Month: October 2023

Kylie Minogue collects her second No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart as her new studio release Tension opens atop the tally (dated Oct. 7). She previously led the 22-year-old list with 2020’s Disco.

The new album’s chart-topping debut comes after its lead single, “Padam Padam,” became a viral hit over the summer, and went on to become her first top 10 hit on the 10-year-old Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in June.

Tension, released Sept. 22 via Darenote/BMG, earned 24,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Luminate. That marks Minogue’s best week, by units, since the industry began measuring by that metric in December 2014. On the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, Tension debuts at No. 21, her highest-charting album in over a decade, since Aphrodite hit No. 19 (July 24, 2010-dated chart).

Further, of Tension’s first-week units, album sales comprise 19,500 – the pop star’s biggest sales week for an album in nearly 20 years. She last sold more in a single week with an album when Body Language debuted with 43,500 (Feb. 28, 2004-dated chart). Of Tension’s 19,500 sold, physical sales comprise nearly 14,000 (7,000 on vinyl – her biggest week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991; 6,000 on CD and 1,000 on cassette) and digital album sales comprise about 5,500.

Tension was issued as a standard 11-song album, a 14-track deluxe edition (on CD, digital download and streamers) and in a 16-song edition (sold as a digital download exclusively through Minogue’s webstore). Sales of the album were bolstered by more than 15 physical formats, including seven vinyl variants (all with the same standard 11-song tracklist, with many in different colors with alternative covers – including some retailer-exclusive offerings), five cassettes (four with the album’s standard tracklist, and one with the 14-song tracklist – all in different colors) and five CDs (including a signed edition sold through Newbury Comics, and versions in alternative collectible packaging).

Tension was ushered in by the No. 7-peaking “Padam Padam” on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in June. (The chart ranks the week’s most popular songs of the genre in the U.S., by blending streams, sales and airplay.) The track also became her first entry on the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart (peaking at No. 14) and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart and two weeks atop the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart.

The viral hit went on to earn 34.19 million on-demand official audio and video streams in the U.S. – making it Minogue’s third-biggest streaming song ever in America. “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” released in 2001, is her most-streamed hit in the U.S. (176.66 million) and her seasonal cover of “Santa Baby,” released in 2000, is in second place (44.62 million). (Minogue made her Billboard chart debut in May of 1988, bowing on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Should Be So Lucky.”)

Following “Padam,” the new album has spun off a second dance hit with the title track, which hit No. 18 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in September, No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales and debuts at No. 7 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay on the Oct. 7-dated chart. Plus, concurrent with the album’s debut on the charts, the set’s “Hold On to Now” bows at No. 32 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and No. 10 on Dance/Electronic Song Sales.

Outside of the dance world, “Padam Padam” gave Minogue her first entry on the Pop Airplay chart since 2004’s “Slow,” and her first hit on the Adult Pop Airplay chart since 2002’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.”

The Billboard 200 and Top Dance/Electronic Albums charts rank, respectively, the week’s most popular overall albums, and dance/electronic albums, in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Top Album Sales ranks the week’s top-selling albums by traditional album sales (CD, vinyl, cassette, digital download album, etc.).

While attempting to write his third studio album, House on a Hill, Eric Nam came across a few creative road blocks after being left with few inspiring experiences during the pandemic, and jumping into touring right after. But one day of home shopping ended up changing the trajectory of his writing, and shaped the album altogether, he reveals in the latest episode of Billboard News.

“I wanted to buy a house and I saw a beautiful house on a hill. Ended up not getting it, but in that songwriting session we started to discuss, ‘Why do we all want a house? Why do we want to own a house?’ It’s multifaceted,” Nam told host Tetris Kelly about how the record began to take shape. “They say it’s the best way to accumulate wealth. Is it a status symbol? Is it a sense of identity and purpose in a physical place? That kind of led us down a spiral of talking about what makes us really happy and what drives us as people.”

