Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2, 2018 i Billboard Magazine

AS DRAKE RETURNS TO familiar territory atop the Billboard Hot 100, three acts make their first visits to the top 10 — one with the assistance of Drizzy. Drake’s “Nice for What,” which ruled the Hot 100 for its first four weeks, rebounds, helped by its 2 percent lift to 78.9 million in airplay audience, according to Nielsen Music. Meanwhile, Atlanta rapper Lil Baby and Drake soar to the top 10 with “Yes Indeed,” which flies 49-6 following its first full week of tracking as it vaults 30-2 on the Streaming Songs chart with 39.5 million U.S. streams. Lil Baby lands his first Hot 100 top 10, while Drake tallies his 26th, the fourth-best sum among solo males, passing Elvis Presley. British singer-songwriter Ella Mai likewise earns her first…

JAN. 28 In an interview following the Grammy Awards, Neil Portnow says that women need to “step up” in order to be better represented in the music industry, in response to a question about the male-dominated telecast in which only one woman accepted a televised award onstage. FEB. 1 Portnow issues an apology, noting that he “wasn’t as articulate as I should have been,” and announces a task force to address the gender-diversity issues plaguing the Grammys. FEB. 8 Within the space of a week, three open letters signed by dozens of high-profile executives in the music industry urge transparency, accountability and diversity in the academy’s attempts to address these issues, with one calling Portnow “part of the problem.” MARCH 6 Former Michelle Obama chief of staff…

JORJA SMITH IS THINKING ABOUT CHANGING her only tattoo, on the middle finger of her left hand, from a number 11 to the astrological sign for Gemini. “Kendrick [Lamar] is also a Gemini,” she says. “We clicked.” Lamar confirms as much when he tells Billboard that “Jorja is a constant reminder that true artistry, writing and creativity will forever be alive and well. She is the future and present.” Right now, the soft-spoken Smith is sipping green tea at a quaint coffee shop in Philadelphia, where she’s set to perform the next night on the latest stop of her sold-out 17-date North American tour. Matching sun signs aside, the number 11 has been significant to the 20-year-old Walsall, England, native since she recorded her first song at that age.…

KANYE WEST, JUNE 1 Whether you respect him or abandoned Twitter because of him, no artist in recent memory has shown the ability to reinvent himself album to album like West has over the past decade. Donald Trump references may abound, but his new “freethinking” approach could offer fresh ideas. KID CUDI & KANYE WEST, JUNE 8 No two artists have had more influence on the last decade of rap — but their personal and professional inconsistencies have made those days fewer and farther between. If they make more “Gorgeous” than “Guilt Trip,” they could be mining old gold. NAS, JUNE 15 It has been six years — his longest career gap — since Nas’ last album, Life Is Good, skillfully balanced urgency and well-executed dad rap, like…

CARDI B 5 Collaborations Cardi hooked up with Bruno Mars on the remixed “Finesse,” Ozuna on “La Modelo” and Nicki Minaj and Migos on “Motorsport,” then sprinkled some collaborative magic on her studio debut, Invasion of Privacy, with tracks that included YG (“She Bad”) and Bad Bunny with (again) Ozuna (“I Like It”). KENDRICK LAMAR 4 Collaborations The Compton, Calif., rapper spread the wealth while curating Black Panther: The Album, jumping on tracks with SZA (“All the Stars”), The Weeknd (“Pray for Me”), Travis Scott (“Big Shot”) and Jay Rock, Future and James Blake (“King’s Dead”). KHALID 4 Collaborations A generous collaborator, Khalid has worked with artists from the worlds of rock (Imagine Dragons, “Thunder”/“Young, Dumb & Broke” medley), pop (Normani, “Love Lies”), R&B (6LACK and Ty…

