Innholdsfortegnelse for September 29, 2018 i Billboard Magazine

For Paul Blair, better known as DJ White Shadow, the songwriting process for the Bradley Cooper-directed, Lady Gaga-starring movie musical A Star Is Born, out Oct. 5, was a “family affair.” “You know that video of the 7-year-old kid who stole his grandma’s car and was like, ‘I wanted to do hoodrat stuff with my friends?’ ” he says. “That’s how I feel about all of this.” Blair, 40, who has six co-writing credits on the remake’s soundtrack, has been Gaga’s right-hand man since 2011. He produced nine songs on Born This Way, including the title track and “The Edge of Glory,” and worked with the singer on her 2013 album, Artpop, and 2017 single “The Cure.” Blair says he can’t recall when exactly his work with Gaga on…

Blues-inspired singer-songwriter Elle King is an admitted “hoarder,” she says. Friends have joked that she should turn her decked-out Los Angeles home into a museum. Or, “People tell me I should start selling my shit, and I’m like, ‘No!’ ” Ahead of her cathartic sophomore album, Shake the Spirit (out Oct. 19), recorded after a rocky year marked by the end of a short-lived marriage and struggles with substance abuse, the 29-year-old, who says she’s “on the up and up — all that shit’s behind me,” shares a few of her exhibit-worthy objects. …In Her Car “I have this disco ball in my Jeep Wrangler that when you turn on, it looks like a party. I also have a chandelier in my 1958 Ford F-100. It’s breaking though,…

CAROLE KING “When I was living in Dublin [in the 1990s], she came over and we wrote “Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter” in one afternoon,” recalls Costello of the track, which finally surfaces on Look Now. “I couldn’t believe that so much time had gone by. Thankfully, she liked it.” BURT BACHARACH Costello and Bacharach, who won a Grammy for their 1998 collaboration Painted From Memory, worked together on three songs on Look Now. “He doesn’t need to collaborate on music,” says Costello. “It speaks of his generosity and curiosity to see what happens.” THE ROOTS Costello says that working with Questlove as a co-producer on Wise Up Ghost was not unlike the process of making Look Now. “Strange enough, there’s a more common approach to the recording process…

“When Ice Cube and DJ Pooh sampled The Isley Brothers’ ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ in ‘It Was a Good Day.’ [Ice Cube] took the sound of my parents but told a story of his life and, subsequently, the evolution of the urban black family. It was also a crowning jewel in the West Coast movement.” —Jennifer Drake, Sony/ATV “When Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Juicy’ sampled Mtume’s ‘Juicy Fruit.’ That was fly because it took me to my childhood and the local roller skating rink in junior high. I could still see us all singing this tune as we skated, danced and hit the video games. Nostalgia is what keeps you young.” —Ron “Mills” Triana, SiriusXM “The ‘It’s the Hard-Knock Life’ sample from [the 1977 musical] Annie in Jay-Z’s ‘Hard Knock…

Since joining SoundCloud and relocating to Los Angeles 20 months ago, Montes has been a pivotal force behind the online streaming platform’s first-ever artist-centric advertising campaign, First On SoundCloud. Montes, who grew up in Miami and Ecuador, handpicked a first round of unsigned artists that included Galimatias, Jay Prince, Lorine Chia and Taylor Bennett, working with them to create 90-second video montages that gave them maximum exposure and helped monetize their music. Bennett, who is Chance the Rapper’s younger brother, has certainly benefited from the campaign: He has generated 46.5 million career streams. “This next year I’d love to bring up-and-coming artists and their fans out in different cities,” says Montes, “and have them vibe with each other — to get to know who these fans really are.” MORE…

Tuma Basa* DIRECTOR OF URBAN MUSIC, YOUTUBE MAJOR MOVE After Basa turned Spotify’s RapCaviar playlist into a platinum brand that drove subscriptions; broke Lil Uzi Vert and Desiigner, among other artists; and, in partnership with Live Nation, spawned a concert series, YouTube hired him away in March to work his magic on the video-first platform. THINKING OF A MASTER PLAN Basa, who was a programmer for BET and REVOLT prior to Spotify, says he will focus on nurturing new talent “that’s not necessarily on everyone else’s radar,” adding, “I’m a curator by trade, and there’s a lot of dope hip-hop brands that have a presence on YouTube. I’d love to see a lot of those come up.” Carl Chery, 39 CREATIVE DIRECTOR/HEAD OF URBAN, SPOTIFY FROM APPLE TO…

Josh Binder, 43 PARTNER, ROTHENBERG MOHR & BINDER CHEERED ON KENDRICK As the attorney for Top Dawg Entertainment and its artists — including SZA, ScHoolboy Q and company founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith — Binder says his year was made when client Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for DAMN. “That’s career-defining,” he says. LAWYERS AS LABEL EXECUTIVES Because artists can blow up fast without a label deal in place, Binder says they must be prepared to “operate as independent artists with their own businesses.” That’s where the new firm he co-founded earlier in 2018 with partners Jeremy Mohr and Paul Rothenberg comes into play. “In many instances,” says Mohr, “we’re running a label [for a client] before we get a record company to do it for us.”…

Pale Waves Rush In Manchester, England, altpop quartet Pale Waves (above) makes its Billboard chart debut, opening at No. 29 on Emerging Artists as its debut LP, My Mind Makes Noises, arrives at No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums with 3,000 sold, according to Nielsen Music. The set also launches at No. 8 on the Official U.K. Albums chart. Australian singer-songwriter Dean Lewis debuts at No. 41 on Emerging Artists as “Be Alright” rises 22-20 on Adult Top 40 and “Waves” climbs 49-46 on Hot Rock Songs. Plus, 25-year-old rapper Gunna vaults to the Emerging Artists top 10 (35-9) as “Drip Too Hard” (with Lil Baby) debuts at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Gunna’s first top 40 hit. The track begins at No. 8 on Streaming Songs…

NCT 127 Re-Enters, Adds Member The announcement of the debut full-length album from K-pop group NCT 127 (below) — coupled with the addition of a new member — drives the act back onto the Social 50 at No. 5. The formerly nine-person band added Jungwoo to its ranks in a Sept. 17 announcement on social media, pulling the singer from NCT subunit NCT U. In the same reveal, the group announced that its album Regular-Irregular will arrive Oct. 12. The act snagged 627,000 Twitter reactions in the week ending Sept. 20, a boost of 1,380 percent, as well as 27,000 new followers, according to Next Big Sound. Its re-entry at No. 5 marks the band’s top rank on the Social 50, besting its No. 7 peak in May. The…

On the surface, the RIAA’s 2018 midyear report is full of reasons for the recorded-music industry to celebrate: Huge gains in streaming revenue and the average number of paid subscriptions in the United States more than offset the continued declines in digital downloads and physical sales, resulting in another half-year of double-digit revenue growth. But while all growth is good, there are reasons to remain cautious, even as the business revels in $1.5 billion more than it raked in by this point just three years ago. The pace of new subscribers is still growing — up 48 percent to 46.4 million accounts — but the pace of streaming-generated revenue growth, up 28 percent, is slowing, particularly compared with the 59 percent growth in the first half of 2017. Bundles,…

TYGA LIVES BY TWO RULES, HE says, adjusting his $188,000 Goyard neckpiece. “No. 1 is, ‘Don’t listen to anybody.’ ” The other? “No one cares, bro.” To the divisive rapper’s haters, his erratic moves earn him splashy headlines rather than big numbers. But if you’re Team Tyga, he’s a maverick. “I go off feeling,” he continues. “Sometimes it has worked for me. Sometimes it hasn’t. In this case, I guess it worked.” Tyga is referring to his late-summer hit, “Taste,” featuring Migos’ Offset, which has peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the biggest of several recent wins for the 28-year-old rapper born Micheal Ray Stevenson: solo single “Swish,” which peaked at No. 44 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, and a guest spot on Iggy Azalea’s…

