Scoreboard: Justin Timberlake, The Weeknd

Justin Timberlake takes #1 on this week’s Scoreboard and The Weeknd has a new single

Billboard Artist Top 10

For the magazine dated February 17, 2018

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

This week Justin Timberlake is the victor on the charts, taking #1 on the Artist 100 and the Billboard 200 with new album Man Of The Woods. His Super Bowl performance fuels chart momentum, but does not earn him a #1 on the Hot 100, where Drake continues his run on top with “God’s Plan” for the third week in a row. The biggest new single of the week comes from The Weeknd, who is joined by Kendrick Lamar on “Pray For Me,” which starts at #7 on the Hot 100.

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

Chris Stapleton, at #9 on the Artist 100, just performed on Austin City Limits

Justin Timberlake Goes in the Woods

Justin Timberlake takes his time between albums. Since ‘N Sync broke up in 2002, Timberlake has only released five albums, two of which counted as 2013’s The 20/20 Experience, and the fifth of which is the new Man Of The Woods. Nonetheless, each of Timberlake’s previous albums made an impact on the charts, with 2006’s FutureSex/Lovesounds generating three #1s and winning three Grammys. At the Super Bowl @justintimberlake performed a medley of 10 hits, eight of which came from his first four studio albums. Then there was “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” the infectious #1 from 2016 that appeared on Trolls soundtrack. “Can’t Stop The Feeling” may be the most G-rated Timerlake hit of all time. It made sense: in 2015 Timberlake had a son with wife Jessica Biel and making kid-friendly music appeared to be Timberlake’s destiny.

Then 2018 came along and Man Of The Woods kicked off with the single “Filthy,” which started at #9 on the Hot 100, but currently sits at #34. The song demonstrates JT’s desire to still be a sex symbol at age 37. Yet Timberlake comes off tired on the track, as if he was forced to perform the song as a contractual obligation to the record company. And even though he says “this ain’t the clean version,” if you want to find anything provocative on Man Of The Woods, you will have to get to track 12 to find an f-bomb on the Pharrell production “Montana,” a smooth romantic song that may do better on the Hot 100 than “Filthy” if it ever becomes a single. The rest of Man Of The Woods is incoherent. Timberlake oscillates between pop, R&B, and country, even wheeling in Chris Stapleton on “Say Something.” Perhaps when Timberlake got the Super Bowl gig he needed to hurry an album along. As a result we get songs like “Filthy” and the saccharine “Flannel” (yes, about a flannel shirt) on the same album. There are many Justin Timberlakes out in the woods, it will be interesting to see which of them emerges on top this year.

Justin Timberlake has a clothing line to accompany his new album

The Weeknd’s Dream Team Pairing with Kendrick Lamar

Since Drake had his surprise EP come out in January, it’s less surprising to get a new single from The Weeknd, a fellow resident of “the 6” and Billboard’s #5 artist of 2017. Abel Tesfaye has been between albums, but Kendrick Lamar has called on his services for the new Black Panther soundtrack and the result, the new single “Pray For Me” is the Hot 100’s Hot Shot Debut. The Black Panther film has just come out and “Pray For Me” serves as a theme song, on which both Lamar (“I fight the world / I fight you / I fight myself”) and The Weeknd (“I’m always ready for a war again”) take on superhero personae. Although the song dives into frequent Abel and Lamar concerns, its link to Black Panther may propel it up the Hot 100. Check out its audio below and check in on Scoreboard every week to see who’s winning on the charts: