Innholdsfortegnelse for December 23-29, 2017 i Billboard Magazine

“I WRITE SONGS ABOUT PEOPLE,” says K. Michelle, the 33-year-old R&B spitfire and Memphis native whose previous three albums went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. On her latest LP, out Dec. 8, some of those folks are from her past (“A lot of people I don’t even talk to anymore”), one’s a major reality-TV star, and one is, well, herself. And they weren’t her only inspirations — alcohol and edible cannabis fueled her songs, too. Michelle breaks down how exactly she got into “the zone,” and just what was on her mind as she tackled everyone from God to a certain Kardashian. “GOD LOVE SEX AND DRUGS” “People want to box me in so bad — they want me to be one thing. I’m learning…

THE LONG ISLAND HARDCORE BAND Glassjaw ended a 15-year hiatus in December with a pummeling new album, Material Control, intended to unite its fan base against Brooklyn gentrification (“New White Extremity”) and Catholic theme parks (“Bibleland 6”). A new listener might not realize that as recently as 2000, frontman Daryl Palumbo was writing misogynistic — what he now calls “immature”— lyrics like those in “Lovebites and Razorlines,” which describes a murderous fantasy of sexualized gun violence. “There are a lot of ignorant things I felt the need to say at the time,” admits Palumbo. “We don’t play that anymore.” Whether or not you believe it’s possible for Glassjaw to redeem itself, it’s telling that Palumbo is attempting to do so now, at the end of a year marked by women…

LADY ANTEBELLUM (2010) “It sounds like a happy song, but it’s actually a longing song,” says the country trio’s colead vocalist Charles Kelley. “Country is known for its heartbreak, so that’s what we tried to bring to it.” The approach: Slow it down (the original is “kind of in doubletime,” he says). Lady A’s cover, released on its EP A Merry Little Christmas, peaked at No. 38 on Hot Country Songs in 2011. HANSON (2017) The band of brothers didn’t want to mess with the tune’s DNA when it recorded the song for new album Finally It’s Christmas. “For a band that harmonizes, it makes a lot of sense,” says Taylor Hanson. “The distinct difference in our version is the sound of a band playing, digging in a…

U2’s Eighth No. 1 Album U2 becomes the first group to land a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s as Songs of Experience bows atop the chart. The set enters with 186,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 180,000 were traditional album sales. With the debut, U2 is just the fourth act to have earned No. 1s in the last four decades, following Janet Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand. In addition, on the list of artists with the all-time most No. 1s, U2 is now solely in third place among groups with the most leaders. (It broke a tie with Led Zeppelin, with seven.) Ahead of U2 are The Rolling…

Bryan Shines At No. 1 Luke Bryan (above) earns his 18th Country Airplay No. 1 as “Light It Up” lifts 2-1, increasing 7 percent to 42.8 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music. The song marks his 10th straight Country Airplay leader, the longest current streak among all artists (counting officially promoted, nonseasonal singles). Bryan began the run with “Play It Again” in May 2014. Meanwhile, Chris Stapleton’s third fulllength, From A Room: Volume 2, arrives at No. 1 on Top Country Albums, earning 125,000 equivalent album units (116,000 in traditional album sales) in the week ending Dec. 7. The set follows From A Room: Volume 1, which bowed atop the May 27 chart with 219,000 units (202,000 in pure sales), marking Stapleton’s strongest unit and sales week to date.…

Wisin Declares Victory Wisin (above) debuts at No. 2 on Top Latin Albums as his fourth studio release, Victory, opens with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 4,000 were traditional album sales. The new album is Wisin’s fourth solo effort to chart and third straight set to reach the top three. It follows Los Vaqueros: La Trilogía (No. 1 for two weeks in 2015) and El Regreso del Sobreviviente. In 2004, he earned his first solo entry, El Sobreviviente, peaking at No. 20. Elsewhere, regional Mexican group Alta Consigna re-enters Top Latin Albums at No. 6 with No Te Pido Mucho (3,000 units, up 894 percent; with 2,000 in sales, up from a negligible figure in the previous…

