USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Drake rules Top 200 Album Chart and Hot 100
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind debuts atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 2), giving the superstar his 11th No. 1 on the chart. The surprise release was announced on June 16,

and the album dropped at midnight on June 17. The set is a sonic left-turn from the hip-hop giant, as it is “almost entirely composed of moody electronic atmospherics and body-moving dancefloor heat” and “leans on the house music scene” with collaborations from “seven house music producers with varying degrees of mainstream fame.” Drake becomes the fifth act with more than 10 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 since the chart began regularly publishing on a weekly basis in 1956. He joins The Beatles (who lead with a record 19 No. 1s), Jay-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand (each with 11). Honestly, Nevermind launches with 204,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending June 23, according to Luminate. Streaming activity powered 94% of the album’s first week sum. Of Honestly, Nevermind’s 204,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 191,000 (equaling 250.23 million on-demand official streams of

the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 11,000 and TEA units comprise 2,000. At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Bad Bunny’s chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti is a non-mover with 121,000 equivalent album units (down 8%). Un Verano Sin Ti has tallied over 100,000 in each of its first seven weeks on the chart. The last title to do so was Drake’s Scorpion, which saw its first seven weeks all exceed 100,000 units (July 28-Aug 25. 2018, charts). Harry Styles’ former leader Harry’s House is stationary at No. 3 with 79,000 equivalent album units (down 13%), BTS’ Proof falls 1-4 in its second week with 75,000 units (down 76%) and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album rises 6-5 with 52,000 units (up less than 1%). Future’s former No. 1 I Never Liked You dips 5-6 with 49,000 units (down 11%), and Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache descends 4-7 with 44,000 units (down 26%). Kevin Gates nabs his fifth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as Khaza arrives at No. 8 with 38,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 34,000 (equaling 47.05 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 3,000 and TEA units comprise less than 1,000. Closing out the new top 10 are two former No. 1s: Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (7-9 with 36,000 equivalent album units; down 14%) and Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (8-10 with 32,000 units; up 1%). Drake‘s “Jimmy Cooks,” featuring 21 Savage, blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The collaboration marks Drake’s 11th Hot 100 No. 1 and 21 Savage’s second. “Jimmy Cooks,” released on OVO / Republic Records, tallied 42.2 million streams, 3 million radio airplay audience impressions and 6,000 downloads sold in its first week (June 17-23), according to Luminate, following the June 17 arrival of parent album Honestly, Nevermind, announced only hours before its release. The track (seemingly an ode to the character of Jimmy Brooks that Drake portrayed on the CTV drama Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2001-08) arrives as the 1,138th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 63-year history, and the 62nd to enter on top. As “Sticky” debuts at No. 6 and “Falling Back” bows at No. 7 on the Hot 100, with 28.8 million and 27.8 million streams, respectively, Drake, thanks to those tracks and “Jimmy Cooks,” pads his record career count to 58 top 10s. Harry Styles’ “As It Was” drops to No. 2 after seven weeks atop the Hot 100. The track concurrently crowns the Songs of the Summer chart for a fourth week, after the seasonal survey, which tracks the top titles between Memorial Day and Labor Day, returned three weeks ago. Jack Harlow’s “First Class” slips 2-3 on the Hot 100, after three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, as it notches a third week atop the Radio Songs chart (84.3 million, up 3%). Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, falls 3-4 on the Hot 100, after a week at No. 1, and Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” retreats to No. 5 from its No. 4 Hot 100 high, as it leads the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a sixth week. Below Drake’s “Sticky” at No. 6 and “Falling Back” at No. 7 on the Hot 100, Joji’s “Glimpse of Us” rises 10-8 in its second week on the chart, led by its 40% increase to 25.6 million streams. Kate Bush’s 1985 classic “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” descends 5-9 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 4, fueled by its sync in Netflix’s Stranger Things, as it adds a third week each atop the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” backtracks 6-10, after five weeks at No. 1.

Record Of The Month
'Until I Found You' is a fantastic, old-fashioned tune with a lovely voice and an acoustic-guitar, performed by the 19 year-old American newcomer Stephen Sanchez.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Kate Bush stays at number one
Monday, June 27, 2022
by Alan Jones, London
 
