Scoreboard: Travis Scott’s Trap Birds Sing

Week 2 of the fall release season brings Travis Scott’s much-anticipated second album, a big debut by Florida rock group A Day To Remember, and a new Lady Gaga single.

Billboard Artist Top 10

For the magazine dated September 24, 2016

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

After a two week absence from the #1 spot on the Artist 100, Drake is back on top, reaching the peak for the 16th week in 2016 and for the 22nd week in his career. @champagnepapi’s summer ’16 tour also keeps rolling, with him and Future returning to Brooklyn and the Barclays Center in October. Other big movers on the Scoreboard this week are the Houston rapper Travis Scott (at #5), the veteran rock band A Day To Remember (at #6), and Lady Gaga, whose new single is bound to rocket up the charts.

@champagnepapi back on top, taking his talents back north of the border

Travis Scott Champions The Scoreboard

Southern style of hip-hop known as “trap” uses distortion, double-time, and layered synthesizers to create ominous rap theater. To experience it firsthand, check out Kanye West‘s “Champions,” a fierce summer ’16 anthem featuring Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Yo Gotti, Quavo (from Migos), Desiigner, and Travis Scott uniting the track on the hook. This week, Scott takes #1 on the Billboard 200 with his second album Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight. Although Scott’s debut album only came out a year ago, he quickly moved on to the follow-up, spending most of the summer on social media promoting its imminent arrival. Scott’s posts clearly succeeded as he earned his first Billboard #1 album and brought in a “Champions”-like crew of guest rappers, most of whom are uncredited. In fact, Young Thug is the only one credited on single “pick up the phone,” but Quavo is not, yet he is the one rapping about trap birds singing Brian McKnight. Since @travisscott does not make the collaborator list easily accessible, here’s a cheatsheet: for Kendrick Lamar go to “goosebumps,” for Kid Cudi go to “way back,” and for André 3000, “the ends.”

Between Brian McKnight and Bill Clinton @travisscott is channeling his own ’90s nostalgia

Another Day To Remember

Although Florida rock band A Day To Remember has been around 13 years, this week’s #2 showing on the Billboard 200 with Bad Vibrations is the first time they have been to the top 10 of the albums chart. In recent years ADTR had a difficult stretch that included a lawsuit with their record company, and the album title came from the feeling of “studio terror” that lead singer Jeremy McKinnon experienced when the band first started working on the album in a remote Colorado cabin. The five members of the band spent 2015 recording the album and released first single, the fiery “Paranoia” in March. What held up album release was not writer’s block. Of all things, it was the album cover art that was only finalized in the summer and described as a “pretty intense and outrageous art piece” by artist Mike Cortada. Now that the album is finally out, you can see the artwork below and check out “Naivety,” a dark humor pop-punk song explaining “what I hate about getting older.”

ADTR are playing select shows with Blink-182 this fall

Lady Gaga’s Pop Comeback

Outside of “Til It Happens To You,” a somber Oscar-nominated song recorded for the documentary The Hunting Ground, Lady Gaga has been dormant on the Scoreboard since her 2013 album Artpop. However, this week @ladygaga has initiated her major comeback with “”Perfect Illusion,” a pop throwback to The Fame Monster days. Check out the audio below while waiting for the official music video to drop on Tuesday, September 20. Good to have you back, Gaga!