Chart Buzz: Drake, Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Fitz & the Tantrums
Miley Cyrus gets a dethroned by Lorde on the Hot 100, while Drake dominates the Billboard 200. Plus Fitz & the Tantrums are making major noise on the rock side of the world
It was bound to happen. Miley Cyrus has been dethroned from the Hot 100 spot.
The pop ballad “Wrecking Ball,” heavily supported by fans of the controversial singer and by a viral music video, has lost a little traction on the charts as Lorde‘s finger-snapping “Royals” jumped 3-1 on the chart. It also went 6-4 on Radio Songs with a 22 percent lift, according to Nielsen BDS. “Royals” remains atop Digital Songs for a second week (294,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan) and gains by 12% on Streaming Songs (to 6.1 million U.S. streams, according to BDS) despite dipping 4-5. The track also tops the Hot Rock Songs chart for a fifth week.
Lorde, a new comer to the charts, is also making news for another reason: The newcomer is only sixteen years old. She turns 17 next month. This all means that she becomes the youngest act to top the chart since Tiffany, who was only 16 when “Could’ve Been” went to number one pop in 1988.
Don’t count Miley out, though. Her dual acting/musical stint on last weekend’s Saturday Night Live will certainly revive her numbers and give the single a special advantage at radio. But right now, Katy Perry‘s “Roar” holds the number two spot on the Billboard Hot 100, pushing “Wrecking Ball” to number three.
The king at the Billboard 200 survey this week goes to hip-hop giant Drake. Nothing Was the Same, the rapper’s third full-length LP, debuted at number one, selling 658,000 copies in its first week. The large number is the second-largest sales week for an album in 2013, trailing behind Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience (968,000 copies). It is also becomes his biggest week of sales so far: 2011’s Take Care sold 631,000 copies, while Thank Me Later, his first full-length debut LP, sold only 447,000 copies on week one. The arrival of Nothing Was the Same is also big news for the world of hip-hop, becoming the biggest week of sales for the genre since Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV dropped in 2011. That album sold 964,000 copies.
Helping to push Drake’s climb to the top are a number of top 10 hits that have already made impact at the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: lead cut “Started From the Bottom” peaked at number 2, while “Hold On, We’re Going Home” now sits at number four on the Hot 100 this week. Last week, “Wu-Tang Forever,” a new single from the album, reached number 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs tally.
Trailing way behind Drake at No. 2 is the Kings of Leon with their latest effort, Mechanical Bull, selling only 110,000 copies. Cher and Elton John follow behind at number three and four respectively.
Also working up the charts are the Fitz & the Tantrums. It’s been a long time comin’ for the L.A. retro soul-meets-indie pop band whose latest album, More Than Just a Dream, finally gets major radio attention. Thanks to a few music licensing credits and a kick-ass U.S. tour, the band lands their first Alternative Songs leader. “Out of My League” jumps 2-1 in its 33rd week, completing the longest climb to No. 1 in the chart’s 25-year history. It passes the 32-week trek of Neon Trees’ “Animal” in 2010. “League” also halts the seven-week reign of Lorde’s “Royals” – the longest by a woman in the list’s archives. It concurrently dethrones “Royals” from the Rock Airplay chart after its six week reign.
week of October 12, 2013
(Billboard/Nielsen SoundScan)
1. Lorde – “Royals”
2. Katy Perry – “Roar”
3. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
4. Drake – “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
5. Avicii – “Wake Me Up!”
6. Jay-Z – “Holy Grail” (feat. Justin Timberlake)
7. Robin Thicke – “Blurred Lines” (feat. T.I. and Pharrell)
8. Ylvis – “The Fox”
9. Lady Gaga – “Applause”
10. Lana del Rey & Cedric Grevais – “Summertime Sadness”
1. Drake – Nothing Was the Same
2. Kings of Leon – Mechanical Bull
3. Cher – Closer to the Truth
4. Elton John – The Diving Board
5. Jack Johnson – From Here to Now to You
6. Luke Bryan – Crash My Party
7. Dream Theater – Dream Theater
8. Krewella – Get Wet
9. Metallica – Metallica: The the Never (Soundtrack)
10. Justin Moore – Off the Beaten Path
