Chart Beat
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With national security concerns over TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, leading to U.S. officials debating a national ban of the service — with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy saying this week that lawmakers would be “moving forward with legislation” — the music industry is left contemplating a landscape without the generationally popular and influential app. The implications of such a ban would be widespread across the business: upending countless marketing and promotion plans, if not entire label departments, and affecting the reach of nearly every major artist, whether long-established or up-and-coming.
The impact on the Billboard charts would also be massive. While TikTok plays are not included in Billboard chart calculations, the exposure granted by viral success on the app has helped launch scores of chart hits over the past half-decade, while also allowing next-gen artists like Lil Nas X and Doja Cat a platform to help establish their personalities and images and cultivate their fanbases, cementing their stardom in the process. In terms of chart repercussions, a ban on TikTok in 2023 would be something like a ban on MTV in 1985 — its removal might not directly affect any metrics, but the lingering reverberations would still be seismic.
Here are five ways the loss of TikTok might most acutely be felt on the Billboard charts — assuming it would take some time for a potential rival app to replace its position of influence and importance within the industry — with particular focus on our flagship songs chart, the Billboard Hot 100.
1. Fewer older songs becoming new hits. One of the most consequential trends in 2020s chart pop has been the preponderance of catalog entries infusing all levels of the Hot 100 — whether in extreme examples like Kate Bush‘s Stranger Things-re-launched 1985 single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” reaching the top five in 2022, or subtler cases like Chris Brown‘s 2019 Indigo Deluxe Edition cut “Under the Influence” becoming a 2023 top 20 hit. One thing nearly all these revived hits have in common is TikTok: Whether its newfound popularity was initially reignited there (as with “Influence”), or whether gasoline was poured on the already-existing flame (as with “Hill”), these hits would never have reached the velocity needed to break out as they did without the app.
If TikTok disappeared, it’s possible we’d still see some of these new-old hits — particularly ones like “Hill,” which have the benefit of a major pop culture phenomenon to rally their revival — but we’d almost certainly see far fewer of the “Influence” sort, without a platform for them to unexpectedly catch fire and organically grow into contemporary favorites. And while radio has also started to embrace some of these second-time-around singles, without TikTok to first drum up newfound interest in them (and demonstrate proof of concept of them as modern-day hits), it’s unlikely they’d be willing to take chances on songs like “Influence” as early adopters.
2. Fewer one-offs. Back in 2020, Billboard wrote about a number of artists TikTok had helped launch into the pop mainstream for one song, and asked if the app would be able to help sustain extended careers for them as hitmakers. Based on the great majority of the artists mentioned in the story — Arizona Zervas, Tones and I, Powfu, SAINt JHN, Surfaces, Trevor Daniel, StaySolidRocky, 24kGoldn, Surf Mesa — the answer would appear to be “no”; after their initial TikTok-boosted chart success, none of those artists have yet charted a second top 40 Hot 100 hit, and most have yet to even scrape the chart a second time.
There have been exceptions, of course — particularly the aforementioned Doja Cat and Lil Nas X, two of the biggest stars of the new decade, who were able to launch numerous hits with TikTok’s help and ultimately establish continuous stardom well beyond the app. But the speed with which TikTok generates breakout hits and the relatively anonymous relationship they often establish between listener and song — often divorced from any larger connection with the artist behind them — has been a recipe for creating single successes that prove a foot in the door to the larger mainstream for their artists, but nowhere near a guarantee of additional future hits.
In truth, without TikTok, we’d likely not only see fewer one-off hits, but fewer breakout hits from new artists in general. With the influence of both labels and tastemakers being diminished in the streaming era, and radio positioning itself more as a late-adopter of established hits than a breaker of new ones (a strategy that could reverse, or at least lessen, post-TikTok), TiKTok has been the rare platform over which previously unestablished artists have been able to reach mass audiences — if not necessarily reliably, or repeatedly.
