Chart Beat
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Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” adds a 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The song breaks out of a tie with Harry Styles’ “As It Was” for the sole longest No. 1 run for a non-collaboration, while overall tying for the second-longest reign in the Hot 100’s 65-year history.
Plus, SZA’s “Snooze” jumps from No. 15 to No. 10 on the Hot 100, becoming her eighth career top 10, and the fifth on her album SOS.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Aug. 19, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Aug. 15). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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Wallen’s “Last Night,” released on Big Loud/Mercury/Republic Records, drew 59.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (down 11%) and 26.3 million streams (down 2%) and sold 5,000 downloads (down 22%) in the Aug. 4-10 tracking week, according to Luminate.
As “Last Night” leads the Hot 100 for a 16th week, it surpasses Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” from 2022, for the longest command ever for a song by an act with no accompanying artists.
Among all songs, “Last Night” matches the second-longest rule in the Hot 100’s history, which dates to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception.
Longest-Leading Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s:
19, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, beginning April 13, 2019
16 (to date), “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, March 18, 2023
16, “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, May 27, 2017
16, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, Dec. 2, 1995
15, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, April 16, 2022
14, “Uptown Funk!,” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, Jan. 17, 2015
14, “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2009
14, “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey, June 4, 2005
14, “Candle in the Wind 1997”/“Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” Elton John, Oct. 11, 1997
14, “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio, Aug. 3, 1996
14, “I’ll Make Love to You,” Boyz II Men, Aug. 27, 1994
14, “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston, Nov. 28, 1992
“Last Night” also passes “As It Was” for the longest No. 1 Hot 100 stay of the 2020s so far. Here’s an updated look at the longest-leading hits each decade (with songs, on average, having logged longer No. 1 runs since Luminate data began contributing to the chart in late 1991).
Longest-Leading Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s by Decade:
2020s: 16 weeks (to date), “Last Night,” 2023
2010s: 19 weeks, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, 2019
2000s: 14 weeks, “I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas, 2009 / “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey, 2005
1990s: 16 weeks, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, 1995-96
1980s: 10 weeks, “Physical,” Olivia Newton-John, 1981-82
1970s: 10 weeks, “You Light Up My Life,” Debby Boone, 1977
1960s: 9 weeks, “Hey Jude,” The Beatles, 1968 / “The Theme From A Summer Place,” Percy Faith and His Orchestra, 1960
1950s: 9 weeks, “Mack the Knife,” Bobby Darin, 1959
“Last Night” first led the Hot 100 in March, becoming Wallen’s initial No. 1 on the chart, and has logged a record-tying five distinct stays on top: March 18; April 15-22; May 6-July 8; July 22; and Aug. 12-19.
The song rebounds to No. 1, from No. 3, for an 18th week atop the Streaming Songs chart; rises 7-4 following a week atop Digital Song Sales; and dips 4-6, after reaching No. 2, on Radio Songs.
The single also tops Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which employs the same multi-metric methodology as the Hot 100, for a 25th week, the sole fourth-longest domination since the chart became an all-encompassing genre ranking in 1958; Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” spent a record 50 weeks at No. 1 in 2017-18.
“Last Night,” which crowned the Country Airplay chart for eight weeks and crossed over to No. 5 peaks on both Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay, additionally claims an 11th week atop Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, having led each week since the list returned. (Meanwhile over the weekend, Wallen made news for his hairstyle change. Mull it over here.)
Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” notches a fifth week at its No. 2 Hot 100 high.
Notably, after topping Country Airplay for five weeks, “Fast Car” leads Adult Pop Airplay for a second frame and becomes Combs’ first top 10 on Pop Airplay (12-10). It’s the first song by a lead solo male to have hit No. 1 on both Country Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay and reached the Pop Airplay top 10; among all acts, four songs previously achieved the feat, as it follows Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope” (featuring Charlie Puth on its pop remix; 2020); “Meant To Be” (2018); Lady A’s “Need You Now” (2009-10); and Faith Hill’s “Breathe” (1999-2000).
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” pushes to a new No. 3 Hot 100 high, from No. 4, four years after its release on her 2019 album Lover, as it’s now being promoted as a single, while she has been performing the song on her The Eras Tour. It likewise climbs to new No. 3 bests on both Radio Songs (68.1 million, up 6%) and Digital Song Sales (7,000, up 85%), while rebounding 19-5, also a new highpoint, on Streaming Songs (18.2 million, up 14%), as it wins the Hot 100’s Sales and Streaming Gainer awards.
Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” ascends 6-4 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3, as it posts an eighth week atop Radio Songs (88 million, down 1%). It tops the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for a milestone 50th week, extending the longest reign since the ranking began over a year ago.
Gunna’s “Fukumean” lifts 7-5 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 4, while ruling the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a fourth week each.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” rises 9-6 on the Hot 100, five weeks after it debuted as her third No. 1; Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” twirls 10-7 for a new high; Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” with Aqua, holds at No. 8, after reaching No. 7, as it takes top Airplay Gainer honors (26.1 million, up 54%); and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” returns to the top 10 (12-9), after it led for eight weeks beginning in January.
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Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, SZA’s “Snooze” surges 15-10, with 61.9 million in radio reach and 1,000 sold (each sum essentially even week-over-week) and 10.4 million streams (down 1%).
The song is SZA’s eighth career Hot 100 top 10 and the fifth on her album SOS, after “Kill Bill,” which led for a week in April, marking her first No. 1; “Nobody Gets Me” (No. 10, December 2022, concurrent with the set’s launch atop the Billboard 200 albums chart); “I Hate U” (No. 7, December 2021); and “Good Days” (No. 9, February 2021).
SZA has also hit the Hot 100’s top 10 as featured on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” (No. 3, July 2021); with Kendrick Lamar on “All the Stars” (No. 7, March 2018); and as featured on Maroon 5’s “What Lovers Do” (No. 9, November 2017).
Meanwhile, Babyface is one of the co-writers and co-producers of “Snooze.” The legendary talent, who has notched five Hot 100 top 10s as a recording artist and first reached the region in the 1980s, places in the top 10 as a writer for the first time since Drake’s “Fair Trade,” featuring Travis Scott, hit No. 3 in September 2021. “Fair Trade” samples Charlotte Day Wilson’s 2019 single “Mountains,” which Babyface co-wrote.
Apart from samples, Babyface appears in the Hot 100’s top 10 with a newly composed song for the first time since P!nk’s “Most Girls,” which he produced and co-wrote, hit No. 4 in November 2000. (That also marked his last top 10 rank as a producer until “Snooze.”)
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Aug. 19), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Aug. 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.
Dave and Central Cee’s “Sprinter” (via Live Yours/Neighbourhood) outraces the field in the U.K. for the 10th week, setting a new record in the process.
“Sprinter” becomes the first U.K. rap track to enter double figures at the summit of the Official U.K. Singles Chart, further proof of the global phenomenon that is hip-hop, a genre that’s currently celebrating its 50th anniversary as a genre.
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Meanwhile, Becky Hill and Chase & Status lift into the top 10 for the first time with “Disconnect” (Polydor), up 15-9. With that gain, Hill boasts her sixth U.K. top 10 hit, while Chase & Status land a fifth — and first in ten years. Chase & Status appear again further down the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Aug. 11, with Flowdan and Bou on “Baddadan” (EMI), up 31-21 for a new peak position.
It’s strength in numbers for Nathan Dawe, Joel Corry and Ella Henderson as “0800 Heaven” (Atlantic) improves 9-10, while Calvin Harris and Sam Smith’s latest collaboration, “Desire” (Columbia), gains 18-12, for a new chart best.
There’s a new peak position for Ryan Gosling’s Barbie number “I’m Just Ken” (Atlantic), up 14-13; D.O.D’s “So Much In Love” (Armada), up 23-16; and Anne-Marie and Shania Twain‘s duet, “Unhealthy” (Atlantic/Asylum/EMI) up 22-18, also a new high
Doja Cat has the highest new entry on the Official U.K. Chart with “Paint the Town Red” (Ministry of Sound). It’s new at No. 20 for the U.S. artist’s 15th top 40 single and first top 20 appearance in two years, since 2021’s “Woman” reached No. 13.
Finally, Travis Scott scores his 17th U.K. top 40 with “Telekinesis” (Epic) featuring SZA and Future. The track, lifted from the U.S. rapper’s No. 1 album Utopia, starts at No. 31 on the Official Chart.
It’s victory for Cian Ducrot, the Irish singer and songwriter who races to No. 1 in the U.K. with his debut LP.
Ducrot overcomes a deficit at the midweek stage to snag the chart crown with Victory (via Polydor), ahead of Skindred’s eighth studio album, Smile (Earache).
Few chart races will come any tighter than this. Ducrot’s winning margin over Skindred, the Welsh heavy metal outfit, is just 150 chart units, the Official Charts Company reports.
