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    <title>NPR: pop charts</title>
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      <title>NPR: pop charts</title>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/tags/g-s1-5709/pop-charts</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Drake gets his revenge — on the charts, anyway</title>
      <description>Kendrick Lamar won his rap war with Drake last year by just about any measure, but this week, Drake got a small measure of revenge when his new album, &lt;em&gt;$ome $exy $ongs 4 U&lt;/em&gt;, knocks Lamar out of the No. 1 spot on the &lt;em&gt;Billboard &lt;/em&gt;charts.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 25 Feb 2025 04:44:58 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/02/25/nx-s1-5307019/drakes-sexy-songs-4-u-kendrick-lamar-billboard-charts</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/02/25/nx-s1-5307019/drakes-sexy-songs-4-u-kendrick-lamar-billboard-charts</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8256x5504+0+0/resize/8256x5504!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F19%2F3e%2Ffec9fb8444f990d424de14aa4d33%2Fgettyimages-1448234892.jpg' alt='This week, a familiar face knocks Kendrick Lamar out of the top spot with an album debuting at No. 1 — Drake's <em>$ome $exy $ongs 4 U.</em>'/><p>Kendrick Lamar won his rap war with Drake last year by just about any measure, but this week, Drake got a small measure of revenge when his new album, <em>$ome $exy $ongs 4 U</em>, knocks Lamar out of the No. 1 spot on the <em>Billboard </em>charts.</p><p>(Image credit: Prince Williams)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5307019' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>Kendrick Lamar&apos;s Super Bowl performance echoes across the charts</title>
      <description>Kendrick Lamar&apos;s performance at the Super Bowl is paying dividends, as three of his albums find themselves in this week&apos;s top 10.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Feb 2025 04:08:26 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5300132/kendrick-lamar-superbowl-charts-gnx-not-like-us</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5300132/kendrick-lamar-superbowl-charts-gnx-not-like-us</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x3999+0+0/resize/6000x3999!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F55%2Fb5%2F769af6924b3a852c8f666ab29cf1%2Fgettyimages-2198612622.jpg' alt='Kendrick Lamar is now the first hip-hop artist ever to land three top 10 albums in the same week.'/><p>Kendrick Lamar's performance at the Super Bowl is paying dividends, as three of his albums find themselves in this week's top 10.</p><p>(Image credit: Gregory Shamus)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5300132' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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      <title>Travis Scott&apos;s latest song joins the hottest new club in popular music</title>
      <description>The Houston rapper&apos;s newest hit is the 83rd song in chart history to debut at the very top of &lt;em&gt;Billboard&lt;/em&gt;&apos;s Hot 100. More than half of the songs to achieve the feat have done so in the last five years.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 05 Feb 2025 22:36:40 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/02/05/nx-s1-5286593/pop-charts-travis-scott-debut</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/02/05/nx-s1-5286593/pop-charts-travis-scott-debut</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5260x3507+0+0/resize/5260x3507!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0c%2F4c%2F93542e3d458aa148c9603343d92e%2Fgettyimages-2159733284.jpg' alt='Travis Scott, seen here performing in the Netherlands in 2024, scored his fifth No. 1 pop hit this week with "4X4." Of those five hits, four topped <em>Billboard</em>'s Hot 100 in their first week after being released.'/><p>The Houston rapper's newest hit is the 83rd song in chart history to debut at the very top of <em>Billboard</em>'s Hot 100. More than half of the songs to achieve the feat have done so in the last five years.</p><p>(Image credit: Andreas Rentz)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5286593' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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      <title>Familiar faces top the pop charts, but there&apos;s a real surprise near the bottom</title>
      <description>Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, all regular fixtures atop the &lt;em&gt;Billboard &lt;/em&gt;charts, have the biggest songs and albums of the week. But don&apos;t sleep on Imogen Heap.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2025 04:19:18 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/29/nx-s1-5276087/imogen-heaps-song-headlock-hits-billboard-charts-20-years-after-it-was-released</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/29/nx-s1-5276087/imogen-heaps-song-headlock-hits-billboard-charts-20-years-after-it-was-released</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4000x2667+0+0/resize/4000x2667!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffb%2F40%2Fcba901b148fb8fd0c5a09da5177e%2Fgettyimages-1202129239.jpg' alt='Imogen Heap, seen here performing during the 62nd annual Grammy Awards on Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles, scored her first song on the <em>Billboard</em> Hot 100 pop chart this month, 30 years into her career.'/><p>Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, all regular fixtures atop the <em>Billboard </em>charts, have the biggest songs and albums of the week. But don't sleep on Imogen Heap.</p><p>(Image credit: Kevork Djansezian)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5276087' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>Bad Bunny blessed with Billboard&apos;s biggest boosts (and Bruno bolsters his bona fides)</title>
      <description>Bad Bunny, who had the most-streamed album of both 2022 and 2023, seems to have another potential juggernaut on his hands. But to top the chart this week he had to hold off an unlikely challenger.</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 23 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/23/nx-s1-5269575/pop-charts-bad-bunny-taylor-swift-bruno-mars</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/23/nx-s1-5269575/pop-charts-bad-bunny-taylor-swift-bruno-mars</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5731x3823+0+0/resize/5731x3823!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2F11%2Fa3bf797c4017bbe25a5c9aea7124%2Fgettyimages-2153910855.jpg' alt='Bad Bunny on stage in Miami in May 2024. The Puerto Rican singer's latest album, <em>DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS</em>, topped <em>Billboard</em>'s album chart this week.'/><p>Bad Bunny, who had the most-streamed album of both 2022 and 2023, seems to have another potential juggernaut on his hands. But to top the chart this week he had to hold off an unlikely challenger.</p><p>(Image credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5269575' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>Lil Baby and Bad Bunny have fantastic chart debuts</title>
      <description>Two debuts claim the top two spots on Billboard&apos;s main album&apos;s chart: Lil Baby and Bad Bunny.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:03:24 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/14/nx-s1-5259544/lil-baby-and-bad-bunny-chart-debuts-2025</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/14/nx-s1-5259544/lil-baby-and-bad-bunny-chart-debuts-2025</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6169x3470+0+0/resize/6169x3470!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa9%2Ff0%2F6686ebc44fb88fb0413400ad4817%2Fgettyimages-2190205762.jpg' alt='Lil Baby and his team pulled out all the stops to make sure the artist's <em>WHAM</em> rap would make it to the edge of heaven on this week's <em>Billboard</em> charts.'/><p>Two debuts claim the top two spots on Billboard's main album's chart: Lil Baby and Bad Bunny.</p><p>(Image credit: Astrida Valigorsky)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5259544' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>With the holidays over, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and more stars flood the pop charts</title>
      <description>Now that most Christmas songs and albums have been packed away into the proverbial attic, the pop landscape of the new year is coming into focus.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 08 Jan 2025 15:48:19 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/nx-s1-5249678/pop-charts-bruno-mars-lady-gaga-sza</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/nx-s1-5249678/pop-charts-bruno-mars-lady-gaga-sza</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7319x5492+529+1710/resize/7319x5492!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F85%2Fed%2F2f5ca9c04bfea37a3100710b3dd1%2Fstudio-0134-expanded-fullres.jpg' alt='The duet by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars spent four weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in November before being swept out of the top 10 by the annual rush of holiday songs. This week, it finally rises to the top of the chart.'/><p>Now that most Christmas songs and albums have been packed away into the proverbial attic, the pop landscape of the new year is coming into focus.</p><p>(Image credit: John Esparza)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5249678' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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    <item>
      <title>After nearly two years, SZA&apos;s &apos;SOS&apos; rockets back to the top of the album chart</title>
      <description>No album in the history of the &lt;em&gt;Billboard &lt;/em&gt;album chart has ever had a longer gap between stints at No. 1. Elsewhere, Christmas music dominates for one last week.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/01/nx-s1-5243933/pop-chart-watch-sza</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2025/01/01/nx-s1-5243933/pop-chart-watch-sza</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5000x2813+0+265/resize/5000x2813!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa0%2Fed%2F25e61f0e4c7c8af5822f61254e94%2Fgettyimages-1986486843.jpg' alt='SZA accepts a Grammy Award for best R&B song for "Snooze" on Feb. 4, 2024. At that point, the album on which "Snooze" appears, <em>SOS</em>, was already 14 months old. This week, nearly 11 months after the Grammys, <em>SOS</em> has returned to the top of the <em>Billboard</em> album chart thanks to the release of a deluxe version.'/><p>No album in the history of the <em>Billboard </em>album chart has ever had a longer gap between stints at No. 1. Elsewhere, Christmas music dominates for one last week.</p><p>(Image credit: Kevin Winter)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5243933' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The season of Christmas songs is here. Will the classics make room for anything new?</title>
      <description>&apos;Tis the season for a handful of familiar Christmas songs to monopolize the top spots on the &lt;em&gt;Billboard&lt;/em&gt; pop chart. But a few newer songs are making a play to join the annual holiday jukebox.</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 11:13:32 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2024/12/18/nx-s1-5230470/pop-charts-watch-christmas-classics-mariah-carey</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2024/12/18/nx-s1-5230470/pop-charts-watch-christmas-classics-mariah-carey</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3280x2460+0+548/resize/3280x2460!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F78%2F74%2Fd16194ca4251b17f8e126df854b5%2Fgettyimages-460523824.jpg' alt='Mariah Carey (shown performing in New York City in 2014) released "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in 1994, but it took 25 years for the song to reach the top of <em>Billboard</em>'s Hot 100 pop chart. Since 2019, it has topped the chart each December for a total of 16 weeks at No. 1 — so far.'/><p>'Tis the season for a handful of familiar Christmas songs to monopolize the top spots on the <em>Billboard</em> pop chart. But a few newer songs are making a play to join the annual holiday jukebox.</p><p>(Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5230470' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Black Friday sends Taylor Swift back to the top of the charts</title>
      <description>Stephen Thompson looks at the biggest songs and albums of the week, and digs into the stories and trends beyond the Top 10.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Dec 2024 14:15:02 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>https://www.npr.org/2024/12/10/nx-s1-5222340/taylor-swift-target-black-friday-ttpd-editions-top-chart</link>
      <guid>https://www.npr.org/2024/12/10/nx-s1-5222340/taylor-swift-target-black-friday-ttpd-editions-top-chart</guid>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5000x3727+0+0/resize/5000x3727!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F00%2Fb2%2Fd15853784e6782dbe4711482fcdc%2Fgettyimages-2188653758.jpg' alt='A single Black Friday title — Taylor Swift's Target-exclusive physical editions of <em>The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology</em> — has sent <em>TTPD</em> soaring back to the top of the <em>Billboard</em> 200.'/><p>Stephen Thompson looks at the biggest songs and albums of the week, and digs into the stories and trends beyond the Top 10.</p><p>(Image credit: Kevin Winter/TAS24)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5222340' />]]></content:encoded>
      <dc:creator>Stephen Thompson</dc:creator>
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