Chart Beat
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On Dec. 20, 1984, Harry Belafonte placed a call to nonprofit consultant/music manager Ken Kragen in hopes of staging a concert to raise funds to fight hunger in Africa — specifically Ethiopia, where famine killed nearly 1 million people in 1983-84.Kragen, who managed Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers at the time, thought that a supergroup charity single would make more of an impact.
Kragen initially planned to recruit a dozen artists for the song, but industry response was so enthusiastic (seemingly inspired by the success of the then-current “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” a similar charity single by British and Irish stars that would soon hit No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100) that 50 artists ended up in the group, dubbed USA for Africa (with the “USA” officially short for United Support of Artists).
Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song, producer Quincy Jones assembled the artists at Hollywood’s A&M Studios in early 1985, and “We Are the World” was born.
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On April 13, 1985, the superstar-spangled single, released on Columbia Records, topped the Hot 100 in just its fourth week, becoming the chart’s fastest-flying No. 1 in nine years (since Elton John’s “Island Girl” also needed just four frames). It additionally ruled Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Adult Contemporary and Dance Singles Sales charts and dented Mainstream Rock Airplay and Hot Country Songs.
As impressive as its chart performances were, “World” has also helped raise more than $100 million to fight famine. Decades later, the USA for Africa foundation continues to raise funds and awareness for multiple African causes.
The week that “World” took over the Hot 100, Billboard noted that the song was touching not only consumers, but Capitol Hill, as the Recording Industry Association of America had mailed 12-inch copies of the single to each member of Congress that March 29. “Three working days later,” Billboard reported, “the [RIAA] had received 51 letters and personal notes of congratulations and appreciation from the nation’s legislators, including a number of Senate and House leaders.”
One congressman “even enclosed a personal check to help in the all-star effort.”
After more than a decade of building one of Australia’s most beloved indie catalogues, Ball Park Music has officially reached the top.
The Brisbane five-piece scores its first-ever No. 1 album on the ARIA Albums Chart with Like Love, debuting at the summit on the chart dated April 11. It’s the band’s eighth studio album — and the first to reach the top spot after a long streak of near-misses. Until now, three of the band’s releases had stalled at No. 2: Puddinghead (2014), Ball Park Music (2020), and Weirder & Weirder (2022). Seven of their albums have landed in the top 10.
Like Love also claims a key milestone as the first Australian-made album to top the ARIA Albums Chart in 2025.
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The last local release to hit No. 1 was Kylie Minogue’s Tension II, which opened at the summit in late October 2024. That was one of six Australian albums to top the chart last year — an achievement that speaks to the rarity of homegrown titles hitting No. 1 in today’s global streaming-dominated landscape.
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The band will celebrate the release of Like Love with a massive 30-date tour across Australia and New Zealand, kicking off May 2 at the Forth Pub in Tasmania. The album was released independently via the band’s own label, and continues their streak of success as a self-managed, self-releasing act — a rarity in an industry dominated by major-label machinery.
In this week’s top three, Ball Park Music holds off strong international competition from Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet at No. 2 and Tate McRae’s So Close to What at No. 3.
Melbourne metalcore band Thornhill enters the ARIA Albums Chart at No. 4 with BODIES, continuing their upward trajectory. The band’s debut album The Dark Road peaked at No. 20 in 2019, followed by Heroine, which hit No. 3 in 2022.
Elton John also enters the chart this week at No. 26 with Who Believes in Angels?, a collaborative collection with Brandi Carlile. It marks his 42nd top 40 album in Australia. His first ARIA top 20 entry dates back to 1971’s Elton John (No. 2), and his last studio effort to crack the top 20 was The Lockdown Sessions, which peaked at No. 2 in 2021.
Folk legend and ARIA Hall of Fame inductee John Williamson also makes a new chart appearance at No. 51 with How Many Songs. The prolific songwriter has released over 20 studio albums and first hit No. 1 in 1989 with Warragul. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010 and remains one of Australia’s most enduring voices in country and folk music.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Alex Warren’s breakout hit “Ordinary” holds the No. 1 position for a third straight week, continuing its impressive reign. Rosé and Bruno Mars’ collaborative single “APT” holds steady at No. 2, while Chappell Roan’s viral anthem “Pink Pony Club” climbs to a new peak of No. 3, up one spot from last week.
The highest new entry belongs to Ed Sheeran, whose latest single “Azizam” lands at No. 30. The track — the lead single from his forthcoming album Play — becomes Sheeran’s 51st top 40 single in Australia. He’s already claimed six No. 1 hits on the ARIA Singles Chart across his career.