In May, Tyler Rich landed his first hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with debut single “The Difference,” making him the fourth California country singer — along with Brett Young, Jon Pardi and Devin Dawson, the lattermost of which co-wrote Rich’s song — to appear on the tally in 2018. It’s not the first time a Cali wave has hit country radio: Genre greats Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam all hailed from the Golden State. “People tend to forget that other than the big cities, California is just as country as Georgia,” says Dawson. “Country is a lifestyle; it’s not just a genre. Everything has its moment, and it’s just another time for us to spread awareness about Cali country.” DEVIN DAWSON Hometown Orangevale, Sacramento County Age…

“History lends legitimacy to any endeavor,” says Tom Morales, CEO of Nashville restaurant group TomKats Hospitality, which opened Woolworth on 5th in February. Dating from the 1890s, the downtown Nashville building — most recently a Dollar General store — opened as a Woolworth five-and-dime in 1913. In 1960, the civil rights protests against the store’s refusal to serve blacks at its lunch counter eventually led to its desegregation. “It is not just a historic building,” says Morales. “It’s an emotional experience. Some people remember their mothers working here; others remember pain.” Woolworth on 5th is not meant to appropriate such hardships, Morales points out, but to illuminate a chapter in Nashville history. Through the painstaking efforts of local firm Tuck-Hinton Architects, original terrazzo floors and cast-iron railings preserve Woolworth’s…

Lower Broadway is clogged with feel-good honky-tonks, but it isn’t the only place in Nashville to experience live music. Hutton Hotel, in Nashville’s West End neighborhood, was arguably the city’s first elegant lifestyle hotel when it debuted in 2009. After a full renovation courtesy of Dallas-based Studio 11 Design in late 2017, that sophistication was elevated with the arrival of Analog. The intimate venue concept, designed and managed by Greenlight Media & Marketing, fits 300 people and features a state-of-the-art Bose sound system and modular staging. “We are located a few blocks from Music Row, but we became the go-to place for the creative scene as much as the music one,” says Hutton Hotel GM Jonathan Bartlett. Although country talents like Maren Morris have played there, and the venue…

As a songwriter, John Mellencamp is credited with 22 top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. As an inspiration, he recently can take credit for one more — Jake Owen’s “I Was Jack (And You Were Diane),” which reached No. 11 on the May 26 Country Airplay chart. Owen’s hit is an homage to Mellencamp’s tale of small-town romance, “Jack and Diane,” which topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in the fall of 1982. Mellencamp, who will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame by Nora Guthrie, the daughter of Woody Guthrie, tells Billboard: “If you write about the smallest common denominators of life, they will always be relevant.” Still living in his native Indiana, Mellencamp has often focused on economic, racial and social injustice in…

Voice, Idol Acts Shine As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason debuts at No. 1 on Emerging Artists, propelled by his re-entry atop Classical Albums (see page 122), The Voice and American Idol finalists dominate the Emerging Artists top five after each show’s latest season finale. Voice winner Brynn Cartelli (above) vaults 31-2 as “Walk My Way,” which she performed on the May 22 episode, bows at No. 8 on Digital Song Sales (23,000 sold, according to Nielsen Music). Runner-up Britton Buchanan leaps 28-3 as his “Where You Come From” debuts at No. 15 on Digital Song Sales (21,000). Meanwhile, Maddie Poppe, announced as the newest Idol champ on May 21, arrives at No. 4 on Emerging Artists as her coronation single, “Going Going Gone,”…

BTS Selfies Aid Gains John Legend (below) has had a busy few weeks, what with the birth of son Miles, his second child with Chrissy Teigen, on May 16 and performing at the Billboard Music Awards on May 20. The latter in particular helps score him his 6,674 percent gain in Twitter mentions, to 526,000 total in the week ending May 24, according to Next Big Sound, after not only performing new single “A Good Night” but also taking a backstage selfie with BTS, which garnered him a healthy amount of social media interaction. It is Legend’s second week in the top 20 (No. 18) of the chart in his career, both of which have occurred in the last month (the other: No. 15, May 12). Insatiable appetites for…