3. Bigger and longer-lasting album bombs. Without the natural rise-and-fall of TikTok virality to help generate prominent movement up and down the Hot 100, stasis will be even more unavoidable on the chart. While that will be felt in every tier of the chart, it will perhaps be most noticeable in the chart’s middle and lower regions — which, without TikTok-driven hits, will become even more the province of the biggest albums of recent weeks.
While highly anticipated albums charting the majority or entirety of their tracklists on the Hot 100 upon their chart debuts is certainly nothing new, in the last couple years some of those albums — like Bad Bunny‘s Un Verano Sin Ti and SZA‘s SOS — have not only overtaken the chart in their first weeks, but had as many as a dozen songs continue to linger on it well after. Big artists and big releases are more omnipresent on the charts than ever, and if TikTok isn’t around to help generate new hits to siphon off momentum from (and ultimately displace) them, those album cuts will continue to play the part of hit singles in the thick of the Hot 100.
4. Less alt/indie and regional Mexican. One way TikTok’s imprint has been felt on the Hot 100 has been the rise in crossovers from the indie and alternative worlds. Hits from bands like Glass Animals, The Walters and Måneskin and singer-songwriters like d4vd, Lizzy McAlpine and Mac DeMarco all have found their way to the chart after gaining popularity on the app — where five years ago they likely would have had no real pathway to that kind of crossover success on streaming or radio, with any kind guitar-based rock music an increasingly rare presence in the pop mainstream.
Would they disappear on the Hot 100 without TikTok around to boost them? Maybe not entirely — especially after a pop-punk revival (and guitar-oriented hits from pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo, Juice WRLD and Billie Eilish) helped once again normalize guitar in the top 40 of the early 2020s — but it would certainly be a major additional challenge for newer alt and indie artists to get the kind of streaming exposure they need to cross over.
The same could be said of regional Mexican acts like Grupo Firme, Yahritza y Su Esencia and Peso Pluma — all of whom have suddenly made a genre that had literally zero history on the Hot 100 prior to 2021 into a major factor on the chart, with each act scoring top 40 hits in the last year, boosted enormously by their TikTok presences. Those artists have still yet to achieve even the relatively modest level of stateside mainstream pop exposure or acceptance that most of the aforementioned alt/indie acts have, so losing TikTok would likely be an enormous blow to their chart fortunes.
5. Longer chart runs — but fewer truly historic ones. As already mentioned, TikTok success is one of the primary accelerants on the Hot 100 these days — the force that gets songs zooming up and plummeting down the chart with disruptive speed — and without it, a lot of songs are going to stay in place for a very long time. The slowing pace of radio and streaming in the 2020s has already resulted in seemingly endless, borderline-historic stays for hits like Dua Lipa‘s “Levitating,” The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber‘s “Stay” and Harry Styles‘ “As It Was” in the chart’s top regions, and certainly without TikTok, there will be even fewer impediments to those songs staying in place for as long as the mainstream will have them.
However, the loss of TikTok could also impact these hits’ endurance in the other direction — preventing them from ever reaching the truly unprecedented territory tread by hits like The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights” and Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves.” Those songs’ journeys were marked by late-cresting waves of TikTok popularity, which helped them recapture momentum at key moments in their chart treks, reinvigorating their streaming and radio presences in the process. Without those unpredictable second and/or third lives for the two singles, their respective chart runs would likely never have stretched out as they did — and without the ordered chaos of TikTok, they’re not the kind that anyone could ever meaningfully reproduce inorganically.
Feid’s “Remix Exclusivo” starts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart for April 1.
Billboard’s Hot Trending charts, powered by Twitter, track global music-related trends and conversations in real-time across Twitter, viewable over either the last 24 hours or past seven days. A weekly, 20-position version of the chart, covering activity from Friday through Thursday of each week, posts alongside Billboard’s other weekly charts on Billboard.com each Tuesday, with the latest tracking period running March 17-23.
“Remix Exclusivo” bows as Feid’s first No. 1 on Hot Trending Songs. Previously, he reached No. 14 with “Si Te La Encuentras Por Ahi” in March.
