This Week In Pop – 23 May 2022

Welcome to This Week In Pop.

This week, Kendrick Lamar claims his second #1 on the Albums Chart, Harry Styles makes it five weeks at #1 on the Singles Chart, and the likes of Mallrat and Florence + The Machine score top ten debuts.

This week's album chartifacts

#1: Kendrick Lamar ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ – Returning with his fifth studio album, Kendrick Lamar takes out his second ARIA #1 album with 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers'. The first album in five years from the American hip hop superstar is the follow-up to 'Damn.' (#2 April ’17) and is Lamar’s first double album. Guests on 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers' include Ghostface Killah, Baby Keem, Sampha, Blxst and Portishead’s Beth Gibbons. Kendrick Lamar first hit #1 with 'To Pimp A Butterfly' (#1 March ’15).
#2: Florence & The Machine ‘Dance Fever’ – British indie pop act Florence & The Machine claim their fifth Top Three debut as 'Dance Fever' enters the chart at #2. It’s the follow-up to 'High As Hope' (#2 July ’18) and features a host of collaborators including Jack Antonoff, Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley, Maggie Rogers and Kid Harpoon. Florence + The Machine previously topped the chart with 'Ceremonials' (#1 November ’11) and 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful' (#1 June ’15).
#5: Hilltop Hoods ‘Drinking From The Sun’ – After returning to the chart at #12 last week, Hilltop Hoods’ 'Drinking From The Sun' has moved up seven places to hit #5. The album’s climb comes off the back of a second week of vinyl sales, leading to it again topping the ARIA Vinyl Albums Chart. The last time 'Drinking From The Sun' appeared in the Top Ten was August 2012.
#6: Mallrat ‘Butterfly Blue’ – Mallrat scores her second ARIA Top Ten entry as she debuts at #6 with 'Butterfly Blue'. The Brisbane singer-songwriter’s debut album comes three years after she made her first chart appearance with the EP 'Driving Music' (#10 September ’19). 'Butterfly Blue' features the track ‘Surprise Me’, a collaboration with American rapper Azealia Banks.

This week's single chartifacts

#1: Harry Styles ‘As It Was’ – Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ hits its fifth week at #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It comes a week before the single’s parent album, 'Harry’s House', will likely hit the ARIA Albums Chart following its release on 20 May.
#3: Kendrick Lamar ‘N95’ – With 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers' debuting at #1 on the Albums Chart this week, American hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar takes out 14 spots in this week’s Top 50, with ‘N95’ the highest at #3. Lamar has also cracked the Top Ten with ‘Die’ Hard’ (#5) and ‘United In Grief’ (#7).

Top 10 Albums

1. 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers' – Kendrick Lamar
2. 'Dance Fever' – Florence + The Machine
3. 'Come Home The Kids Miss You' – Jack Harlow
4. 'SOUR' – Olivia Rodrigo
5. 'Drinking From The Sun' – Hilltop Hoods
6. 'Butterfly Blue' – Mallrat
7. 'Fine Line' – Harry Styles
8. 'FutureNever' – Daniel Johns
9. 'The Highlights' – The Weeknd
10. 'Planet Her' – Doja Cat

Top 10 Singles

1. 'As It Was' – Harry Styles
2. 'First Class' – Jack Harlow
3. 'N95' – Kendrick Lamar
4. 'About Damn Time' – Lizzo
5. 'Die Hard' – Kendrick Lamar, Blxst & Amanda Reifer
6. 'Heat Waves' – Glass Animals
7. 'United In Grief' – Kendrick Lamar
8. 'Big Energy' – Latto x Mariah Carey x DJ Khaled
9. 'Thousand Miles' – The Kid Laroi
10. 'Stay' – The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber