For Week 9 of Fall ’16, Scoreboard highlights new albums from Kings Of Leon and The Game, and a new single from Maroon 5 feat. Kendrick Lamar.
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated November 5, 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 | Twenty One Pilots | 5 | 2 | 3: Heathens |
2 | Kings Of Leon | 1 | – | |
3 | Chainsmokers | 168 | 3 | 1: Closer |
4 | Drake | 2 | 6 | 23: One Dance |
5 | Weeknd | 38 | 2 | 2: Starboy |
6 | Ariana Grande | 8 | 2 | 8: Side To Side |
7 | Rihanna | 13 | 3 | 17: This Is What You Came For |
8 | Bruno Mars | 132 | 1 | 6: 24K Magic |
9 | Adele | 20 | 1 | 24: Send My Love (To Your New Lover) |
10 | Shawn Mendes | 16 | 2 | 10: Treat You Better |
Twenty One Pilots continue their reign on top of the Billboard Artist 100 this week. Over on the Hot 100, The Chainsmokers also stay at #1 with “Closer” (feat. Halsey), notching their 10th week on top and tying the longest run at #1 for the year held by Drake‘s “One Dance” (ft. WizKid & Kyla). Mr. @champagnepapi drops to #4 on the Artist 100, but continues to be on track to be Billboard’s Artist of the Year. Although most of the incumbents stay on top, Kings Of Leon take the #1 album in America, while The Game‘s latest album and Maroon 5‘s new single move those acts up the Scoreboard.
@thechainsmokers only got around to releasing the official video for “Closer” 10 weeks into being #1
Kings Of Leon Build Their WALLS
It took seven tries, but Nashville’s Kings Of Leon finally have a #1 with new album WALLS, which stands for We Are Like Love Songs. This raises two questions – are they specifically like Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs,” and why did they settle for such a mediocre acronym? Jokes aside, the three Followill brothers and one Followill cousin are looking to repeat the high point of their career, which came eight years ago with Only By The Night. That album debuted quietly (and never made it above #4 on the Billboard 200), but a year and a half after it was released @kingsofleon won the Record of the Year Grammy for “Use Somebody.” Title track “Walls” (without the Caps Lock) has Caleb Followill moping about how “the walls come down,” but the effort fails to match the intensity of the group’s biggest hit. The band is more successful on the uptempo tracks, with the lead single “Waste A Moment” throwing it back to the sound of the other big @kingsofleon hit “Sex On Fire.” It will take some time to see if Kings Of Leon will sustain or fall off the Scoreboard, but at least for one week they have the #1 album and are the #2 artist in America.
@kingsofleon are getting into election spirit
The Game Goes Back To 1992
One thing that can be said about Jayceon Taylor, a.k.a. The Game, is that the rapper has made it through reality shows, arrests, lawsuits, and beefs to continue making relevant hip-hop. This week he is back at #4 on the Billboard 200 (and at #15 on the Artist 100) with his eighth album 1992, which is inspired by the year in which @losangelesconfidential was 12 years old. The Game illustrates Compton circa 1992 throughout the album, which is filled with sports and classic hip-hop references. Mr. Taylor is still up for a fight, especially on “92 Bars,” his attack on Meek Mill, in which the threats border on felonious (“blood’ll be leaking like Niagara if I poke Meek”). Hate it or love it, the Game is staying true to the Game.
The Game hired iconic hip-hop artist Joe Cool to design the cover for 1992
Maroon 5 Take A Shot At Pokémon Go
The fall ’16 season has featured a number of major artists returning with comeback singles and this week Maroon 5 follow a crowd that has included Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, and Bruno Mars. In the music video for “Don’t Wanna Know” Adam Levine & co. are dressed as Pokémon Go characters who are chased by fans all over Los Angeles. Hollywood celebrities join the silliness and mid-video the music pauses for Levine to take a jab at Pharrell‘s gandalf hat. That may a substitute for the missing Kendrick Lamar, whose verse can be heard on major streaming platforms, but is absent from the music video. The song itself occupies the space between the band’s “Payphone” and the Chainsmokers’ “Closer” and takes #9 on the Hot 100 this week. Check out the video below and check the Scoreboard every week to see if Maroon 5 can unseat the Chainsmokers on the Hot 100.