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“Remix” premiered March 16 as Feid’s first release of 2023, following 2022 album Feliz Cumpleanos Ferxxo Te Pirateamos El Album and EP Sixdo.
Concurrently, the song earned 2.8 million official U.S. streams March 17-23 en route to a No. 38 debut on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Internationally, it starts at Nos. 78 and 102 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Billboard Global 200 lists, respectively.
“Remix” reigns over Salman Khan’s new release, “Jee Rahe the Hum (Falling in Love),” from the upcoming Hindi-language film Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, at No. 2. Khan is also a star of the movie, set for release April 21.
Tom MacDonald and John Rich’s new collaboration “End of the World” bows at No. 3, with new releases from Chloe and Lana Del Rey (“Body Do” and “Candy Necklace”) appearing at Nos. 4 and 5.
Keep visiting Billboard.com for the constantly evolving Hot Trending Songs rankings, and check in each Tuesday for the latest weekly chart.
Coi Leray was already one of the bigger rap success stories of the 2020s, scoring top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hits alongside Lil Durk (“No More Parties”) and Nicki Minaj (“Blick Blick!”) while also becoming a social media sensation. But her crossover success hits a new level this week, as her viral smash “Players” climbs to No. 9 on the Hot 100.
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The single marks both her first top 10 hit on the chart, and her first to come without any co-credited artists — though the song does get a spiritual lift from the legendary rap outfit Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, as “Players” lifts the instrumental hook to the group’s 1982 classic “The Message.” It also has benefited from a couple popular bootleg remixes, including a Jersey Club remix from DJ Smallz 732 which Leray has since released an official music video for.
How did “Players” bring Leray to this new level? And what does it mean for her career from here? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Players” moves 12-9 this week to reach the top 10 in its 12th week on the listing. What do you think the song owes its consistent growth to?
Rania Aniftos: Besides that insanely catchy hook? The initial success of the song has led to getting to know Coi a lot more, as she’s been doing more interviews and appearances. Turns out, she’s super cool and funny, which has surely grown her fanbase even more and has encouraged people to want to support her and listen to her music. She reminds me a lot of Cardi B or Doja Cat in the sense that her personality amplifies her music.
Elias Leight: The initial growth of “Players” took place at the intersection of social media and streaming. Leray teased the track early. (“F–k it, I wanted to leak music,” she told Billboard. “I like being [a] little rebellious sometimes.”) A pair of bootleg remixes subsequently became popular on TikTok. The fleet-footed Jersey Club rework from DJ Smallz 732 has been used in more than 1.8 million TikTok videos, while a mash-up with the Busta Rhymes classic “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” has been incorporated in nearly 450,000 clips; both helped drive listeners to the original. As we’ve seen with other hits, radio started to kick in after a couple months of robust streaming: The airplay audience for “Players” has roughly doubled in the last two months.
Jason Lipshutz: This is a slam-dunk radio success story: “Players” broke through online and has performed well at streaming, but Coi Leray’s breakthrough smash has crashed the top 10 thanks to a No. 1 posting on the Rhythmic chart, as well as a No. 4 peak at Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 10 at Mainstream Top 40. Hip-hop and pop programmers have embraced the track, and “Players” works well at both formats; it’s an old-school approach to hit-making, but one that’s paid off in this instance.
Neena Rouhani: A combination of continued TikTok hype, the Jersey Club remix, radio play and overall catchiness from Coi.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s following the path most non-immediate hits do in 2023: viral success converting to streaming prominence converting to radio play. It makes sense, because the song has all the ingredients needed for each of those three kinds of popularity: It’s catchy, it’s novel, it’s genre-blending and it feels both familiar and distinctly modern.
2. Like Latto’s breakout hit “Big Energy” last year, “Players” is a top 10 breakthrough that rides a recreated sample from the early ’80s (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message”) that was already notably revived by a mid-’90s Hot 100-topper (Puff Daddy and Mase’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down”). Does the lift feel more fresh or recycled to you?
Rania Aniftos: I don’t know if it’s because I personally love these ’80s revival hits in general, but it’s fresh to me! Coi has such a unique style to her rap flow that makes it feel modern, despite the clear throwback melody. Also, the themes about girls being players too is playful and feels very 2023.
Elias Leight: Variations on this approach feel ubiquitous at the moment: “Players” is also in the top 10 with “Creepin’,” which reworks Mario Winans’ and Diddy’s “I Don’t Wanna Know,” while Nicki Minaj’s last two singles mined Rick James’ “Super Freak” and Lumidee’s “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh),” respectively, for source material. There’s a probably apocryphal story about Jam & Lewis saying there are only three kinds of music – good music, bad music and hits. These lifts, whether they’re fresh or recycled, appear to be a steady conduit for hits right now.
Jason Lipshutz: It’s a little bit of both, and that’s why “Players” works! Like the “Big Energy” production, the sample here is obviously iconic enough to power both a ‘90s revival and a 2020s revival of that revival — the “Message” hook immediately catches your ear when identified on a playlist or radio station, but then Leray twists it into an engaging new shape. Attempting to pull this off with a tired sample or the wrong approach wouldn’t work, but the marriage of an undeniable foundation and a cool new structure built upon it has yielded a top 10 hit.
Neena Rouhani: I actually really like both lifts, “Big Energy” and “Players.” Interpolations and samples have felt overdone lately – I think there’s a fixation on replicating a certain feeling from the past that often fails to translate – but Coi’s “Players” does it right, especially with the Jersey Club Remix. Many artists are flipping radio hits from 20 years ago (which in reality isn’t that old), but it’s another to successfully reimagine a song like “The Message,” which is embedded in the fabric of hip-hop, in such a fun way.
Andrew Unterberger: Fresher than I’d expect, partially because Leray’s vocal interplay with the sample is so playful and fun — though it’s definitely dancing on the borderline. (Then again, so was Puff Daddy and Mase’s use of it a quarter-century ago.)
3. Leray has already made a handful of visits to the Hot 100, but this is both her first top 10 hit and her first unaccompanied solo charting effort. Does reaching this level of success with “Players” establish/validate her as a star?
Rania Aniftos: One hundred percent, especially given that it’s her first solo charting effort. “Players” proves that Coi has what it takes to be a well-respected artist on her own, and that she’s a lot more than a fun collaborator. She’s introducing herself as a force to be reckoned with in the hip-hop world, and “Players” is helping rest her case.
Elias Leight: It certainly helps. But there’s a lot of confusion around the music industry right now about what it means to break an artist and become a star. Are heaps of streams and social media followers enough? Is a star an artist who receives consistent pop radio play across multiple singles, or one who is able to sell lots of tickets outside of New York and Los Angeles, or some combination of all these things? Is thinking about superstars now outdated at a time when fandom is increasingly fragmented and prominent record company executives are talking publicly about “reduc[ing] our dependency” on these acts?
Jason Lipshutz: The chart rise of “Players” has been unexpected, and it will be interesting to see how Leray harnesses the attention it brings to push her career forward. The history of pop music is littered with artists who have turned a strong sample, interpolation or cover into momentary fame, and while a flare-up like “Players” draws interest in the voice leading the hit, Leray needs to transcend the sample and present her own artistry to the masses. Fortunately, the multi-talented Leray has demonstrated a gift for rhythmic pop as a singer and rapper, and should enjoy a prolonged career from here.
Neena Rouhani: She’s absolutely well on her way; reaching the top 10 as a solo artist is no easy feat for any burgeoning star, so it says a lot about how she’s being received and the strategy of her team. She definitely has star quality, especially from her pretty unwavering sense of self. Now let’s see if she remains consistent, which I think will be the true tell.
Andrew Unterberger: It’ll certainly open all kinds of doors for her — TV appearances, pop festivals, award show consideration — though I don’t know if it’ll necessarily translate to star-level consumption for her next project, at least not on its own. It’s the kind of foot in the door that only a handful of artists get in a year, though, and she has the talent to properly take advantage of it.