FROM Vancouver GOD’S PLAN The MC, who prefers to keep her given name private, has spent the past few years on the outskirts of mainstream rap with lyrics about sex and gender identity. It’s a far cry from when she first started making music at 10, performing in a church group called God’s Girls. “You think I’m joking; it’s true,” she says. Her love of art led her to study sculpture and film at Emily Carr University, where she also played in punk and emo bands before joining experimental rap duo Moan. FATHERLY GUIDANCE Atlanta rapper Father discovered her early solo music on SoundCloud. He messaged Genesis, who was working at a local gallery at the time, which led to a collaboration — the 2015 song “Vamp” — and…

When Dave Holstein assembled the team for his acclaimed new Showtime drama, Kidding — starring Jim Carrey, in his first major onscreen role in years, as Jeff, the troubled star of the beloved (fictional) kids’ show Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time — he “wanted to reach for every tool in the box.” The showrunner enlisted director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and longtime friend and collaborator, composer Alan Schmuckler. Friends since college, Holstein and Schmuckler, both 35, have written musical theater together for years, and are now the in-house songwriters for Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time. “We both really value the intersection of humor and heart,” says Schmuckler. Here’s how they translate that into believable children’s music. LEARN FROM THE BEST As soon as Schmuckler started, he…

XXXTentacion , the controversial rapper who was shot and killed in June, and Lil Peep , who died of an accidential overdose last November, never recorded together. But on Sept. 19, “Falling Down,” a melancholy new duet between the two, appeared, debuting at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. X’s producer, John Cunningham , explains that when Peep died, X began listening to interviews with him on YouTube and discovered a leaked version of the track (originally called “Sunlight on Your Skin”) produced and co-written by iLoveMakonnen . X decided to record verses of his own, but according to Cunningham, someone in Peep’s circle said it was unlikely they would do anything with them — until Ron Perry , CEO of Peep’s label Columbia, made it happen. “It’s…

Chance The Rapper, 25 PHILANTHROPIST; OWNER, CHICAGOIST GOOD DEED The 2017 best new artist Grammy Award winner personally donated $1 million to Chicago Public Schools. BUDDING MEDIA BARON Chance has promised that a new album is on the way, but during the last two years he has been busy investing in his native Chicago. In 2017, his SocialWorks charity raised another $2.2 million for the arts and education programs at 20 schools. And in August, he announced, in the lyrics of new song “I Might Need Security,” that he had acquired local news site Chicagoist. In a statement, Chance said the site would be relaunched as “an independent media outlet focused on amplifying diverse voices and content,” but, just as he has done with his music, it won’t be…

“I’m proud of Meek for turning a negative into a positive. He was unjustly incarcerated but he never let the circumstances beat him. Through this experience, he emerged stronger, as both a man and an artist. He has become the leader I always knew he was.” —Rick Ross “As long as I can remember, I have believed that things happen for a reason. Although Meek was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, and sent back to prison multiple times [despite] never committing a new crime, I’m grateful for his sacrifice. His story has been a learning moment and opened all of our eyes to the need for major criminal-justice reform. I thank Meek for helping me see this travesty, because I would’ve never understood the…

Mark Cheatham* Zach Iser, 33 Caroline Yim, 39 AGENTS, CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY CARDI B MADE THE A-LIST With 10-year CAA vet Cheatham in her corner, Cardi B made history as the first solo female rapper with two Hot 100 No. 1s: “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” and “I Like It” with Bad Bunny and J Balvin. Yim and Iser departed ICM for CAA in March, bringing with them a roster that includes SZA, Kehlani and Daniel Caesar. STAGE MOTHER After a show-stopping Coachella debut followed by time off for the birth of her daughter, Kulture, Cardi is plotting a 2019 headline tour. Meanwhile, according to Yim and Iser, 2018 breakout Ella Mai sold out 15 shows on her summer tour. Robert Gibbs* PARTNER/MUSIC AGENT, ICM PARTNERS J. COLE-POWERED “When you…