Despite a strong week for international artists, just one Australian song appears in the ARIA Singles Chart’s top 50: Vance Joy’s enduring 2013 hit “Riptide,” which slips from No. 36 to No. 42.
HANA‘s “ROSE” blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, on the chart released April 9.
HANA is the seven-member group born from the BMSG x Chanmina girl group audition No No Girls. The brand-new group’s major-label debut single launched with 12,870 downloads (No. 2 for the metric) and 8,781,853 streams (also No. 2), while topping video views and coming in at No. 17 for radio airplay. Also, HANA’s pre-debut song “Drop” jumped 68-29 as a result of this release.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” continues to hold at No. 2. The Oblivion Battery opener has charted for 52 consecutive weeks (a year), and marks its 37th week in the top 3. The three-man band’s new single “KUSUSHIKI,” the opening theme song for the anime series The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Part 2 debuts at No. 6 on the Japan Hot 100 this week, ruling downloads and coming in at No. 14 for streaming and No. 4 for video. The hitmakers continue to make their presence felt, taking up half the top 10 this week — “Darling” at No. 5, “Que Sera Sera” at No. 8, “Soranji” at No. 10 — and charting 18 songs in the top 100.
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AKB48’s “Masaka no Confession” bows at No. 3. The 65th single by the long-running girl group celebrating its 20th anniversary sold 512,791 copies in its first week to rule physical sales and came in at No. 45 for radio.
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Sakanaction’s “Kaiju” drops a notch to No. 4. The previous record for longest consecutive run in the top 10 by the three-man, two-woman band led by frontman Ichiro Yamaguchi was seven weeks with “Shintakarajima,” and “Kaiju” has now tied this record. “Shintakarajima,” the band’s hit from 2019, has re-entered the Japan Hot 100 for the first time in about 4 years and 10 months, with streams up to 101% compared to the previous week, radio to 239%, and video to 104%.
The No. 1 song for the radio metric this week is BILLY BOO’s “Rhapsody,” featured as the ending theme song for the anime show The Dinner Table Detective, and the track debuts at No. 77 on the Japan Hot 100. Meanwhile, as songs about cherry blossoms continue to climb the charts, Aimyon’s “Sakura ga Furu Yoru wa” re-enters after a year with streams gaining by 111%, radio by 308%, karaoke by 107%, and video also showing increase from the week before.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Mar. 31 to April 6, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
Lil Durk clinches a milestone 10th top 10 project on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as Deep Thoughts opens at No. 2 on the list dated April 12. The set, released March 28 through Alamo Records, starts with 64,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. for the week ending April 3, according to Luminate.
Streaming activity fuels almost all of Deep Thoughts’ first week, with 63,000 units deriving from the sector, equaling 85.9 million official on-demand U.S. audio and video streams of the album’s songs. 1,000 units are from traditional album sales, with a negligible amount of track-equivalent unit (TEA) activity. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
Lil Durk, who is currently incarcerated amid federal murder-for-hire charges, lands his 10th top 10 effort two months short of his 10th anniversary on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. He arrived on the list dated June 20, 2015, when Remember My Name began at No. 2.
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Here’s a full review of the rapper’s top 10s on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart:
Album Name, Artist (if other than Lil Durk), Peak Position, Peak DateRemember My Name, No. 2, June 20, 2015Lil Durk 2X, No. 5, Aug. 13, 2016Signed to the Streets 3, No. 8, Nov. 24, 2018Love Songs 4 the Streets 2, No. 2, Aug. 17, 2019Just Cause Y’all Waited 2, No. 2, July 11, 2020The Voice, No. 1 (two weeks), Jan. 16, 2021The Voice of the Heroes, with Lil Baby, No. 1 (one week), June 19, 20217220, No. 1 (five weeks), March 26, 2022Almost Healed, No. 1 (two weeks), June 10, 2023Deep Thoughts, No. 2 (to date), April 12, 2025
Elsewhere, Deep Thoughts launches at No. 2 on the Top Rap Albums chart and at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
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Alongside Deep Thoughts’ debut, 14 of its tracks flood the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “Vanish Mode” leads the pack with a No. 16 start and was the album’s most-streamed track for the week, at 7.9 million clicks. Of the 14 cuts, 11 make their debut, while “Turn Up the Notch” (No. 30) and “Monitoring Me” (No. 32) return for their second weeks on the list – after each charted for one week last October – and achieve new peaks. Lastly, “Can’t Hide It,” featuring Jhene Aiko, rallies 34-24 in its second week.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: The biggest HBO drama gets big streaming numbers following its season finale, and a pair of new artists experience their first big TikTok breakouts.
