Innholdsfortegnelse for March 31, 2018 i Billboard Magazine

Since joining SoundCloud in 2011, London-based musician Tom Misch has amassed nearly 200,000 followers by working the intersection of hip-hop and jazz. The 22-year-old, who studied music technology at Langley College for Boys and later jazz guitar at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, will release his funk-infused debut, Geography, on April 6. On the album, which features De La Soul and GoldLink, Misch sprinkles in disco and mines inspiration from J Dilla beats for a not-exactly-smooth-jazz offering elevated by his pillowy tenor. Before embarking on a sold-out U.S. tour and playing Coachella, Misch shares how he hopscotches across genres — and offers a hot take on hiphop of the moment. 1 He’s Not Trying To Be A Purist “Jazzheads are really snobby, like jazz has to be…

THE CROSSOVER STARS Maren Morris And Florida Georgia Line With her Zedd and Grey collaboration, “The Middle,” and its “Meant to Be” with Bebe Rexha, Morris and FGL are holding strong in the Hot 100’s top 10, at Nos. 6 and 2, respectively — the first time two country acts have done so simultaneously this decade. They’ve done it, notably, with songs that are more pop than anything else. THE AGENT Jonathan Levine After a year of agency shake-ups in Music City, Paradigm’s head of Nashville has emerged as a steadying force, boasting clients like Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson and Anderson East who don’t neatly fit the traditional country mold. Levine and his team aren’t afraid to step outside country, either: He just booked six sellout “Duos” shows for…

COUNTRY MUSIC’S AWAY GAME.” THAT’S HOW ACADEMY OF COUNTRY Music CEO Pete Fisher describes the organization’s 53rd annual awards show taking place April 15 in Las Vegas, over 1,750 miles from country music’s capital, Nashville. Beginning with the first awards banquet in 1965, staged by what was then known as the Academy of Country and Western, in Los Angeles, where the organization was founded — and held since 2003 in Las Vegas — the ACM Awards are a celebration of the previous year’s musical accomplishments. Broadcast live on CBS from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the 2018 ceremony’s field of contenders is led by Chris Stapleton, with eight nominations, followed by Thomas Rhett, with six. Keith Urban and songwriter Shane McAnally each received five. Reba McEntire returns as host…

PRhyme Time PRhyme (above), the hip-hop duo of Detroit-based rapper Royce Da 5’9” and New York producer DJ Premier, debuts at No. 2 on the Emerging Artists chart thanks to its sophomore set, PRhyme 2, which starts at No. 40 on the Billboard 200 and No. 23 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with 13,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. The LP, which marks the duo’s first entry in tandem on an albums chart, features guest appearances by 2 Chainz, Cee Lo Green, Big K.R.I.T. and Yelawolf, among others. Anne-Marie hits the Emerging Artists top 10 for the first time, rising 11-10 on the strength of “Friends,” with Marshmello, which enters the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 (41-28). Meanwhile, Bad Wolves log a second week atop Emerging…

NCT Makes Social 50 Debut K-pop group NCT (below) makes its inaugural appearance on the Social 50 chart, debuting at No. 9 following the release of its first full-length album on March 14. The 18-member group, which is often broken down into three subunits — NCT U, NCT 127 and NCT Dream — on the album, bows with 4.3 million Instagram reactions and 669,000 Twitter reactions in the week ending March 22, according to Next Big Sound. NCT is the fourth act to debut inside the top 10 in 2018 and the highest debut unrelated to a death since Harry Styles (No. 3, April 22, 2017). Speaking of Styles, he re-enters the Social 50 at No. 11 as his European tour begins. The trek started in Switzerland on March…

3 Cheers For 3DG Van Halen’s record of 13 No. 1s on the Mainstream Rock airplay chart that has stood for over two decades has finally been equaled, as Three Days Grace (above) notches its 13th leader on the list with “The Mountain,” which climbs 3-1. The track is the Canadian four-piece’s first No. 1 since “I Am Machine” in 2015. The Alternative airplay chart also welcomes a new leader: Portugal. The Man’s “Live in the Moment” (2-1). The Portland, Ore.-via-Alaska act earns its second No. 1 following preceding single “Feel It Still,” which ruled for a chart-record 20 weeks beginning last July. “Moment” topped Triple A for two weeks beginning Jan. 27. In other Portland-based acts news, The Decemberists score their second No. 1 on Alternative Albums with…

Snoop Dominates Gospel Snoop Dog Presents: Bible of Love, the new faith-based set from Snoop Dogg (above), flies in at No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums with 5,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. The 32-track double-album, Snoop’s first title on the tally, includes features by such gospel stalwarts as Erica Campbell, Marvin Sapp, Tye Tribbett and Charlie Wilson. On the all-genre Billboard 200, where Bible opens at No. 148, the rapper snares his 25th entry, a sum that includes three No. 1s, starting with his 1993 debut, Doggy Style. He has also earned six No. 1s on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and one on Reggae Albums (his 2013 Snoop Lion release, Reincarnated). MercyMe’s 1999 classic, “I Can Only Imagine,” propelled by the new movie of the same name…

CNCO’S RICHARD CAMACHO WAS JUGGLING four jobs in New Hampshire, his bank account “not really popping,” when he won a spot in Latin quintet CNCO on Univision reality show La Banda in December 2015. Within a year, the 21-year-old and his bandmates — Joel Pimentel, 21, Christopher Vélez, 22, Zabdiel De Jesús, 20, and Erick Brian Colón, 17 — were opening for Ricky Martin on his international One World Tour, and landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart with their debut, Primera Cita. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Camacho, his hair bleached white-blond and his open jean shirt revealing a tattoo of twin wings, seated with the other members of CNCO at Sony Music Latin’s headquarters in Miami. “I’d never seen that much money in my…

AJR’s “Sober Up,” which features Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, is a testament to the power of social media. After mutual Twitter follows with Cuomo and direct messages about a collaboration, the New York trio of brothers has its biggest hit to date: a violin-driven departure from its usual pop that topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart and is now likely to cross over to top 40 radio. The key players behind the song explain how the format-transcending single came to be. The Collaborator: Rivers Cuomo “I kept hearing [previous single] ‘Weak’ on Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits. It reminded me of Weezer a little bit; if I were in my mid-20s right now, I’d be trying to do something like that. So I followed them on Twitter. They asked if I wanted…

XXX Marks The No. 1 Spot Singer-rapper XXXTentacion notches his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as the controversial artist’s second studio release, ?, bows atop the list. The set starts with 131,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 22, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 20,000 were traditional album sales. While ? garnered 20,000 in album sales and 5,000 track-equivalent album units, streaming drove it to No. 1. The title collected 106,000 streaming-equivalent album units, which equals 159.4 million on-demand audio streams of tracks from the album during its opening week. In fact, even without album sales or TEA units, ? still would have debuted at the top. The set logs the second-largest streaming week for an album in 2018, behind only…

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 © 2018, Prometheus Global Media, LLC…

Charlie’s ‘Chills’ Heat Up Charlie Wilson (above) claims his sixth No. 1 on Adult R&B as “Chills” creeps 3-1 in its 26th week on the list. The song ascends with an 11 percent gain in plays in the week ending March 25, according to Nielsen Music. The R&B veteran, who fronted The Gap Band from the 1970s until 2010, also earns his second leader from his 2017 album, In It to Win It. “Chills” follows “I’m Blessed,” featuring T.I., which ruled for two weeks in 2017. Meanwhile, XXXTentacion notches a career first by reaching the top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with “Sad!” The tune soars 12-4 as his new album, ?, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (see page 52) and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. “Sad!” benefits…

Love For ‘Hates’ The Chainsmokers (above) score their highest debut on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart as “Everybody Hates Me” enters at No. 5. Previously, the pair logged its top start on March 11, 2017, when “Something Just Like This” (with Coldplay) launched at No. 6. “Everybody” is the DJ duo’s fourth top 10 debut and 10th top 10 overall, tying it with David Guetta for the second-most top 10s in the chart’s five-year history; Calvin Harris leads with 14. The track begins with 5.4 million U.S. streams and 11,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music. Kygo mirrors The Chainsmokers’ career-best bow on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, earning his top arrival with “Remind Me to Forget” (featuring Miguel) at No. 7. With 4.1 million domestic streams and 13,000 sold, “Remind”…

At a 2012 tech conference in London, Shakil Khan, once described by Wired as Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s “second-in-command,” told the crowd that Ek “needed somebody to be on a plane and supporting him around the world. That’s what I do.” But there’s no mention of the British entrepreneur in Spotify’s filing to go public with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Spotify and Khan tell Billboard that he has never been a senior employee or director despite having had a Spotify email address: He’s an investor and consultant who helped Spotify launch in markets like the United States. Co-founder of Student.com and founder of CoinDesk, Khan, 44, changed his LinkedIn profile earlier this year from Spotify “head of special projects” to “investor and adviser.” Questions about Khan’s…

Son By Four Now a trio, the group sold 568,000 album units in the United States (according to Nielsen Music) and spent 20 weeks atop Hot Latin Songs with “A Puro Dolor” in 2000. Magneto The Mexican answer to Menudo had more modest success stateside, but the quintet still had four entries on Hot Latin Songs, including two top 10s in 1992. Aventura Romeo Santos (left) got his start in this quartet with bachata roots, selling 1.9 million albums in the United States and earning two No. 1s on Hot Latin Songs.…

Like any artist on the verge, Kane Brown is grappling with the stirrings of fame. Last night, 12 separate people asked him for photos at his neighborhood grocery store. But as he explains today over the phone from Nashville, he’s not being recognized simply because he’s got a No. 1 album. (That would be his self-titled full-length debut, since dropped to No. 2, but with nine previous nonconsecutive weeks atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.) “I have lots of tattoos and am biracial. Even if they don’t know me, people are like, ‘Hey, you’re that Facebook guy,’” says Brown, a 24-year-old Chattanooga, Tenn., native who launched his career posting covers on the social network. “You’ve got Dustin Lynch, [Jason] Aldean and people like that who wear cowboy hats to…

Twelve years ago, Ashley McBryde moved to Nashville, hoping to supplement her meager income from playing in bars with a publishing deal. “Playing Tuesday nights, 6 to 8, only paid half-price beer. And my truck doesn’t run on beer,” she jokes. On the phone today from Des Moines, Iowa, she’s fresh off a gig of a very different kind: opening for Miranda Lambert as a special guest at her Wells Fargo Center arena show. Since McBryde’s days scrounging for gas money, country’s mainstream has become increasingly open-minded (see Florida Georgia Line’s forays into EDM) and brawny (see Chris Stapleton’s homages to vintage Bob Seger) — leaving the door open for the tattooed, leather-jacket-wearing 34-year-old who, unlike Nashville’s current crop of pop-leaning young women, says that while “there’s nothing wrong…

Mendes, Metallica Make Moves Shawn Mendes, Panic! at the Disco and Kelly Clarkson all clock significant shifts on the Billboard 200 thanks to the promotion of new singles, while Metallica fires up thanks to a ticket bundle offer. Mendes’ last studio effort, Illuminate, rises 130-98 on the chart (7,000 units earned in the week ending March 22, according to Nielsen Music; up 15 percent) following excitement surrounding the release of new single “In My Blood” on March 22. The track is from his forthcoming third full-length album and debuts at No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, Panic! at the Disco’s last set, Death of a Bachelor, experiences the same sort of buzzy bump as it climbs 146-123 (6,000 units; up 13 percent). The act bowed two new…

Bryan, McCreery: Country Idols Luke Bryan (above) — who is a judge along with Katy Perry and Lionel Richie on ABC’s reboot of American Idol — crowns Country Airplay, while Scotty McCreery, who won the competition’s 10th season in 2011, debuts at No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Bryan banks his 19th Country Airplay No. 1, and 12th in succession (counting singles promoted to country radio and excluding holiday fare), as “Most People Are Good” ascends 3-1, up 9 percent to 41 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music. Since “Drink a Beer” led for two weeks beginning Feb. 15, 2014, Bryan has not missed the Country Airplay apex with any single where he was in a lead role. His 12 straight No. 1s mark the chart’s longest active…

Odisea Hits 30th Week At No. 1 Ozuna (above) makes history on the Top Latin Albums chart as his Odisea spends a 30th week atop the list. That’s the most weeks at No. 1 for an album by a male artist in the 24-year history of the tally. The set was previously tied with Luis Miguel’s Segundo Romance, with 29 weeks on top in 1995 and 1996. (Top Latin Albums launched on July 10, 1993.) Further, with Odisea surpassing Segundo Romance, Odisea now has sole ownership of the third-most weeks atop the list among all albums. It trails only the all-time leader, Gloria Estefan’s Mi Tierra (58 weeks in 1993 and 1994), and Selena’s Dreaming of You (44, 1995-97). In the latest tracking week (ending March 22), Odisea earned…

C2C Festival Cashes In Earning the top spot on the Boxscore chart is C2C Country to Country, the annual country music festival held for the past six years at London’s O2 Arena. The 2018 event occurred March 9-11 and grossed £3 million ($4.2 million) from 38,384 sold tickets. The opening headliner was Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (above), followed by Kacey Musgraves, who closed the second night. Little Big Town was the top draw on the final night. Box-office counts at the O2 were down slightly from the 2017 event, which ranks as the highest-grossing and best-attended festival since it launched in 2013. The 2017 gross was about £18,000 ($25,000) higher than 2018’s, and the difference in the three-day attendance was just over 2,500. While the O2 Arena has…