Nas ON Steve Stoute “I was just trying to make it with Steve Stoute/The legal way, drug-free route”from “A Queens Story” Rick Ross ON Kevin Liles “You run n—s out of style with your wedding vows/I still be making rounds like I’m Kevin Liles”from “Lamborghini Doors” Nicki Minaj ON Bryan “Birdman” Williams “Only rap bitch on the Forbes list/Pussy jewelry make them say ‘burr man’/R-r-r-rubs hands like Birdman”from “Tapout” Jay Rock ON Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith “Boss like Top Dawg, bossed my life up, crossing over/Stutter stepping, got a Hall of Fame in all my posters”from “King’s Dead” Eminem ON Dr. Dre “Dre, I’m crying in this booth/You saved my life, now maybe it’s my turn to save yours/But I can never repay you, what you did for me…

COLE BENNETT, 22 Founder, Lyrical Lemonade Launched as a hip-hop blog in 2013, the 22-year-old Illinois native’s venture has sprouted a clothing line, video production for the SoundCloud set and, on Aug. 19, the first Summer Smash festival in Chicago. ELLIOT GRAINGE, 24 Founder/CEO, 10K Projects The 24-year-old son of Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge made his bones by signing two of the genre’s biggest breakout acts of the past year to his independent label: 6ix9ine and Trippie Redd. KEI HENDERSON, 34 Founder/senior vp marketing, Since the 80s The Atlanta-based branding wiz leverages prior roles in media, fashion, marketing and sales to empower clients like 21 Savage, whom she co-manages with Justin Williams. FADIA KADER, 36 Music partnerships, Instagram Kuwait-born Kader manages all creative-music efforts on the ’gram,…

Vibe magazine was the first true home of the culture we inhabit today. Before top radio stations across the country branded themselves as places for “hip-hop and R&B,” before TV shows and films and commercials regularly reflected hip-hop sensibilities, before mainstream publications regularly put people of color on their covers, Vibe launched with a confidence that all of these things would soon produce a new, multicultural mainstream. Conceived as a hip-hop magazine by two unlikely parents — the most powerful black record producer in the world, Quincy Jones, at the behest of the most powerful media executive in the world, Steve Ross — it was dropped into the laps of media professionals who were largely clueless about the culture. With a rocky start that included a last-minute name change…

What started as a casual chat about jazz in 2015 at the Jazz à Vienne festival in France has emerged as an online video channel dedicated to the American art form. Festival musical director Reza Ackbaraly met Jazz à Vienne honoree Quincy Jones at the event, where their conversation led to grousing about the dearth of jazz on cable TV in the United States. “Quincy asked me to develop a channel because he knew I was involved in video. I said, ‘Really?’ And he replied, ‘I don’t joke.’” Ackbaraly began building a subscription-based, on-demand channel relying on his 12 years of experience as the producer of new jazz/world music programming at French TV music channel Mezzo. “We see Qwest TV as the Netflix for jazz and ‘beyond’ music, like…

Steven Van Zandt will don his bandanna Oct. 1 to deliver the keynote at the second Making Vinyl Conference in Detroit. As he preps his speech, the E Street Band guitarist and solo artist weighs in on his favorite format. “My first record was [1964’s] Meet The Beatles! That album sold like it was a single; they were that popular at the moment. It just exploded the whole concept of albums. “The growth [of vinyl] is a wonderful trend. It’s a permanent part of our business now. The tactile, physical contact with the music is extremely important. It makes it more real, and less of something that’s just somewhere in cyberspace. It makes you appreciate it more, and is nothing but healthy. “But it’s not only the return of…

Carrie Makes History At No. 1 Carrie Underwood lands her fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as Cry Pretty starts atop the list. The set bows with 266,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 20, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 251,000 were in traditional album sales. Cry Pretty marks Underwood’s debut album for Capitol Nashville, after a career with Sony Music’s Arista Nashville. With her arrival at No. 1, Underwood makes country history: She’s the first woman to take four country albums to the top of the allgenre Billboard 200. Prior to Cry Pretty, she topped the tally with Blown Away (2012), Play On (2009) and Carnival Ride (2007). She previously was tied with Faith Hill, Linda Ronstadt and Taylor Swift with…

