Doja Cat’s ‘Paint the Town Red’ Tops Global Charts, Drake & Kenya Grace Lead New Top 10s
Written by djfrosty on September 25, 2023
Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” adds a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and ascends to its first frame atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey (dated Sept. 30). Notably, the song is the first rap hit to lead the latter list over the ranking’s four-year history.
Elsewhere, Drake’s “Slime You Out,” featuring SZA, debuts at No. 3 on the Global 200 and SZA’s “Snooze” soars 42-6 following the arrival of its remix with Justin Bieber. Plus, three songs are new to the Global Excl. U.S. top 10: Kenya Grace’s “Strangers” (21-4); Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (a debut at No. 9); and cassö, RAYE and D-Block Europe’s “Prada” (16-10).
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
Third Coat of ‘Paint’ Atop Global 200
Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” logs a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, having become her first leader on the list, with 89.8 million streams (up 1%) and 12,000 sold (up 5%) worldwide Sept. 15-21.
Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, keeps at No. 2 on the Global 200, after spending its first seven weeks on the chart at No. 1 beginning in July.
Released Sept. 15 at 12 p.m. ET, Drake’s “Slime You Out,” featuring SZA, starts at No. 3 on the Global 200 with 52.1 million streams and 2,000 sold worldwide in its first week. Drake earns his record-extending 30th top 10 on the chart.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” falls 3-4 on the Global 200, after it debuted atop the chart and led for two weeks in July, and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” rises 6-5, after reaching No. 3.
SZA’s “Snooze” bounds 42-6 on the Global 200, surpassing its prior No. 25 peak. Following the Sept. 15 release of its remix featuring Justin Bieber, it boasts gains of 60% to 41.7 million streams and 99% to 3,000 sold worldwide. Thanks to “Slime You Out” and “Snooze,” SZA ups her count to five top 10s on the survey. (All versions of “Snooze” roll up into one chart listing; Bieber is not listed on the song on the Global 200, as the remix did not account for the majority of the single’s overall consumption during the tracking week.)
‘Red’ Reign on Global Excl. U.S.
Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” rises 2-1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, marking her first leader on the ranking, with 64.8 million streams (up 3%) and 4,000 sold (up 8%) outside the U.S. Sept. 15-21. Notably, the song is the first rap hit (as defined by songs that have hit Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart) to top Global Excl. U.S. over the ranking’s four-year history.
Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, drops to No. 2 after spending its first nine weeks on the Global Excl. U.S. chart at No. 1, and Myke Towers’ “LaLa” rebounds 4-3, after it dominated for a week in July.
Kenya Grace’s “Strangers” vaults 21-4 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, with 28.9 million streams (up 50%) and 1,000 sold (up 42%). TikTok has been a big factor in the growing profile of the South African-born, British-raised singer-songwriter’s breakthrough song, as a portion of its audio has been used in over 500,000 clips on the platform; she also has over half a million TikTok followers. Two weeks earlier, Grace became a first-timer on Billboard’s charts.
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” climbs 6-5 on Global Excl. U.S., after hitting No. 4.
Tate McRae’s “Greedy” launches at No. 9 on Global Excl. U.S., with 22.1 million streams and 1,000 sold outside the U.S. in its first week. The singer-songwriter from Calgary, Alberta, Canada (she drives a Zamboni in the song’s official video), achieves her first top 10 on the chart, surpassing her prior No. 15 best with her first entry, “You Broke Me First.,” in 2020. Notably, she appears in the video for Olivia Rodrigo’s “Bad Idea Right?” (which hit No. 9 on the ranking a week earlier).
Plus, cassö, RAYE and D-Block Europe’s “Prada” jumps 16-10 on Global Excl. U.S., with 20.8 million streams (up 5%) and 2,000 sold (up 7%) outside the U.S. RAYE, from England, adds her second top 10 on the chart, after “Escapism,” featuring 070 Shake, hit No. 6 in January. U.S.-born cassö and Britain’s D-Block Europe each reach the top 10 with their first title on the tally.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Sept. 30, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 26). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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.