Roundup of some of the most noteworthy chart moves on the latest Hot 100 chart issue.
Co-written by Alexander (Twitter) with additional reporting by Eric.
No. 1
Although it finally shows signs of slowing, down nearly 10% in on-demand audio streams to 31.5 million and sliding from #1 in downloads, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” still comfortably commands the Hot 100 for a twelfth week. With nearly double the points of this week’s runner up track, it has now kept six tracks that would’ve otherwise reached the top slot confined to a #2 peak. Assuming its latest challenger doesn’t manage to eventually reach #1, that’s the most tracks blocked by a single in the chart’s history.
Follow up track “Panini” is already off to a decent start with over 1.5 million audio streams in its first half day of release.
Here’s a complete list of tracks “Old Town Road” has prevented from reaching #1:
- Wow. by Post Malone
- ME! by Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco
- If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
- I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber
- bad guy by Billie Eilish
and…
No. 2
Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down”, the second single from her forthcoming album Lover, debuts in the runner-up slot this week. It opens with over 20 million on-demand audio streams (good for a #4 start on the on-demand chart) and nearly 80,000 downloads, becoming Swift’s record-extending seventeenth #1 hit on the digital sales chart. Despite this solid start, both figures pale in comparison to those achieved by Lover’s lead single, “ME!”: the Brendon Urie-assisted track raked in 25 million on-demand audio streams and over 100,000 more downloads thanks to a series of promotional deals on Swift’s website.
Swift is the first artist ever to debut consecutive singles at #2. Post Malone came close to this achievement in 2017/18, as “rockstar” and “Psycho” both debuted at #2, but “Candy Paint” was released in between their debuts. Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” debuted at #2 in October 2015 and “Cold Water” did the same the next summer, but “Love Yourself” and “Company” were released as singles between those two. She additionally ties Madonna as the artist with the most #2 singles, with both of them garnering six to date.
No. 7
Drake’s “Money In The Grave,” featuring Rick Ross, launches at No. 7. Part of a two-song release called The Best In The World Pack akin to last year’s Scary Hours, consumers seem to prefer it over the No. 35-debuting “Omerta” despite it being the release’s second track. Pulling in 30.995 million on-demand streams, it narrowly misses claiming the top spot in that department, falling less than 600,000 short of Old Town Road’s total. It marks Rick Ross’s first top 10 hit since he was featured on DJ Khaled’s 2011 song “I’m On One,” which Drake was also featured on and is now the highest peaking track of his career. It currently occupies the top spot on Apple Music and is off to a robust start on radio, where it’s already inside the urban top 40 and rhythmic top 30.
Drake additionally becomes the first artist with 20 top 10 debuts and passes The Beatles as the act with the second most top 10s in Hot 100 chart history (35). Here’s an updated look at the overall leaderboard for top 10s (note Taylor Swift ties Lil Wayne with 24):
No. 10
Following its debut last week from six days of tracking, Chris Brown’s Drake assisted “No Guidance” slides one spot to #10. Down less than 1% in audio streams (to 21.4 million) and ascending into the top 20 at both Urban and Rhythmic radio formats, “Guidance” is actually up in overall chart points this week.
No. 14
Lizzo’s breakout “Truth Hurts” continues its climb up the Hot 100, up 2% in on-demand streams and 4% consumption. Ranking top 10 in overall consumption for a fourth consecutive week, “Hurts” is weighed down by radio, which has only just picked up the track. It debuts at #41 on this week’s Radio Songs chart and is trending top 30 on Mediabase’s rolling chart this week.
On the heels of an explosive performance on Sunday’s BET Awards that sent the track and parent album ‘Cuz I Love You’ soaring to new heights at iTunes and Spotify, “Truth Hurts” could be on its way to the Hot 100’s top 10.
No. 24
“Hey Look Ma, I Made It,” the follow-up to “High Hopes,” ascends seven positions to #24, marking Panic! At The Disco’s third top 30 hit; after a 12-year gap between their first and second top 30s, they have scored two in half a year. The song is at #16 on alternative radio, where it’s still below “High Hopes” (#8). On Pop, it bounds into the top 10 this week, but with a less-than-impressive bullet of 677–only the eighth-highest mark on the chart. Moreover, it may have a low overall ceiling if it cannot pick up the pace on any streaming services; it’s currently #111 on Spotify, outside of the top 100 on Apple Music, and outside of the top 100 on YouTube.
No. 39
With 38 weeks on the Hot 100, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s former #1 hit “Shallow” passes the chart run of “Bad Romance” (37). It consequently becomes Gaga’s longest charting song in a decade, behind only “Poker Face” (40 weeks) and “Just Dance” (49 weeks).
No. 52
Lil Tecca’s “Ransom” is the current SoundCloud #1, a position that’s not terribly consequential for chart purposes–only around four million of its 12.8 million on-demand streams originated from that service last week–but can often serve as a good barometer of hype in the rap community. For example, Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO TOUR Llif3,” Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams,” and XXXTENTACION’s “Jocelyn Flores” were all dominant performers on SoundCloud prior to their mainstream breakouts. Interestingly, “Ransom” is higher on Spotify (#7) than Apple Music (#16) right now, possibly due to its placement on Spotify’s high-profile playlists. It is listed fourth on Rap Caviar and is also included on Today’s Top Hits, Spotify’s U.S.-centered pop playlist and the most followed playlist on the entire service. If “Ransom” enters the top 40, which appears near-certain at this stage, it will be the first top 40 hit by an artist born in 2002.
No. 80
Following his mainstream breakthrough with 2018 single “Slow Dancing in the Dark”, which finally entered the Hot 100 this spring after a series of Tik Tok posts dubbed ‘Microwave Challenge’ went viral, Joji earns his second career entry with new track “Sanctuary”.
It immediately becomes his highest charting single ever, passing the No. 96 peak of “Dancing” as it soars in with 6.5 million on-demand audio streams and over 4,000 downloads.
No. 89
Although it was released to pop radio as the most recent single from Scott’s “ASTROWORLD” all the way back on April 16th, “WAKE UP” only re-enters the Hot 100 this week; it originally debuted at #30 the week of the album release. Because of the massive consumption of all of ASTROWORLD’s tracks at the time of release, it could be challenging to generate any new momentum for the song on streaming services 11 months later.
As many of ASTROWORLD’s songs do, “WAKE UP” contains an uncredited feature. As such, The Weeknd (who provides vocals on the song) does not receive chart points for the track’s performance. It is unclear as to whether the feature could be added and applied retroactively; Drake never got credit for “SICKO MODE”, but Katy Perry received remix credit for “Con Calma” before it was even applicable.
No. 97
Ali Gatie earns his first ever Hot 100 top 10 entry with “It’s You,” which performed phenomenally well in its first week of release at both Spotify and Apple Music (almost 7 million on-demand audio listens).
Gatie has been building buzz on Soundcloud over the past year and recently sat down with Genius to breakdown the lyrics for his track “Moonlight,” which received an official video just over a month ago.
No. 99
“Racks in the Middle,” the final single released in the late Nipsey Hussle’s lifetime, re-enters the Hot 100 once again, just in time for his BET Awards win (Best Male Hip-Hop Artist) and tribute this past Sunday. Although it looks to make more gains again next week, it likely won’t re-peak (#26).
On the Bubbling Under: Saweetie gets a new peak with “My Type” (#107), Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby jumps ten spots with “Cash S**t” (#114), ROSALIA debuts with “Con Altura” (#121) and Miley Cyrus’ Black Mirror alter-ego Ashley O makes a debut with “On a Roll” (#123).
Check back next week for another edition.
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