Billboard will wrap up 2017 with exclusive year-end charts, interviews, and analysis on the year’s top artists, titles and labels in multiple genres as well as the year’s top producers, songwriters and publishers that reigned concurrently on the Hot 100 charts. The year-end Billboard Boxscore rankings will shine a light on the most successful acts on the road, as well as the top venues and promoters. This highly anticipated year in music- the No.1s, serves as a compilation of must-have information and is referenced year-round by everyone in the music and touring industry. It is their de facto resource of musthave Billboard historical data and information. Advertise in this signature collector’s edition and position your company, artist or breakthrough achievement to the power players in the industry. This issue provides…

Can a successful A&R executive from the publishing world transform into an equally successful record man? That question will be put to the test again, as SONGS Music Publishing president Ron Perry gears up to take over as chairman/CEO of Columbia Records on Jan. 2, following the Dec. 8 sale of the SONGS catalog to Kobalt Capital’s fund for about $140 million, sources say. While Perry helped build SONGS into one of the leading independent publishers, signing new songwriters such as Lorde and The Weeknd, the track record of publishing executives in record land has been mixed. “Many great record label people started in publishing,” says Charles Koppelman, chairman/CEO of C.A.K. Entertainment, who moved from publishing to labels when he and his partners Stephen Swid and Martin Bandier opened SBK…

“I don’t think there is a clear-cut avenue for what we do, and I am OK with that.”—East AS HE SITS IN THE MUSIC ROW OFFICE THAT he calls his “hideout,” Anderson East sips a can of La Croix and looks slightly embarrassed. Not because of the drink — it’s because of a name plate on his desk, which reads “Talented Motherfucker.” While he’s one of Nashville’s most promising new talents, the 30-year-old is not about to claim he has earned that mock designation. Instead, he humbly offers up the following: “There is a healthy amount of self-doubt and criticism with most people that make music. You find your areas that are your best. Onstage, I am good. But talking to someone in the grocery store? Forget about it.” Be…

“One of my cousins bought a six-pack of white crew socks and gave all of the male cousins one pair, wrapped up, and said, ‘Gifts are out of love!’ One. Pair. That’s one-sixth of a gift.” —DRAM “My mom pranked me and told me I had new video games waiting downstairs. I opened up the box, and it was a note that said, ‘Gotcha! Merry Christmas.’ I’m still in therapy over that.” —LECRAE “This one year, my grandma gave me some clothes, and they were all covered in hot-pink glitter and said something dumb like, ‘Only want to be a kitten.’ It was actually really fun.” —GRACE VANDERWAAL “My mom, sister and I unwrapped wallets that we thought said ‘Gucci,’ and we were totally floored. My dad threw his hands…

How is Rubba Band Business the album different from your mixtape series of the same name? I feel like if something ain’t broke, you don’t fix it. [The album has] the same vibes, same mind frame — we kept it just like [the] original. I didn’t want to change anything up because people already know the Rubba Band Business mixtapes were super classic. You feature Wiz Khalifa on two tracks. Why do you two have such strong chemistry? He’s just like me — he’s a hard worker. He works day and night in the studio. Every time we [record together] the vibes are crazy. We probably have 50 unreleased songs. We have a lot coming. You’ve been in Three 6 Mafia for over 25 years now. How do you stay…

Carey’s Evergreen Christmas Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas takes a 31- 20 sleigh ride up the Billboard 200, marking the album’s highest rank since Jan. 14, 1995, when it placed at No. 17. The set peaked at No. 3 on Dec. 17, 1994 (following its release that November). On the Top Holiday Albums chart, the LP, up 39 percent to 24,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Nielsen Music, pushes 7-4, its best placement since Jan. 11, 1997. Meanwhile, the album’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” surges 21-11 on the Billboard Hot 100, matching its peak first achieved during the 2015-16 holiday season. (Upon its initial release, the song was not a commercial single and, according to chart rules at the time, was…

