Billboard 200 Chart for September 30th, 2023
Every so often, I find the new releases on the Billboard 200 to be fascinating since there are several stories or circumstances surrounding them; I consider the week of September 30th, 2023 (looking at the units between September 15th-21st) to be one of those. I previously wrote a blog post about another entry on the Billboard (October 10th, 2020), which I had considered the most interesting week I had seen in a while, and this gives it a run for its money. This chart contained an attempted (and likely ill-fated) comeback, a change in genre, a remix album, albums that test the changes in the calculations of the charts, some declining artists, surprises in placement, a bigger name establishing themselves, rising artists, and more. There also were some notable releases that didn’t chart, some of which were included in the post.
1: Nostalgia,
Rod Wave
When Rod Wave hit number 1 with this album, there wasn’t
that much fanfare about it, but I think this release showcases how much of a
star Rod Wave has become. Despite
performing at major venues on recent tours, there are a lot of people that don’t
treat him like one of the biggest names in hip hop. Every song on this album charted on the
top-100, which is typically an indicator of how popular the streaming is for
the album. On top of that, he had an
album that debuted at number 1 each year from 2021-2023, which puts him among
some elite company with that level of popularity. The album remained at the top of the charts a
week later and has already been certified as Gold. If we weren’t acting like Rod Wave wasn’t one
of the biggest rappers in the genre (something I was late on), I don’t know how
we can deny it any longer.
12: The Land Is
Inhospitable and So Are We, Mitski
This is something I find interesting since there are
multiple ways this album’s charting success could be viewed. One way is by seeing that there was a slight drop
off from her previous album, Laurel Hell, which debuted at number 5,
despite her new album containing “My Love Mine All Mine”, which is her biggest
hit so far. That said, I don’t think
that’s the right approach. First off, it
was a loaded week with releases, which wasn’t helped by the fact that the
top-10 contained other albums that were still popular, despite not being
new. Second, the single didn’t explode
on TikTok until a little later, which didn’t help out its streaming
numbers. Lastly, she changed styles with
this album from an indie pop type influence to one that was more
country/Americana; in my opinion, the fact that this album charted where it did
shows that Mitski is still one of the biggest names in indie music.
17: Boy Meets
World, Sleepy Hallow
There are many times where I wonder if an artist’s
commercial success with an album is sustainable without having more hits, and I
did this with Sleepy Hallow. After his debut,
Still Sleep?, debuted at 16 with help from “2055”, I questioned how this
album would fair, especially since the only charting on the top-100, “Die Young”,
was released in 2022 (it’s worth noting that “Anxiety” reached 3 on the
Bubbling Under Charts, effectively meaning it peaked at 103). I thought there would be a massive drop off,
but the album still debuted at 17. I’m
not sure what this means in terms of his popularity, but it might suggest I was
a bit harsh on him there. It’s also
worth nothing that this was his first release since being released from prison
on bail and while waiting for his trial; not sure if that played any role.
19: The Love
Album: Off the Grid, Diddy
This album was supposed to be the comeback for Diddy, and
appeared to be. It was a huge success
commercially while charting higher than several comeback albums by established
acts. He mastered the formula of a
guaranteed higher charting album of compiling a lot of songs into an album, since
streaming results of individual songs from the album now benefit the album
totals as well. In November, it was
nominated for a Grammy, suggesting a massive comeback was underway. Then the various allegations and lawsuits regarding
several forms of misconduct, rape, abuse, and other serious allegations came to
light. While he settled the first
lawsuit almost immediately, even before it exploded in the public light, but
then other lawsuits were filed. While I
don’t expect him to have the massive comeback I anticipated, I don’t think these
allegations are necessarily a death sentence anymore; that said, I think it is
difficult when there are several lawsuits filed against an individual, especially
since that makes it more likely that there is some sort of pattern.
34: Bigger
Houses, Dan + Shay
After releasing four top-10 albums, it was a little bit of a
surprise that this one dropped off as far as it did. I would be lying if I was to try to research
any sort of controversies or political opinions that would have resulted in
this. While they have their detractors
in country music (like other country pop artists that lean more pop do), “Save
Me the Trouble” was still a big hit.
Ultimately, I think this is more of a reflection of how country music
fairs on the Billboard 200. While there
are artists that still thrive on this chart, including Morgan Wallen and Zach
Bryan, several other notable artists do not have the same level of success as
they once did, including Thomas Rhett and Zac Brown. I’m not sure if this is a reflection of how
singles fair in country versus other genres, but that would be my guess.
60: Revamped,
Demi Lovato
I find this album to be one of the least interesting new
releases on the chart. While most of Lovato’s
releases hit top-10, remix albums usually don’t chart as well (if at all). I’m surprised that this album even charted as
high as it did, but Lovato is big enough that this is realistic.
61: I’ve Tried
Everything But Therapy (Part 1), Teddy Swims
In almost all situations, an album peaks on the charts in
the week it is released, with the most common exception being an artist who becomes
popular after the release of the album.
This is one of those examples, as this album has peaked at 43 so far. This has come almost entirely from his smash
hit “Lose Control”, which has continued to rise like crazy. While there was also some success internationally
from his next single from the album, “The Door”, it has been one single which
has contributed to the success of this album, something that isn’t surprising or
unusual to see.
65: Magic 3,
Nas
The final album of the Magic trilogy was just the
epitome of how strange this trilogy was in terms of commercial success. Nas and Hit-Boy collaborated on two different
trilogies, the first being the massive critical and commercial success of King’s
Disease, and the other being Magic.
