Kendrick Lamar is now the primary hip-hop artist ever to land three prime 10 albums in the identical week.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America
cover caption
toggle caption
Gregory Shamus/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America
Final week, many albums and songs skilled a “Grammy bump” — a lift in gross sales, airplay and/or streaming that fed off publicity from the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2. Per week later, (most of) the Grammy bumps have light, however there is a new bump price noting: the Tremendous Bowl bump. It is working wonders for each Kendrick Lamar and SZA this week, but it surely’s additionally trickling all the way down to an unlikely beneficiary.
TOP ALBUMS
Musicians who carry out on the Tremendous Bowl halftime present aren’t paid a premium to take action. As an alternative, the NFL pays performers union scale — a fraction of what a big-name artist would obtain for a efficiency — plus bills associated to touring and placing on a present.
However there are big monetary incentives to performing on the Tremendous Bowl — and for proof, you want solely have a look at this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart. Kendrick Lamar, who headlined the halftime present on the Tremendous Bowl on Feb. 9, has three albums on this week’s prime 10: Final fall’s GNX climbs from No. 4 to No. 1, 2017’s DAMN. rises from No. 29 to No. 9 and 2012’s good child, m.A.A.d metropolis soars from No. 27 to No. 10. Under the highest 10, there are hanging strikes for 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly (No. 167 to No. 54) and 2022’s Mr. Morale & The Massive Steppers (No. 185 to No. 75), whereas Lamar’s Black Panther soundtrack re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 42.
GNX‘s return to No. 1 was fueled by extra than simply the Tremendous Bowl. Two days earlier than Lamar’s efficiency, the rapper lastly launched the album on vinyl and CD for the primary time. Earlier than that, it had solely been obtainable by way of streaming companies and as a digital obtain. That helped greater than solidify GNX‘s spot on the prime of the charts. However, as urged by the success of Lamar’s older catalog, he hardly wanted the help.
Kendrick Lamar is much from the primary artist to submit three albums within the prime 10 concurrently: In actual fact, because the Eras Tour coincided with the discharge of a number of “Taylor’s Model” editions of previous information, Taylor Swift posted 5 albums within the prime 10 concurrently in late 2023 — and 5 titles by Prince charted within the prime 10 on the similar time within the aftermath of the icon’s dying in 2016. However as the primary hip-hop artist ever to land three prime 10 albums in the identical week, Lamar has scored some bragging rights to assist make his Tremendous Bowl weekend much more worthwhile.
Kendrick Lamar is not the one Tremendous Bowl veteran to make a mark on this week’s prime 10. Dangerous Bunny, who carried out with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira on the 2020 halftime present, dips from No. 2 to No. 4 with DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. The Weeknd, who headlined in 2021, drops from No. 1 to No. 3 with Hurry Up Tomorrow. And, climbing from No. 3 to No. 2, SZA’s SOS retains getting larger in additional methods than one: Not solely did the singer rating huge publicity performing alongside Kendrick Lamar on the Tremendous Bowl — whereas additionally headlining one of many new 12 months’s greatest film hits — however she additionally made SOS‘s deluxe version even longer, as she added 4 extra tracks the identical day she confirmed up on the Tremendous Bowl. SOS Deluxe: LANA now spans 42 songs, after increasing from 23 to 38 on the finish of final 12 months.
TOP SONGS
Kendrick Lamar did not simply land three albums within the prime 10 concurrently; he is additionally omnipresent on the Sizzling 100 singles chart, with the highest three songs and 4 entries total within the prime 5. “Not Like Us,” which final hit No. 1 again in July, surges from No. 15 to No. 1. “Luther (feat. SZA)” jumps from No. 3 to a brand new chart peak at No. 2, “TV Off (feat. Lefty Gunplay)” jumps from No. 10 to No. 3 and “Squabble Up” climbs from No. 20 to No. 5. Lamar even lands on the highest 10 a fifth time as a featured visitor on SZA’s “30 for 30,” which shoots up from No. 22 to a brand new peak at No. 10.