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…

Disturbed Ties Record Streak Disturbed (above) roars to its eighth No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock airplay chart as “Are You Ready” rises 3-1. The lead single from Evolution, the band’s seventh studio album, due Oct. 19, is Disturbed’s fifth straight No. 1 dating to 2005’s “The Vengeful One,” as the band matches Three Days Grace for the most consecutive leaders in the chart’s 37-year history. “Ready” also slots Disturbed into a seventh-place tie for the most overall No. 1s in the chart’s archives; Three Days Grace leads with 14. Thrice’s Palms debuts atop Alternative Albums and Hard Rock Albums with 18,000 equivalent album units earned, according to Nielsen Music. Palms is the rockers’ second total and consecutive No. 1 on both charts, following 2016’s To Be Everywhere Is…

Shakira & Maluma’s Triple Crown “Clandestino,” by Shakira (above right) and Maluma (left), vaults 7-1 on Latin Airplay, granting Shakira her 14th chart-topper and Maluma his 10th. The track lifts with a 27 percent boost to 13.1 million audience impressions in the week ending Sept. 23, according to Nielsen Music. Shakira ties for the third-most No. 1s on the tally with Carlos Vives, Romeo Santos and Wisin. She also extends her domination as the female artist with the most No. 1s since the chart’s inception in 1994. Moreover, the song hits No. 1 on both Latin Pop Airplay (2-1) and Latin Rhythm Airplay (6-1). On the former, Shakira continues to hold the record as the female with the most No. 1s, with 18. On the latter, she joins Becky…

Marshmello, Bastille, Guetta Get No. 1s Marshmello and Bastille bump 2-1 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with “Happier,” halting Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s record 33-week reign with “The Middle.” “Happier” rules with 26 million in all-format radio audience (up 21 percent), 13.8 million U.S. streams (up 20 percent) and 12,000 downloads sold (up 17 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Marshmello earns his third No. 1 on the chart, and alt band Bastille banks its first. Turning to Top Dance/Electronic Albums, David Guetta notches his third No. 1 with 7 (15,000 equivalent album units). On Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, he earns his 12th top 10 with 7 single “Goodbye,” with Jason Derulo and featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William (13-10); Guetta ties The Chainsmokers for the second-most top 10s, after Calvin…

A little over a week after Warner/Chappell Music chairman/CEO Jon Platt announced his departure for the top job as Martin Bandier’s successor at Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the search for a replacement is underway with a number of executives already informally contacted, according to multiple sources. Within Warner/Chappell, sources say COO Carianne Marshall — with whom Platt is closely working on the transition — is under strong consideration. Marshall is well liked and respected, and is said to have already made an impact, despite only being at the company since June, following SONGS Publishing’s sale to Kobalt Capital’s fund. Platt was grooming Marshall to succeed him down the road as she grew into the job, sources say. Platt, who had been at Warner/Chappell since 2012, had about two years…

Five years after joining with hip-hop collective The Roots for his last release, the 2013 left-field delight Wise Up Ghost, Elvis Costello reteamed with go-to band The Imposters for Look Now, out Oct. 12. But then a new label deal for the LP fell through (he won’t say with whom; he released it on Concord), and a cancer scare forced him to cancel six tour dates in July while he recovered. “I went back on the road a bit too early — I didn’t leave enough time to get my energy back,” he says. Costello, 64, is now in remission, and he’s bursting with wit and energy when he sits down at a Manhattan hotel (in a pinstripe suit, no less) to discuss his health, misgivings about calling Donald…

