Roundup of some of the most noteworthy chart moves on the latest Hot 100 chart issue. BTS makes history, Avicii’s posthumous debut, Offset re-enters and more.
Co-written by Alexander (Twitter) with additional reporting by Eric.
No. 1
The juggernaut that is “Old Town Road” easily scores a third week in the penthouse, becoming the second longest-running #1 thus far in 2019. It continues its Secretariat-esque dominance on YouTube, dropping just 8% week-over-week to 48.2 million streams there. For the chart week, the Billy Ray Cyrus remix again led the way on Spotify, racking up 17.4 million plays compared to 11.8 million for the original version.
Moreover, “Road” is the most added song at Country radio this week (30 adds), and also re-enters Country Radio at #50. It’s possibly looking to re-chart on Hot Country Songs soon.
The last significant case involving a song entering the Hot Country Songs chart occurred in 2017. On the chart dated December 16, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” made history by debuting at #1 in the same week said track first hit the top 50 of the Country Airplay chart (up from #58 to #47). Much like “Old Town Road”, it would have already been #1 on Hot Country prior to reclassification.
Notably, “Road” re-enters the airplay tally in the top 50 after a week off the list entirely. On the other hand, “Meant” jumped into the region.
No. 2
Post Malone’s “Wow.” returns to its No. 2 Hot 100 high point. It has ascended to #6 on pop radio, where it sports a bullet of +1,042. While it keeps on climbing at pop, it appears to have peaked and reversed course at rhythmic, where it currently sits at #4. The official remix featuring Roddy Ricch & Tyga–which is currently included on both of Spotify’s two most followed hip-hop playlists–continues to make a sizeable contribution to its streaming totals, accounting for 25% of its 9 million Spotify plays for the chart week.
No. 7
As it rockets to #2 on both pop and overall radio, Sam Smith and Normani’s collaborative “Dancing with a Stranger” soars five spots to a new peak of No. 7 on this week’s Hot 100. Hovering just below the top 10 in sales and recovering some ground on streaming (back into the On Demand top 40 with a mere 5% decline in an overall down week), “Stranger” could climb even higher in the coming weeks.
No. 8
As reported earlier this week, when Chart Data broke news of its top 10 debut, BTS and Halsey’s collaboration “Boy With Luv” shattered a host of Hot 100 records upon its entry at No. 8 this week.
Here’s a quick recap of the song’s noteworthy achievements thus far:
- Highest debuting Korean track ever, passing the group’s own “Fake Love” (No. 10)
- Highest charting track by a Korean group, passing “Fake Love” (No. 10)
- Halsey’s highest debuting track ever, passing “Closer” (No. 9)
Additionally, BTS ties PSY as the Korean act with the most Hot 100 top 10s ever (two each). They remain the only acts to ever enter the region.
On the albums side, BTS becomes the first group since The Beatles to earn three #1 records in under a year:
As other outlets noted, the collection of BTS’ three #1’s is the fastest for a traditional group since The Monkees in 1967. As none of The Monkees’ releases debuted at the top (due to Billboard’s old data collection method), BTS passes The Beatles as the fastest group to earn three #1 debuts in a year
More on BTS still to come…
No. 9
Billie Eilish’s first bona fide hit “bad guy” jumps two spots to re-enter this week’s top 10. Previously debuting at #7 two weeks ago, it returns to the region as streaming begins to stabilize (down a relatively soft 16% to 19 million On Demand Streams) and radio climbs on board. At pop radio it’s already trending top 40 as prior single “when the party’s over” continues to gain traction.
No. 22
“a lot“, the lead single from 21 Savage’s former #1 album ‘i am > I was‘, spends a fourth consecutive week at #22. It has been 10 weeks since it made a move of more than three positions. This stability can be attributed to its performance on rhythmic and urban radio, where it’s just now beginning to decline significantly; for the week ending April 22, it received a healthy 51.9 million impressions from those two formats.
The next single from ‘i am > I was‘ has already been selected: “monster”, which features Childish Gambino, will impact rhythmic on May 7. This is a notable development because Savage’s previous studio album–2017’s ‘Issa Album‘ –did not have a second single. (Mega-smash “Rockstar” was released around the time that “Bank Account” was beginning its decline, and 21 diverted further attention from the album with the release of ‘Without Warning.’)
No. 28
After the explosive start and quick decline of fall 2018’s “New Patek” (No. 24 peak), Lil Uzi Vert went mostly silent until label drama hit the press earlier this year. With “Sanguine Paradise” entering at #28, his first major release since “Patek”, Uzi earns his milestone 25th Hot 100 entry.
“Paradise” is bolstered by a top 10 debut on this week’s Streaming Songs chart and a #3 bow on the On Demand chart with approximately 17 million listens. Remaining at #2 on Apple Music (#1 on the playlist version) and stabilizing in the top 10 on Spotify, the track looks to have much stronger longevity than its predecessor. Its placement as the top song on Rap Caviar is certainly not hurting.
“Paradise” also passes “Patek” (#38 debut) as Uzi’s highest debut as a lead artist.
No. 56
Katy Perry now shares top bill on Daddy Yankee and Snow’s international smash “Con Calma“, picking up her 31st Hot 100 credit. Katy’s remix was released on Friday, meaning its first week of sales and streams (as well as first full week of radio) will be reflected on next week’s issue.
No. 66
Five Finger Death Punch’s “Blue On Black,” featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd, enters at #66. It becomes the group’s highest charting song, and their second Hot 100 hit following “Under and Over It” (#77, 2011). It currently boasts a bullet of +492 on Active Rock radio, more than triple the next biggest bullet on that chart.
No. 68
Avicii earns his first posthumous Hot 100 entry (and sixth overall) with “SOS”. Issued almost a full year after his April 20, 2018 passing, the track reunites Avicii with Aloe Blacc, who previously appeared on the beloved DJ’s biggest international hit “Wake Me Up” (No. 4 in 2013).
“SOS” is the first single from the forthcoming posthumous Avicii collection ‘TIM’, to be issued this June.
No. 72
Seven weeks after it made its Hot 100 debut, Offset’s “Clout”, featuring Cardi B, returns to the tally. The re-entry is fueled by the April 17 release of the song’s official clip; in the past seven days, “Clout” has accumulated 15.8 million streams on YouTube. It stands at a respectable #31 on Apple Music, but has not returned to the daily Spotify top 100 since its release week.
No. 73
After becoming the highest charting track by a Korean girl group upon last week’s No. 41 start, BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” is now the first track by a Korean girl group to spend multiple weeks on the chart.
No. 91
Amidst the immense hype surrounding Billie Eilish, breakout single “Ocean Eyes” reaches a new peak.
No. 95
BTS makes further history as Ed Sheeran-penned “Make It Right” enters this week’s tally at No. 95. The group becomes the first Korean act to land two tracks on the Hot 100 simultaneously (as noted above, “Luv” debuts at No. 8).
No. 96
Following the success of blockbuster radio hit “High Hopes”, Panic! At the Disco’s follow up track “Hey Look Ma, I Made It” finally lands on the Hot 100. As with “Hopes”, “Made It” is primarily assisted by moderate albeit growing multi-platform support at Pop (#23 with +351 bullet), Hot AC (#15 with +94 bullet) and Alternative (#20 with +80) radio.
On the streaming side it remains mostly limp, pulling just over 200,000 daily streams on Spotify (enough to comfortably rank top 200) and failing to chart in the top 500 on Apple Music.
Check back next week for another edition.
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