BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 13, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 19 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Bulletin SamHunt’s Southside Rules Top Country YOURAlbu DAILYms; BrettENTERTAINMENT Young ‘Catc NEWSh UPDATE’-es Fifth AirplayFEBRUARY 26, 2021 Page 1 of 25 Leader; Travis Denning Makes History INSIDE Executive of the Week: Sam Hunt’s second studio full-length, and first in over five years, Southside sales (up 21%) in the tracking week. On Country Airplay, it hops 18-15 (11.9 mil- (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville),Columbia debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s lion Records audience impressions, up 16%).Exec VP/ Top• CountryUS Recorded Albums Music chart dated April 18. In its first week (ending April 9), it earnedRevenue 46,000 Surpassed equivalent album units, including 16,000 in album sales, ac- TRY TO ‘CATCH’ UP WITH YOUNG Brett Youngachieves his fifth consecutive cording$12B to in Nielsen 2020: Music/MRCRIAA Data. Co-Headand A&R total Country AirplayImran No. 1 as “Catch” Majid (Big Machine Label Group) ascends Southside marks Hunt’s second No. 1 on the 2-1, increasing 13% to 36.6 million impressions. chart and• Live fourth Nation top 10. It follows freshman LP BY DAN RYS Young’s first of six chart entries, “Sleep With- MontevalloRevenue, which Fell arrived at the summit in No - out You,” reached No. 2 in December 2016. He vember84% 2014 in and 2020 reigned as for nine weeks. To date, followed with the multiweek No. 1s “In Case You This week, a pair of young MCs came together on of Emergency, reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in MontevalloConcerts has Prepare earned for 3.9 million units, with 1.4 Didn’t Know” (two weeks, June 2017), “Like I Loved million inComeback album sales. a track that propelled each of them to new career 2019, while You”Polo-Tjay (three, collaboration January 2018), “Mercy” “Pop Out” (two, climbed August Montevallo has spent 267 weekshighs on the on list, the tying charts. “Calling My Phone,” the latest all the way to2018) No. and 11 on“Here the Tonight” Hot 100 (two, that April same 2019). year. • Live Nation Expects Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party as thesingle sixth-longest- from featuring , flew onto But “Calling My“Catch” Phone” completes is a singular his longest moment journey for to theNo. 1, to Ramp Up Business Lil Tjay 6LACK running titles in the chart’s 56-year history. having taken 46 weeks to reach the apex. It out- in Three Months the Hot 100 to an impressive No. 3 debut, while also Bronx-born MC and one that Majid says reflects on On the all-genre Billboard 200, Southside ar- paces the 30-week climb of “Here Tonight.” With Government topping the Streaming Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Columbia as a destination for great music. rives at No. 5, awarding Hunt his second top 10 On Hot Country Songs, “Catch” pushes 7-5 for Green Light HUNT YOUNG after the No. 3-peaking MontevalloSongs. and Hot Rap Songs charts while taking social Here, Majida new talks high. the success of “Calling My media by storm. Phone,” the crop of rising hip-hop/R&B artists on Hunt• Maren first released Morris &the EPX2C , which debuted andChris peaked Stapleton at No. 5Lead on Top CountryThe Albumssong’s success in August is a2014. milestone Following for Lil Tjay,COMBS and ‘DOES’ is ColumbiaIT AGAIN Luke and Combs why “this’ “Does company to Me” (River has become House/Columbia a place Montevallo2021 ACM, Between Awards the Pines: theAcoustic latest Mixtape big moment started for at itsa rising No. 7 highcrop inof formidableNashville), featuringwhere Eric artists Church like, ascends that, and 11-8 many on Country others, Airplay, want up to 10% be, to NovemberNominations 2015. hip-hop and R&B talent at Columbia Records,24.7 which million in audience.and that Theis something song is Combs’ A&R eighth and all straight departments career-opening are Montevallo produced five singles, four of which hit the pinnacle of Country top 10, following a record run of seven consecutive out-of-the-gate, properly also includes , , and very proud of.” Airplay:• 2021 “Leave ACM the Awards Night On,” “Take Your Time,”Polo “House G The Party” Kid andLaroi “MakeLil Naspromoted X No. 1 singles. YouNominations: Miss Me.” “Break Snubs Up in a Smallothers. Town” And peaked it helps at No. Columbia’s 2. executive vp/co-headChurch adds hisLil 15th Tjay’s Country “Calling