4. “Players” has already benefited from a couple bootleg remixes, but we haven’t gotten an official remix commissioned from Leray’s camp yet. If she was going to try to get one final chart boost out of an official remix, who do you think would be the smartest guest for her to recruit for it?
Rania Aniftos: OK, this might sound a little random, but I’m thinking Miley Cyrus. She’s the perfect fit for the female empowerment theme in the wake of her divorce, and she’s been topping the Hot 100 for eight weeks with her own don’t-need-no-man anthem, “Flowers.” I also just think Miley’s husky voice would sound so good with Coi’s flow.
Elias Leight: Getting Diddy on it would be a cute nod to the sample’s previous history. Mase is a pastor now, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask him as well.
Jason Lipshutz: It’s hard not to imagine Cardi B demolishing this beat — adding a minute and about a dozen different quotable lines — on a “Players” remix. The wait for Cardi’s sophomore LP continues, but she’s popped up as a guest artist on a few tracks over the past year… and if she can conjure the same magic that she brought next to GloRilla on “Tomorrow 2,” we could see “Players” rise from its current No. 9 peak towards something even bigger.
Neena Rouhani: I think the most obvious choice would be Nicki Minaj. The duo have collabed before in the past on “Blick! Blick!” and show a lot of love to each other. I also think they have pretty similar energy and Nicki is a New York native, which could pay homage to the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five flip. If she wants to enlist another rising rap phenom and fellow TikTok cult favorite, Ice Spice would be a natural choice. But I also could see her going totally left field and bringing in someone unexpected, genre or language-wise.
Andrew Unterberger: Where’s Joe at these days? He didn’t want to be a player no more 25 years ago, but if Coi Leray could convince him to temporarily play the part on the song’s revamped hook, it’d probably go over with Mario Winans-in-the-“Creepin’”-video-level excitement.
5. If you were part of Coi Leray’s team and she asked you how best to capitalize on her “Players” success once the song’s chart cycle was essentially through, what would you tell her?
Rania Aniftos: Don’t wait too long before putting out another song. What’s tough about today’s music industry is that viral success seems like just a blink of an eye before fans move onto the next hit. Those who stay on the charts and turn a viral hit into a long-term career are the ones who have planned the rest of their music rollout in some way. I’m sure she has plenty of great tracks in progress, and I’d love to see her take advantage of being in the news and her upcoming festival performances by putting out another fun single.
Elias Leight: What are we sampling next?
Jason Lipshutz: My advice would be, “Stay away from another classic sample.” She doesn’t need it! Leray has been one of the more interesting voices bubbling up in popular hip-hop in recent years, and instead of being pigeonholed as a sample vulture (to mix my bird metaphors), she has more than enough inherent talent and sonic ideas to stand on her own two feet. “Players” brought her into the game, and now, she can go wherever she wants.
Neena Rouhani: Drop another single, and continue boosting “Players” through the release cycle of the follow-up. Sort of how Latto is doing with “Big Energy” and “Lottery.” Also, remixes. A lot of them.
Andrew Unterberger: Don’t try to chase pop radio. Top 40 is more fickle than ever in the TikTok era, and if songs don’t post good streaming numbers, they’re not likely to embrace your new single regardless of how radio-ready it sounds (or how closely it follows the formula of your last radio success). Leray would be better off using the added exposure to make the kind of music she wants to make and that comes most natural to her, whatever that ends up being, and focusing her attention on cultivating the kind of sustained streaming fanbase that can ultimately launch additional “Players”-type successes without needing radio’s assistance.
Actress and singer-songwriter Coco Jones scores her first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, as “ICU” debuts at No. 88 on the April 1-dated chart.
The ballad, released in October via High Standardz/Def Jam Recordings, arrives with 7.4 million radio airplay audience impressions, 5.1 million U.S. streams (up 41%) and 1,000 downloads sold (up 93%) in the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate.
