This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, three albums landed within striking distance of the number-one spot. And a cult favorite has hit the Hot 100 more than 30 years.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
On this week’s Billboard charts, three very different albums are in a tight race for No. 1. Stephen Thompson of NPR Music reports.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Sometimes the Billboard charts get a little sleepy. Sometimes they wake up and get wild. This week, on the Billboard 200 albums chart, three albums landed within striking distance of the No. 1 spot. Coming out on top, the rapper, A$AP Rocky, whose new album “Don’t Be Dumb,” edged out the album at No. 2 by the tiniest of margins.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HELICOPTER”)
ASAP ROCKY: (Rapping) Tee off. Spin it like a helicopter. Take my wife beat’ off. Spin it like a helicopter.
THOMPSON: “Don’t Be Dumb” hit No. 1 thanks to robust streaming and sales. But at No. 2, the K-pop boy band ENHYPEN relied almost entirely on sales as part of a campaign that included 20 different versions of the CD alone. ENHYPEN’s new album is called “THE SIN: VANISH.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “KNIFE”)
ENHYPEN: (Singing) It’s a knife. (Singing in non-English language). (Singing) It’s a knife. (Singing in non-English language). (Singing) It’s a knife. (Singing in non-English language).
THOMPSON: Another record came extremely close to returning to No. 1, “DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS,” by the superstar Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny is a major contender at this weekend’s Grammy Awards, and he’ll headline the Super Bowl halftime show a week later. But in the meantime, he’s also selling new vinyl pressings of his most recent album. The latest round gave him a huge sales boost, and “DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS” leaps from No. 12 to No. 3.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NUEVAYOL”)
BAD BUNNY: (Singing in Spanish).
THOMPSON: There’s less excitement on this week’s Hot 100 singles chart, as Bruno Mars holds at No. 1 for a second week with his new song, “I Just Might.” But there’s an intriguing development near the bottom of the chart. Debuting at No. 97, more than three decades after its release, is a song called “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LOVER, YOU SHOULD’VE COME OVER”)
JEFF BUCKLEY: (Singing) It’s never over. My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder.
THOMPSON: That’s Jeff Buckley, who put out an album called “Grace” in 1994. The artist drowned a few years later, and Buckley has been a cult favorite ever since. But he had never hit the Hot 100 until this week. For the past few months, Buckley’s album has returned to the charts, inspired in part by the release of a documentary last year. For fans, it’s a bittersweet but welcome moment. Stephen Thompson, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LOVER, YOU SHOULD’VE COME OVER”)
BUCKLEY: (Singing) My body turns and yearns for a sleep that won’t ever come.
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