Last week, many albums and songs experienced a "Grammy bump" — a boost in sales, airplay and/or streaming that fed off exposure from the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2. A week later, (most of) the Grammy bumps have faded, but there's a new bump worth noting: the Super Bowl bump. It's working wonders for both Kendrick Lamar and SZA this week, but it's also trickling down to an unlikely beneficiary.
TOP ALBUMS
Musicians who perform at the Super Bowl halftime show aren't paid a premium to do so. Instead, the NFL pays performers union scale — a fraction of what a big-name artist would receive for a performance — plus expenses related to traveling and putting on a show.
But there are huge financial incentives to performing at the Super Bowl — and for proof, you need only look at this week's Billboard 200 albums chart. Kendrick Lamar, who headlined the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, has three albums in this week's top 10: Last fall's GNX climbs from No. 4 to No. 1, 2017's DAMN. rises from No. 29 to No. 9 and 2012's good kid, m.A.A.d city soars from No. 27 to No. 10. Below the top 10, there are striking moves for 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly (No. 167 to No. 54) and 2022's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (No. 185 to No. 75), while Lamar's Black Panther soundtrack re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 42.
GNX's return to No. 1 was fueled by more than just the Super Bowl. Two days before Lamar's performance, the rapper finally released the album on vinyl and CD for the first time. Before that, it had only been available via streaming services and as a digital download. That helped more than solidify GNX's spot at the top of the charts. But, as suggested by the success of Lamar's older catalog, he hardly needed the assistance.
Kendrick Lamar is far from the first artist to post three albums in the top 10 simultaneously: In fact, as the Eras Tour coincided with the release of several "Taylor's Version" editions of old records, Taylor Swift posted five albums in the top 10 simultaneously in late 2023 — and five titles by Prince charted in the top 10 at the same time in the aftermath of the icon's death in 2016. But as the first hip-hop artist ever to land three top 10 albums in the same week, Lamar has scored some bragging rights to help make his Super Bowl weekend even more worthwhile.
Kendrick Lamar isn't the only Super Bowl veteran to make a mark in this week's top 10. Bad Bunny, who performed with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira at the 2020 halftime show, dips from No. 2 to No. 4 with DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. The Weeknd, who headlined in 2021, drops from No. 1 to No. 3 with Hurry Up Tomorrow. And, climbing from No. 3 to No. 2, SZA's SOS keeps getting bigger in more ways than one: Not only did the singer score massive exposure performing alongside Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl — while also headlining one of the new year's biggest movie hits — but she also made SOS's deluxe edition even longer, as she added four more tracks the same day she showed up at the Super Bowl. SOS Deluxe: LANA now spans 42 songs, after expanding from 23 to 38 at the end of last year.
TOP SONGS
Kendrick Lamar didn't just land three albums in the top 10 simultaneously; he's also omnipresent on the Hot 100 singles chart, with the top three songs and four entries overall in the top five. "Not Like Us," which last hit No. 1 back in July, surges from No. 15 to No. 1. "Luther (feat. SZA)" jumps from No. 3 to a new chart peak at No. 2, "TV Off (feat. Lefty Gunplay)" jumps from No. 10 to No. 3 and "Squabble Up" climbs from No. 20 to No. 5. Lamar even lands on the top 10 a fifth time as a featured guest on SZA's "30 for 30," which shoots up from No. 22 to a new peak at No. 10.
Lamar's songs — with a heavy emphasis on the tracks that pop up in his halftime show — are scattered across the Hot 100. His SZA collaboration "All the Stars," from the Black Panther soundtrack, re-enters the chart at No. 14. "Peekaboo (feat. AzChike)" climbs from No. 81 to No. 28. "HUMBLE.," from 2017's DAMN., re-enters at No. 33. In all, Lamar has 13 of the country's 100 most popular songs.
As a result of Lamar's Super Bowl surge, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' "Die With a Smile" drops from No. 1 to No. 4, breaking — perhaps temporarily — the pair's nonconsecutive five-week hold on the top spot. But it's not all bad news for Gaga, whose new single "Abracadabra" jumps from No. 29 to No. 13 in its second week on the chart. Given that last fall's "Disease" plummeted from the 20s into the 50s in its second week last fall, there's a decent chance that "Abracadabra" will stick around for a while.
Chappell Roan is still ascending, as well, following her viral performance and speech at the Grammys. Not only does The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess re-enter the top five this week, but the album has also just generated its first top 10 single: "Pink Pony Club," which leaps from No. 18 to No. 9. ("Good Luck, Babe!" hit No. 4 last year, but that single was a follow-up to Midwest Princess and doesn't appear on the record.)
It's been a long road to the top 10 for "Pink Pony Club." Roan released the song on her old label in 2020 after a lengthy dispute, then re-acquired the rights to the song in time to include it on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess — her full-length debut — in late 2023. The song didn't chart until last summer, as the album took off, and has been floating around the Hot 100 ever since. Now, after nearly five years in the world, it's a top 10 hit.
WORTH NOTING
Kendrick Lamar and SZA aren't the only artists to get a chart lift from their Super Bowl halftime show. The performance has been a cultural event large enough to boost the rapper Baby Keem — Lamar's cousin and frequent collaborator — whose hit 2021 album The Melodic Blue re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 194. Similarly, Future & Metro Boomin's We Don't Trust You, which contains the chart-topping Lamar collaboration "Like That," jumps from No. 59 to No. 37. But the Super Bowl also delivered a modest but consistent chart boost to someone Lamar likely didn't intend to help.
Ever since it spilled out onto pop charts and radio playlists last spring, Drake and Kendrick Lamar's feud has been a colossal pop-culture story. It's a battle that's felt increasingly lopsided, what with the latter's "Not Like Us" winning five Grammys — including record and song of the year — and newly returning to No. 1 for a third stint atop the Hot 100. But Drake's catalog reaps chart rewards this week, too, likely due to a combination of renewed interest in their conflict, the imminent arrival of new music, and fans streaming his records in solidarity.
Last week, Drake had eight albums in the Billboard 200. This week, all eight of them post chart gains: Thank Me Later (No. 187 to No. 174), the 21 Savage collaboration Her Loss (No. 182 to No. 170), More Life (No. 180 to No. 162), Scorpion (No. 127 to No. 113), Certified Lover Boy (No. 88 to No. 82), Views (No. 81 to No. 70), For All the Dogs (No. 72 to No. 61) and Take Care (No. 44 to No. 28). It's not a Super Bowl bump comparable to the one experienced by Drake's former collaborator and current nemesis. But it's a reminder, as if one was needed, that Drake has hardly been vanquished into oblivion.
Drake's continued chart performance bears watching as the Super Bowl fades from memory — and as the rapper's own new album-length collaboration with PARTYNEXTDOOR, Some Sexy Songs 4 U, prepares to hit the Billboard 200 next week.
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