Airplay topMy 10. Phone” with 6LACK Hunt &co-penned Surprises all 12 songsof on A&R SouthsideImran, including Majid earn “Body the Like title a of BackBillboard ’s Ex- debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100 this week, the first Road,” which was released in 2017.ecutive The smashof the hitWeek. ruled Country Airplay for THAT TOOK QUITEtop 10‘A FEW’of his MONTHS career Travisand an Denning impressive shatters debut the record for for three weeks• Apple and Music the airplay-, streaming- and sales-based Hot Country Songs the most weeks it has taken to penetrate the Country Airplay top 10 as “After While buzz for “Calling My Phone” first began any single. What key decisions did you make to chartLaunches for a then-record Songwriter 34 frames. It now ranks second only to Bebe Rexha and a Few” (Mercury Nashville) climbs 12-10 in its 57th week, up 4% to 21.4 mil - FloridaSpotlight Georgia ‘Behind Line ’sThe “Meant toto Be” simmer (50 weeks when atop the the song latter was list inteased 2017-18). on TikToklion in, radio reach.help him achieve that? “Downtown’sSongs’ Dead,” which ishelping also on itthe vault new intoset, reached the top Nos.five 14 of and the 15 Hot 100,The Majidsong surpassesTrust two the tracks A&R that process took 50 and weeks trust each the to A&R’s enter the around top 10: on Hot Country Songs and Countrysays Airplay, the song’s respectively, success incomes June 2018.more “Kin from- Columbia’sEaston Corbin ’syou. “A Girl It started Like You,” when which Tjay reached had a No. session 10 in withJanuary one 2018 of be- folks” led Country Airplay on Feb.track 29, record becoming of artist Hunt’s development seventh No. 1. and It hit trusting fore peakingthe at No.our 6 otherthat February, artists onand the Aaron roster Watson and he’s “Outta met the Style,” pro which- No. 3 on Hot Country Songs. achieved its No. 10 high in December 2017. A&R process. And Tjay, despite being just 19, is far ducer G.Ry (who produced Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Latest single “Hard to Forget” jumps 17-9 on Hot Country Songs. It’s his “After” is Denning’s second Country Airplay entry. “David Ashley Parker from a brand new sensation, as his debut album, State (continued) eighth top 10, having corralled 8.2 million U.S. streams (up 96%) and 5,000 in From Powder Springs” traveled to No. 32 in September 2018. ETHAN MICHAEL YOUNG: VIA MARTIN/NHLI GETTY HUNT: IMAGES. IMAGES MILLER/GETTY Page 3 of 25 IN BRIEF Later” and “Calling My Phone”). He sent a core hit song from him, but our job was to think it’s important to keep it simple and to me the song from the session and it was help elevate the sound. When you have an trust the process. amazing, and the big thing that came out of unexpected feature like 6LACK on a song it for me was he said, “It took me 15 minutes with Tjay, you wake up two rabid fan bases, to do.” So when it came down to setting up and the result is a global hit. US Recorded more sessions for Tjay, we were like, Let’s Columbia has a very strong roster of get him back in with G.Ry since he was able young, rising R&B/hip-hop talent. How Music Revenue to make that song so easily. Tjay’s A&Rs Ma- have you prioritized those genres in your ria Arangio and Luis Mota flew to L.A. and A&R department? Surpassed $12B in got in the studio with Tjay, G.Ry, Bordeaux [Chairman/CEO] Ron Perry and and Non Native and sent me the hook of [GM] Jen Mallory have done an incredible 2020: RIAA the song the next day. We all thought it was job building a staff that just has great taste — great. As we were releasing new music for a lot whom have great taste in R&B/hip-hop. BY ED CHRISTMAN Tjay at the end of last year, Maria and Lu So when we set out to build the A&R staff, kept telling me they had a feeling about this signing and developing next-generation conomic downturn brought on by song. So my job was to trust them and get R&B/hip-hop acts was top priority. We went the pandemic couldn’t stop the the rest of the staff to believe in this song as after acts that we felt we understood and U.S. music industry from its fifth much as we did. Tjay put an amazing verse would have a great impact culturally. We consecutive year of growth as rev- on the song and when the 6LACK verse can look acts like Lil Tjay, Polo G, Lil Nas X Eenue increased 9.2% to $12.15 billion in 2020 came in, my jaw dropped and we all knew and Kid Laroi in the eye and confidently say, from the prior year’s $11.13 billion total, ac- we had a masterpiece.