Nicki Minaj Scores Back-to-Back No. 1 Debuts on Hot Rap Songs Chart
Written by djfrosty on March 16, 2023
Nicki Minaj captures back-to-back No. 1 debuts on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs as her latest single, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” starts at the summit of the chart dated March 18. The track follows Minaj’s last appearance on the list, “Super Freaky Girl,” which likewise opened at No. 1 on its way to an 11-week reign.
With “Sleeze,” Minaj collects her ninth No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. She extends her record as the woman with the most champs in the chart’s history, which dates to 1989, and moves out of a tie with LL Cool J for sole possession of fifth place on the overall leaderboard. Drake, with 27 No. 1s, heads the list, with Lil Wayne (11), Diddy and Kanye West (10 each) next in line.
As “Sleeze” joins the club, here’s a recap of Minaj’s nine chart-toppers on Hot Rap Songs:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Nicki Minaj), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Your Love,” eight, July 10, 2010
“Moment 4 Life,” featuring Drake, nine, Feb. 19, 2011
“Make Me Proud,” Drake featuring Nicki Minaj, one, Feb. 11, 2012
“Anaconda,” six, Sept. 6, 2014
“Only,” featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown, one, Dec. 27, 2014
“Trollz,” with 6ix9ine, June 27, 2020
“Do We Have a Problem?,” with Lil Baby, Feb. 19, 2022
“Super Freaky Girl,” 11, Aug. 27, 2022
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” one (to date), March 18, 2023
Minaj’s latest champ, notably, follows in its predecessor’s footsteps with the sample of a prominent former hit. “Sleeze” samples Lumidee’s “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh),” a No. 3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2003. “Super Freaky Girl,” meanwhile, sampled the Rick James classic “Super Freak,” which hit No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 1981.
Plus, the “Sleeze” arrival secures Minaj’s fourth No. 1 debut on the Hot Rap Songs chart, tying her with Travis Scott for the second-most chart-topping starts in the list’s history. The pair trail only Drake, who has launched eight songs at the summit.
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” traces its No. 1 start on Hot Rap Songs largely to 14 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week ending March 9, according to Luminate. The figure makes for a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart, where it becomes Minaj’s fifth champ. On the overall Streaming Songs list, “Sleeze” begins at No. 21, in an entrance affected by 15 Morgan Wallen songs above it from the country superstar’s new One Thing at a Time album.
“Sleeze” also sold 41,000 downloads in the same tracking period, making it the top-selling song of the week across all genres. As such, it starts at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart and becomes Minaj’s 13th leader there. With the feat, she ties Drake as the rapper with the most No. 1s on the chart, which began in 2004, and matches Drake and Justin Bieber for the third-most chart-toppers in the list’s history. Taylor Swift leads the count with 25 No. 1s, with Rihanna in second place with 14 champs.
In radio airplay, the final metric that contributes to the Hot Rap Songs chart, “Sleeze” registered 2.7 million in audience impressions across all formats. The song also debuts on the Rhythmic Airplay chart at No. 38.
Elsewhere, “Sleeze” launches at No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 13 on the all-genre Hot 100.