Marleny Dominguez-Reyes, 40 SENIOR VP MARKETING, REPUBLIC RECORDS Tyler Arnold, 26 VP A&R, REPUBLIC RECORDS MIGOS: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES. CHANCE: JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP IMAGES. LAMAR: CHRISTOPHER POLK/GETTY IMAGES. RIHANNA: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES. ARNOLD: MEREDITH TRUAX/REPUBLIC RECORDS. DOMINGUEZ REYES: COURTESY OF REPUBLIC RECORDS. PREVIOUS SPREAD: GROOMING BY MEKO DAVIS AT ZENOBIA AGENCY. MADE THE MOST OF POST Post Malone ranks as one of Republic’s biggest success stories of the past year, and Dominguez-Reyes played a key role in making the rapper ubiquitous on the charts. His second studio album, beerbongs & bentleys, generated three top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and two of them, “rockstar” and “Psycho,” hit No. 1. Arnold helped bring Metro Boomin’s Boominati Worldwide label to Republic in June 2017, while debut single “No Complaints” (featuring…

Dooney Battle, 29 CO-FOUNDER/CEO, THA LIGHTS GLOBAL BIG DEAL In early August, Battle inked a partnership with Sony Music that will steer Tha Lights Global’s talent to the label group. Sources say the five-year deal is worth upwards of $20 million. NOT MAILING IT IN Battle signed Lil Pump in 2016, when the SoundCloud rapper was just 16. That foresight paid off with Pump’s breakthrough hit, “Gucci Gang,” which shot to No. 3 on the Hot 100 in December and has amassed over 798 million YouTube views. “Two years ago, I knew no one in the industry,” says Battle, who was then delivering mail in southern Florida. “But my goal was to get to the top, and it essentially happened.” Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, 48 FOUNDER, ROC NATION Jay…

Tariq Cherif, 28 Matt Zingler, 30 CO-FOUNDERS, ROLLING LOUD ROLLING STRONG The fourth year for the Rolling Loud festival was its biggest yet, attracting a crowd of 135,000 fans who paid $300-plus to Miami in May to see J. Cole, Future, Migos and Post Malone. “This year, it felt like everything finally clicked,” says Cherif, who met co-founder Zingler when they were elementary students in Hollywood, Fla. GOING LOUDER OVERSEAS “The meat of our lineup is what makes the difference between [selling] 30,000 and 60,000 tickets,” says Cherif. “We try to ensure that every type of hip-hop fan will enjoy at least 10 artists on the bill.” That philosophy enabled Rolling Loud to expand to Southern California in 2017 and the Oakland (Calif.) Coliseum this year, with plans to…

“The Jackson 5 in 1976. I was 5. My parents and I all dressed up alike. We had on blue-jean outfits with cowboy boots. It was crazy and, yup, denim.”—Coach K, Quality Control “Hurricane and Davy D., Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell Tour in July 1987 at Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon. Watching the Beasties run around onstage like it was a punk rock show, and then seeing D.M.C., Run and Jam Master Jay rock an entire stadium — that blew my mind.”—Jon Wexler, Adidas “After everything that Migos went through [in 2015] — particularly [Offset’s jail stint] in Georgia — I told the defense team that as soon as the case was over, we should all attend their show together. It was the first hip-hop event I’ve ever been…

“‘I Wish It Would Rain’ by The Temptations. When I went to my father’s [Temptations tenor Ron Tyson] shows as a kid, that was the first time I remember feeling something in my soul from a song. That intro used to give me chills.”—Ryan Press, Warner/Chappell “Puff Daddy and Mase’s ‘Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down’ was that first ‘Let’s get this work’ song for me. It was a grinder’s anthem, even for my 6-year-old self at the time.”—Pat Corcoran, Haight Brand “I remember hearing the first hip-hop record: Fatback Band’s ‘King Tim III (Personality Jock)’ in 1979. I couldn’t believe the art form that I grew up listening to had been memorialized on wax.”—Doc Wynter, iHeartMedia “Biggie Smalls’ ‘Everyday Struggle.’ I got kicked out of school, and my family…

QUINCY JONES, IN A RARE moment, is relaxing. He lounges on an overstuffed sofa in his home screening room while sipping from his frequent drink of choice these days — a protein-rich smoothie whipped up by his cook. It’s quite a change for this longtime wine connoisseur, whose favorites have ranged from a 1961 Château Pétrus to Italian Barbarescos. The past year, during which Jones turned 85, has been nonstop: an international tour to celebrate his milestone birthday in March, a raft of new business deals and the debut of Quincy, the Netflix documentary about his career and personal life (see page 102). But in this moment, he is taking stock. “I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on everything,” he says. “It’s just astounding. You realize how little…