Lamar’s songs — with a heavy emphasis on the tracks that pop up in his halftime present — are scattered throughout the Sizzling 100. His SZA collaboration “All of the Stars,” from the Black Panther soundtrack, re-enters the chart at No. 14. “Peekaboo (feat. AzChike)” climbs from No. 81 to No. 28. “HUMBLE.,” from 2017’s DAMN., re-enters at No. 33. In all, Lamar has 13 of the nation’s 100 hottest songs.
Because of Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl surge, Girl Gaga and Bruno Mars‘ “Die With a Smile” drops from No. 1 to No. 4, breaking — maybe briefly — the pair’s nonconsecutive five-week maintain on the highest spot. Nevertheless it’s not all unhealthy information for Gaga, whose new single “Abracadabra” jumps from No. 29 to No. 13 in its second week on the chart. On condition that final fall’s “Illness” plummeted from the 20s into the 50s in its second week final fall, there is a first rate likelihood that “Abracadabra” will stick round for some time.
Chappell Roan continues to be ascending, as effectively, following her viral efficiency and speech on the Grammys. Not solely does The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess re-enter the highest 5 this week, however the album has additionally simply generated its first prime 10 single: “Pink Pony Membership,” which leaps from No. 18 to No. 9. (“Good Luck, Babe!” hit No. 4 final 12 months, however that single was a follow-up to Midwest Princess and would not seem on the file.)
It has been a protracted street to the highest 10 for “Pink Pony Membership.” Roan launched the music on her previous label in 2020 after a prolonged dispute, then re-acquired the rights to the music in time to incorporate it on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess — her full-length debut — in late 2023. The music did not chart till final summer season, because the album took off, and has been floating across the Sizzling 100 ever since. Now, after practically 5 years on the planet, it is a prime 10 hit.
WORTH NOTING
Kendrick Lamar and SZA aren’t the one artists to get a chart raise from their Tremendous Bowl halftime present. The efficiency has been a cultural occasion giant sufficient to spice up the rapper Child Keem — Lamar’s cousin and frequent collaborator — whose hit 2021 album The Melodic Blue re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 194. Equally, Future & Metro Boomin‘s We Do not Belief You, which accommodates the chart-topping Lamar collaboration “Like That,” jumps from No. 59 to No. 37. However the Tremendous Bowl additionally delivered a modest however constant chart increase to somebody Lamar probably did not intend to assist.
Ever because it spilled out onto pop charts and radio playlists final spring, Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud has been a colossal pop-culture story. It is a battle that is felt more and more lopsided, what with the latter’s “Not Like Us” successful 5 Grammys — together with file and music of the 12 months — and newly returning to No. 1 for a 3rd stint atop the Sizzling 100. However Drake’s catalog reaps chart rewards this week, too, probably resulting from a mix of renewed curiosity of their battle, the imminent arrival of recent music, and followers streaming his information in solidarity.
Final week, Drake had eight albums within the Billboard 200. This week, all eight of them submit chart good points: Thank Me Later (No. 187 to No. 174), the 21 Savage collaboration Her Loss (No. 182 to No. 170), Extra Life (No. 180 to No. 162), Scorpion (No. 127 to No. 113), Licensed Lover Boy (No. 88 to No. 82), Views (No. 81 to No. 70), For All of the Canine (No. 72 to No. 61) and Take Care (No. 44 to No. 28). It is not a Tremendous Bowl bump similar to the one skilled by Drake’s former collaborator and present nemesis. Nevertheless it’s a reminder, as if one was wanted, that Drake has hardly been vanquished into oblivion.
Drake’s continued chart efficiency bears watching because the Tremendous Bowl fades from reminiscence — and because the rapper’s personal new album-length collaboration with PARTYNEXTDOOR, Some Attractive Songs 4 U, prepares to hit the Billboard 200 subsequent week.
