Innholdsfortegnelse for August 24, 2019 i Billboard Magazine

DURING A MUSIC CLASS IN HIS freshman year of high school, Whitney guitarist Max Kakacek watched the 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco, which chronicles the alt-rockers during an especially pivotal time in their storied career. “They were trying to teach us some version of a grass-roots way to make music and not go the major-label route,” he remembers. “That was ingrained in me. That’s how I figured it out.” Today, the 28-year-old Chicago native is sharing this memory with Whitney vocalist-drummer Julien Ehrlich and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who responds with a stunned, “Oh wow.” Sitting in Wilco’s Chicago warehouse/studio, The Loft, Kakacek and Ehrlich are taking a breather at home before going to Europe to play a few festivals. On…

BIBI BOURELLY NOTABLE CREDITS Christina Aguilera (“Accelerate”), Mariah Carey (“GTFO”) BACKSTORY When the Berlinborn, U.S.-bred artist was 6, her mom died of cancer. “When you’re that age, it’s hard to find words to express yourself,” says Bourelly. “It was easier to sing.” BIG BREAK Her musician dad set her up in a session with Kanye West when she was a teen. Within 30 minutes, Bourelly, now 25, wrote “Higher,” which Rihanna released in 2016. She’s now signed to Def Jam and has a publishing deal with BMG. PHILOSOPHY “I thought I was ready far before I actually was. If it were up to me, I would’ve dropped an album at 6. But only now I’m realizing there was, and still is, a lot to learn.” EMILY WEISBAND NOTABLE CREDITS…

“I felt an extreme need not to bullshit,” says Liz Phair of her forthcoming memoir, Horror Stories (Oct. 8, Random House). For the indie-rock trailblazer, such candor is nothing new: Beginning with her groundbreaking 1993 debut, Exile in Guyville, and throughout her career since, Phair, 52, has favored blunt and honest over anything rose-colored. So when it came to writing a book, she wasn’t about to offer anything but a collection of real-life tales of motherhood, fame, death, love — and all of the haunting mistakes she made along the way. You’ve always been very frank in your music. Did you feel obligated to express that same openness in Horror Stories? I felt it, but not in an internal way. I didn’t feel like a fan was looking over…

In September 2018, Diplo announced that the next album from Major Lazer, his dancehall-focused side project with Walshy Fire and Ape Drums, would likely be the last. “I think so,” the producer said, “because I got [these] other side projects, like LSD with Sia and Silk City [his duo with Mark Ronson].” But the group will release one more album, Music Is the Weapon, before its cartoon namesake rides off into the technicolor sunset. Recent singles — May’s soaring anthem “Can’t Take It From Me,” featuring Skip Marley, and June’s “Make It Hot,” a collaboration with Brazilian vocalist Anitta — hint that the forthcoming LP should sound like classic Caribbean-, South America- and Africa-inspired Major Lazer. (The group recently worked with Shatta Wale and Beyoncé on “ALREADY,” a track…

This fall, outspoken Chicago MC (and Bernie Sanders supporter) Vic Mensa will release his debut album with political-punk group 93PUNX. He’ll also keenly watch the candidates at the upcoming Democratic debates, which he says aren’t so different from rap battles: “Just because somebody loses, that doesn’t make their opponent better.” An electric performer himself, Mensa has some advice for the presidential hopefuls. Come Stage-Ready “Confidence and platform [matter], but also delivery. It’s a difficult arena; every time you speak, somebody’s trying to pull you down and cut you off. I’m looking for people who can be poised in those situations and stand firm and strong without being disrespectful.” Stay Accountable “It’s easy to say the right things. Regardless of what people think of me, they know that when I…

It has been 14 years since her last studio album, but affection for Missy Elliott hasn’t waned. In June, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with a ceremony that featured tributes from Lizzo and Michelle Obama; on Aug. 26, she’ll receive the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. The only person who didn’t get the memo, it seems, was Elliott herself: “For so long I was hesitant to put out music in fear no1 would get it because people said music has changed,” she tweeted last fall. Now, after releasing a handful of singles through the years — including the Pharrell Williams team-up “WTF” in 2015 — Elliott has confirmed she’ll release a new body of work by year’s end. Already she has…

BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW Yeshiva University New York Enrollment 1,051 THE BEST THING ABOUT MY LAW SCHOOL WAS “Cardozo recognized the value of an entertainment law program early on.”Michael Reinert Fox Rothschild BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL Brooklyn Enrollment 949 THE BEST THING ABOUT MY LAW SCHOOL WAS “The way they had professors teaching the courses was all geared specifically for the bar exam.”Paul Schindler Greenberg Traurig COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL Columbia University New York Enrollment 1,268 THE BEST THING ABOUT MY LAW SCHOOL WAS “The alumni network. I am the vp of the alumni association and co-chairing my reunion.”Wade Leak Sony Music Entertainment FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL Fordham University New York Enrollment 1,269 THE BEST THING ABOUT MY LAW SCHOOL WAS “I was expecting law school to be brutal, and…

Capaldi’s Divine Top 40 Rise Lewis Capaldi’s Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent hits the top 40 of the Billboard 200 for the first time as the set climbs 49-36 in its 13th week on the tally. The LP earned 14,000 equivalent album units (up 11%) in the week ending Aug. 15, according to Nielsen Music — the set’s best week yet. The release’s rise is concurrent with the continued success of its single “Someone You Loved,” which perks up 17-14 (a new high) on the Billboard Hot 100. Divinely Uninspired bowed on the Billboard 200 dated June 1 at No. 49 (with 13,000 units). The set has been hovering around the lower half of the top 100 for the past three months, as the album collected more fans…

AIRPLAY DATA COMPILED BY 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 © 2019,…

Ross’ ‘Port’ Docks At No. 1 Rick Ross (above) lands his sixth No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums as Port of Miami 2 cruises into the top slot with 80,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 15, according to Nielsen Music. The set marks his first leader since 2014’s Mastermind and notably debuts 13 years to the week of its nominal predecessor — and the rapper’s first No. 1 — 2006’s Port of Miami. The new album also snaps Ross’ three-album streak of No. 2-peaking sets: 2014’s Hood Billionaire, 2015’s Black Market and 2017’s Rather You Than Me. As Miami 2 arrives, four of its tracks debut on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, led by a No. 45 entrance for “Act a Fool.” Current single “Gold Roses” (featuring…

A New No. 1 ‘Raised’ “Raise a Hallelujah” by worship music collective Bethel Music, Jonathan David Helser (above, right) and Melissa Helser (above, left) rises 2‑1 on Christian Airplay, up 9% to 12.2 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music. All three acts earn their first Christian Airplay leader, with the husband-and‑wife team of the Helsers having been part of Bethel Music since 2014. The couple cowrote the song with Molly Skaggs and Jake Stevens for Jaxon Taylor, son of Bethel Music CEO Joel Taylor, whose life was threatened by an E. coli infection from which he has since recovered. “When we wrote this song, it was simply a prayer for God to heal a little boy who was in a fight for his life,” says Jonathan. “We would…

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…

No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart Country Boy Raised in Georgia, Blanco Brown split his time between the Atlanta housing projects, where he would hear OutKast on the radio, and his grandmother’s home in rural Butler, where he listened to Johnny Cash. By his early teens, he realized they were singing about the same things, just in different ways. “I was from the projects, and I heard this country boy singing about shootings,” says Brown, 31, who grew up in a musical family and signed his first recording contract with NunStarr Records — with his brothers and cousin — when he was 7. “It was so close to what I was familiar with.” “Git In Here Right Now” By 2008, Brown was working as a songwriter-producer, collaborating…

Fourteen years ago, songwriter Ross Golan was just another struggling musician who had “been in bands and sold no records.” In an effort to get inspired (and jump-start his career), he tried to write an unorthodox murder ballad: one in the style of “2Pac, Merle Haggard, Eminem or Johnny Cash,” in which the protagonist wasn’t actually guilty. Since then, a lot has changed for Golan, now 39, who’s published by Warner Chappell. He has achieved massive success as a songwriter for the likes of Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez — he was named BMI’s pop songwriter of the year in 2016 — and he hosts the popular podcast And the Writer Is… Meanwhile, that murder ballad he wrote has taken on a life of its own: It…

ByteDance, the parent company of social video app TikTok, is in talks with the major labels to secure global licenses to launch a new streaming service, sources tell Billboard. The deal, which is being negotiated alongside license renewals for TikTok, will create a new entrant in the music streaming race and give Tencent another challenger in the Chinese market. The music service, which ByteDance has been demoing for a select group of insiders, has been called “a whole new take on streaming” by an industry source who has seen it and will heavily incorporate social networking features, according to sources. ByteDance declined to comment. Social networks designed around music haven’t done well — Apple tried and failed twice with Ping and Connect — but ByteDance has a built-in audience…

