Sam Hunt banks his eighth leader on Billboard's Country Airplay chart as "Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90's" climbs from No. 2 to No. 1 on the chart dated May 22. In the tracking week ending May 16, it increased by 18% to 30.1 million audience impressions, according to MRC Data.
Hunt wrote the song with Zach Crowell, Chris LaCorte, Josh Osborne and Ernest K. Smith.
On Hot Country Songs, which blends airplay, sales and streaming data, the track rises 5-4. It also drew 7.5 million U.S. streams (up 6%) and sold 1,800 downloads (up 7%) in the week ending May 13.
Hunt adds his third consecutive Country Airplay leader, after "Hard to Forget" reigned for a week last July and "Kinfolks" dominated for a frame in February 2020. The triumphant trio is from his second full-length, Southside, which bowed at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in April 2020.
He first topped Country Airplay with his debut hit "Leave the Night On" for a week in November 2014 and added three more one-week No. 1s from his debut LP Montevallo: "Take Your Time" (May 2015), "House Party" (September 2015) and "Make You Miss Me" (September 2016).
Hunt then led Country Airplay with his crossover smash "Body Like a Back Road" (also included on Southside) for three weeks in May 2017. The track dominated Hot Country Songs for 34 weeks starting that February.
Plus, Hunt claims the first song whose title calls out the '90s to hit No. 1 on Country Airplay, which itself began that decade, in January 1990. Two other such entries have hit the chart: Lauren Alaina's "Ladies in the '90s" (No. 40 peak, April 2019) and Walker Hayes' "90's Country" (No. 52, December 2018).
NEW TOP 10s Dylan Scott scores his third Hot Country Songs top 10 as "Nobody" lifts 12-8. It pushes 7-5 on Country Airplay, up by 8% to 22.7 million impressions, and jumped by 28% to 5.5 million streams and sold 1,000 downloads in the tracking week.
"Nobody" follows Scott's "Hooked," which peaked at No. 6 on Hot Country Songs and reached No. 2 on Country Airplay in September 2018. He first hit the Hot Country Songs top 10 with "My Girl," which peaked at No. 3 in August 2017 after leading Country Airplay for a week that July.
Plus, Jason Aldean's "Blame It on You" (Macon/Broken Bow) pushes 11-10 on Country Airplay, up by 11% to 18.7 million impressions, marking his 33rd top 10. It follows "Got What I Got," which became his 22nd No. 1 last October. Aldean, who first hit the top 10 with "Hicktown" in 2005, is the 12th artist with at least 33 top 10s on the tally. George Strait leads with 61.
'TAPES' ON ALBUM CHARTS The Marfa Tapes, by Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall, enters Top Country Albums at No. 7 with 14,000 equivalent album units (10,000 in album sales). The set, recorded in Marfa, Texas, also arrives at No. 1 on Americana/Folk Albums.
Lambert notches her eighth Top Country Albums top 10. Her previous seven entries, all solo sets, debuted at No. 1, a career-opening run second only to Carrie Underwood's nine straight leaders in as many appearances.
Ingram adds his second Top Country Albums top 10, after This Is It opened and peaked at No. 4 in 2007.
Randall makes his first Top Country Albums visit. As an artist, his single "Cold Coffee Morning" dented Country Airplay in 1999. He's since produced three No. 1s on the chart: Dierks Bentley's "Am I the Only One" (2011) and "Living" (2019) and Parker McCollum's "Pretty Heart" last December.
On Americana/Folk Albums, Lambert and Randall chart their first entries, while Ingram earns his second, after Midnight Motel hit No. 9 in 2016.
VULTURES 2 will go down as the worst Kanye West album. It was an absolute mess in terms of its rollout. The album went over its scheduled release date by months. When it did finally arrive, the mixes were an absolute mess. Kanye West corrected them in real time. He also tweaked the tracklist, and added songs once the extremely negative feedback came rolling in. "530" is a rare bright spot on the album, though. Kanye West gets personal and delivers one of his best lyrical performances in ages over a smooth vocal chop. And now we have a music video for it.
One might assume a track as heartfelt as "530" would get a heartfelt video. Kanye West has given fans some of the most iconic and memorable hip hop visuals of the 21st century. It would stand to reason that he could whip something up for the new single that was tonally appropriate. Well, West did what he does best, and defied expectations. The music video for "530" doesn't feature Kanye West or his VULTURES collaborator, Ty Dolla $ign. It doesn't feature any human beings, actually. Instead, the video is centered around puppets and people wearing cartoon masks.
The video doesn't follow a straightforward narrative. It strings together a bunch of low quality videos of these puppets and masked people seemingly doing random activities. One scenario sees a man walking the street with a bag in hand. Another sees a female puppet get an injection into her nose. There's a very unnerving quality to the visuals here, like a Twilight Zone episode conceived by, well, Kanye West. It's a bold visual direction to take things. Lyrically, "530" is about the rapper's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. It also touches on the way Kardashian is raising their children, and the fears West has about their futures.
The most interesting aspect of "530," barring the striking visuals, is that it received a music video this long after VULTURES 2 was released. Kanye West has not done promo for the album, and everything we have heard from him has seemingly been in preparation for his next solo release, BULLY. The rapper had seemed as though he closed the chapter on VULTURES. Now, we don't really know what to think.