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The single has building on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop charts, and concurrently jumps 21-12 on Hot R&B Songs and 49-26 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Radio-wise, it ranks at No. 18 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and No. 22 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.
TikTok has contributed to the song’s growing profile, as a portion of it has been used in more than 15,000 clips on the platform to-date. (TikTok does not contribute directly to Billboard’s charts.)
Jones has been in the national spotlight for more than a decade. She broke through as an actress in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine in 2012 and also in the Disney series So Random! and Good Luck Charlie. She’s now starring as Hilary Banks in the Peacock series Bel-Air, a re-imagination of the 1990-96 sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which was recently renewed for a third season.
Jones signed with Def Jam in March 2022. (She was on Hollywood Records in 2012-14.)
“ICU” appears on Jones’ major-label debut EP What I Didn’t Tell You, released in November. It’s the set’s second single, after “Caliber.”
Billboard’s Hot 100 First-Timers column highlights artists who achieve their first career entries on the Hot 100.
Puerto Rican trap-reggaeton singer Eladio Carrión notches his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated April 1), as his new collaboration with Bad Bunny, “Coco Chanel,” debuts at No. 87.
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The song, released March 17 via Rimas Entertainment, opens with 6.2 million U.S. streams in its opening week, according to Luminate. It concurrently starts at No. 14 on Hot Latin Songs, becoming Carrión’s eighth and highest charting entry.
“Coco Chanel” appears on Carrión’s fourth LP, 3MEN2 KBRN, which debuts at No. 3 on Top Latin Albums and No. 16 on the all-genre Billboard 200 with 25,000 equivalent album units earned. It marks Carrión’s fourth top 10 on Top Latin Albums and highest charting title on the Billboard 200. His previous two sets, Sauce Boyz 2 and SEN2 KBRN, Vol. 2, reached Nos. 92 and 121 in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Carrión has been a consistent hitmaker on Billboard’s Latin chart listings since 2020. He first appeared on a Billboard chart in February 2020, when Sauce Boyz debuted and peaked at No. 6 on Latin Rhythm Albums and No. 8 on Top Latin Albums.
Beyond “Coco Chanel,” Carrión has charted seven other hits on Hot Latin Songs: “Tata,” with J Balvin, Daddy Yankee and Bobby Shmurda (No. 50 peak in 2021); “Sauce Boy Freestyle 5” (No. 47, 2021); “No Te Deseo el Mal,” with Karol G (No. 29, 2021); “Jóvenes Millonarios,” with Myke Towers (No. 44, 2021); “Nunca y Pico,” with Yandel and Maluma (No. 47, 2022); “Mbappe” (No. 21, 2022); and “Gladiador” (No. 39, 2022).
As for Bad Bunny, “Coco Chanel” earns the superstar his 68th entry on the Hot 100, extending his record for the most among acts that record primarily Latin music. It’s also his record-extending 145th hit on Hot Latin Songs.
Billboard’s Hot 100 First-Timers column highlights artists who achieve their first career entries on the Hot 100.
South Korean girl group FIFTY FIFTY is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting act, as the quartet achieves its first entry on the latest list (dated April 1) with “Cupid.”
The song, released Feb. 24 via Interpark Corporation, debuts at No. 100 with 5.7 million official U.S. streams (up 23%) in the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The track is also a hit around the world, as it jumps 106-65 on the Billboard Global 200 (22.9 million streams, up 39%, worldwide) and 119-69 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S.
Contributing to the song’s streaming surge are three versions: its original recording, a “Twin” mix and an instrumental version. (All versions of “Cupid” roll up into one listing on Billboard’s charts.)
TikTok has been a key factor in the single’s growing profile, as portions of the track have been used in more than 400,000 clips on the platform to-date. The song’s #CupidChallenge hashtag has also been added to more than 65 million videos. (TikTok does not contribute directly to Billboard’s charts.)
FIFTY FIFTY, which also rises 20-19 on the Emerging Artists chart, was formed by South Korean entertainment agency ATTRAKT last year. The group debuted its first single, “Higher,” on its introductory four-track EP, The Fifty, released Nov. 18.
