This week on Scoreboard Black Panther takes #1 on the Billboard 200 and Drake gets together with BlocBoy JB
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated February 24, 2018
See the full chart at http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100
| Billboard Artist Top 10 | Name | Billboard 200 Album Rank | Billboard Hot 100 Singles | Highest Charting Single |
| 1 | Ed Sheeran | 6 | 4 | 2: Perfect (Remix) |
| 2 | Justin Timberlake | 2 | 2 | 31: Say Something |
| 3 | Drake | 23 | 3 | 1: God’s Plan |
| 4 | Kendrick Lamar | 9 | 7 | 9: All The Stars |
| 5 | Bruno Mars | 7 | 1 | 3: Finesse (Remix) |
| 6 | Imagine Dragons | 13 | 1 | 15: Thunder |
| 7 | Migos | 4 | 6 | 10: Stir Fry |
| 8 | Cardi B | – | 6 | 3: Finesse (Remix) |
| 9 | Chris Stapleton | 24 | 2 | 31: Say Something |
| 10 | Post Malone | 8 | 4 | 5: Rockstar |
It’s been more than a year since Ed Sheeran took #1 with “Shape Of You,” yet his popularity is not fading as he returns to #1 on the Billboard Artist 100, earning his fourth week at #1 in 2018 after being Billboard’s #1 Artist of 2017. Staying power of “Shape Of You” helps – the former #1 and the biggest hit of 2017 still sits at #24 on the Hot 100. On top of that chart is Drake and his “God’s Plan,” which has now been #1 for four weeks. @champagnepapi also has the chart’s biggest new single – a collaboration with BlocBoy JB called “Look Alive.” On the Billboard 200 the new chart-topper is the Soundtrack to Black Panther, which takes #1 while the film is #1 at the box office.
Post Malone, at #10 on the Artist 100, has just announced his Spring Summer 2018 Tour
Black Panther Takeover
Disney/Marvel blockbuster Black Panther has been the year’s biggest film at the box office and this week its soundtrack takes #1 on the Billboard 200. Black Panther: The Album features songs both included in the film and inspired by the film. Back in January, film Director Ryan Coogler announced that the album would be executive-produced by Kendrick Lamar and Anthony “Top Dog” Tiffith and stated “I can’t wait for the world to hear what Kendrick and TDE have in store.” Now the album is out and it’s dominant on the charts. It has already generated two top 10 hits on the Hot 100. Last week the martial collaboration between Lamar and The Weeknd “Pray For Me” took #7. This week Lamar/SZA pairing “All The Stars” rises to #9, while “Pray For Me” drops to #11. Both of the top 10 hits from the album demonstrate the successful transformation of Lamar’s rhymes from the street to the epic Marvel universe.
The rest of Black Panther: The Album brings in a who’s who of stars from hip-hop, R&B, and world music. Representing young America are Khalid and Rae Sremmurd‘s Swae Lee on laid-back “The Ways.” On “Bloody Waters” California’s Ab-Soul and Anderson.Paak get together with British electronic star James Blake to create distorted post-apocalyptic hip-hop. Sjava, a singer from South Africa brings isiZulu to “Seasons,” which also features rappers Mozzy and Reason. Lamar’s diverse group of collaborators come together to define music for the nation of Wakanda, home of Black Panther. The album’s film tie-in allows its artists to create a hip-hop superhero album, the first and certainly not the last exhibit of a new genre.
Anthony Tiffith and Kendrick Lamar have taken on 2018 “like a enemy”
Drake elevates BlocBoy JB
There are countless up-and-coming rappers, and BlocBoy JB from Memphis was among them when he started posting tracks on SoundCloud in 2012. Since then he has released six mixtapes, but what got BlocBoy national attention was last year’s “Shoot” and specifically his dancing, which led to a viral YouTube dance challenge. Drake, up in Toronto, was an early BlocBoy fan and leveraged his relationship with BlocBoy’s producer Tay Keith to work on “Look Alive,” a song that was recorded and had a music video recorded in less than a week. @champagnepapi flew down to Memphis to star in the video and his golden touch put “Look Alive” at #6 on this week’s Hot 100. For most music fans this is the first time they will hear of @blocboy_jb, but Drake’s endorsement indicates that JB’s star is about to explode. Check out Drake and JB’s crazy dancing in the video below and check Scoreboard every week to see who’s winning on the charts.
