Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Encanto” Soundtrack Reaches Fifth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 

It’s an enchanting five for Lin-Manuel Miranda

Walt Disney Records’ Encanto soundtrack, containing eight original songs written by the 42-year-old Puerto Rican Tony Award-winning star and produced by Mike Elizondo, spends its fifth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, becoming the soundtrack with the most weeks atop the chart since Disney’s own Frozen ruled for 13 nonconsecutive weeks in 2014.

Encanto

With their totals at No. 1 (so far), Frozen and Encanto boast the most, and second-most, weeks at No. 1, respectively, among soundtracks in the 21st century.

Encanto earned 110,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending February 10 (down 2%), according to MRC Data.

Of Encanto’s 110,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 91,000 (down 3%, equaling 134.82 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 17,000 (up 5%) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 28%).

Encanto continues to be powered largely by streaming activity for its songs, including its five top 40-charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (which spent its second week atop the February 12-dated chart), “Surface Pressure,” “The Family Madrigal,” “What Else Can I Do?” and the Academy Award-nominated “Dos Oruguitas.”

Notably, Encanto is one of only six soundtracks to spend at least five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the last 30 years. Before Encanto, there was Frozen (13 weeks, 2014), Titanic (16, 1998), Waiting to Exhale (five, 1996), The Lion King (10, 1994-95) and the Whitney Houston-led The Bodyguard (20, 1992-93). (Before that, the last soundtrack with at least five weeks at No. 1 was Prince’s Batman in 1989, with six weeks at No. 1.) The soundtrack — and overall album — with the most weeks at No. 1 is West Side Story, with 54 weeks atop the list in 1962-63.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by MRC Data. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

Jhené Aiko Teams Up with Big Sean to Reenact 90s Black Rom-Coms in “Body Language” Music Video

Jhené Aiko has a new body of work…

The 32-year-old part-Spanish and part-Dominican American singer – who earned three Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year for her latest studio album Chilombo – has joined voices with Big Sean and Ty Dolla $ign for the cinematic music video to their single “Body Language.”

Jhené Aiko, Big Sean

The mini-film shows the real-life couple (Aiko & Big Sean) taking on the roles of iconic onscreen duos from ’90s Black romantic comedies, from Tupac and Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice (1993) to Larenz Tate and Nia Long in Love Jones (1997). Aiko also serves big Angela Bassett energy from Waiting to Exhale (1995) when she burns her ex’s car with his clothes inside. And of course, the featurette has pop and R&B music’s favorite featured star Ty Dolla $ign popping up in each scene while he narrates the chorus.

“Big homage paying to a few of my favorite flicks growin up,” Big Sean wrote on Instagram about the movies he referenced in his music video.

Seems like Aiko did Jackson justice after the pop icon shared a still of the R&B singer’s portrayal of her Poetic Justice character on her Instagram Story with a heart emoji. “Thank you legend!!” Big Sean wrote back while resharing her IG Story with a goat emoji to symbolize that she’s the greatest of all time, or the G.O.A.T.

And the Chilombo singer’s nod to Waiting to Exhale came right around the time of the film’s 25th anniversary on Tuesday, December 22, which Bassett celebrated by posting a still from the same fiery scene on Instagram coincidentally on the same day of the music video’s release. “I didn’t plan that! Wow!” Big Sean mused on his own IG Story while resharing the actress’ post. “We did this scene in the video n dropped the same day! God will do it!”

 

“Body Language” is off the Detroit rapper’s fifth studio album Detroit 2, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in September.

DaCosta to Star in Lifetime’s “Whitney Houston” Biopic

It’s one moment in time Yaya DaCosta will most likely never forget…

The 31-year-old part-Brazilian American actress has landed the lead role in Lifetime‘s Whitney Houston biopic, according to TVLine.

Yaya DaCosta

The made-for-television film, currently titled Whitney Houston, will focus on the late singer’s relationship with her ex-husband Bobby Brown from the time they met through the dissolution of their tumultuous marriage.

DaCosta, the runner-up in Cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model, has appeared on television in Ugly Betty, All My Childrenand House, as well as on film inThe Kids Are All Right, Tron: Legacyand  Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

Whitney Houson is set to premiere in 2015, three years after the Grammy-winning singer was found dead in her hotel bathtub at age 48 due to an accidental drowning.

Angela Bassett, who starred opposite Houston in 1995’s Waiting to Exhale, will direct the film.