‘White Lotus’ Finale, and Composer Controversy, Spur Streaming Gains
In a convergence of fictional and real-life drama, season 3 of the smash HBO series The White Lotus concluded on Sunday night (Apr. 6), during the same week in which creator Mike White engaged in a war of words with the series’ music composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, who announced last week that he would not returning for season 4. One conflict involved a shootout, the other included the phrase “b—h move” — and both produced significant streaming spikes for music related to the show.
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Without spoiling the end of season 3, Billy Preston’s “Nothing From Nothing” and Cathedral Singers’ “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” are both featured prominently in the finale — and while “Nothing” earned 64,000 official on-demand U.S. streams on the day after the finale premiered (Apr. 7), up 353% from the previous Monday, “Lo” scored an even greater percentage bump, up 867% to 6,600 streams following the finale, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, Tapia de Veer’s “Enlightenment (Main Title Theme),” which introduced each of the eight episodes of the Thailand-set third season, doubled in daily streams following the finale, from 27,000 streams on Mar. 31 to 55,000 streams on Apr. 7. (“Renaissance (Main Title Theme),” the season 2 theme, was also up 74% week over week.)
This will likely be the final week in which a Tapia de Veer composition introduces a new episode of The White Lotus, but who knows? Maybe White and Tapia de Veer can pull a Jacqueline and Laurie, and hug it out on a day bed. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Lululemon Gets Hip-Hop Approval With Viral TikTok Hit “Whim Whamiee”
Atlanta-based rappers Pluto and YK Niece have completely taken over TikTok – and the rest of social media – with their infectious, viral hit “Whim Whamiee.”
Released on Feb. 3, the song features a line nodding to Lululemon, the popular athleisure fashion brand that signifies relatively high status in certain social circles. On Feb. 19, TikTok user @lifeofjordan_ shared a clip dancing to “Whim Whamiee,” specifically the lines, “He want me bad, heard he a duck, can’t get no c–chie out the queen, put some Lulu on this butt” and the “Lululemoooon” ad-lib. His clip has since earned nearly 250,000 views, helping the song take off across the app. In the weeks that followed, those lines have continued to be the song’s most popular part, but Pluto’s “I’m talkin’ ’bout in it” ad-lib during YK Niece’s verse has also gained ample traction. Just five days after he posted his TikTok (Feb. 24), the Red Mic District dropped the official live performance video for “Whim Whamiee,” further boosting the song’s profile.
During the period of Feb. 28-Mar. 6 – a little over a week following @lifeofjordan_’s post — “Whim Whamiee” earned just over 247,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. Streaming activity continued to rapidly increase, with the song earning over one million official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of March 14-20, according to Luminate. By the following week (March 21-27), that figure leapt 32% to 1.38 million streams, thanks, in part, to the release of the song’s official music video. The next week (March 28-April 3), “Whim Whamiee” streams exploded 84% to over 2.5 million streams. Over the past four weeks, streaming activity for “Whim Whamiee” has risen a gobsmacking 929%.
With everyone from Latto and Alabama Barker to JT and Flo Milli co-signing the “Whim Whamiee,” the song very well could become Gen Z’s very own Lululemon theme song. Just don’t tell its founder. — KYLE DENIS
Malcolm Todd Spins “Chest Pain” Into a Certified Hit
It’s been a journey for Malcolm Todd’s latest hit — nearly half a year, to be exact.
Todd first started teasing “Chest Pain (I Love)” in his live shows last winter, with a fan account sharing one of those clips (overlayed with a seemingly studio-quality snippet of the song) in a Nov. 15 TikTok that has since been viewed over 405,000 times on the app. Four days later, Todd used that fan’s sound to share a TikTok post of him in the recording studio. This particular sound showcases the second half of the chorus — in which he repeatedly sings “I love” — gifting TikTok it’s latest viral trend.
As he did with past singles like “Comfort Me,” Todd quickly inundated his TikTok following with posts soundtracked by “Chest Pain,” specifically the part of the chorus he teased in his initial snippet. The official “Chest Pain” TikTok sound currently boasts just under 400,000 posts, while the sound attached to his initial snippet currently plays in over 1.5 million clips. Users have since used the song to pay tribute to everything that they love – from pets and home-baked cookies to relationship green flags and volleyball.