House on a Hill sees Nam at his most creatively invested — in addition to being fully involved with the songwriting and production process, he helmed the album’s entire music video production, which as a whole views as a short film.

“I think I’ve always been pretty involved in my album, but this one was particularly involved because not only was it the music and the entire songwriting and production process, but it also extended to the multiple music videos, the short film, the photos and everything,” he explained. “I think naturally as an ambitious person, I try to elevate and upgrade every album. So, ‘How do we beat the last album?’ That was my biggest homework for this project.”

Nam stated that the most arduous process of bringing the album to life was making a music video for multiple songs on House on a Hill “wasn’t easy” due to being an independent artist.

“I come from the world of K-pop. When you look at K-pop videos, there’s always CGI with things flying in outer space with fighting imaginary monsters. … I, as a solo artist and an independent artist, don’t have the ability to do that. I was like, ‘What can I do that can allow me to flex every muscle of my creative mind?’ I thought, ‘Why not write and script out multiple music videos and then turn it into a short film that plays with the themes of House on a Hill — being happy, finding contentment, being sad, being alone, all those types of emotions,” he explained.

House on a Hill was released Sept. 8 and debuted at No. 66 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart. The singer is currently on tour in support of the album, making stops in North and Latin America through Dec. 9 before heading over to Europe, U.K and parts of Asia in 2024.

Watch Nam’s interview with Billboard News in the video above.

As evidenced by our panelists Kany García, María Becerra, Nicki Nicole, Nathy Peluso, Young Miko and GALE, Latin music is no longer just a boys’ club. Women rule, and comprise a new generation of artists dominating the charts.

Moderated by Billboard Español‘s Isabela Raygoza, the aforementioned artists took the Billboard Latin Music Week stage on Tuesday (Oct. 3) for a candid conversation on why the boys club is no longer needed, as García put it. “It’s the fourth time I speak at Latin Music Week and I realize that it’s the first time I’m sitting with five other women that I admire so much,” García shared. “Before I had to share this stage with so many men but you know, women are the future.”

Below, the best and most memorable quotes from the Boys No More Club! panel:

Nicki Nicole on the first woman who supported her: “I had 20 subscribers on YouTube, I released my first song with so much hope, really wanting for it to go places you never expected, but it’s hard for women in the industry. Then, Cazzu was the first one who supported me, and I just had one song. She embraced me and it changed me as a woman and as an artist.”

Young Miko on being inspired by Kany García: “I’m so excited to be here with all of you, but Kany was really the first artist that motivated me to not be scared. I found out we were from the same [LGBTQ+] community and it made me feel comfortable to speak with my mother. Things are now changing, today, thank God, there’s an audience that’s more receptive, there’s an audience that is looking for change.”

Nathy Peluso on discovering her craft: “I know I wanted to dedicate myself to art and communicating. To communicate being a woman is a challenge and a privilege. I stopped singing on the streets to song on stages, and every day I wake up thinking: How can we evolve? When I started rapping, there weren’t many women on the scene, it was a struggle, to create a space for myself. Today, we’re far from those times and I’m grateful for the work of my sisters.”

María Becerra on being experimental: “I decided to start doing trap, dancehall, I really just wanted to do it all because I always liked everything. But that’s what it’s all about: experimenting. At the end of the day, we’re artists.

Kany García on embracing the learning process: “I’m still finding myself 16 years later, as the days pass, you don’t really stop discovering yourself. I’m still walking. I’m still learning.”

GALE on connecting with fans: “It’s always very strong to connect with vulnerability, and since I was a little girl, [I knew how] to embrace the fear that’s always going to be there. It happens to me a lot with songs, being honest, embracing fear in that way is how one connects with others.”

Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week includes a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here.

This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.

Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.

Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5), and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.

As they wind down their current run of their Still… At Their Very Best tour, The 1975‘s singer, Matty Healy, issued yet another apology from the stage. The latest mea culpa came during Monday night’s (Oct. 2) show at the Hollywood Bowl, in which Healy told the audience he planned to “be better moving forward.”

