As 2017 begins, Migos and Lil Uzi Vert challenge for #1 on the Hot 100 and Scoreboard features Grammy nominee Sturgill Simpson.
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated January 14, 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 | Weeknd | 2 | 3 | 3: Starboy |
| 2 | Pentatonix | 1 | 1 | 32: Hallelujah |
| 3 | Drake | 8 | 4 | 9: Fake Love |
| 4 | Bruno Mars | 3 | 1 | 5: 24K Magic |
| 5 | Twenty One Pilots | 7 | 1 | 13: Heathens |
| 6 | J. Cole | 4 | 3 | 46: Deja Vu |
| 7 | George Michael | 12 | 3 | 33: Careless Whisper |
| 8 | Shawn Mendes | 11 | 2 | 17: Mercy |
| 9 | Ariana Grande | 24 | 1 | 7: Side To Side |
| 10 | Adele | 17 | 1 | 44: Water Under The Bridge |
As charts enter 2017, this week features the last of the holiday music impacting the Billboard scoreboards. Pentatonix were the big winners of 2016, with A Pentatonix Christmas spending its last week at #1 on the Billboard 200, at least for the ’16 holidays. We will also not see Billboard’s Holiday 100 again until December of 2017. Mariah Carey had another victorious campaign with “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which finished as the #1 Holiday song of winter ’16, though the same cannot be said for her New Year’s Eve performance.
The Weeknd is back on top of the Artist 100, though “Starboy” ft. Daft Punk slips to #3 on the Hot 100 after going to #1 last week. On that chart Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane take back #1 with “Black Beatles.” This week’s charts also feature a surge in sales for George Michael‘s catalog following his passing on Christmas day. @georgemofficial comes in at #8 on the Artist 100 as three of his hits return to the Hot 100, led by Billboard’s #1 song of 1985, Wham‘s “Careless Whisper.” You can check out the Scoreboard’s feature on George from last week here.
Rae Sremmurd are back on top of the Hot 100 in 2017
Migos Keep Atlanta Hot on the Single Chart
The #1 success of “Black Beatles” has been covered on the Scoreboard and this week Rae Sremmurd are facing some local competition as “Bad And Boujee” by Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert challenge at #2 on the Hot 100. There are many parallels between these hip-hop success stories – @raesremmurd and @migos are both based in Atlanta (Rae Sremmurd are originally from Mississippi and Migos came out of Atlanta suburb Lawrenceville), their hits feature popular guest rappers (@liluzivert finished as Billboard’s #94 artist of 2016, while Gucci had a #2 album on the Billboard 200 last summer), and part of their success is attributable to viral videos. For “Black Beatles,” the secret sauce was in Mannequin challenge videos, and “Bad And Boujee” benefited from creative uses of the song’s intro on social media, specifically centered on the “Raindrop/Drop Top” start to the song. For instance, here’s a baby that stops crying when @migos comes on. And then there is Childish Gambino, I mean Donald Glover, thanking Migos in his Golden Globes acceptance speech for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. 2017 will be a good year to be #badandboujee.
Migos rise on the Hot 100 bodes well for their forthcoming album “Culture”
Grammys Preview: Sturgill Simpson
Last week Scoreboard reviewed Billboard’s year-end charts and the top 4 artists of 2016 happen to be nominated for the Gold Medal of the Grammys ― Album Of The Year. Joining Adele, Justin Bieber, Drake, and Beyoncé is dark-horse contender Sturgill Simpson, a country-rock singer who did not make Billboard’s year-end Artist 100 and only peaked at #12 on the weekly version of that chart following the release of his Grammy-nominated A Sailor’s Guide To Earth in April 2016.
So who is @sturgillsimpson? At 38 years old, he is the oldest nominee for the Album Grammy and music was not his first occupation. Simpson was born and raised in Kentucky, spent three years in the U.S. Navy, and worked at Union Pacific Railroad. He only came to Nashville in 2012 and self-released his debut album the next year. Producer Dave Cobb took Simpson to the next level on his 2014 album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, which earned Simpson his first Grammy nomination and set him up for a breakthrough with A Sailor’s Guide. Both of Simpson’s Grammy-nominated albums hearken back to outlaw country of Waylon Jennings and the storytelling of Merle Haggard, updated with some psychedelic rock production from Cobb. A Sailor’s Guide demonstrates Simpson’s range – it both covers Nirvana‘s “In Bloom” and features a tender ballad dedicated to his son (“Welcome To Earth”).
It is highly unlikely that Simpson will take Album of the Year against the tremendous mainstream competition, but he is very likely to win Best Country Album. Last year another country-rocker Chris Stapleton got the nomination for Album of the Year and took Best Country Album home. Dave Cobb produced Stapleton’s Traveller and while he is not listed as a producer on Simpson’s latest album, Simpson’s metamodern country sound should ensure him going home with at least one Grammy.
Sturgill Simpson’s visit to Charlie Rose may have been a harbinger of his big Grammy nomination