Rock Covers Roll On Five Finger Death Punch (above) lands its fourth No. 1 on Hard Rock Albums as A Decade of Destruction, the act’s first greatesthits compilation, bows with 19,000 equivalent album units (13,000 in traditional album sales), according to Nielsen Music. Concurrently, one of its two songs newly recorded for the set, a cover of The Offspring’s “Gone Away,” debuts atop Hard Rock Digital Song Sales (13,000 downloads sold), where it’s the band’s record-breaking eighth No. 1 (since the list’s launch in 2010), passing Linkin Park’s seven. FFDP’s update of “Gone” (The Offspring’s original topped Mainstream Rock in 1997) is the third remake to lead Hard Rock Digital Song Sales in 2017, joining Disturbed’s rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” and All That Remains’“The Thunder…

Simpson, Jenkins ‘Grace’ No. 1 Brooke Simpson (above), while competing for Miley Cyrus’ team on season 13 of NBC’s The Voice, sang the hymn “Amazing Grace” on the show’s Dec. 3 episode. The recording subsequently launches atop Hot Christian Songs, powered by 25,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Nielsen Music. North Carolina native Simpson reigns with her first Billboard chart entry, which marks The Voice’s eighth No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs, all of which have debuted at the summit. It’s the first since Christian Cuevas’ version of Israel & New Breed’s “To Worship You I Live (Away),” which opened atop the chart dated Dec. 24, 2016. The first and fourth times that competitors on The Voice topped the chart were also with “Amazing Grace,”…

Anthony Wraps Stateside Trek Marc Anthony (above) hits the Boxscore chart with four concert engagements from his Full Circle Tour that ended earlier in December after a run through 13 American cities. The Latin star earns the No. 1 ranking with the only two-night stint on his tour, a pair of shows at American Airlines Center in Miami on Nov. 17 and 18. The sold-out performances drew a total of 32,514 fans, racking up $3.9 million at the box office. The 2017 engagement is his 11th at the Miami arena since it opened in 1999, based on box-office counts reported to Billboard. From the 11 dates in the Boxscore archives, nine of them were two-show runs. His top gross at the venue was recorded in November 2016, with $4.5 million…

“If you don’t want a glass ceiling, open your own fucking company.”—Dina LaPolt, LaPolt Law AS ALLEGATIONS OF sexual misconduct continue to rock the entertainment industry, lawyers predict there could be one unintended consequence: fewer opportunities for women in music. “People are going to think twice about hiring women, and promoting women is going to be a big issue now,” says attorney Dina LaPolt, head of LaPolt Law. “If you have two people for the job — this guy or this woman — I just think the men are going to get more opportunities.” Large, multinational corporations often have diversity hiring practices, but “what we need to be vigilant about is at the smaller companies, ones that aren’t under the same vigilance, where you might find a chilling…

DURING THE 2017 BILLBOARD WOMEN IN MUSIC EVENT, Selena Gomez posed a singular rhetorical question backstage: “What would our industry look like without women?” If the gathering where Gomez was honored as Billboard’s Woman of the Year was any indication, it would be a lot less inspirational. Atlantic Records chairman/COO Julie Greenwald, who was given her Executive of the Year award by Ed Sheeran, set the tone in the Dolby Ballroom, vowing to provide “young women with a safer environment, free from harassment and discrimination.” Among those at the ceremony: Grace VanderWaal, who earned a standing ovation for her Rising Star award acceptance speech and stunned the crowd with her latest single, “Moonlight”; Camila Cabello, who performed “Havana” before her Breakthrough Artist speech; and Kehlani, whose “Honey” performance embodied her…

DAVE COBB A chance meeting led to East signing to Cobb’s label, Low Country Sound, in 2015. “He was like, ‘Man, you can do this!’ He put a lot of confidence in my back pocket,” says East, who wears a ring with the letters LCS in honor of the imprint and had ones custom-made for members of the label — a gesture he connects with Elvis Presley’s iconic TCB ring. NATALIE HEMBY In addition to collaborating with Brandi Carlile, Ed Sheeran and Avicii, East wrote two songs —“This Too Shall Last” and “House Is a Building”— with Aaron Raitiere and Hemby. “They are just ungodly talented in every respect. [And] they are such good friends,” he says. “[We] start talking about real life and are like, ‘That is…