French conglomerate Vivendi announced on Aug. 6 that it is in “preliminary negotiations” with Chinese technology giant Tencent to sell 10% of Universal Music Group. The deal would value UMG at 30 billion euros ($33 billion), a confirmation that industry growth, driven by Spotify, Apple Music and other subscription services, has boosted the value of music after years of decline. Judging from an all-staff memo by UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, the company is already looking ahead. “The possibilities to accelerate and broaden our strategy are exciting,” Grainge wrote. A deal could be a win-win: UMG would get a partner in China, while Tencent’s products, from streaming music to video games, could more effectively use UMG’s music. If the sale goes through, another 30%-40% of UMG could still be available.…

A little over a year after XXXTentacion (born Jahseh Onfroy) was shot and killed outside a Florida motorcycle dealership, his second posthumous album, Bad Vibes Forever, will be released this fall. X’s manager and Sounds Music Group CEO Solomon Sobande describes it as “the love child between 17 and ?,” the two albums X released during his lifetime. Along with Nima Etminan, vp at EMPIRE (which releases X’s music), he spoke about assembling Bad Vibes and the artist’s complex legacy. How did you approach putting the album together? SOBANDE A lot of records, like “School Shooter” featuring Lil Wayne or “Hearteater,” Jahseh saved for this point in his career when he was more established, so they would be better received. A lot of things he had worked on, almost…

X1’s Pre-Release ‘Leap’ K-pop boy band X1 (above) bounds 11-2 on Emerging Artists despite not having released any music yet. The group’s rise can be credited to social media activity as it surges 6-2 on the Social 50, boosted by anticipation for X1’s debut LP, Emergency: Quantum Leap, due Aug. 27. Meanwhile, Saweetie logs her second week at No. 1 on Emerging Artists as the rapper’s “My Type” hits a new Billboard Hot 100 high (No. 33). Plus, half • alive enters Emerging Artists at No. 16 as its debut LP, Now, Not Yet, bows at No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums and No. 15 on Alternative Albums (5,000 equivalent album units; 3,000 in traditional album sales, according to Nielsen Music). The group’s breakout single, “Still Feel.,” reached No. 7…

Red Velvet Returns Red Velvet (below) is back on the Social 50 thanks to the announcement of its second EP of 2019, The ReVe Festival: Day 2. The K-pop girl group reenters at No. 8 after an eight-day gap between Twitter posts (Aug. 1-9) was ended by promo for Day 2, led by the EP’s official announcement on Aug. 12. In the week ending Aug. 15, Red Velvet earned 441,000 Twitter reactions, 240,000 mentions and 22,000 new followers, according to Next Big Sound. Day 2 is scheduled for release on Aug. 20 and follows The ReVe Festival: Day 1, which debuted at No. 7 on the World Albums chart dated June 29. Elsewhere on the Social 50, former Wanna One member Kang Daniel strikes out on his own and…

It’s ‘All’ Dan + Shay At No. 1 Dan + Shay (above) notch their sixth Country Airplay No. 1 as “All to Myself” ascends 2-1, increasing by 12% to 41.9 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music. The song is the duo’s third single, and third Country Airplay leader, from its self-titled third LP, which debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in July 2018. The set is the act’s first to generate a trio of Country Airplay No. 1s, with lead single “Tequila” having led for two weeks in July 2018 and “Speechless” having dominated for four frames starting last December, marking the pair’s longest-leading hit. “This one is extra special,” the duo tells Billboard about earning three No. 1s from an album for the first time.…

Marc Anthony Extends Record Marc Anthony (above) extends his record for the most No. 1s on the Tropical Airplay chart as he collects his 31st leader with “Parecen Viernes.” The track rises 3-1 in its 18th frame, with 9.2 million audience impressions in the week ending Aug. 18 (up 15%), according to Nielsen Music. “Parecen” also hit a new peak of No. 10 on Latin Airplay (rising 15-10), securing his 25th top 10 on the tally. Two other songs also reached the top 10 of Latin Airplay, and both sport Ozuna: “Te Soñé de Nuevo” bows at No. 5, and the all-star “China” collaboration powers 12-6. The former surges 27% in audience, earning Greatest Gainer honors. “China” (a former Hot Latin Songs No. 1) by Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee,…

Kygo & Whitney Lead With ‘Love’ Kygo (above) and late legend Whitney Houston lift 3‑1 on Dance Club Songs with “Higher Love.” The coronation comes 33 years after Steve Winwood’s original hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and over seven years after Houston’s death. The Kygo‑produced remake was remixed by Dirty Disco, Barry Harris and Marc Stout, and Tony Arzadon, among others. The song is Houston’s 14th No. 1 and first since “Million Dollar Bill” in November 2009, and Kygo’s third leader. “Higher” also returns for a fourth frame atop Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (3,000 sold, up 4%, according to Nielsen Music). On Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, it bounds 7‑3, after reaching No. 2 in July. Elsewhere in the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs top 10, Illenium and Jon Bellion’s…

