This week Bruno Mars earns his seventh Billboard Hot 100 #1, Kendrick Lamar stays atop the Artist 100, and Incubus has the biggest new album
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated May 13, 2017
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 | Kendrick Lamar | 1 | 12 | 3: Humble |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | 3 | 2 | 2: Shape Of You |
| 3 | Bruno Mars | 5 | 2 | 1: That’s What I Like |
| 4 | Drake | 2 | 5 | 18: Passionfruit |
| 5 | Chainsmokers | 6 | 3 | 6: Something Just Like This |
| 6 | Weeknd | 10 | 2 | 21: I Feel It Coming |
| 7 | Future | 9 | 3 | 5: Mask Off |
| 8 | Incubus | 4 | – | |
| 9 | Shawn Mendes | 44 | 2 | 44: There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back |
| 10 | Justin Bieber | 82 | 1 | 4: Despacito |
A week ago Kendrick Lamar had the biggest-selling week for an album this year with his latest, DAMN. This week DAMN. remains at #1 on the Billboard 200 and @kendricklamar stays on top of the Artist 100. However, there is a new champion on the Billboard Hot 100. After just one week at #1, Lamar’s “Humble” tumbles to #3, and ascending to the top is none other than Bruno Mars and “That’s What I Like.” The hit first entered the Top 10 following Mars’s performance of the song at the Grammys back in February and had to spend a patient 10 weeks in the top 10 (including three at #2) before finally making it to the top. “That’s What I Like” becomes the seventh #1 for @brunomars, whose streak at the top dates seven years ago to B.o.B.‘s “Nothin’ On You.” Can Mars sustain at #1? It will be tough since there is a number of new challengers climbing up the chart, and “That’s What I Like” already had a long run in the top 10.
@brunomars can celebrate being back on top of the Hot 100 for the first time since “Uptown Funk” in 2015
Incubus Deliver Album No. 8
The week’s biggest new album comes from Southern California veteran rockers Incubus. Their eighth album, simply titled 8, comes in at #4 of the Billboard 200 and puts the band at #8 on the Artist 100. It has been a long journey for the band since their first independent release 22 years ago. Brandon Boyd & co. are best known for their 2000 hit “Drive,” which went to the top 10 on the Hot 100 and finished as Billboard’s #21 hit of 2001. Although the band started out playing nü-metal rock, mainstream alternative ballads like “Drive” and “Love Hurts” gave them staying power and allowed the band to take long breaks between albums (their last studio album came out in 2011).
On 8, the music stays true to the classic Incubus sound. Lead single “Nimble Bastard” channels teenage metal angst despite the fact that the band members are now in their early forties. The band has a history of fomenting minor political controversies (their “Megalomaniac” video was limited to nighttime broadcasts by MTV during the first George W. Bush term) and this time around they give 2017 America “Love In A Time Of Surveillance,” which jokingly starts with the early 2000’s AOL dial-up sounds. Reviews of 8 have come in and critiqued the group for playing it safe. After this week, Incubus probably won’t be heard from again this year. But like Blink-182, which had a #1 album last year, @incubusofficial have their die-hard fans and an extensive back catalog that will keep the band solvent for years to come.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTZyjtolKHj/?taken-by=incubusofficial&hl=en
For their summer tour, Incubus are bringing along their 2000’s rivals Jimmy Eat World
Justin Bieber Returns, in Spanish
Justin Bieber’s comeback in 2015-16 with Purpose has been well-documented and when he is not trolling Australian media, @justinbieber continues delivering guest appearances that keep him on the charts. Last year we had Mazor Lazer‘s “Cold Water” and DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” two Billboard Top 10 thank yous from Bieber to the EDM community. In 2017 Bieber has expanded his collaborations to Latin Pop and Reggaeton. His appearance on a remix of Luis Fonsi‘s and Daddy Yankee‘s #1 Latin hit “Despacito” is #4 on the Hot 100 this week and may put @justinbieber at #1 on the Hot 100 once again. The Bieber-less version of the track has already taken @luisfonsi and @daddyyankee to #1 in 10 European countries, so one can argue that Bieber is cynically jumping on an already huge single worldwide. But he does sing some of the lyrics in Spanish and the Spanglish remix may just cross over to the Pop audience and become the song of the summer. Check out the audio of the remix below and check the Scoreboard every week to see if “Despacito” can take #1 on the Hot 100:
