USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Slime You Out' debuts at number one
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Drake adds his 12th leader, tying for the fifth-most in the chart's history, and SZA scores her second. Drake’s “Slime You Out,” featuring SZA, soars in at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs

chart. “Slime You Out,” the 1,156th single to top the Hot 100 over the chart’s 65-year history, and the 71st to debut at No. 1. It drew 32.6 million streams and 5.2 million radio airplay audience impressions and sold 2,000 downloads in the tracking week ending Sept. 21, according to Luminate. The single also debuts at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and No. 29 on Digital Song Sales. SZA’s second No. 1: SZA earns her second Hot 100 No. 1. She first reigned for a week in April with “Kill Bill.” She claims her first No. 1 debut, after “Kill Bill” reached the summit in its 19th week on the chart, and after a wait of seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 2. Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100, two weeks after it became her second No. 1. The song drew 44.9 million in radio reach (up 19%), 26.7 million streams (down 2%) and sold 8,000 (up 4%) – as it becomes her second leader (5-1) on Digital Song Sales and her ninth top 10 (13-9)

on the Radio Songs chart. It also tops the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for a fifth week. SZA’s “Snooze” reawakens with an 8-3 leap on the Hot 100, surpassing its prior No. 7 best. Following the Sept. 15 release of its remix featuring Bieber, it’s up 50% to 21.4 million streams and 86% to 3,000 sold; already an established airplay hit, it rises to a new No. 3 high, from No. 5, on Radio Songs (70.1 million, up 4%). SZA now has four career top five Hot 100 hits, among nine top 10s, as “Snooze” and “Slime You Out” join “Kill Bill” and “Kiss Me More,” featuring Doja Cat (No. 3, 2021). Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s No. 6-peaking 1988 Hot 100 classic “Fast Car” holds at No. 4 after eight weeks at its No. 2 high. Still, it tops Radio Songs for a fourth week (76.6 million, down 2%) and ascends to No. 1 on the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart, after 19 weeks at No. 2. Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, drops 3-5 on the Hot 100, three weeks after it debuted at No. 1. It leads the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for a fourth week each. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Swift’s “Cruel Summer” descends 5-6, after reaching No. 3; Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” falls to No. 7 following its second nonconsecutive week at No. 1; Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” slips 6-8, following 16 weeks at No. 1, the most ever for a non-collaboration; Gunna’s “Fukumean” holds at No. 9, after hitting No. 4; and Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” repeats at No. 10, after reaching No. 6. Rod Wave captures his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Sept. 30) as his latest release, Nostalgia, opens atop the tally. The set bows with 137,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 21, according to Luminate — the rapper/singer’s biggest week yet by units earned. Nearly all of the album’s first-week sum was driven by streaming activity of the set’s 18 tracks. Of Nostalgia’s 137,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 21, SEA units comprise 135,000 (equaling 187.51 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 18 songs — the third-largest debut streaming week for an R&B/hip-hop album in 2023), album sales comprise 1,500 (it was only available to purchase as a digital download album) and TEA units comprise 500. Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts falls to No. 2 after debuting atop the tally, as the set earned 134,000 in its second week (down 56%). Four more former No. 1s round out the top six: Zach Bryan’s self-titled album is a non-mover at No. 3 (79,000; down 17%), Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is stationary at No. 4 (76,000; down 3%), SZA’s SOS rises 6-5 (53,000; up 17%) and Travis Scott’s Utopia falls 5-6 (47,000; down 16%). Peso Pluma’s Génesis is steady at No. 7 (46,000 equivalent album units; up 7%), Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Midnights stands still at No. 8 (42,000; up 1%) and Morgan Wallen’s former leader Dangerous: The Double Album holds at No. 9 (38,000; down 2%). The Barbie film soundtrack closes out the top 10, as it steps 11-10 with 36,000 units (down 4%).

Record Of The Month
'Paint The Town Red' is the second single from Doja Cat's upcoming fourth album 'Scarlet'.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
'Guts' tops the album list, 'Utopia' follows at no.2
Monday, September 25, 2023
by Alan Jones, London
 
Claiming the top three places for the sixth week in a row, seven places in the Top 10 including the highest new entry, and the two biggest climbers within the Top 75, female solo artists continue to dominate the singles chart. Doja Cat is No.1 for the third week in a row with Paint The Town Red, though it suffers

its second dip in support in as many weeks, with consumption down 7.82% to 50,144 units (1,120 digital downloads, 49,024 sales-equivalent streams). Olivia Rodrigo remains in second place with former No.1 Vampire (38,068 sales), while South African-born UK singer/songwriter Kenya Grace’s debut hit, Strangers, enjoys another 53.25% increase in consumption to 37,298 units as it soars 12-3. None of Tate McRae’s six previous hits has debuted higher than No.24, but the 20-year-old Canadian singer/songwriter easily surpasses that, and grabs her third Top 10 entry with viral breakout Greedy debuting at No.8 (26,129 sales). Exes Drake & SZA have teamed up for the first time for Slime You Out, a song about… toxic exes, which dashes to a No.10 debut on consumption of 24,471 units. It is SZA’s 18th hit and Drake’s 134th – a total which puts him in equal second place for most UK Top 75 entries alongside Cliff Richard, with only Elvis Presley ahead. It is also

Drake’s 41st Top 10 entry – the most by any rapper – and SZA’s fourth. Cassö, Raye & D-Block Europe reach a new peak for the fifth week in a row with their collaboration, Prada (5-4, 30,180 sales, 14 fewer than last week). It swaps places with Adore U (4-5, 27,990 sales) by Fred Again.. feat. Obongjayar, which, nevertheless, jumps 3-1 on the digital downloads chart (1,203 sales). The rest of the Top 10: Bad Idea Right? (3-6, 27,809 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, Cruel Summer (6-7, 26,984 sales) by Taylor Swift and Get Him Back! (7-9, 24,990 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo. Overall singles sales are down 0.99% week-on-week to 26,224,825 units, 14.53% above same week 2022 consumption of 22,898,349 units. Paid-for sales are down 5.65% week-on-week at 265,297 – 2.84% below same week 2022 sales of 273,046. Twenty-one years after their eponymous introductory release became the first of their three No.2 albums, Busted top the chart for the first time, with new compilation/remakes set, Greatest Hits 2.0 becoming the 16th album to debut at No.1 in as many weeks. With a regular edition featuring new versions of re-recordings of songs from their first two albums and new song Good One, and a deluxe ‘guest features’ edition adding a plethora of collaborations with Jonas Brothers, Vamps, McFly, James Arthur, Wheatus and Hanson, among others, the set racks up first week consumption of 27,319 units (15,932 CDs, 3,868 vinyl albums, 1,631 cassettes, 3,656 digital downloads and 2,232 sales-equivalent streams). Galvanised by the band’s current 20th Anniversary/Greatest Hits arena tour, it topped all of the constituent format charts, except streaming, where it ranked 40th. Alongside its lofty chart position, the album has a higher first week sale than all but two of their five previous chart entries. Lower: their self-titled debut, which opened at No.30 in 2002 on sales of 8,607 copies, peaking 17 weeks later at No.2 on consumption of 36,645 copies; their third studio album, Night Driver, which sold 21,026 copies debuting at No.13 in 2016; and fourth studio album, Half Way There, which achieved consumption of 17,136 units opening at No.2 in 2019. Higher: their second studio album, A Present For Everyone, which sold 117,583 copies debuting at No.2 in 2003; and concert set Live: A Ticket For Everyone which sold 28,501 copies debuting at No.11 in 2004. Born in Japan but resident in the USA, and with dual heritage, indie/pop singer/songwriter Mitski turns 33 next Wednesday (September 27), and scores her second consecutive Top 10 album and third Top 75 entry courtesy of The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We (No.4, 6,420 sales). Be The Cowboy earned Mitski a first UK chart toehold in 2018, peaking at No.64, and has remained popular ever since, accumulating 80,540 sales, while her sixth album and second charted set, Laurel Hell, opened at No.6 (5,876 sales) last year and has to-date consumption of 28,449 units. The highest-charting set by a Japanese-born artist is UK-based Rina Sawayama’s Hold The Girl, which debuted and peaked at No.3 a year ago this week, and which sees a 512.50% spike in consumption – up from 96 to 588 in the latest frame – after being released in its ninth vinyl variant (opaque white and cobalt blue vinyl, different sleeve) and third CD edition (different sleeve) last Friday (September 15), raising its overall UK consumption to 30,042 units. Sawayama is 42 days older than Mitski. Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts racked up higher streaming figures than any album thus far this year when debuting at No.1 last week – and although its pure sales dip 84.60% week-on-week from 32,107 to 4,946 units, it suffers a lesser 32.48% dip in sales-equivalent streams to 19,018 units, with overall consumption of 23,964 units as it dips to No.2. Her 2021 debut album, Sour, climbs 8-5 (5,458 sales) to secure its highest chart position for 59 weeks. Last week’s Top 10 was the first in which Taylor Swift had not featured this year. This week she has three re-entries: Midnights (11-7, 4,979 sales), 1989 (14-9, 4,621 sales) and Lover (13-10, 4,404 sales). The rest of the Top 10: The Highlights (4-3, 6,858 sales) by The Weeknd, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (7-6, 5,220 sales) by Fleetwood Mac and Diamonds (10-8, 4,837 sales) by Elton John. It’s week nine at No.1 on the compilation album chart for Barbie The Album, on consumption of 7,301 units (441 CDs, 205 vinyl albums, 67 digital downloads and 6,588 sales-equivalent streams). Overall album sales are down 1.34% week-on-week at 2,147,708, 15.60% above same week 2022 sales of 1,857,916. Physical product accounts for 261,365 sales, 12.17% of the total.