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Lil Baby collects his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, all tallied consecutively, as WHAM opens atop the chart dated Jan. 18. The set earned 140,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 9, according to Luminate. The rapper previously topped the list with his last three releases: It’s Only Me (2022), The Voice of the Heroes (with Lil Durk, 2021) and My Turn (2020).

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In total, WHAM marks Lil Baby’s seventh top 10 on the Billboard 200, stretching back to 2019’s Harder Than Ever (No. 3 peak).

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WHAM’s Friday (Jan. 3) release was announced by Lil Baby in late December.

Also in the top 10: Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS debuts at No. 2, securing the superstar his seventh top 10-charting set. Bunny’s album was released on an off-cycle Sunday (Jan. 5) and, thus, it arrives on the chart with only five days of activity (as the chart’s tracking week runs Friday through Thursday). The album’s release date was announced on Dec. 25.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, 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. The new Jan. 18, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Jan. 14). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.

Of WHAM’s 140,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 90,000 (equaling 119.77 million on-demand official streams of the streaming version of the album’s songs; the set debuts at No. 3 on the Top Streaming Albums chart), album sales comprise 50,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

WHAM was available to purchase as a 15-song standard digital download album and a standard CD (the latter exclusively sold via the artist’s official webstore). On Jan. 7, an extended edition of WHAM — with four additional songs — was released exclusively via Lil Baby’s label webstore for purchase. The extended edition was later issued widely through streaming services and digital retailers on Friday (Jan. 10). Both digital versions of the album were discounted to $4.99 in the webstores of the artist and his label (Motown), along with in the iTunes Store.

The standard version of WHAM features guest turns from 21 Savage, Future, GloRilla, Rylo Rodriguez, Travis Scott, Young Thug and Rod Wave.

Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS starts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 122,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 113,500 (equaling 152.16 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 17 songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 8,000 and TEA units comprise 500. The album was only available as a standard 17-song set via streaming services and to purchase as a digital download (also discounted to $4.99 in Bad Bunny’s official webstore and the iTunes Store).

DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS was preceded by a pair of entries from the album on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “EL CLúB” and “PIToRRO DE COCO.”

Three former No. 1s follow on the Billboard 200: SZA’s SOS falls 1-3 on the (113,000 equivalent album units earned; down 13%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX moves 2-4 (67,000; down 4%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 3-5 (51,000; down 9%).

The Wicked film soundtrack dips 4-6 (45,000 equivalent album units; down 7%); Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls 5-7 (43,000; down 5%); Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 8 (40,000; down 1%); Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us is steady at No. 9 (38,000; down 5%); and Tyler, The Creator’s former leader CHROMAKOPIA is stationary at No. 10 (37,000; down 3%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

Sam Moore, half of the seminal duo Sam & Dave, died Friday (Jan. 10) in Coral Gables, Fla. The cause of death was complications from surgery. He was 89.
Moore, who was revered by artists including Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Garth Brooks and Jon Bon Jovi, had an instantly recognizable tenor, first heard on such call-and-response classics as Sam & Dave’s 1960s hits “Hold On, I’m Coming” and the Grammy-winning “Soul Man,” both of which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, as well as “I Thank You” and “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby.” The duo, who performed at Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorial concert at Madison Square Garden following his assassination in 1968, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 by Billy Joel.

Moore, who grew up in Miami, began singing in church and drew the attention of another legendary Sam, Sam Cooke, who wanted Moore to replace him in his gospel group The Soul Stirrers. However, after seeing Jackie Wilson perform, Moore shifted from gospel to pop and was performing at the King O’Hearts Club when he met Dave Prater and the two formed Sam & Dave.

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Legendary Atlantic Records executives Ahmet Ertegun, Tom Dowd and Jerry Wexler saw the pair at the King O’Hearts Club and signed them to the label in 1965. Wexler passed them to Atlantic’s southern partner, Stax Records, where Isaac Hayes and David Porter took them under their wing and produced their iconic hits.

Following Sam & Dave’s breakup in 1970, Moore signed to Atlantic as a solo artist. He recorded a solo album produced by King Curtis featuring Donnie Hathaway and Aretha Franklin. However, after Curtis was murdered in 1971, the album was shelved. He reunited with Dave for a few years, but spiraled into heroin addiction, which was chronicled in the DA Pennebaker/Chris Hegedus documentary Only the Strong Survive.

Interest in the duo was greatly revived by 1980’s The Blues Brothers movie, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The pair’s main theme was their boisterous version of “Soul Man.”

The song “turned out to be an anthem, sort of like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind” or one of those,” Moore told the Library of Congress in a 2002 interview when “Soul Man” was added to the Library’s National Recording Registry. “And, I tell you, it doesn’t matter where I sing — perform it — at the end of the night; if we didn’t do ‘Soul Man, the room would go up in smoke!”

Moore also shared how he and Prater worked out how to trade verses, with the help of Hayes. “By me at that time being the dominate one — and I’m not bragging here — I always sang the high parts,” he said in the same interview. “We went back with Isaac and he took us back and forth [with the verses]. Isaac was like, ‘Sam, try something like this.’ I remember him saying, ‘We want it bright. Not a dull opening.’ That’s why you hear all the high. Isaac was the one that suggested that.”

In the early ‘80s, Moore became sober with the help of Joyce McRae, whom he married in 1982 and who became his manager.

Moore went on to perform for six U.S. presidents — Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — and was a frequent performer at the Kennedy Center Honors.

Springsteen asked Moore to perform on his 1992 Human Touch album, as well as Only the Strong Survive, his 2023 album of soul covers.

Moore recovered his lost 1970 album, Plenty Good Loving, and released it in 2002 via EMI. “I met Sam and his wife, Joyce, when I was in my 20s and working for Rhino Records, who reissued the classic Sam & Dave albums,” says Exceleration Music creative director David Gorman, who was instrumental in the album finally seeing daylight. “Drooling fanboy that I was, I showed up to our first meeting holding a 45 and asking for his autograph. The 45 was his solo single ‘If I Should Lose Your Love.’ When he picked it up, his jaw dropped because he had completely forgotten that he ever made a solo record at all. Over dinner, his memories came flooding back and he remembered making an entire album but had no recollection around its fate. As soon as I got back to LA, I asked [mastering engineer] Bill Inglot if it really existed and within a few days he’d found the tapes and sent over a CD-R. It was brilliant. Sam, Joyce, and I worked together to find a new home for the solo album nobody remembered making.”

Four years later, Moore released his first new album in 30 years, Overnight Sensational, which featured Bon Jovi, Sting, Springsteen and Billy Preston, with whom he received a Grammy nomination for their duet of “You Are So Beautiful.”

In 2019, Moore and Prater received the Recording Academy’s highest honor, its Lifetime Achievement Award.

In his later years, in addition to continuing to perform, Moore became an artists’ advocate, including testifying in Congress on behalf of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, which would pay performers for radio airplay.

“His loss is deep,” Gorman says. “He was a force of joy as a human being, who lit up everyone around him. As an artist he had the explosive ability to work a crowd out — even Otis [Redding] feared following Sam & Dave on stage — but I found Sam’s genius alone with his records, especially the ballads. Sam’s cries, his knowing asides, the way would use time as a weapon to hit you when it would hurt or heal the most, gave me comfort and companionship in ways no other artist could. He could turn up the tempo and turn up the heat, but his slow-burn just couldn’t be touched. He was a master, the last of his kind.”

At the time of his death, Moore was working on a gospel album with Rudy Perez. He is survived by Joyce, daughter Michelle and grandchildren Tash and Misha.