The four-piece comprises Aran, Keena, Saena and Sio.
Billboard’s Hot 100 First-Timers column highlights artists who achieve their first career entries on the Hot 100.
Singer-songwriter Yng Lvcas scores his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated April 1), thanks to his breakthrough single “La Bebe,” newly remixed with fellow rising Mexican artist Peso Pluma.
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The song, which Yng Lvcas released independently in December 2021, debuts at No. 77 with 6.8 million U.S. streams (up 128%) in the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate. Its Peso Pluma remix arrived March 17 via Warner Latina. (All versions of the song are combined into a singular listing on Billboard’s charts.)
The track concurrently vaults 35-11 on Hot Latin Songs in its sixth chart week. It also surges 74-20 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and 103-21 on the Billboard Global 200 (32.1 million streams, up 79%, worldwide).
TikTok has been a big factor in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of it has been used in more than 35,000 clips on the platform to date. (TikTok does not contribute directly to Billboard’s charts.)
Yng Lvcas is a newcomer to Billboard’s charts. “La Bebe” became his first chart entry upon its debut on the Hot Latin Songs and Global Excl. U.S. surveys dated Feb. 25.
Outside of the charts, he has released Wup? Mixtape1 and the LP LPM, both in 2021. He also released two EPs last year: Taka Taka Mixtape and Puerqueo EP.
As for newcomer Peso Pluma and recent Hot 100 First-Timer, he scores his fifth Hot 100 hit with “La Bebe.” All five tracks are currently charting on the Hot 100: “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armado debuts at No. 26, “AMG” with Gabito Ballesteros and Natanael Cano stands at No. 70 (after reaching No. 66 in February), “Por Las Noches” rises 92-72 in its second week on the chart, and “PRC” with Cano rises 95-73 (a new peak),
Billboard’s Hot 100 First-Timers column highlights artists who achieve their first career entries on the Hot 100.
Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma celebrate multiple career chart achievements as their collaborative hit “Ella Baila Sola” earns both artists their highest charting entries on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs and Billboard Hot 100 charts (dated April 1). On the former it starts at No. 2, and at No. 26 on the latter.
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Eslabon Armado’s previous high on Hot Latin Songs came with the No. 3-peaking “Jugaste y Sufri,” featuring Dannylux, in 2021, which also marked its Hot 100 high, climbing to No. 69. For Peso Pluma, the act went as high as No. 6 on Hot Latin Songs with “AMG,” a co-billed collab with Gabito Ballesteros and Natanael Cano, in February. It was also its highest charting hit on the Hot 100, reaching No. 66.
“Ella Baila Sola” is Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s first partnership. It was released March 17 via Prajin Parlay/DEL Records and arrives at No. 2 on the multimetric Hot Latin Songs chart after its first full tracking week mainly on the strength of streaming activity. The list blends airplay, digital sales, and streaming data.
“Ella Baila Sola” logged 16 million official streams in the U.S. during the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate. The figure makes for a No. 1 start on Latin Streaming Songs and a No. 10 debut on the overall Streaming Songs chart. It’s the second No. 1 on Latin Streaming Songs for Eslabon Armado, and the first leader for Peso Pluma. On the all-genre Streaming Songs chart, it’s the first top 10 for both acts.
Notably, with 16 million streams in its opening week, “Ella Baila” logs the second-largest streaming week for a Latin debut this year thus far, trailing only Karol G x Shakira’s “TQG” which collected 29 million on the March 11-dated list.
While Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” registered 5 million in its opening week (Jan. 21) from only two days of activity — it then posted a 341% gain in its second chart week (and first full week of tracking), with 20 million streams. (It was released Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, and launched with less than two days of activity.)
Further, only one other regional Mexican collaboration has accumulated at least 15 million official streams or more: Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera’s “Bebe Dame” (Feb. 4-dated ranking)
Sales also contribute to “Ella Baila’s” high start on Hot Latin Songs: Although the song sold a little under 1,000 downloads in its initial week, it generated enough to debut at No. 4 on Latin Digital Song Sales.