‘Justice’ Served At No. 1 Five Finger Death Punch (above) lands its fifth total and consecutive No. 1 on Hard Rock Albums (all earned since 2013) as And Justice for None starts at No. 1 with 71,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. Each of the metal band’s quintet of chart-toppers have launched at No. 1, including 2017 greatest-hits set A Decade of Destruction (at No. 5). The new LP also becomes FFDP’s fourth to rule Top Rock Albums and bows at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 as its fifth top-five title. Shinedown returns to the top of the Mainstream Rock airplay chart, earning a No. 1 for a fourth consecutive year. “Devil,” the lead single from Attention Attention, rises 3-1 to become Shinedown’s 12th chart-topper; the…

Maluma’s F.A.M.E. Debuts At No. 1 Maluma (above) notches his second consecutive No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart as F.A.M.E. launches atop the list. It earns the biggest week of 2018 for a Latin album by a solo artist in both units and traditional album sales, and the second-biggest week of the year overall. F.A.M.E. starts with 15,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending May 24 (with 7,000 of that sum in traditional album sales), according to Nielsen Music. In terms of the biggest weeks for Latin albums in 2018, F.A.M.E.’s opening trails only the No. 1 debut frame of CNCO’s self-titled album both in units and sales (16,000 units and 13,000 in sales on the April 21 chart). F.A.M.E. follows Maluma’s previous No. 1,…

Gibson: Chart Royalty The iconic “Stand by Me,” originally a No. 4 Billboard Hot 100 hit for Ben E. King in 1961, returns, thanks to a cover unveiled at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding on May 19. Before the pair exchanged vows, Karen Gibson & The Kingdom Choir (above) turned in a stirring performance of the song. Their version sold 9,000 downloads in the week ending May 24, according to Nielsen Music. It sparks a No. 1 debut on Hot Gospel Songs (which blends sales, airplay and streaming data) and Gospel Digital Song Sales. The bows mark the first Billboard chart ink for Gibson, a renowned choir director in the United Kingdom. Traditional hymn “Amen, This Little Light of Mine,” which the group also performed at the…

‘One Kiss’ Is No. 1 “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa (above) climbs to No. 1 on both Dance Club Songs (2-1) and Dance/Mix Show Airplay (3-1). The dance/pop original was remixed by Jauz, Jason Reilly & Alphalove and ZHU, among others. The fifth chart-topper for both artists on Dance Club Songs, “Kiss” is Harris’ 19th chart hit (dating to “Bounce,” featuring Kelis, in 2011). In contrast, “Kiss” is Lipa’s fifth No. 1 in as many appearances; since “Blow Your Mind (Mwah)” hit the summit on Jan. 14, 2017. Only Rihanna has more leaders (six). On Dance/Mix Show Airplay, “Kiss” is Harris’ 11th No. 1 (and Lipa’s second), lifting him to within one of Rihanna’s record 12 (dating to the chart’s inception in August 2003). Also on…

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 multi-platinum level. RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 30,000 units (Oro). 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 on-demand streams where 100 streams equal 1 download (Gold). RIAA certification for 1…

BTS becomes the first K-pop group in history to top the Billboard 200 albums chart as Love Yourself: Tear debuts at No. 1. R. Kelly loses a $100,000 breach of contract lawsuit filed against a Georgia concert venue after failing to show up in court. Island Records announces that Darcus Beese will replace the outgoing David Massey as president, effective July 1.…

Barely one minute into “Sangria Wine,” her new single with Pharrell Williams, Cuban-American Camila Cabello launches into a verse in Spanish. And in “I Like It,” Cardi B’s reimagining of the classic 1967 boogaloo track, J Balvin spits his rhymes en español, while Bad Bunny mixes a little English into his mostly Spanish bit. Both songs are on the Billboard Hot 100 — “I Like It” at No. 19, “Sangria Wine” just entering the chart at No. 83 — and both are performed by lead artists who didn’t rise to fame performing music in Spanish. Historically, bilingual tracks almost exclusively have been the realm of remixes or bilingual versions of Spanish hits; even the bilingual renditions of “Despacito” and “Mi Gente” are remixes. But now, for perhaps the first…