There’s a reason why Ferg decided to take A$AP out of his name. The Harlem rapper sat down for a conversation with veteran rap journalist Touré on his podcast and when asked about the status of A$AP Mob, Ferg had an interesting answer. “Well, I don’t think there is A$AP anymore,” Ferg said. “There’s not […]

Ye — formerly Kanye West — has made cameos in films before, but he’s in the director’s chair now. West teased the first edition of his Vultures The Movie with the trailer arriving on Friday (Jan. 10). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Yeezy posted the one-minute […]

Legendary hip-hop group De La Soul is planning to dig in the crates. De La Soul took to Instagram to announce the release of Clear Lake Audiotorium, a six-track EP originally distributed as a promo release to DJs back in in 1994. “Originally pressed in 1994 as an exclusive promotional release for select DJs, Clear […]

Kodak Black is worried rap fans will turn on him eventually. During a recent Instagram Live session, the Florida rapper revealed that he feels a “Hate Kodak campaign” is in his future. “One day these n—s gon’ try to do me like Drake,” he said referring to the blowback the Toronto rapper has suffered since […]

2025 is already off to a fast start in the hip-hop/R&B world and Billboard Unfiltered is tackling it all in a jam-packed first week of the year.
Drake seemingly laid out his issues with LeBron James on the “Fighting Irish” freestyle while Lil Baby’s WHAM album arrived. LiAngelo Ball makes his case for rapper of 2025 with the viral “Tweaker” and the fellas take a few guesses at what Beyoncé has up her sleeve on Jan. 14.

Staff Writer Kyle Denis was a fan of Drake’s latest work with Conductor Williams, which he labeled “some of the greatest rapping we’ve heard from him in recent months.” However, he doesn’t think playing the victim role and taking it toward LeBron was the right move.

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“I wouldn’t waste this on LeBron James right now,” Denis said. “It just feels like there’s more important things he needs to be addressing culturally within himself which he does talk about a little bit throughout the song. But LeBron? He’s still tatted on you, bro.”

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Carl Lamarre speculated that Drake has denied olive branches extended from LeBron to have a conversation.

“It was the best-received Drake song in a long time,” Damien Scott said. “I think people are thirsty for the Drake they love.”

Lil Baby returned with his WHAM album in what’s set to be a loaded 2025 for the 4PF rapper, and while there’s been mixed reaction to the LP on social media, Damien Scott believes Baby delivered in a major way with his latest output.

“I think it’s a good album,” he said. “It’s not my high-water mark album for him. I think coming off his last project, I think this is very strong. I think he’s regaining his footing.” Scott also told a story about hearing the project everywhere in the Atlanta airport this week while traveling. “That’s all you hear,” he proclaimed.

Nobody had LiAngelo Ball delivering the first rap moment of 2025 with his viral “Tweaker” track infiltrating NBA and NFL locker rooms and racking up millions of views as fans “bend that corner.”

With the third Ball brother breaking through and earning a slot at Rolling Loud, it’s a matter of how far he can parlay this momentum. “Sources say he’s going to have a busy [NBA] All-Star Weekend as well,” Lamarre added.

Still, charts expert Trevor Anderson says it’s nearly impossible to predict the trajectory of “Tweaker.” “It’s hard to tell five days in how much longtail this has,” Anderson said. “We like to criticize some of the institutions for not jumping on things… Why wouldn’t you jump on this thing that clearly people are interested in?”

Watch the full episode below.

Sexyy Red is feeling like herself again. Big Sexyy kicked off 2025 going under the knife for a successful breast augmentation that has her “back double D’d up.” The St. Louis rapper took to her Instagram Story while at the doctor’s office showing her before and after results with a series of selfies on Thursday […]

In this episode of Billboard Unfiltered, Billboard staffers Trevor Anderson, Kyle Denis, Damien Scott, Carl Lamarre discuss LiAngelo Ball’s rapid rise in the hip-hop world leading with his “Tweaker” track. They also break down Drake’s “Fighting Irish Freestyle,” his alleged fake DMs with UMG, Lil Baby’s new album WHAM, and his career, and more.

Trevor Anderson:

So if you don’t drop that by like Valentine’s Day, you’ve got to save it. I can’t see Drake waiting that long to drop something that’s going to be bad.

Damien Scott:

All you hear from every spot is the BBL. That’s all you hear. The Young Thug track is here, the GloRilla song is over here. 

Carl Lamarre:

Numbers, freakin’ “Tweakers” is at 3 million on YouTube and it was surpassing some tracks on Lil Baby’s album 

Damien Scott:

Alright, let’s relax. 

