This Labor Day weekend, Scoreboard reviews summer ’17 on the charts, including a milestone set by “Despacito”
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated September 9, 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 | Bruno Mars | 15 | 2 | 8: That’s What I Like |
| 2 | Imagine Dragons | 10 | 2 | 4: Believer |
| 3 | Ed Sheeran | 8 | 2 | 9: Shape Of You |
| 4 | Brand New | 1 | – | |
| 5 | Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 4 | 19: Humble |
| 6 | Shawn Mendes | 15 | 1 | 7: There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back |
| 7 | DJ Khaled | 7 | 2 | 2: Wild Thoughts |
| 8 | Justin Bieber | 106 | 4 | 1: Despacito (Remix) |
| 9 | Kodak Black | 2 | 4 | 46: Drowning |
| 10 | Charlie Puth | 159 | 1 | 5: Attention |
Charts this week reflect the end of summer, which means it’s easy to take #1. So easy that little-known alternative rock band Brand New can take #1 on the Billboard 200 with the smallest week of sales for a debut album this year. The band is no longer that brand new. Science Fiction is their fifth album in 16 years, but they are new to #1, having only reached the Billboard 200’s top 10 once before, in 2009. As for the Artist 100, Bruno Mars climbs to the top again, showing impressive staying power as the 24K Magic World Tour makes its way through 69 North American concert dates.
@brandnewrock celebrates their one week in the spotlight
A “Despacito” Milestone
Although the Billboard 200 had 13 #1 albums in the last 16 weeks, the top of the Hot 100 has been constant: “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber has been #1 all 16 of the weeks. That ties the all-time chart record set by “One Sweet Day,” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, in the winter of 1995-96. What’s impressive is that “Despacito” stayed on top of the charts as a hit primarily sung in Spanish during the most competitive season for singles, the summer. Its rap-sung cadence made the Spanish version the most watched video of all time on YouTube, crossing boundaries from the Latin world to places like Israel, where it is the most popular video of 2017. Here in the U.S., @justinbieber magic helped rocket the song to #1. Bieber first heard the song at a nightclub in Colombia and immediately reached out to Fonsi’s team to get on the pop crossover remix. That formula made summer ’17 a tough one for the competition, such as DJ Khaled‘s”Wild Thoughts” (ft. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller) that had been languishing at #2 for weeks behind the “Despacito” juggernaut.
Due to a new single from Taylor Swift, the “Despacito” reign at #1 will likely end next week. However, the week after may provide an opening for “Despacito” to return to #1. For example, Ed Sheeran‘s “Shape Of You” started at #1 this year, but fell to #2 for two weeks after its initial debut before returning to #1. Check the Scoreboard to see what happens. For now, let’s celebrate summer ’17’s biggest hit, slowly, with the original version below:
The Rest of The Summer Scoreboard
Although 2017 will go down as the summer of “Despacito” there were other winners, starting with Kendrick Lamar who had the summer’s biggest album, DAMN., and a Hot 100 #1 with “Humble.” The video for “Humble” won MTV’s coveted Video of the Year award at last weekend’s VMAs, setting @kendricklamar up for more awards success with the AMAs and the Grammys on the horizon. Elsewhere in hip-hop, @djkhaled took #1 on the Hot 100 with “I’m The One” (ft. Chance The Rapper, Quavo, Lil Wayne, and Bieber), Billboard’s #3 hit of the summer, while “Wild Thoughts” made it to #4 on the same list. That’s a lot to be Grateful for.
The sexy party vibes of “Despacito,” “I’m The One,” and “Wild Thoughts” were joined by Bruno Mars’s enduring “That’s What I Like,” Billboard’s #2 song of the summer about the finer things that even the Kidz Bop Kids can get behind. When it comes to curves and endurance Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” persevered in the top 10 all summer long, reaching its own Hot 100 record for the most weeks in the top 10, with 33. And speaking of other curves, Sam Hunt‘s “Body Like A Back Road” shattered records on the country charts. This week it is #1 for 29th week in a row on Hot Country Songs, an incredible feat that Scoreboard covered in depth two weeks ago. Hunt’s hit is also Billboard’s #9 song of the summer, sitting between hip-hop highlights from Post Malone and French Montana. Finishing off the summer top 10 is a bit of dystopia from Imagine Dragons. “Believer” is currently at #4 on the Hot 100 serving as an antidote to the Mars-Sheeran-Khaled-Hunt-Fonsi-Daddy Yankee-Bieber good time bloc. @imaginedragons are now joined by @taylorswift’s comeback bringing more bad blood, which clearly indicates that summer ’17 is over and winter is coming.
Sorry fellas, summer’s over and attention is required for @taylorswift