Ms. Lauryn Hill, as she’s now officially known, has famously released only one solo studio album, 1998’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. But artists including Kanye West, J. Cole, JAY-Z and DJ Khaled have kept her sound — and that of her original group, The Fugees — alive over the years by sampling her music in their own songs. In 2018, as she celebrates the 20th anniversary of the album with a summer tour, a new generation of artists is making use of her iconic work. Drake “Nice for What” SAMPLES “Ex-Factor” As a solo artist, Drake regularly makes hit songs, but this track’s sinuous sample of Hill singing on her aching 1999 ballad unquestionably helped it secure the five nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot…

Kanye West may keep accomplished company, but a glance at his G.O.O.D. Music roster shows a keen interest in new talent. Case in point: Chicago rapper Valee, who, following breakthrough 2016 hit “Shell” and a Pitchfork Festival afterparty set last July, found himself on the line with West after being connected by his manager, noted hip-hop tastemaker Andrew Barber. “[Kanye] is telling me how much he enjoyed my music,” explains Valee, 29. “He said everyone at G.O.O.D. was a fan of my music and was excited to work with me.” It wasn’t until last October, though, that Valee’s carefree, off-kilter flow got him officially signed with G.O.O.D. Music. In March, he made his debut with the six-track mixtape GOOD Job, You Found Me, executive-produced by West and featuring Pusha…

RANDY GOODMAN, 62 CHAIRMAN/CEO, SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE On a bright Nashville morning, Randy Goodman fits a talk with Billboard between breakfast with Live Nation and a meeting with Apple Music. The following day, he leaves town for an off-site convocation with his executive team that marks almost three years since he took over as chairman/CEO at Sony Music Nashville. During that time, his new-artist evangelism on behalf of Maren Morris, Old Dominion, LANCO and streaming-social powerhouses Kane Brown and Luke Combs — all of whom delivered No. 1s on the Top Country Albums chart — have turned the label’s fortunes around. Brown even made history of sorts when he simultaneously topped all five of Billboard’s main country charts last October. The successes have helped make Sony Nashville the only…

BTS Bows At No. 1 It’s a big week for K-pop as Korean boy band BTS debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Love Yourself: Tear, the first chart-topper for the genre. The set launches with 135,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 24, according to Nielsen Music. That’s the second-biggest week for an album by a group in 2018, trailing only the No. 1 debut of Migos’ Culture II (199,000 units on the Feb. 10 chart). Further, of Tear’s starting sum, 100,000 were in traditional album sales. (Both the unit and sales totals are high-water marks for K-pop.) Tear is the first K-pop album to lead the Billboard 200 and only the second top 10 for the genre. It…

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…

Lil Baby’s Top 10 Double Lil Baby (above) scores the issue’s highest debut on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums as his first studio effort, Harder Than Ever, opens at No. 2. The set earned 71,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 24, according to Nielsen Music. Harder includes current single “Yes Indeed,” a collaboration with Drake, which becomes Lil Baby’s first top 10 and Drake’s record-extending 63rd on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with a 26-5 rally after its first full week of tracking. Streaming fuels the ascent as “Indeed” records a 190 percent surge in U.S. streams to 39.5 million, prompting a 23-2 eruption on R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs. Plus, Nicki Minaj rewrites the record for most top 10 hits among women on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay as “Chun-Li” moves 11-9. With the…

BRANDY AND MONICA HAD BOTH established themselves as R&B breakouts by 1998, but the two artists had yet to top the Billboard Hot 100. Each had come close: Monica’s “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)” hit No. 2 in 1995, and Brandy’s “Sittin’ Up in My Room” did so in 1996. They would finally reach No. 1 together on “The Boy Is Mine,” a duet in which they sniped over the same love interest. According to Monica, she and Brandy chose the song to make light of persistent media speculation that they were feuding. “People compared us and I never understood it,” Monica told Fred Bronson for his Billboard Book of Number One Hits. “They never did that … with Brandy and Aaliyah. It was always…

