Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ Holds Atop Hot 100, Drake Debuts 8 Songs in Top 10
Written by djfrosty on November 14, 2022
Taylor Swift‘s “Anti-Hero” adds a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, boosted by seven new remixes released between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10. Two weeks ago, the song soared in at the Hot 100’s summit, as Swift made history as the first artist to hold the survey’s entire top 10 in a single frame.
Meanwhile, Drake blasts in with eight debuts in the Hot 100’s top 10, including seven with 21 Savage, as the pair’s collaborative LP Her Loss launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
With Drake having claimed nine of the Hot 100’s top 10 spots on the chart for a week in September 2021 (concurrent with the chart start of his album Certified Lover Boy), he is now the only artist to have logged at least eight songs in the top 10 twice.
Plus, Drake extends his record total to 67 career Hot 100 top 10s.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Nov. 19, 2022) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 15). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
In the Nov. 4-10 tracking week, “Anti-Hero,” released on Republic Records, tallied 51.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 37%), 31.1 million streams (down 13%) and 327,000 sold (up 1,793%), according to Luminate.
The single surges 4-1 on the Digital Song Sales chart; falls to No. 9 after two weeks atop Streaming Songs; and jumps 14-9 on Radio Songs (which, as previously reported, is now based on Mediabase-monitored airplay data).
Swift scores her record-extending 25th Digital Song Sales No. 1 with “Anti-Hero,” which also takes top Sales Gainer honors on the Hot 100, sparked by seven remixes made available for purchase during the tracking week. Joining the song’s previously available original and instrumental versions, its Bleachers remix (explicit and clean) arrived Nov. 7 (first in Swift’s webstore, followed by its wide release at 12 a.m. ET Nov. 8). Its Roosevelt remix was released Nov. 9 (in Swift’s webstore, followed by its wide release Nov. 10), while its Jayda G remix, Kungs remix (including its extended version) and an acoustic version were all released Nov. 10. All versions of the song were discounted to 69 cents between 2:30 p.m. ET and midnight Nov. 10 in Swift’s webstore, and between 4 p.m. ET and midnight Nov. 10 at all other retailers; all were available for wide release, except for the Kungs extended remix and acoustic version, between 10 p.m. ET and midnight Nov. 10.
The song’s sum of 327,000 paid downloads makes for the biggest sales week for a song in over five years, since Swift’s own “Look What You Made Me Do” bounded in with 353,000 (Sept. 16, 2017). “Anti-Hero,” which debuted with 13,000 sold and moved 17,000 in its second frame, logs the largest third-week sales total for a track since Adele’s “Hello” (480,000, Nov. 28, 2015, after it sold a weekly record 1.1 million downloads and 635,000 in its second week).
“Anti-Hero” concurrently becomes Swift’s 16th Radio Songs top 10, and first since “ME!,” featuring Brendon Urie (No. 7, May-June 2019).
Drake roars in with eight debuts in the Hot 100’s top 10, including seven with 21 Savage, with all from their new collaborative album Her Loss.
Here’s a recap of the eight tracks new in the Hot 100’s top 10 – all by Drake and 21 Savage unless otherwise noted:
- No. 2, “Rich Flex”
- No. 3, “Major Distribution”
- No. 4, “On BS”
- No. 5, “Spin Bout U”
- No. 6, “Pussy & Millions” (feat. Travis Scott)
- No. 7, “Privileged Rappers”
- No. 8, “Circo Loco”
- No. 9, “BackOutsideBoyz” (Drake)
The eight songs above line up in the same order, infusing Nos. 1-8, respectively, on Streaming Songs, led by “Rich Flex” with 58.9 million streams. The total is the second-highest for a song this year, just below the 59.7 million that Swift’s “Anti-Hero” drew in its first week (Nov. 5).
“Rich Flex” begins as Drake’s record-padding 15th Streaming Songs No. 1 and 21 Savage’s third.
“Rich Flex” was also the top-selling Her Loss track in its first week (2,600), while “Circo Loco” drew the most all-format radio audience of any song on the set in that span (5 million), followed by “Rich Flex” (3.1 million).
In one swoop, Drake ups his career count from 59 to 67 Hot 100 top 10s, extending his record total (dating to his first top 10, “Best I Ever Had,” in 2009) over the chart’s 64-year history.
Notably, of his 67 Hot 100 top 10s, Drake has notched a likewise-record 49 as a lead artist. (Swift has been credited as the lead artist on all 40 of her top 10s, while Madonna ranks third with 37 top 10s as a lead act, among her 38 total.)
Most Billboard Hot 100 Top 10s:
- 67, Drake
- 40, Taylor Swift
- 38, Madonna
- 34, The Beatles
- 32, Rihanna
- 30, Michael Jackson
- 29, Elton John
- 28, Mariah Carey
- 28, Stevie Wonder
- 27, Janet Jackson
- 26, Justin Bieber
- 25, Lil Wayne
- 25, Elvis Presley (with the start of Presley’s career having predated the Hot 100’s inception)
Meanwhile, Drake becomes the only artist to have logged at least eight songs in the Hot 100’s top 10 twice, plus as many as seven concurrent top 10s in three distinct weeks. Prior to this week’s haul of eight top 10s courtesy of Her Loss, he posted nine alongside the chart arrival of his album Certified Lover Boy in 2021 and seven as Scorpion made its chart entrance in 2018.
Also thanks to Her Loss, 21 Savage boasts the fourth-most simultaneous Hot 100 top 10s.
Most Simultaneous Hot 100 Top 10s:
- 10, Taylor Swift, Nov. 5, 2022
- 9, Drake, Sept. 18, 2021
- 8, Drake, Nov. 19, 2022
- 7, 21 Savage, Nov. 19, 2022
- 7, Drake, July 14, 2018
- 5, Juice WRLD, July 25, 2020
- 5, The Beatles, April 11, 1964
- 5, The Beatles, April 4, 1964
In the rundown above, the Hot 100 has sported six instances of acts having amassed five or more simultaneous top 10s since July 2018, after only The Beatles had achieved the feat in two distinct weeks in 1964. As streaming has ascended in prominence in recent years, the select acts above have run up such lofty totals in weeks that high-profile albums of theirs have arrived. The model contrasts with prior decades, when acts generally promoted one single at a time in the physical-only marketplace and on radio. That shift in consumption also helps explain certain acts having swelled their career top 10 totals to historic highs over relatively short spans in recent years.
21 Savage more than doubles his career Hot 100 top 10 total, from six to 13. He logged his most recent top 10 before this week as featured on Drake’s “Jimmy Cooks,” which became his second No. 1 and Drake’s 11th, and latest, leader upon its debut in July.
Thanks to his featured turn on the chart’s sixth-biggest song, Travis Scott earns his 11th Hot 100 top 10.
Meanwhile, “Rich Flex” premieres at No. 1 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100. Drake dominates the rankings with a record-extending 26th and 27th track, respectively. 21 Savage leads each list with a fourth title.
Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” drops from No. 3 to No. 10, three weeks after it ascended to No. 1. The collaboration claims the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award for a second week, up 39% to 56.7 million impressions, as it flies 12-5 on Radio Songs. Smith notches their sixth Radio Songs top 10 and first since “Dancing With a Stranger,” with Normani, became their second No. 1 in 2019. Petras reaches the Radio Songs top 10 in her first trip to the tally.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Nov. 19), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 15).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.