SoundScanner: Katy Perry Lands Another #1, But Aloe Blacc Is ‘The Man’

by Adam Graham 1/16/2014

Watch out Katy Perry, Pitbull, etc., because Aloe Blacc is coming for you. The singer is setting the singles chart ablaze with “The Man,” which is heating up to be the first big hit of 2014. Meanwhile, the Frozen soundtrack is No. 1 again on the albums chart in what proved an icy week for sales. Those stories and more in this week’s SoundScanner – won’t you join us?

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Perry No. 1, but Blacc’s ‘The Man’: Katy Perry and Juicy J’s “Dark Horse” jumps three spots on this week’s Digital Songs chart to nab the No. 1 spot, its 243,000 downloads a 6 percent uptick over last week. The single has sold 1.76 million downloads to date. But the big story on this week’s singles chart is Aloe Blacc’s “The Man,” which jumps up 48 spots to No. 7 on a massive 191 percent sales gain. The song, which borrows from Elton John’s “Your Song,” is featured in a Beats by Dre commercial that sees football star Colin Kaepernick drowning out his haters by listening to Blacc’s inspirational anthem. Blacc, who sang on Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” also sees his Wake Me Up EP jump up from No. 155 to No. 32 on this week’s Top Current Albums chart. And things are looking bright for Blacc’s future, as he was just named as the opener on Bruno Mars’ upcoming tour. So yes, it’s fair to call him “The Man.”

’Frozen’ remains on top: In a rather chilly sales week —total album sales fell to 4.25 million marking a new weekly low, Billboard reports— the Frozen soundtrack remains at No. 1 for a second week. The album sold 86,000 copies this week, down from 165,000 last week but still enough to outpace Beyoncé’s self-titled set, which is No. 2 with 79,000 sales. Frozen has now sold 589,000 copies – the movie has grossed $319 million – while Beyonce has sold 1.51 million copies, which isn’t bad for an album that no one knew existed 5 weeks ago.

Pop divas Pt. 2: Last week we looked at pop’s leading ladies – Katy, Miley, Lorde, Gaga and, to a lesser extent, Britney. This week we’re looking at the second tier pop starlets and evaluating their 2013 albums. Selena Gomez’ Stars Dance, which sold 97,000 copies its first week and debuted at No. 1 when it was released in July, is No. 120 on this week’s chart. The set has sold a respectable 354,000 copies to date. Gomez’ fellow former Disney star Demi Lovato is just below her; her Demi, released in May, has sold 334,000 copies but is a few notches higher at No. 111 on this week’s chart. And Ariana Grande, who still works double duty as a sitcom star (she stars on Nick’s Sam & Cat), has sold 376,000 copies of her debut album Yours Truly, which was released in August. The album is No. 43 on this week’s chart.

Kid Ink crashes the chart: The week’s top debut comes from Los Angeles rapper Kid Ink, who lands at No. 3 with My Own Lane. It’s his highest charting effort yet; last year’s Almost Home EP debuted at No. 27, while his 2012 debut Up & Away arrived at No. 20. My Own Lane finds the 27-year-old Ink collaborating with Tyga, Chris Brown, Pusha T, Machine Gun Kelly and more. It’s his first full length set on a major label – in his case, RCA Records.

Lana’s last laugh: When it was released two years ago this month, everyone had an opinion on Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die. But few guessed it would have the chart legs it has proven to have: This week, its 102nd week on the chart, it’s at No. 35, and brings its total sales to 939,000. Meanwhile Paradise, the album’s companion piece, is No. 126 this week and just crossed the 300,000 sales marker. With a booking at this year’s Coachella festival and a new album called Ultraviolence slated for this year, Lana doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, and is far from the flash in the pan many wrote her off as after her somewhat infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Adam Graham

Music

SoundScanner: Katy Perry Lands Another #1, But Aloe Blacc Is ‘The Man’