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Despite missing out on a debut crown, there’s no frowning for Skindred as Smile gives the Newport band its highest chart peak in the U.K., and first top 10 appearance.
Previously, Skindred impacted the U.K. top 40 with 2014’s Kill the Power (No. 28 peak), 2015’s Volume (No. 29) and 2018’s Big Tings (No. 26).
Also, Smile is the week’s most downloaded LP and the best seller on wax.
Completing the top 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, published Aug. 11, is Travis Scott’s previous leader Utopia (RCA), which dips 1-3.
South Yorkshire, England indie rock act the Sherlocks enjoy a career-best chart performance with People Like Me & You (Teddyboy), new at No. 4. The Sherlocks previously landed top 10 berths with 2017’s Live for the Moment (No. 6) and 2022’s World I Understand (No. 9).
Close behind is Miles Kane‘s One Man Band (Modern Sky), new at No. 5, the British artist’s highest-charting solo album. Kane has two No. 1 albums as part of the Last Shadow Puppets, his collaborative project with Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, and boasts seven top 40 albums, five as a solo artist.
Finally, N-Dubz lands a fourth top 10 in the U.K. and equal career best with Timeless (EMI), the homegrown hip-hop act’s comeback album. It’s new at No. 6, matching their previous chart peak with 2009’s Against All Odds. Timeless is N-Dubz’s first studio album release in 13 years.
Travis Scott’s Utopia rules the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 19) for a second week, as the set earned 147,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 10 (down 70%), according to Luminate. The album charged in at No. 1 a week ago with 496,000 units earned in its first week — the biggest week for an R&B/hip-hop or rap album in 2023.
Utopia is the first rap album to spend its first two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in nearly two years, since Drake’s Certified Lover Boy logged its first three weeks at No. 1 (Sept. 18-Oct. 2, 2021 charts), of its five total (nonconsecutive) weeks atop the list. Utopia is the first rap album with more than a single week at No. 1 in over a year, since Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost claimed a total of two weeks at No. 1, in two separate weeks (July 10, 2021, its debut frame, and April 30, 2022, charts).
Utopia leads a sleepy top 10 on the Billboard 200, which is absent of any debuts in the region for the second time in less than a month. Just three weeks ago, on the July 29-dated list, there were also no new debuts in the top 10.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 19, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Aug. 15. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Utopia’s 147,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 10, SEA units comprise 110,000 (down 55%, equaling 145.99 million on-demand official streams of the streaming set’s 19 total songs), album sales comprise 37,000 (down 85%) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000 (down 58%).
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time rises 3-2 on the Billboard 200 with 92,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%), while the Barbie movie soundtrack steps 4-3 with 74,000 (down 18%), Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) bumps 5-4 with 60,000 (down 9%) and Swift’s chart-topping Midnights ascends 8-5 with 56,000 (up 15%).
Swift’s former No. 1 Lover climbs 10-6 (51,000 equivalent album units; up 17%); Post Malone’s Austin falls 2-7 in its second week (50,000; down 55%); Peso Pluma’s Génesis slips 7-8 (47,000; down 6%); Swift’s former leader Folklore jumps 12-9 (44,000; up 9%) — as she boasts four albums in the top 10 for a third time, having become the first living artist to achieve the feat in nearly 60 years last month — and Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album falls 9-10 (43,000; down 4%).
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.
Myke Towers captures his third No. 1 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart as his latest single, “Lala,” rises 2-1 to lead the Aug. 5-dated ranking. It’s his first champ since “Bandido” ruled for seven weeks in 2021. Since then, the Puerto Rican artist has placed two other No. 2-peaking songs: “Ella No Es […]
Disturbed notches its 12th ruler on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, as “Unstoppable” rises to No. 1 on the Aug. 19-dated tally.
It’s the David Draiman-fronted quartet’s first leader on the list since “Hey You,” which reigned for three weeks in September 2022.
In between “Hey You” and “Unstoppable,” the band reached No. 2 with “Bad Man” this March.
Disturbed first led Mainstream Rock Airplay in November 2006 with its cover of Genesis‘ 1980s classic “Land of Confusion.”
With 12 No. 1s, Disturbed moves into a four-way tie for the fifth-most toppers in the chart’s 42-year history, alongside Foo Fighters, Godsmack and Metallica. Shinedown leads all acts with 18 No. 1s.
Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay18, Shinedown17, Three Days Grace14, Five Finger Death Punch13, Van Halen12, Disturbed12, Foo Fighters12, Godsmack12, Metallica10, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)10, Volbeat
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Concurrently, “Unstoppable” bullets at its No. 9 best on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.9 million audience impressions, up 7%, Aug. 4-10, according to Luminate.
On the most recently published, multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs tally (dated Aug. 12), “Unstoppable” re-entered at No. 23. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 230,000 official U.S. streams in the July 28-Aug. 3 tracking week.
“Unstoppable” is the third single from Divisive, Disturbed’s eighth studio album. The LP debuted at No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums list last December and has earned 115,000 equivalent album units to date.
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Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” leads Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Aug. 19) for a second week. His second No. 1, following “Son of a Sinner” for a week in January, drew 32.8 million impressions (down less than 1%) Aug. 4-10, according to Luminate. For the first time since 2006-07, six consecutive songs have led […]
Post Malone’s alternative-leaning new album Austin becomes his first to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts, debuting atop both lists dated Aug. 12.
Austin bows with 113,000 equivalent album units earned July 28-Aug. 3, according to Luminate. Of that sum, 34,000 units are via album sales, with the bulk from streaming equivalent units (78,000).
That 113,000-unit count is the fourth-biggest on Top Rock & Alternative Albums in 2023 (and the most for a solo male), behind, among all acts, only Metallica’s 72 Seasons (146,000, April 29), Melanie Martinez’s Portals (142,000, April 15) and Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (115,000, April 8). It’s also the third-largest on Top Alternative Albums this year, trailing only the aforementioned Martinez and Del Rey LPs.
Post Malone makes his first appearance on both charts; although he has logged hits in a featured role on multiple rock- and alternative-focused song charts, none of his albums was classified fully as alternative before Austin.
Concurrently, Austin begins at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200. It’s his second straight title to debut at No. 2, following Twelve Carat Toothache in 2022, and his fourth total within the top two (following Beerbongs & Bentleys in 2018 and Hollywood’s Bleeding in 2019, both No. 1s).
Ten songs from Austin appear on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs survey, paced by “Enough Is Enough,” which debuts at No. 5 with 9.9 million official U.S. streams, 80,000 airplay audience impressions and 2,000 downloads sold. The song also leads a collection of Austin tracks on Alternative Streaming Songs, bounding in at No. 3.
The album’s lead single, “Chemical,” peaked at No. 13 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 dated April 29 (and concurrently ranks at No. 35 on the latest list). It reached Nos. 6 and 8 on Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay, respectively, in June, while also achieving highs of No. 16 on Adult Contemporary, No. 24 on Alternative Airplay and No. 25 on Rhythmic Airplay. Latest radio single “Mourning” this week places at No. 11 on Rhythmic Airplay, after hitting No. 8, and rises to No. 18 on Pop Airplay.
Doja Cat nabs another top 10 spot on Australia’s singles chart, while Billie Eilish enters a second week at No. 1 with “What Was I Made For?” (via Interscope/Universal), one of several major hits from the Barbie soundtrack.
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Eilish, the Californian pop phenomenon, has chalked up 15 ARIA top 10 singles across her young career, including a leader with 2019’s “Bad Guy.” Like her Barbie number, “Bad Guy” also reigned over the chart for two weeks.
A slew of tracks from the soundtrack, Barbie: The Album, make an impact on the latest ARIA Singles Chart, published Aug. 11. Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” lifts 4-3, its peak position; “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice and Aqua switches positions, dipping 3-4; and Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive” motors 24-22 (all via Atlantic/Warner).
Doja Cat is on the prowl. The U.S. rapper, singer and songwriter bows at No. 10 with “Paint The Town Red” (RCA/Sony), for the week’s highest debut and only new release in the top 40.
It’s her sixth top 10 hit in the land Down Under, a list that’s led by “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, which hit No. 2 back in 2021.
Troye Sivan’s “Rush” is on the move, lifting 38-32 in its second week on the ARIA Chart. The Perth, Australia-raised pop artist is just one of two homegrown artists impacting this week’s tally. The other, Vance Joy, with his 16-times platinum certified hit from 2013 “Riptide,” up 43-30.
Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, Travis Scott’s Utopia (Epic/Sony) locks up top spot for a second successive week, ahead of the Barbie soundtrack (up 3-2 via Atlantic/Warner) and a trio of Taylor Swift titles, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Midnights and 1989 (all via Universal), respectively.