Shortly after midnight EST on May 31, some social media users began noticing something wrong with Ticketfly, the independent ticket-seller that was purchased by former rival Eventbrite for $200 million in 2017. Specifically, its normal homepage was replaced by a black background, a Guy Fawkes image, the ominous warning “Your Security Down im Not Sorry” and a threat: “Next time I will publish database ‘backstage.’” The hacked page was quickly removed from the internet, as was Ticketfly itself. “Following a series of recent issues with Ticketfly properties, we’ve determined that Ticketfly has been the target of a cyber incident,” read a message posted on the company’s homepage. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken all Ticketfly systems temporarily offline as we continue to look into the issue.”…

Billboard Music Awards LAS VEGAS, MAY 20 PHOTOGRAPHED BY AUSTIN HARGRAVE AT THE TOP OF THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS, KELLY CLARKSON delivered a tearful cold open to address the school shooting in Sante Fe, Texas, that occurred on May 18 and instead of leading Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena in a moment of silence, she demanded a moment of action. The host soon shifted gears and officially opened the show with a medley of hits from the night’s nominees, from Taylor Swift to Kendrick Lamar. Elsewhere, The Chainsmokers and Halsey honored Avicii and urged viewers to support those struggling with mental health; Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato debuted their new song “Fall in Line,” a women’s empowerment anthem that addresses how society polices young girls; and Swift used…

In 2010, Alexis Soler, the owner of Nashville bars No. 308 and Old Glory, fell in love with Wedgewood-Houston, the once-derelict industrial neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville. Now booming with art galleries and restaurants, We-Ho, as locals call it, is the site of Soler’s new two-concept project with partners Andy Knepshield, Angela Laino and Freddy Schwenk: the Falcon and Flamingo. Soler rehabbed the rundown, two-story Good Samaritan Missionary Baptist Church to unveil Falcon Coffee, followed by Flamingo Cocktail Club in the spring, both inspired by her Miami upbringing. Between the quality cafe Cubano and plant-based food menu that includes guava empanadas and seitan BLTs, Falcon aims to appeal to the artsy, cosmopolitan community. “People here need a coffee spot that isn’t pretentious and isn’t a corporate chain,” she…

Lucian Grainge, as chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group, oversees all divisions of the world’s largest music company, including Universal Music Publishing Group. In 2015, Grainge appointed Jody Gerson chairman/CEO of UMPG, which claimed 48 of the top 100 radio songs in the United States during the first quarter of 2018. So Grainge’s support of Universal’s songwriters and writer-artists is reason enough for the Songwriters Hall of Fame to present him with the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award, bestowed on an individual who has been responsible for a substantial number of hit songs for an extended period. But the honor also recognizes Grainge’s career roots in music publishing. His first job was as a song-plugger, promoting the work of songwriters signed to April Blackwood Music in the United Kingdom. He later…

Stage & Screen Notes The soundtracks to the superhero sequel Deadpool 2 and the second season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why arrive in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 as the titles bow at Nos. 18 and 34, respectively. Both albums surpass the peaks of their initial soundtracks: The companion album to the first Deadpool film topped out at No. 30 in 2016, while the one for the first season of 13 Reasons Why peaked at No. 111 in 2017. Deadpool 2 starts with 21,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending May 24, according to Nielsen Music. Traditional album sales drove 13,000 of that sum. Meanwhile, streaming powers 13 Reasons Why as the set enters with 16,000 units (11,000 in streamingequivalent album units). Seventy-four percent of…

Rucker Finishes ‘First’ “For the First Time” by Darius Rucker (above) ascends 3-1 on Country Airplay, up 11 percent to 43.4 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music. Rucker, who co-wrote the song with Derek George and Scooter Carusoe, tells Billboard, “When I sat down to write it with Derek, it was based on an idea he had with Scooter, asking the question, ‘When was the last time you did something for the first time?,’ and, for me, so many memories came flooding back. To this day, so many of the moments we name-check in this song, I know when and where I was.” Rucker earns his eighth Country Airplay leader among 11 top 10s. The ballad is the second single from When Was the Last Time, which opened…