Carl Lamarre:

I mean on YouTube that’s the way it’s going. 

Damien Scott:

That’s a lie. 

Carl Lamarre:

Yo, yo, yo what’s going on welcome to a fresh episode of Billboard Unfiltered. Gentlemen.

Kyle Denis:

Happy New Year.

Carl Lamarre:

Happy f*cking New Year.

Trevor Anderson: 

2025 folks.

Carl Lamarre:

Somebody decided to bring in the chaos of 2024 into 2025, Mr. Aubrey Graham. 

Kyle Denis:

Surprise, surprise.

Carl Lamarre:

Drizzy Drake Rogers kicked off 2025 with a conductive freestyle, “Fighting Irish Freestyle.” Three minutes long, some bars in there I would like to say. “Social media went into a tizzy. Had some choice words. A lot of people pointed a finger thinking he may be going after LeBron James.”

Damien Scott:

Clearly going after LeBron James.

Carl Lamarre:

I mean, we don’t know. 

Damien Scott:

Who else played for the Fighting Irish?

Keep watching for more!

What sonic characteristics led to The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” claiming the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart?
In 2021, Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides in-depth analysis of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, held its Max Martin Deconstructed Masterclass, led by Hit Songs Deconstructed co-founder Dave Penn. Martin co-wrote and co-produced “Blinding Lights” (with The Weeknd, among others), which contributed to his 27 No. 1s as a writer and record 25 leaders as a producer.

“Blinding Lights” led (LED?) the Hot 100 for four weeks in 2020, logged a record 57-week in the top 10 and charted for a dazzling 90 weeks total.

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Class is in session again (spit out your gum): Here’s a reprinted rundown, according to Penn’s insights as presented in 2021, of the songwriting and production elements and more that helped “Blinding Lights” beam brighter than any other song on the Hot 100 over the first 25 years of the century.

David Penn of Hit Songs Deconstructed: “Like most hits, ‘Blinding Lights’ features a meticulous combination of the typical and the atypical, which helps the song sound familiar to people while still standing out from the pack. But when it comes to this song, it’s really the writing and production team’s stellar arrangement techniques, along with Max Martin’s melodic genius, that make it such an interesting and captivating hit.

“For instance, its 28-second intro is almost unheard of currently; the average [intro on a] Hot 100 top 10 in 2020 was just 13 seconds. So, it really comes down to the way that the ‘Blinding Lights’ team arranged the intro to keep the listener engaged, all while establishing many key aspects of the song, including its atypical instrumental hook; most hooks in today’s hits are vocal.

“Another atypical quality is its, what I call, disappearing chorus. While many top 10 hits give the listener more chorus as a song progresses, the ‘Blinding Lights’ creators actually shorten the chorus as the song progresses. Like with everything else, there is purpose behind this. In this case, it makes the listener long to hear that full chorus again and return for another listen.

“Also, the song’s 1980s-influenced production qualities, a la ‘Take On Me’ by a-ha, come across as new and fresh to younger audiences while creating a sense of nostalgia for older audiences, which ultimately broadens the song’s reach across demographics.

“But perhaps the song’s most notable quality is the expert use of motifs and hook foreshadowing techniques that take its catchiness and memorability to the next level, whether the listener realizes it or not. This is a hallmark of Max Martin’s melody writing throughout his career. For example, the synth hook in the intro melodically foreshadows lines two and four of the chorus vocal melody. And the verse that follows rhythmically foreshadows lines one and three of the chorus.

“So, by the time listeners arrive at the first chorus, they’re already familiar with the entire melody, which makes it that much easier for them to sing along and remember it. And this goes on throughout the entire song; almost every line relates to some other line in the song, which gets it ingrained in the listener’s head without ever becoming monotonous.

“Along with promotional factors, these are just of a few of the many qualities that helped ‘Blinding Lights’ achieve its mass success.”

Browse Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart, Top Artists of the 21st Century chart and Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century chart, as well as all coverage of Billboard’s 21st Century charts here.

Billboard’s Top Artists, Top Billboard 200 Albums and Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top Artists chart.)