Scoreboard: Alessia Cara, Ed Sheeran

This week on Scoreboard Grammy previews continue with Alessia Cara and Ed Sheeran gets assistance from Beyoncé on “Perfect (Remix)”

Billboard Artist Top 10

For the magazine dated December 16, 2017

See the full chart at http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100

As we enter the last month of the year, #1s on the major Billboard charts stay the same. On the Hot 100, Post Malone and 21 Savage remain at #1 on the Hot 100 with “Rockstar,” achieving eight weeks on top. On the Billboard 200 Taylor Swift maintains her hold on #1 with Reputation, on top for the third week in a row. She’s also #1 on the Artist 100 for the third straight week. While @taylorswift still dominates the albums chart, her singles continue to struggle, sitting at #31, #60, and #83 on the Hot 100. With Reputation now available to stream, we’ll see next week if she gets a Hot 100 boost.

Camila Cabello keeps the pressure on the Hot 100; her “Havana” ft. Young Thug is #2 for the fifth week in a row

Alessia Cara’s Bid for the Grammys

The Grammy Award for Best New Artist is a strange one because it defines “new” in a given year as “the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.” The vague definition has led to some surprising outcomes. For example Bon Iver, the indie project led by Justin Vernon, won Best New Artist for 2011, though one could argue that @boniver established its public identity way back in 2007 with debut album For Emma, Forever Ago. And then last year The Chainsmokers were nominated for the same award despite having their first top 40 hit two years prior.

This year’s version of the Chainsmokers is Alessia Cara, a 21-year-old native of Brampton, Ontario, who first made the Hot 100 on the chart dated August 22, 2015. That first hit, “Here,” made it to #5 on the Hot 100 in February 2016 and established Cara’s identity as a Millennial outsider who does not like parties. Cara’s first album Know-It-All was released in November 2015 and generated three Hot 100 hits, the last of which, “Scars To Your Beautiful,” peaked at #8 in February 2017. Yet last year @alessiasmusic had no Grammy nominations. This year she has four, including Best New Artist and nominations shared with Logic and Khalid for the suicide prevention hit “1-800-273-8255” that was profiled (along with Khalid) on last week’s Scoreboard. Her fourth nomination is for the Zedd collaboration “Stay” that reached #7 on the Hot 100 this May.

Perhaps in 2017 the Grammys figured out that Cara’s outsider persona is just what pop needed. “Scars To Your Beautiful” revisited the subject of beauty being skin deep for the current times in a powerful way recalling that of TLC‘s “Unpretty” in 1999. “1-800-273-8255” was a serious hit without precedent. And then “Stay” proved Cara’s chops as an EDM diva. There was also Cara’s star turn on the Moana Soundtrack with “How Far I’ll Go,” earning her the Disney stamp of approval. How far will @alessiasmusic go? By the way her 2017 has gone she has a huge runway in front of her, and the 2018 Grammys will be an important stop on the trip.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZUmqFGnA8h/?hl=en&taken-by=alessiasmusic

Alessia Cara, Logic, and Ellen DeGeneres after a performance of “1-800-273-8255” earlier this year

Beyoncé Keeps On Giving

If you’re a weekly reader of Scoreboard you may have noticed that Beyoncé has been busy this fall with guest appearances on other artists’ tracks. Eight weeks ago she gave J Balvin, Willy William, and the Hurricane Maria recovery effort a boost with an appearance on “Mi Gente (Remix)” that jumped from #21 to its peak of #3 on the Hot 100. Just two weeks ago @beyoncé helped kick off Eminem‘s comeback with the chorus on “Walk On Water,” which started at #14 on the Hot 100. This week, @beyoncé is not stopping, this time helping out Ed Sheeran, who’s in the running to be Billboard’s Artist of the Year. On “Perfect (Remix)” Queen Bey turns up the heat on Sheeran’s sentimental standout from ÷ (Divide). Without Beyoncé the song reached the top 5 of the Hot 100 and now that the Queen has entered the building she may help Sheeran take #1. Check out the audio of the duet below and check Scoreboard every week to see who’s on top of the charts.