The top debut belongs to Fanny Lumsden, with Hey Dawn (Cooking Vinyl Australia/Orchard), her fourth studio album. The ARIA and AIR Award-winning Australian country artist, a performer at Glastonbury Festival in late June, drops in at No. 10 on the national tally. Hey Dawn is the followup to 2020’s Fallow, which also peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Chart, and won the ARIA Award that year for best country album.
What were some of the most notable trends on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in the first half of 2023?
Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits, has released its State of the Hot 100 Top 10: Mid-Year 2023 report.
Here are three takeaways from Hit Songs Deconstructed’s latest in-depth research.
Country Remains Tied With Pop
In the first six months of 2023, country and pop remained tied as the most common primary genres in the Hot 100’s top 10, each contributing to 23% of all top 10 hits. Country and pop shared the lead in Q1 2023, at 26% each.
“Country was the big gainer, tying pop for top honors largely thanks to the success of Morgan Wallen,” Hit Songs Deconstructed’s report notes. “The genre skyrocketed from just 4% of songs in 2022 to nearly one-quarter in the first half of 2023, the highest level it’s been in over a decade.”
Wallen’s haul has been led by “Last Night,” which first topped the Hot 100 dated March 18 and has reigned for 15 weeks, matching for the fourth-longest command in the chart’s history.
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As for pop, despite its domination, its 23% share of all Hot 100 top 10s in the first half of 2023 continues a decline for the genre, from 35% in all of 2022; a leading 39% in 2021; 40% in 2020; and a winning 47% in 2019.
At the same time, as Hit Songs Deconstructed noted earlier this year, while country has ascended in the Hot 100’s top 10, driven by Wallen’s hits, the genre boasts notable similarities to pop songs.
Hip-hop’s presence likewise continued to fall among Hot 100 top 10s, with its 14% take in the first half of 2023 good for a third-place tie among primary genres, down noticeably from a first-place 38% finish in 2022; 34% in 2021; a leading 41% in 2020; and 34% in 2019.
“With pop and hip-hop both dropping in the first six months of 2023, the former [sank] to its lowest level in over a decade and the latter plummet[ed] to its lowest level since 2016,” the report points out.
Meanwhile, Latin tied hip-hop in the first half of 2023 with its 14% share of all Hot 100 top 10s. The genre rose to its “highest level in over a decade,” notes Hit Songs Deconstructed, “thanks in part to Bad Bunny and Shakira (two hits each) and Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado’s breakout regional Mexican hit, ‘Ella Baila Sola.’ ”
Country Helps Bring Back Guitars
Hit Songs Deconstructed riffs on the rise of guitars in the Hot 100’s top over the first half of 2023.
“Guitars, both electric and acoustic, rose to their highest levels since 2014 and over a decade, respectively,” in the chart’s top 10 in that span, according to the mid-year recap. “While this is largely due to the influx of country hits in the top 10, guitar was notably used in hits from other genres, as well, including pop (Jimin’s ‘Like Crazy’), R&B/soul (SZA’s ‘Kill Bill’), hip-hop (Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s ‘Princess Diana’), dance/club (Beyoncé’s ‘Cuff It’), rock (Steve Lacy’s ‘Bad Habit’) and Latin (‘Ella Baila Sola’).”
Plus, “acoustic drums tripled in prominence over 2022 to just under one-fifth of songs, its highest level since 2015,” Hit Songs Deconstructed notes of the instrument’s presence in the Hot 100’s top 10 from January through June. “Their use also spanned an array of genres, including country, Latin, pop and R&B/soul.”
Key Change: A Major Development
As country and pop outperformed hip-hop in the Hot 100’s top bracket, “top 10s with a major tonality increased to just over half of songs in the first half of 2023, surpassing minor-keyed songs for the first time since 2014,” Hit Songs Deconstructed further analyzes.
Major-keyed Hot 100 top 10s in the first six months of 2023 squeaked past those primarily in a minor key, 51% to 49%. Minor-key top 10s had won handily in recent years, including in 2022 (58% to 39%), 2021 (59% to 39%), 2020 (60% to 40%) and 2019 (55% to 43%). (In each year noted, between 0 and 2% of all top 10s have been characterized by Hit Songs Deconstructed in both major and minor keys.)
“Outside the hip-hop genre, major was slightly more common (57% vs. 43%), while within hip-hop, minor has been in the majority for over a decade and accounted for 80% of songs in the first half of the year,” Hit Songs Deconstructed adds.
Among notable major-key Hot 100 top 10s in the first half of 2023 were Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car.”