advertisement
FYI

The Weeknd Has This Week's No. 1 Album & BC Rapper Merkules Rules Too

The Weeknd achieves his third No. 1 album with his latest six-song set that includes a strong lineup of session supporters, and BC rapper Merkules breaks into the top 20 with his new project that too has an impressive supporting cast.

The Weeknd Has This Week's No. 1 Album & BC Rapper Merkules Rules Too

By David Farrell

The Weeknd’s unexpected six-song EP, My Dear Melancholy debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart this week with 19,000 total consumption units. Melancholy is Abel Tesfaye’s third straight chart-topper and the second No. 1 by a Canadian artist so far in 2018, following Tory Lanez’s Memories Don’t Die.


The release, featuring contributions by Gesaffelstein, as well as DaHeala, Mike Will Made It, Skrillex and Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, picks up the highest album sales and on-demand stream totals for the week. With over 17 million on-demand streams, it is the highest one-week total since Migos’ Culture II picked up 19 million in late January. All six songs from My Dear Melancholy enter the top 20 Streaming Songs chart this week, including “Call Out My Name,” which lands at No. 1 with over five million. The song is also the top new entry on the Digital Songs chart, debuting at 5.

advertisement

American rapper Dimitri Leslie Roger, better known as Rich The Kid, debuts at 3 with his debut album The World Is Yours. The Interscope set includes guest appearances from Rich Forever Music labelmate Jay Critch, alongside Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Khalid, Rick Ross, Swae Lee, and Quavo and Offset from Migos.

Other top 40 new entries include American country singer Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour, at 11; American child actress-turned-pop singer Hayley Kiyoko’s Expectations, at 16; and BC rapper Merkules’ Cole (featuring singer/producer Stevie Ross, Project Pat, Evil Ebenezer, Caspian and Jelly Roll) lands at 19.

 

Drake’s “God’s Plan” rebounds 3-1 on the Digital Songs chart with a 19% download increase. This is the song’s third non-consecutive week at No. 1.

 – All metrics courtesy of SoundScan with additional facts and colour supplied by Nielsen Music Canada Director Paul Tuch.

advertisement
Val Blavatnik
Courtesy WMG

Val Blavatnik

Business News

Val Blavatnik to Oversee Warner Music Canada in New Role at Warner Music Group

Blavatnik will oversee Warner Music Canada as managing director of Warner Music North America, U.K. and Corporate Development at WMG. As part of a slew of executive announcements, Simon Robson will be leaving the company, while Alejandro Duque takes the top international role.

Val Blavatnik, the 28-year-old son of Warner Music Group majority owner and vice chairman Len Blavatnik, has been named managing director of Warner Music North America, U.K. and Corporate Development at the Warner Music Group, the company announced Friday (Sept. 25). In his new role the younger Blavatnik, who has held several roles at the company in recent years, and has been a board member since 2023, expects to “unify and drive business and operational strategy across these markets while guiding the company’s investment strategy to support growth,” according to a press release.

The Blavatnik announcement is part of a flurry of new executive announcements that CEO Robert Kyncl made this morning. In addition, Atlantic Music Group chairman/CEO Elliot Grainge will take on ADA in the U.S. as its new chairman, while Alejandro Duque, who has held the dual roles of president of Warner Latin and president of ADA since last July, has been named president of Warner Music International, adding Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa under his oversight. (Duque will continue to oversee ADA outside the U.S.) Zach Friedman, currently COO at Atlantic Music Group, will add the title of vice chair of ADA U.S. to his resume.

keep readingShow less
advertisement