Innholdsfortegnelse for March 24, 2018 i Billboard Magazine

THE CHAINSMOKERS KYGO THE JEWELER Maison Raksha is the brainchild of 25-year-old Toronto native Jonathan Raksha, who is known for his goldsmith work on grills and counts A$AP Rocky, Kanye West, Post Malone and Young Thug among his long list of highprofile clientele. Founded in 1868, Arven is one of the last remaining silversmiths in Bergen, a city in southwestern Norway. It’s also Kygo’s hometown. “Like Kygo, we have the same values: quality, roots, innovation,” says head of marketing Lilli-Anne Alver. BEHIND THE DESIGN “I first drew lips with a cigarette, and they quickly told me smoking wasn’t associated with their brand,” recalls Raksha. He landed on a rose, a recurring design in his work that also speaks to the duo’s 2016 hit “Roses.” “Kygo’s manager, Myles [Shear],…

FROM C-SUITES TO FESTIVAL LINEUPS, it’s no secret that men dominate the dance music industry. While female DJs are featured on panels and in op-eds exploring gender inequality, meaningful progress has yet to occur. Billboard estimates that the 2018 rosters for the biggest U.S. dance festivals, Ultra in Miami and Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, feature fewer than 1 percent women. Blurred lines between working and partying also make women in the scene more vulnerable to assault and harassment. With the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements provoking conversations around sexual misconduct and gender disparity, the underrepresentation of women in dance music is getting a closer look, and female artists are largely fostering this dialogue. Chicago DJ-producer Dani Deahl, Los Angeles producer KITTENS (born Lauren Abedini) and sisters Jahan and…

WHEN RIHANNA celebrated her 30th birthday at The Pool in New York on Feb. 20, among her gifts was a surprise 30-minute performance by one of her favorite artists. Social media posts the next morning revealed the identity of the performer: Toni Braxton. “It was so much fun,” recalls Braxton, speaking with Billboard a few days later. “I started the show with ‘Breathe Again,’ Rihanna’s favorite song, and ended with ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough.’ And she sang along to every song.” Fans worldwide have been singing along to Braxton’s music ever since the husky-voiced singer released her selftitled, chart-topping debut album in 1993. Featuring the career-defining hits “Another Sad Love Song” and “Breathe Again,” the eight-times-platinum record netted Braxton her first three Grammy Awards, including one for best new…

Byrne’s Best; Swift Hits 2M David Byrne earns his highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 as American Utopia enters at No. 3 with 63,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 15, according to Nielsen Music. Byrne’s debut, his 12th charting solo set, is driven almost entirely by traditional album sales, resulting in his biggest sales week since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. American Utopia’s arrival was enhanced by sales from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer for the artist’s tour, which started in early March. American Utopia is Byrne’s first solo album since 2004’s Grown Backwards, which debuted and peaked at No. 178. His previous high on the Billboard 200 was logged by his collaborative set with St. Vincent, Love This Giant, which reached…

‘Halos’ Shines Chris Stapleton (above) reaches the Country Airplay summit for the first time as “Broken Halos” ascends 2-1 (41.2 million in audience, up 2 percent, according to Nielsen Music). The organic-styled “Halos” is the second single off From A Room: Volume 1, which arrived atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart on May 27, 2017. The set has spent eight weeks at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and 13 weeks atop Americana/Folk Albums. It has earned 961,000 equivalent album units, including 741,000 in traditional album sales. Stapleton is the first male, and fifth act overall, to have topped both Americana/Folk Albums and Country Airplay (or, before Country Airplay’s inception in 1990, Hot Country Songs). Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton previously achieved the feat.…

J Balvin’s ‘Machika’ Motors To The Top J Balvin (above center, with Anitta and Jeon) logs his eighth No. 1 on Latin Airplay as “Machika,” his collaboration with Jeon and Anitta, soars 8-1. The song collected 16.9 million in audience impressions in the week ending March 18 (up 48 percent), according to Nielsen Music, and takes the week’s Greatest Gainer honor. The track also surges 7-1 on Latin Rhythm Airplay and 17-12 on Hot Latin Songs. “Machika” is the first Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay leader for both Jeon and Anitta. Also on Hot Latin Songs, Reik is back in the top 10 after a year-and-a-half as “Me Niego” (featuring Ozuna and Wisin) climbs 12-9. The band last appeared in the top 10 with “Ya Me Entere,” with…