Kate Bush continues atop the singles chart, with consumption of Running Up That Hill rising 0.85% to 78,568 units on its second week at the summit. The 1985 classic, which previously peaked at No.3, is in the fourth week of its renaissance, inspired by its use in multiple episodes of the fourth

season of Netflix’s hugely popular Stranger Things sci-fi/horror series. As streaming of the episodes declines slightly, so does streaming of the track, with sales-equivalent streams down 2.36% week-on-week to 71,448 – but purchases of digital downloads are up 50.53% week-on-week to a new high of 7,120 units. Running Up That Hill ended a 10-week residency in pole position for As It Was, the introductory single from Harry Styles’ album Harry’s House, which was pushed down to No.2 last week. Harry’s not going quietly, however, with his UK concert dates creating increased demand yet again for his recordings, with increases in consumption of As It Was (2-2, 64,078 sales), Late Night Talking (8-9, 32,845 sales) and, even as it leaves the Top 10, Music For A Sushi Restaurant (10-11, 30,856 sales). Only the fourth artist in chart history to register 100 hits, Drake adds his 122nd, 123rd and 124th – and 33rd, 34th and 35th Top 10 hits - with a trio of

new arrivals plucked from his surprise new album, Honestly, Nevermind, specifically Jimmy Cooks (No.7, 33,546 sales), Massive (No.8, 33,058 sales) and Falling Back (No.10, 31,374 sales). Jimmy Cooks also features 21 Savage, who thus scores his 14th hit but only second Top 10 entry. There are 14 tracks on Honestly, Nevermind – and if primary artist rules didn’t prevent Drake from having more than three hits at one time, all the rest would chart, giving him 14 of the 15 highest new entries to the chart this week. The highest-ranking of the 11 that are ‘starred-out’ is Sticky, which would be No.13 (28,024 sales) and the lowest Liability (10,778 sales), which would be No.64. There are new peaks in the Top 10 for Scottish DJ/production duo LF System’s first hit, Afraid To Feel (4-3, 52,663 sales) and Green Green Grass (6-5, 37,782 sales), which becomes George Ezra’s fourth top five hit. Completing the Top 10: Go (3-4, 38,200 sales) by Cat Burns and About Damn Time (5-6, 33,611 sales) by Lizzo. Singles consumption is up 1.39% week-on-week at 25,197,317 units, 14.13% above same week 2021 consumption of 22,078,136 units. Paid-for sales are up 4.23% week-on-week at 351,469 – 4.55% below same week 2021 sales of 368,225. In the closest race for album chart honours in a while, Foals made all the early running, with Drake easing ahead in the final sales flash of the week – but neither was destined for No.1 as, fresh from his UK tour dates, Harry Styles sneaked home with Harry’s House. Topping the chart for the third time in total, it does so on consumption of 27,468 units – an 11.42% hike week-on-week - made up of 2,454 CDs, 2,649 vinyl LPs, 43 cassettes, 586 digital downloads and 21,736 sales-equivalent streams. Drake’s surprise release Honestly, Nevermind nearly provided the Canadian rapper with his fourth No.1 just 40 weeks after Certified Lover Boy became his third – but its first week consumption of 27,123 units (688 digital downloads, the rest from streams) is 40.59% below the 45,651 copies that Certified Lover Boy achieved on debut. Honestly, Nevermind finished just 345 sales behind Harry’s House – the smallest gap between the top two since Michael Bublé beat Machine Gun Kelly by 210 12 weeks ago. They set off at a gallop, with a lead of more than 7,000 on Sunday’s sales flashes in pursuit of No.1 but Foals ended up in third place with seventh studio album Life Is Yours, on consumption of 21,311 sales. All of their albums have reached the Top 10, and Life Is Yours actually sold more copies on debut that their last album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost: Part 2, which became their only No.1 to date, on sales of 20,505 in October 2019. Absent from the chart for a little over 14 years, Foals’ first album, Antidotes, was released on vinyl for the first time last Friday, and re-enters at No.71 (1,773 sales). It moves up to third place in their best-sellers list with 163,870 sales to date, behind 2015 release What Went Down (206,103 sales) and 2013’s Holy Fire (234,820 sales). Comprising Radiohead veterans Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner from jazz band Sons Of Kemet, The Smile reached No.19 with debut album, A Light For Attracting Attention in February, when it was available only digitally. It re-enters this week at No.5 (11,276 sales), having finally been released on vinyl and CD, with 7,334 of its sales in the former and 3,429 in the latter format. The rest of the Top 10: = (3-4, 11,607 sales) by Ed Sheeran, Gold Rush Kid (1-6, 10,612 sales) by George Ezra, Fine Line (6-7, 6,145 sales) by Harry Styles, Greatest Hits (12-8, 5,160 sales) by Queen, Sour (10-9, 4,724 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo and Divide (7-10, 4,490 sales) by Ed Sheeran. Overall album sales are up 2.96% week-on-week at 2,134,389, 22.00% above same week 2021 sales of 1,749,515. Physical product accounts for 326,582 sales, 15.30% of the total.