J. Cole Hits No. 1 Again
J. Cole achieved his seventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with "The Fall-Off," continuing his dominance in hip-hop. Brandy performed the U.S. National Anthem with June's Diary at the NBA All-Star Game as part of the weekend's entertainment festivities. The music industry is also mourning songwriter Billy Steinberg, who passed away at 75 after penning classics like "Like a Virgin" and "True Colors."
- "The Fall-Off" sold 280,000 equivalent album units in its first week, marking the largest opening week for a hip-hop album in nearly a year. - Of those first-week sales, 113,000 were pure album sales, with a remarkable 80,000 copies sold on vinyl. - This marks J. Cole's seventh consecutive studio album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a streak that includes "The Off-Season," "KOD," and "2014 Forest Hills Drive." - Brandy's R&B-style, a cappella rendition of the national anthem drew comparisons to other memorable and debated All-Star Game performances, such as Marvin Gaye's soulful version in 1983 and Fergie's jazzy take in 2018. - The vocal group June's Diary, who performed alongside Brandy, was formed by former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland on the BET series “Chasing Destiny.” - Billy Steinberg's songwriting catalog also includes the No. 1 hits "So Emotional" for Whitney Houston, "Eternal Flame" for The Bangles, and "Alone" for Heart. - Steinberg's other major songwriting credits include The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You," the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself," and "I Drove All Night," which was a hit for both Cyndi Lauper and Celine Dion. - In addition to his numerous hits, Steinberg won a Grammy Award for his work on Celine Dion's 1996 Album of the Year, "Falling into You," and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.
