Roundup of some of the most noteworthy chart moves on the latest Hot 100 chart issue.
Co-written by Alexander (Twitter).
No. 1 “Old Town Road” / Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus
“Old Town Road” continues its slow descent in chart points, dipping 3% in on-demand streams (to 31.6 million) and sliding 8% in cumulative radio audience whilst reversing course on the overall streaming chart (up 1% to 89.3 million). Maintaining a near 2:1 lead over the current #2 challenger, the track notches a fourteenth straight week at #1.
One of just ten songs in history to spend at least fourteen weeks at #1, it ties Los Del Río’s “Macarena” as the longest running #1 debut single of all-time and Elton John’s “Candle In the Wind 1997” as the longest running #1 by a gay artist. With the current tracking week about to wrap, the track looks to break both records outright next week. Will anything be able to take down Lil Nas and Billy Ray?
No. 2 “Bad Guy” / Billie Eilish
Eilish’s biggest hit rebounds to its #2 peak, buoyed by continued gains on pop radio (where it is now #4) and HAC radio (#20). It was recently announced that a remix of the song featuring Justin Bieber will be dropping this week.
No. 3 “Talk” / Khalid
Pop radio listeners simply cannot seem to get enough of “Talk,” which just eclipsed 100 million weekly audience impressions on that format alone. Its ascension to the CHR throne means that Disclosure finally get a #1 there, albeit as producers, after narrowly missing out with “Latch” five summers ago. “Talk” continues to dominate national callouts as well, with a remarkable net positive rating of 55.5% among pop listeners––a figure that has actually increased by 3.6 percentage points since its May 17th debut on the national survey. However, its on-demand streaming continues to lag behind its radio performance, as it is now down to #20 on weekly Spotify. This pattern represents a fascinating reversal from the performance of Khalid’s earlier hits; ”Location” in particular was a heavily ODS-driven hit that never properly took off on pop radio, peaking at #24 on Pop Songs even as it spent 42 consecutive weeks inside the Spotify top 50.
No. 6 “Truth Hurts” / Lizzo
Lizzo’s buzzed-about breakout hit “Truth Hurts” bounds into the top 10, rising five places to #6 and becoming her first ever top 10 entry. There is plenty of room for it to grow on radio: on rhythmic and urban combined, it only tallied 17 million impressions in the last seven days. The song posted healthy week-over-week gains of 27% on YouTube and 11% on Spotify; overall, it pulled in 18.2 million on-demand streams this week, a 9% increase. Its 25,000 digital downloads were good for the #3 spot on Digital Songs, a new high.
No. 8 “Sunflower” / Post Malone & Swae Lee
Post Malone and Swae Lee’s massive hit “Sunflower” reverses course on the Hot 100, rising back into the Hot 100’s top 10 following the Netflix premiere of parent movie “Into the Spiderverse”. Aiding its return to the region is a robust 20% hike in on-demand streaming to 15.9 million (the only double digit on-demand gain in the top 20) and another 14,000 sold.
Although “Wow.” (10-12) slides out of the top 10 for the first time, “Sunflower”’s return to the region ensures that Post Malone continues as the only artist to rank in the region with at least one song every week this year. With Young Thug collaboration “Goodbyes” expected to launch in the top 10 next week, Post’s active streak will climb to 30 consecutive weeks (dating back to December 22, 2018).
No. 16 “The Git Up” / Blanco Brown
“The Git Up,” a country-trap hybrid in the vein of “Old Town Road,” surges another 13 spots to land at #16 on this week’s chart while taking over at #1 on Hot Country Songs. Like “Road,” its sudden popularity has stemmed from dance videos shared on TikTok, but it is beginning to gain steam on more traditional streaming services as well. It climbed 68-45 on Spotify this week, although it is currently not included on either of Rap Caviar or Get Turnt––Spotify’s two biggest rap playlists.
No. 24 “Beer Never Broke My Heart” / Luke Combs
It’s certainly no “Body Like A Back Road,” but Combs’ latest hit is quietly putting together an impressive all-around performance for a country song. It is currently charting at #91 on weekly Spotify but is curiously stronger on Apple Music, where it is stationed at #60 on a chart where it is extremely rare for a country hit to even crack the top 200. However, it could struggle to maintain its momentum without crossing over to another radio format, as it is already close to the top on country. There are no impact dates currently listed for the song.
No. 63 “Higher Love” / Kygo & Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston’s long-lost cover of Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” finally gets a chance to shine thanks to a reimagination courtesy of Kygo. The Norwegian DJ picks up his sixth Hot 100 hit, immediately scoring his second highest peaking single to date, only behind mainstream breakout “It Ain’t Me (#10 in 2017).
Meanwhile, Houston notches her milestone fortieth and first posthumous Hot 100 entry. The legendary voice has now appeared on the Hot 100 with a “new” track in each of the last four decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s); she had previously appeared on the chart this decade with several recurrent tracks following her February 2012 passing.
No. 81 “My Type” / Saweetie
Saweetie makes her Hot 100 debut as “My Type” launches at #81. “Type” finally enters as radio support continues to build: the track is top 20 at rhythmic and trending top 20 at urban. Saweetie becomes the seventh female rap act and eighth female rapper to chart on the Hot 100 in 2019, helping to break the record for most female rappers charting in a single calendar year this decade.
No. 83 “Mother’s Daughter” / Miley Cyrus
Driven by the midweek arrival of its provocative music video, Miley Cyrus’ “Mother’s Daughter” jumps back onto the survey at with a 2% hike in on-demand consumption. It also continues to garner support at top 40 radio, where it jumps to #34 on the most recent seven day survey.
As promotional efforts seem to shift between “Mother’s Daughter” and “On a Roll” (Miley’s track for Black Mirror), both efforts continue to post weekly gains although neither have fully taken off. Notably, “Roll” is much higher on Spotify, currently charting at #31 there compared to #75 for “Daughter.”
No. 92 “Megatron” / Nicki Minaj
After its lofty start at #20 on last week’s chart, Nicki Minaj’s “MEGATRON” regresses 72 spots to #92. That marks the 11th biggest decline in the chart’s history. But all is not lost: the track became Minaj’s 34th top 20 hit since her 2010 debut, breaking her tie with Taylor Swift as the female artist with the most top 20s this decade. It also marked her 103rd chart entry; she remains the only female artist with at least 100 charting tracks.
On the Bubbling Under: Ellie Goulding and Juice WRLD’s link up “Hate Me” earns the biggest debut of the week (#103), BTS’ “Heartbeat” is new at #107, Lil Nas X’s “C7osure (You Like)” bows following its inclusion in his viral coming out tweet (#114) plus Ashley O and ROSALIA return at new peaks with “On a Roll” (#116) and “Con Altura” (#120) respectively.
Check back next week for another edition.
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