Common, Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper were friends and collaborators before the idea of forming a band came to mind. But after the trio recorded Common’s 2016 album, Black America Again, the group’s longstanding brotherhood and musical chemistry culminated in the creation of the artists’ new jazz-and hip-hoprooted collective, August Greene, and an eponymous debut (out now) that mixes Common’s lyrical sensibility, Glasper’s complex piano arrangements and Riggins’ polished, J Dilla-inspired beats. The members explain how the supergroup fell into place. The Rapper: Common “Because we were working together so much, the timing was right. We rented this house with a studio [in Malibu, Calif.], and we thought of August Greene. It was my birthday and we were having fun, and my trainer was like, ‘Yo, y’all should be…

Despite winning the just-wrapped season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars on VH1, Trixie Mattel actually identifies as “a musician first, drag queen second.” Known for her exaggerated, high-camp style (she describes her look as “a caricature of a caricature of a woman”), she admits that “when [people] see my image, they’re like, ‘There’s no way this music is going to have any legitimacy to it.’” But under the layers of foundation and eye shadow, Mattel is a 28-year-old, autoharp-wielding folk singer from deep-country Wisconsin, whose 2017 debut record, Two Birds, reached No. 16 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums chart. Its campfireready follow-up, One Stone, is out now. Mattel shares her biggest musical influences. MICHELLE BRANCH INSPIRED HER TO PICK UP A GUITAR “I started playing guitar because of…

Ben Turner, 44, has been involved with nearly every aspect of electronic music since he fell for the form nearly three decades ago: as a fan, raver, journalist, editor, manager, creative director on DanceStar USA: The American Dance Music Awards and co-founder of the annual International Music Summit in Ibiza, Spain. But in 2013, he felt one thing was missing from the scene. “What was needed, from my perspective, was infrastructure,” he explains. “When you think back five years ago, the genre was exploding all over the world. In an industry, you need to be able to speak with one voice on certain occasions to make a key message. That didn’t exist.” So Turner and attorney Kurosh Nasseri founded the Association for Electronic Music, a nonprofit organization, expressly for…

Scott Scores New High British pop singersongwriter Calum Scott (above) vaults 37-4 on the Emerging Artists chart, entering the top 10 for the first time on the strength of his debut album, Only Human, which opens at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 with 9,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. The set’s current single, “You Are the Reason,” with fellow Brit Leona Lewis, holds at its No. 13 high on Adult Contemporary. The album includes Scott’s cover of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” which reached No. 15 on AC in 2016, after hitting No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles chart. Atop Emerging Artists, Bad Wolves notch their first week at No. 1, powered by their cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” which debuts at No. 54 on…

Lovato Leaps On Social 50 After a week where Demi Lovato (below) celebrated six years of sobriety, she launches 20-3 on the Social 50 with an 83 percent gain in chart points in the week ending March 15, according to Next Big Sound. A big driver of that gain is the pop star’s 356 percent jump in Instagram reactions. Along with posting photos from her current U.S. tour, Lovato added a selfie on March 15 announcing her sobriety anniversary and that she was launching a contest with CAST Centers to promote sharing others’ stories of their own recovery. “A huge part of my recovery was learning to love myself and to give back to others,” she wrote. The winner will be a special speaker at Lovato’s closing tour date…

Vets Rule Rock Charts Judas Priest (above) scores its second No. 1 on Hard Rock Albums as Firepower, the band’s 18th studio set, arrives with 49,000 equivalent album units (48,000 in pure sales), according to Nielsen Music. It follows the group’s 2014 No. 1, Redeemer of Souls, and becomes its top-charting album on the Billboard 200, where it launches at No. 5, besting Redeemer’s No. 6 peak. Firepower’s lead single, “Lightning Strike,” has hit No. 21 on the Mainstream Rock airplay chart, the band’s best rank since 1982. Speaking of Mainstream Rock, Pop Evil notches its fifth No. 1 on the list with “Waking Lions,” the lead single from its self-titled fifth LP. Pop Evil has earned all of its leaders in under five years, having first reigned with…

MercyMe Reimagined Sparked by the opening of the movie I Can Only Imagine, which finished third at the North American box office over the March 16-18 weekend with $17 million, the namesake 1999 song by MercyMe (above) that inspired the film surges on Billboard’s Christian charts. Written by MercyMe frontman Bart Millard (portrayed onscreen by J. Michael Finley, with Dennis Quaid as his father), the original version of “Imagine” flies onto Hot Christian Songs, which blends streaming, airplay and sales data, at No. 2. “Imagine” dominated Christian radio in 2001 (prior to the launch of Hot Christian Songs). A crossover hit, the ballad rose to No. 5 on Adult Contemporary in 2003. The original “Imagine” enters Hot Christian Songs on the strength of 10,000 downloads sold (up 67 percent)…

LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts • Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). ▴ RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ♦ RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ° Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 30,000 units (Oro). Δ Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 60,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platino symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Digital Songs Charts • RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads and ondemand streams where 100 streams equal 1…

On April 6, 2 Chainz, French Montana and Latin Grammy Award winner Nacho will feature on an international version of MC Kevinho’s Brazilian funk hit “Olha a Explosão.” The track has over 700 million combined streams in Latin America between Spotify and YouTube, but Aftercluv, Universal Music Latin Entertainment’s dance division launched in 2015, is betting it has plenty of room to grow in the rest of the world. With operations in nine countries and 14 employees, Aftercluv focuses on helping Latin tracks fuel dancefloors across the globe, creating a new avenue for those acts while offering non-Latin stars opportunities to reach different audiences. Fusing everything from American rap and dancehall to Brazilian funk, electro Latino and reggaetón, Aftercluv partners with Universal’s full suite of labels to bridge Latin…

No. 53 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart Child’s play Jillian Jacqueline was a kindergartner in Chester Springs, Pa., when she began singing at local open-mics (Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” was her go-to), thumbing through Backstage magazine for auditions and submitting a “picture my mom found in a drawer” as her headshot. “I knew [music was] what I was going to do. I never questioned it,” she says. With her three sisters, she formed The Little Women Band, named for the Louisa May Alcott novel. Kenny Rogers gave her a start… Traveling to Manhattan at age 9 to try out for Rogers’ Christmas From the Heart show, Jacqueline thought she bombed the audition: “I couldn’t dance and had two different socks on.” But she stunned the country legend, who took her…

On Jan. 3, Victor Manuel Ruiz Rivera, 68, the father of salsa star Victor Manuelle, died following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. “Today my hero finished his mission with us on earth,” wrote Manuelle on his Facebook page. “He goes to heaven leaving us a great life lesson as father, friend and great human being.” During his father’s illness, Manuelle became a spokesman for De Frente al Alzheimer, a Puerto Rico-based nonprofit that raises awareness and funds for patients and their families to deal with the financial burdens of the illness. “We look for low-income families or families with patients with needs,” says Manuelle. “We help them with money for medicine, remodeling of their homes … so they’re handicappedaccessible. We’ve helped people who don’t have enough money to…

Logic’s Second No. 1 Logic scores his second No. 1 album in under a year on the Billboard 200 as his new mixtape, Bobby Tarantino II, debuts atop the list. The set bows with 119,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 15, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 32,000 were traditional album sales. The remainder was tallied in streaming equivalent album units (82,000) and track equivalent album units (5,000). Logic topped the Billboard 200 less than a year ago with his last studio album, Everybody. The set opened at No. 1 on the list dated May 27, 2017, with 247,000 units earned — 196,000 of them were traditional album sales, along with 47,000 SEA units and 4,000 TEA units. Notably, while Everybody’s overall debut figure…

AIRPLAY DATA COMPILED BY nielsen MUSIC RADIO SONGS: The week’s most popular songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music. Stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. DIGITAL SONG SALES: The week’s top-downloaded songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. POP/RHYTHMIC/ADULT: The week’s most popular current songs at mainstream top 40, rhythmic, adult contemporary and adult top 40 formats, respectively, ranked by radio airplay detections, as measured by Nielsen Music. Songs are defined as current if they are relatively recently-released titles, or songs receiving widespread airplay and/or sales activity for the first time. Stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. See Charts Legend on billboard.com/biz for complete rules and explanations. All charts…

Lil Yachty’s Boat Bows Lil Yachty (above) earns his highest-charting effort yet on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums as Lil Boat 2 opens at No. 2 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 15, according to Nielsen Music. The set surpasses his previous best, Teenage Emotions, which peaked at No. 4 in 2017. As Boat launches, three of its tracks debut on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: “NBAYoungboat,” featuring NBA YoungBoy (No. 31); “66,” featuring Trippie Redd (No. 36); and “Boom!,” featuring Ugly God (No. 43). A new album also triggers several song debuts for Logic, whose Bobby Tarantino II opens atop the Billboard 200 (see page 58) and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Tarantino II earned 119,000 equivalent album units and secures the rapper’s third No. 1 on the latter…

Marshmello Flies Into Top 10 Marshmello (above) debuts at No. 7 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with “Fly” (featuring Leah Culver). The fourth top 10 for the masked DJ marks the first chart appearance for singer Culver. “Fly” flutters in with 3.4 million U.S. streams and 3,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music. On Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Sydney-based What So Not starts at No. 8 with Not All the Beautiful Things. The full-length, which contains collaborations with Skrillex, San Holo and even veteran pop-rock band Toto, earned 2,000 equivalent album units, with under half from traditional album sales. It’s the first top 10 and marks the best career sales week for the solo act of Emoh Instead (formerly a duo with Flume), surpassing the performances of two 2016 EPs, Gemini…