose the Grammy-winning South African artist for her “vibrant personality” and “innovative take on pop and R&B,” hailing her as an “integral” part of the […]