OVER THE COURSE OF A LIVE-MUSIC YEAR, DESTINATION FESTIVALS and massive stadium shows get the most attention, but arenas remain the backbone of the global concert industry. Indoor venues accommodating 10,000 or more fans accounted for 71 percent of total attendance and 76 percent of total ticket grosses reported to Billboard Boxscore during a recent 12-month period. All arenas share business challenges: filling their event calendars, enhancing dining options, upgrading technology and — more important than ever — keeping fans safe. “The world keeps changing on us,” says Nick Eaves, who runs the Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre) in Toronto and — like most executives in his position — has overseen heightened security measures in the 16 months since the terrorist bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert…

NO. 1 Carrie Underwood Underwood spends her first week at No. 1 on the Artist 100, — becoming the first country act to top the tally — as Cry Pretty launches atop the Billboard 200 with 266,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music (see page 130). The set marks the biggest week of 2018 for a solo female, while Underwood becomes the first woman to send four country albums to the chart’s summit. The week’s most popular artists across all genres, ranked by album and track sales as measured by Nielsen Music, radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by Nielsen Music and fan interaction on social networking sites as compiled by Next Big Sound. See Charts Legend…

Bennett & Krall Top The Charts Tony Bennett and Diana Krall’s team-up on Love Is Here to Stay arrives at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 20, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 35,000 were in traditional album sales — the largest sales week for any jazz album in nearly two years. The last jazz LP to post a bigger sales frame was Norah Jones’ Day Breaks, when it bowed with 44,000 on Oct. 29, 2016. Love marks Bennett’s 16th top 40-charting set on the Billboard 200 and Krall’s 11th. It’s also Bennett’s second collaborative album with a leading lady to reach the top 40 following his chart-topping Cheek to Cheek with Lady Gaga in 2014. The…

Underwood, Old Dominion Dominate Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty arrives at No. 1 on Top Country Albums with 266,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 20, according to Nielsen Music. The superstar becomes the first artist in the survey’s 52-year history to post seven consecutive career-opening No. 1s, all of which have opened atop the tally. Previously, she led with Some Hearts (2005), Carnival Ride (2007), Play On (2009), Blown Away (2012), Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (2014) and Storyteller (2015). Underwood passes Miranda Lambert, who has posted six successive career-starting No. 1s on Top Country Albums. Meanwhile, Underwood ties Dolly Parton for the third-most Top Country Albums chart-toppers among women. Reba McEntire leads with 13, followed by Loretta Lynn (10). Old Dominion (above) banks its fifth Country…

6LACK Seals A No. 1 Letter 6LACK (above) earns his first No. 1 on Top R&B Albums as East Atlanta Love Letter debuts at the summit. The set, which also secures the singer-rapper’s first top 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with a No. 2 opening, earned 77,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 20, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 20,000 were in traditional album sales. The album’s arrival prompts six debuts on the Hot R&B Songs chart, led by the Future-assisted title track, which starts at No. 11. Plus, Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up” ties for the longest-running No. 1 by a woman on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as it logs a 15th week in charge. The single matches the run of Mary J. Blige’s 2006…

Tori, Avril Cross Over Hiding Place, the first faith-based album by Tori Kelly (above), arrives as her first No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums with 15,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 20, according to Nielsen Music. The LP is her second, following the 2015 pop release Unbreakable Smile. Kelly co-wrote four of the new album’s tracks with gospel music stalwart Kirk Franklin, who also co-produced the set. “This album is so close to my heart and a huge dream of mine,” Kelly tells Billboard. “Hearing the responses to Hiding Place, and how it’s touching people’s lives, has moved me so much. My hope is that people continue to be encouraged and feel loved when they hear it.” All eight songs on the set chart on the…

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 ondemand streams where 100 streams equal 1 download (Gold). RIAA certification for 1…