While it was weird that Magic did not sell anywhere near as well
as King’s Disease did, its lack of chart success was in part due to the
album release dates. Most albums in the
U.S. are released on Fridays since the weekly charts are calculated from Friday
through Thursday (it used to be on Tuesday in the U.S. and Friday
internationally, but Billboard changed it in the last few years). In particular, Magic was released on a
Tuesday while peaking at 34, and Magic 3 was released on a Thursday;
while it likely would have debuted higher had it been released on a Friday, but
even Magic 2 only debuted at number 52 despite being released on a
Friday. That said, Magic 3 might
have cracked the top-40 given the hype around the last collaborative album with
Hit-Boy and acclaim.
76: It’s the
End of the World but It’s a Beautiful Day, Thirty Seconds to Mars
Despite becoming an immensely popular rock act, Thirty
Seconds to Mars is immensely polarizing.
While most of that is likely due to Jared Leto’s presence, almost all of
their releases have received mixed reviews on average, while receiving acclaim
from some and being panned by others.
This was their first album release since the Billboard 200 updated their
methodology in such a way that it benefited streaming of tracks more than it
did prior. Prior to the album, the lead
single, “Stuck”, was their least successful charting lead single since “Attack”
from their second album (though “The Kill”, which was the second single, was a
massive hit). Even though they’re still
going to be doing an arena tour, I’m not surprised by this debut with all that
considered. It is worth noting that this
is their lowest charting album since their self-titled debut, but I don’t think
it’s as good a representative of success for rock bands anymore.
86: Silence
Between Songs, Madison Beer
This is an album that I genuinely wasn’t sure would
chart. Her debut album peaked at 65, but
she didn’t have much success with singles outside of “Selfish”, which was one of
the early singles from this album. In
this album, none of the singles had much commercial success in the U.S., so I
questioned just how popular this album could be. I was leaning towards not charting, so I was
a tiny bit surprised that this one charted where it did.
115: Stone,
Baroness
Kind of like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Baroness hadn’t released
an album since the rules changed for how the charts are calculated, and they
are a perfect test case of how the rules will negatively impact certain
albums. In general, these rules benefit
acts that have success from multiple tracks with good individual streaming
numbers (I despise this rule since it defeats the point of the chart; Billboard’s
argument was that it is a reflection of modern listening, but people would buy
singles even when the charts were starting in 1945, so I think it’s an argument
that is ignorant to the company’s history).
Baroness, a sludge metal band, is not this type of act. Needless to say, their sixth album is their
lowest charting album since their second, Blue Record; that said, it’s
worth noting this was also their worst reviewed album to date.
131: Caves,
NEEDTOBREATHE
NEEDTOBREATHE might be the most popular “Christian rock”
(they haven’t classified themselves in that nature, but they are often grouped in
the genre) bands of all time (if they’re not the most, they’re among the most),
so it may be surprising to see their 9th album be their lowest
charting album since their 2nd. The truth is that their charting success has
been on the decline. After releasing the
smash hit “Brother”, their next album Hard Love peaked at 2, then their
next three, Out of Body, Into the Mystery, and Caves,
peaked at 17, 56, and 131 respectively.
While this corresponds with the aforementioned changes in calculations, but
this decline was happening already.
After each single from Hard Love reached top-10 on the Christian
charts, only 1 from Out of Body did, the highest charting single from Into
the Mystery peaked at 20, and none from Caves charted. The fact that it even peaked at 131 is
impressive given this information.
192: Brothers
Osborne, Brothers Osborne
After Brothers Osborne’s lowest charting album to date, I
think that there is one obvious pattern:
their decline in commercial success on the charts appears to coincide
with John came out as gay. I’m not going
to say that this is the greatest sin a country artist can commit if they still
want to be famous (I genuinely don’t believe that is, though I’m not sure what
is), but it’s a not a recipe for success.
For people who might be indie/alternative fans, it’s in the same manner
as Ariel Pink becoming a Trump supporter who attended a rally prior to the insurrection
on 1/6/2021 (though he has denied attending the storming of the Capitol). I’m planning on discussing this topic in my
next podcast episode, but every genre has something that would result in an
artist being cancelled that wouldn’t apply to other genres. While I don’t think Brothers Osborne is
running the risk of falling out of popularity (or am I saying John shouldn’t
have done this; I have a lot of respect for his coming out), I’m not surprised
by this dropoff.
Notable releases from the week (or a couple days earlier)
that didn’t chart:
- Alpha, Aitana
- World of Hassle, Alan Palomo
- Race the Night, Ash
- My Bloody America, City Morgue
- Heaven, Cleo Sol
- CMF2, Corey Taylor
- Black Rainbows, Corinne Bailey Rae
- Sun Seeker, Cravity
- Right Round Here, Dean Brody
- The Art of Change, Droeloe
- End, Explosions in the Sky
- Good & Great, Key
- Mono, K.Flay
- The Bridge, Maren Morris
- I Love It Here, Nasty C
- Strange Disciple, Nation of Language
- Relentless, The Pretenders
- The 4th Album, The Record Company
- Play, RL Grime
- Existential Dance Music, San Holo
- Movie of the Week, Shakey Graves
- War of Being, Tesseract
- The Enduring Spirit, Tomb Mold
- Sorry I Haven’t Called, Vegabon
- Victor, Vic Mensa
- Dominion, War of Ages
- Bluegrass, Willie Nelson
- Perennial, Woods
What do you think about this chart? Any surprises or ones you found interesting? Let me know in the comments!
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