Every week, Scoreboard brings The Knockturnal readers the 411 on who is moving up and down the charts in the U.S., with an artist feature and a check-in on the international Scoreboard.
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated August 13, 2016
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 | Drake | 1 | 10 | 3: One Dance |
| 2 | Twenty One Pilots | 3 | 3 | 7: Ride |
| 3 | Rihanna | 4 | 4 | 4: This Is What You Came For |
| 4 | Justin Bieber | 19 | 3 | 2: Cold Water |
| 5 | Adele | 7 | 1 | 9: Send My Love (To Your New Lover) |
| 6 | Gucci Mane | 2 | 2 | 81: Back On The Road |
| 7 | Beyoncé | 9 | 1 | 34: Sorry |
| 8 | Sia | 6 | 1 | 1: Cheap Thrills |
| 9 | Meghan Trainor | 10 | 1 | 13: Me Too |
| 10 | Ariana Grande | 11 | 2 | 23: Into You |
The hot summer on the East Coast this week hosted Scoreboard #1 artist Drake in New York City. The news cycle was dominated by @champagnepapi beefing with radio station Hot 97 and additional noise about Eminem possibly working on a Drake diss track. It is hard to defend the throne for @champagnepapi, but with his 18th week at #1 on the Artists chart, he is coming closer to the all-time record of 31 weeks held by Taylor Swift (the Artist 100 has only existed since 2014). The rest of the Artist Top 10 features the usual suspects and a luxury handbag brand.
@champagnepapi reminding fans of who’s #1
Artist Spotlight: Gucci Mane
Whatever controversies have dogged Drake, his troubles are nothing compared to Gucci Mane. The Atlanta rapper (government name: Radric Davis) most recently spent two and a half years in federal penitentiary for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. @laflare1017 was released from prison in May and quickly joined Instagram, gaining 2.1 million followers in 10 weeks. He also quickly released single “1st Day Out Tha Feds,” which was a harbinger for his new album Everybody Looking, which the Knockturnal has been eagerly anticipating.
Everybody Looking comes in at #2 on the Billboard 200 in its first week and puts Gucci at #6 on the Artist 100. On the album, Gucci not only celebrates his liberation, but also teams up with heavyweights Drake and Kanye West while relying on Mike Will Made It production throughout. At age 36, Gucci is an elder statesman of gangsta rap who has received respect across hip-hop land for his fast comeback. Nonetheless, all the troubles of the past have not changed the man who says “Gucci” 34 times on track “Pop Music.” That song title refers to the sound his Glocks make. As for his commentary on collaborating with Mr. West: “I only featured Kanye cause we both some f****n’ narcissists.” Keep it NOT Gucci guilty and stay awesome, La Flare.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIQQbMfhk_5/?taken-by=laflare1017&hl=en
Gucci’s biggest hit on his new album – “Back On The Road” – features the ubiquitous @champagnepapi
International Scoreboard: Calum Scott channels Robyn
The international charts often decouple from the U.S. Scoreboard and one artist who has retained her popularity globally while getting a cold shoulder from U.S. radio has been Sweden’s Robyn, who had two top 10 hits on the Hot 100 in 1997 but has not been on the U.S. chart in this Millennium. Her most popular song during this American drought has been 2010’s “Dancing On My Own,” which was also her only #1 in home country Sweden. Nonetheless, it has not been entirely absent in the U.S. Blogs put it on their top ten lists, Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” may have alluded to it, and I even heard it at a wedding in Chicago last fall.
Six years later, “Dancing On My Own” is back, covered by 27-year-old Brit Calum Scott, a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent. He took Robyn’s version and stripped it down to a Hozier-like tale of heartbreak that the original cleverly drowned in dance-pop. His performance in April got him 6th place on the show, but the cover really picked up steam when @calumscott released it as a single in June. The studio version has climbed to #2 in Britain this week, exceeding Robyn’s #8 peak in 2010 and bringing a new voice to a sleeper hit. Check out Calum’s take below…it is devastating.