In fan video of the non-specific blanket atonement, Healy said, “I think it is important to take inventory of yourself so you become aware when your intentions and your actions don’t align. So, because some of my actions have hurt some people, I apologize to those people, and I pledge to do better moving forward.” When the crowd applauded, Healy added, “give it up for the old apology.”

“But I think it’s also important I express my intentions so everybody knows there is no ill will coming from me,” he continued, smoke and drink in hand. “You see, as an artist [air quotes], I want to create an environment for myself to perform where not everything that I do is taken literally.”

Healy then explained that he doesn’t “go around singing my songs and apologizing” when he’s not onstage in a seeming attempt to create daylight between his performance persona and his off-stage one.

In February, Healy stirred up controversy when he made racist and sexist remarks about rapper Ice Spice on the Adam Friedland Show, during which he and the hosts made jokes about the rapper sounding like an “Inuit Spice Girl” and looking like a “chubby Chinese lady” before performing racist accents. After one of the men suggested Healy should have asked the MC about her ethnic background while dropping an Inuit ethnic slur, Healy called Ice Spice “dumb.”

In a recent Variety interview, Ice Spice said she was “confused” when she initially heard the podcast. “Because I heard ‘chubby Chinese lady’ or some s— like that, and I’m like, ‘Huh? What does that even mean?’ First of all, I’m thick,” she said. “What do you mean Chinese? What? But then they apologized or whatever. And the whole time, I didn’t really care.”

Healy issued a tepid apology for his Spice-related comments in April from the stage in New Zealand, where he said, “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you. Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d–k,” he added at the time. “I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry. I don’t want it to be misconstrued as mean. I don’t mind being a bit of a joker… but I am genuinely sorry if I’ve upset them because I f–king love them.”

At Monday’s show, Healy again attempted to explain his frequent verbal outbursts. “I’ve kind of performed exaggerated versions of myself on other stages, be it print or on podcasts and in an often misguided attempt at fulfilling the kind of character role of the 21st-century rock star, so, it’s complicated,” Healy said, without pointing to any specific incidents or comments.

“This might be cheesy, but sometimes playing pretend is the only way you can truly find out who you are, and you could probably also say that men would rather do offensive impressions for attention than go to therapy,” he continued. “But, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself, sometimes that just requires people who really know what they’re talking about.”

There were more scattered laughs before Healy performed a bit sending up the online therapy service BetterHelp, accompanied by an ad banner that ran on the screen as Healy leaned into the mockery by informing the crowd to use the code “Sorry75” to get a discount. At press time a spokesperson for The 1975 had not returned a request for further comment on Healy’s on-stage remarks.

Watch a fan video of the Healy speech below.

“Pedro, tu no puedes, eres lo que eres, busca un trabajo, y paga los que debes, la vida es muy corta pa’ soñar,” crooned Pedro Capo as he improvised on the lyrics while carefully plucking the strings of his nylon guitar as he sat on the Making the Hit Live panel at 2023 Latin Music Week on Tuesday (Oct. 3). The Puerto Rican artist then united his voice with Carin León’s for a stunning harmony. The Mexican artist recognized this too. “That’s the money maker,” he declared.

This beautiful acoustic ballad with contemplative lyrics and plenty of charm was created during the panel, where the two artists also reflected on their creative process and highlighted how each of them perceives a hit differently. While participating in the discussion, León held a 12-string guitar — a traditional instrument within the música mexicana space — and bounced ideas off his fellow panelist and artist.

“How do you compose a hit? With God’s blessing,” Capo said. But moments later, the creativity between the two musicians was flowing like water.

“A lot of people relate it to success. For us, it means something different. I feel that the definition of success is very personal and very individual,” said León. “One has to connect with issues of the heart to get it off your chest.”

“You guys met for the first time 30 minutes ago, and it seems like you’ve known each other all your lives,” Fajardo noted. “From here to the studio, please.”

Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week includes a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops.

See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here. This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.

Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.

Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5) and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.