A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS “Diane really hit the co-dependency nerve of our society with ‘How Do I Live’ — it’s played at weddings, funerals and just about every pivotal life-altering moment. I loved it from the very moment Diane played it for me.”—LEANN RIMES For nearly four decades, songwriter Diane Warren has perfected the art of the power ballad. Realsongs, which she founded in 1987, has become the most successful female-owned music publisher in the world, and the hits she has written — for Whitney Houston, Céline Dion, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and others — earned her a 2001 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Today, Warren’s discography boasts a whopping nine No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart” (11…

“While writing my new album, I seemed to lose track of all of my fucks,” says Kesha of her next full-length. She didn’t have many left to give on her last: 2017’s searingly personal Rainbow was a triumphant return from a half-decade hiatus, caused in part by a bitter and still-ongoing legal battle against her former producer, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald. (A trial date has not yet been set.) A departure from the giddy electro-pop that first made her a star, Rainbow’s mix of country, hard rock and piano balladry earned Kesha her first two Grammy nominations and a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. For its follow-up, she has brought in producer Jeff Bhasker (Harry Styles, Bruno Mars) for the first time, as well as erstwhile Macklemore…

With the exception of one-time punk band bassist and Fugazi fan Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders is the only top Democratic presidential candidate to have released an album (We Shall Overcome, a mix of spoken-word tracks and folk songs that he sold in Vermont for $10 a copy in 1987). But does that mean he supports the kind of legislation that benefits music creators and the industry? As fall’s four debates loom, here’s where some of the contenders most likely to stay in the race stand on the issues that the music industry is most concerned about. STRONG BIZ BET JOE BIDEN The former vice president has been backing copyright laws since 1976, when he voted to significantly extend the duration of protection. In 2002, as record labels were suing…

One evening during the fall of 2017, Caroline Polachek found herself on the cliffs of Palos Verdes in Los Angeles, staring at the Pacific Ocean and tripping on mushrooms. At the time, she was a decade into a career as the frontwoman of the now-defunct band Chairlift, whose experimental mix of pop, R&B and rock thrilled indie tastemakers and industry heavyweights alike: The band’s 2008 track “Bruises” appeared in an iPod ad, while Polachek and bandmate Patrick Wimberly worked on Beyoncé’s self-titled 2013 album. “The industry has set up this assembly line where anyone who’s doing anything remotely different is fast-tracked toward chart pop,” she says. Polachek, 34, had flown out to L.A. for writing sessions with electronic producer Danny L Harle during a break from touring in support…

LAWYER OF THE YEAR Debbie White Partner/vice chair, music industry; Loeb & Loeb NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW As an adviser to an impressive roster of international talents, Debbie White has been traveling nonstop this summer for work. To Shanghai to speak on a panel about music licensing and meet with the music executives of Chinese conglomerate Tencent. To Seoul for her client BTS’ fifth annual Muster fan-appreciation festival. To Los Angeles for two days of meetings, then on to New York to catch client Regina Spektor’s final performance on Broadway. “Sometimes I ask people, ‘What day is it? What time is it?’ because I don’t even know where I am,” she says. White is the U.S. legal adviser for both BTS, the K-pop septet whose success has…

Slipknot Ties Up A Third No. 1 Slipknot scores its third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as the metal band’s We Are Not Your Kind bows in the top slot. The title earned 118,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Aug. 15, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 102,000 were in album sales. Its debut week was boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer in conjunction with a Slipknot tour that launched July 26. We Are Not Your Kind — which also starts at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts — is the first hard-rock set to lead the Billboard 200 since Foo Fighters’ Concrete and Gold entered at No. 1 with 127,000 units on the list dated…

Maeson Marches To No. 1 Matt Maeson (above) scores his first Alternative airplay chart No. 1 with his first charting title, “Cringe.” The song leads a historic top five, as four of the top five spots belong to solo artists for the first time in the tally’s three-decade existence. Below “Cringe,” former two-week leader “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish — the new No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (see page 7) — dips to No. 2, while Dominic Fike’s “3 Nights” holds at No. 4 and Lana Del Rey’s “Doin’ Time” vaults 9-5. Of Monsters and Men’s “Alligator” (6-3) is the only song by a group in the Alternative top five. The track concurrently crowns the all-rock-format Rock Airplay chart, surging 4-1 (8.8 million audience impressions, up 9%,…