No. 38 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs Hometown advantage Ramirez sisters Cristal (vocals) and Alisa (drums) started The Aces as preteens in Provo, Utah, recruiting childhood friends McKenna Petty (bass) and Katie Henderson (guitar). Alcohol-free venues in their conservative town enabled the foursome, now all 21 except Alisa (19), to score gigs in high school: “It was a unique city that shaped us as musicians,” says Petty. “It’s such a monumental part of our band’s story.” Lorde got them serious... Watching Lorde win two Grammys in 2014 for her hit “Royals” gave The Aces (originally named The Blue Aces) the motivation to turn their hobby into a career. “It was this moment of, ‘We have to take this seriously,’” recalls Cristal. After The Aces independently released single “Stuck” in May 2016,…

Tomlinson Of 1D Is No. 2 One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson (above) vaults 24-2 on the Emerging Artists chart, matching a peak he first reached on the Sept. 9 tally. The move is powered by his fourth solo track, “Miss You,” which drew 1.8 million streams and sold 19,000 downloads in its opening week, according to Nielsen Music. The song enters Digital Song Sales at No. 15. Country group LANCO returns to No. 1 on Emerging Artists after a week at No. 2, while The Voice contestant Chloe Kohanski ruled on the strength of sales of her cover of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” LANCO’s breakthrough hit, “Greatest Love Story,” which holds at No. 2 after a week atop Hot Country Songs (Dec. 9), rises 7 percent to 5…

French Royalty Finally Debuts French rock‘n’roll legend Johnny Hallyday (below) makes his Billboard chart debut, bowing at No. 11 on the Social 50 following his Dec. 6 death. Hallyday, who mostly recorded in French during a career that spanned over a half century but also released occasional English-language albums (though he never earned crossover success in the United States), received 898,000 Wikipedia views during the Dec. 1-7 tracking week and was mentioned 40,000 times on Twitter, according to Next Big Sound. Hallyday died of lung cancer at age 74 outside Paris. Hallyday was honored on Instagram by Ed Sheeran, who called him a “true gent” in a Dec. 6 photo of the pair. Sheeran jumps 25-6 on the Social 50 with a 216 percent boost in Instagram reactions. Those reactions…

Miguel Wins With War Miguel (above) collects his second No. 1 on Top R&B/ Hip-Hop Albums as War and Leisure begins with 40,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Nielsen Music. The R&B singer previously reigned with the one-week leader Kaleidoscope Dream in 2012. As War breaks out, two of the album’s tracks make headway on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Lead single “Sky Walker” (featuring Travis Scott) zooms 23-16, while “Come Through and Chill”(featuring J. Cole and Salaam Remi) debuts at No. 44. Meanwhile on Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs, rapper 6ix9ine explodes 22-5 with “Gummo” in the wake of huge streaming gains. The tune rockets 15-3 on R&B/ Hip-Hop Streaming Songs, pulling 27.9 million plays for the week, up a scorching 110 percent. 6ix9ine turns…

Kesha: No. 1 ‘Woman’ Kesha (above) cruises to her third No. 1 on Dance Club Songs with “Woman,” featuring The Dap-Kings Horns, who earn their first. Kesha collects her second chart-topper as a lead following “Your Love Is My Drug” in August 2010. Among her five top 10s is her other No. 1, Pitbull’s “Timber,” on which she’s featured, in January 2014. “Woman” was remixed by Dave Audé, Rare Candy and Tobtok, among others. Camila Cabello climbs 2-1 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay with “Havana” (featuring Young Thug) marking each act’s first No. 1 on the survey. Also on the chart, two artists earn their second top 10 each: Dua Lipa leaps 11-7 with “New Rules,” and Post Malone surges 22-10 with “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage (who tallies his first). Sofi…