Global Entry
Elsewhere on the charts, “Ella Baila Sola” makes its first appearance on both Billboard Global charts, which rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate.
The track bows at No. 12 on the Billboard Global 200 with 47 million streams and 1,000 downloads sold. Meanwhile, the song collects 31 million streams and negligible amount in sales which yields a No. 14 launch on Global Excl. U.S. While Eslabon clocks its first entry on the latter, the song earns both acts their highest entry on Global 200.
Morgan Wallen scores a 10th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated April 1), holding as the top musical act in the United States thanks to the continued success of his new LP, One Thing at a Time.
The 36-track album tallies a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with 209,000 equivalent album units earned in the March 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate, after opening with 501,000 units, the largest weekly sum for an album this year. The set became Wallen’s second No. 1, following 2021’s 30-track Dangerous: The Double Album. The latter places at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 (42,000 units).
Contributing to Wallen’s Artist 100 rule are 18 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Two weeks earlier, he set a one-week record, with 36 songs on the chart, and then claimed the second-most weekly entries last week, with 28, with all from from One Thing at a Time. “Last Night” leads his 18 titles on the latest Hot 100 at No. 2, after becoming his first No. 1 two weeks ago.
Wallen is the 11th artist to reach the 10-week milestone on the Artist 100, dating to the chart’s 2014 inception. Taylor Swift leads with 64 weeks at No. 1, followed by Drake (37), The Weeknd (28), BTS (21), Adele (20), Ariana Grande (15), Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Ed Sheeran (14 each), Billie Eilish (12) and Wallen (10).
U2 re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 5, thanks to its new 40-track LP Songs of Surrender, which starts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 (46,000 units). It’s the band’s 13th top 10 and makes the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just the fourth group with new top 10s in the 1980s, ’90s, 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, after AC/DC, Def Leppard and Metallica. U2 topped the Artist 100 for a week in 2017.
Plus, BTS member Jimin debuts at No. 10 on the Artist 100 thanks to his new solo single “Set Me Free, Pt. 2.” The song debuts at No. 30 on the Hot 100 with 6.4 million official U.S. streams and 63,000 downloads sold, as he becomes the first BTS member to score an unaccompanied solo top 40 hit on the Hot 100. He’s the third member of BTS (which re-enters at No. 100) to reach the Artist 100’s top 10, joining RM (No. 6 peak in December) and Jin (No. 10, November).
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multidimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Ed Sheeran’s next album campaign is already off to a flying start in the U.K., where lead single “Eyes Closed” (via Atlantic) is racing to No. 1.
“Eyes Closed” dropped last Friday (March 24), ahead of Sheeran’s Subtract album, due out May 5, and it’s the new No. 1 on the Official Chart Update.
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If it holds its turf, “Eyes Closed” will give Sheeran a 14th U.K. No. 1, an effort that would see him pass Madonna (13) and draw level with Cliff Richard and Westlife (14 each) on the all-time list.
A Sheeran chart victory would spell the end of a 10-week reign for Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (Columbia). As it stands, Cyrus’ streak is just one week short of Tones And I’s 11-week reign with “Dance Monkey,” the all-time stretch at No. 1 in the U.K. for a solo female singer.
After becoming the first solo member of BTS to crack the top 30 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, Jimin is set for become the first member of the superstar K-pop to crack the U.K. top 20.
Jimin’s “Like Crazy” (BigHit Entertainment), which arrived last Friday with an official music video, is set to enter the chart at No. 11, having slipped from No. 7 on the first chart blast in the cycle.
“Set Me Free – Pt 2” and “Like Crazy” both appear on Jimin’s solo LP Face, which also hit digital service providers last Friday.
Finally, British singer and songwriter Paris Paloma is eyeing her first appearance in the U.K. top 40. “Labour” (via Nettwerk), which has been described as a fiery feminist anthem, starts at No. 30 on the Official Chart Update.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published Friday, March 31.