“Chest Pain” finally landed on DSPs on Dec. 4, 2024, and found a home on Todd’s eponymous debut album, which dropped April 4. Building on the success of his previous single and TikTok’s eternal penchant for heartfelt ballads, “Chest Pain” earned over 1.23 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of March 14-20, according to Luminate. The following week (March 21-27), streams jumped 70% to 2.1 million. The week preceding his album release (March 28-April 3), streaming activity for “Chest Pain” leapt a jaw-dropping 153% to over 5.32 million streams.
Already having peaked at No. 2 on the now-defunct TikTok Billboard Top 50, “Chest Pain” now has its sights set on even grander (and active) Billboard charts. — KD
Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” is the top dog on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart (dated April 12) as it leads the list with a 3-1 jump.
On the multimetric chart, which combines streaming, radio airplay and sales data, the single improves in the former two divisions, a week after reaching new milestones thanks partly to a remix with Chris Brown.
In the tracking week of March 28-April 3, “Mutt,” released on EZMNY/Motown/ICLG, registered 13.1 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate, a 4% gain from the prior’s week total of 12.6 million. The increase keeps the track at No. 1 on the R&B Streaming Songs chart, for a second week at the summit, while it pushes 22-16 on the all-genre Streaming Songs list. It likewise wins a second term at No. 1 on the R&B Digital Song Sales chart despite a 19% loss in digital downloads to 1,500 for the week.
Turning to the radio market, “Mutt” captured 14.7 million impressions in all-format airplay audience, up 18% from the previous week. (All radio airplay, regardless of format, contributes to a track’s rank on the Hot R&B Songs chart.) Three formats provide most of the single’s radio reach: “Mutt” steps 7-6 on Adult R&B Airplay with a 7% boost in plays for the latest tracking week compared with the week prior, climbs 15-13 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 16%) and rises 38-36 on Rhythmic Airplay (up 30%). Led by those improvements, the track debuts at No. 47 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart.
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While “Mutt” is Thomas’ first entry as an artist on Hot R&B Songs, the multi-talent has appeared has co-written six previous hits on the chart, including Ella Mai’s “Not Another Love Song” (No. 9 in 2020), Bryson Tiller’s “Ciao” (No. 9, 2024) and SZA’s “Snooze,” which spent 32 weeks at No. 1 in 2023-24 and won Thomas his first Grammy Award, for best R&B song.
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Now with his own material, Thomas, who wrote “Mutt” in 2022, is making inroads across several charts. In addition to conquering the Hot R&B Songs chart, his breakthrough single leaps 10-5 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and springs 28-21 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Worldwide activity is up, too, with a 47-40 hop on the Billboard Global 200 and a 191-137 jump on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.
The song’s parent album of the same name, meanwhile, earns a fourth week on the Top R&B Albums chart, sliding 10-12 with 12,000 equivalent album units for the week (down less than 1%).
Mumford & Sons return to the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as the band’s first album in over six years, Rushmere, debuts at No. 3 on the April 12-dated list. It’s the sixth top 10-charting effort for the group overall.
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The album also takes a bow in the top 10 on Top Alternative Albums (No. 2), Top Rock Albums (No. 2), Americana/Folk Albums (No. 2), Independent Albums (No. 2), Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 3), Vinyl Albums (No. 3) and Indie Store Album Sales (No. 5).
Elsewhere in the top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart, Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine reenters atop the list following its Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead expanded reissue, while the latest efforts from Lucy Dacus, Alison Krauss + Union Station and NAV all arrive in the region.
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Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
Rushmere launches with 20,500 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending April 3, according to Luminate. Vinyl accounts for nearly half of that sum. The set’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across six vinyl variants (including a signed version), four CD variants (including two signed versions), a cassette tape and a standard digital download.
Atop the chart, Ariana Grande’s 2024 album Eternal Sunshine reenters at No. 1 with 61,000 sold (up 5,338%). Its sales surge was caused by the release of its Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead expanded reissue with six previously unreleased songs. (All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes under the title Eternal Sunshine.)
Sales of Eternal Sunshine were aided by its availability in a variety of permutations released for the Brighter Days Ahead launch. The original Eternal Sunshine album had 13 tracks, and the core Brighter Days Ahead album added six cuts: one extended version of the album-opening “Inro (End of the World)” and five new songs.
Grande’s webstore sold three exclusive variants of the download edition of the album: the 19-track edition, a version with the 19 tracks plus instrumentals of the same cuts, and another version with the 19 tracks and a cappella renditions of each cut (all with alternative cover artwork). Grande also released two vinyl variants and six CD editions of the reissue (some signed by the artist), containing the 19 tracks plus the three bonus tracks originally found on the album’s “slightly deluxe” reissues last year. Vinyl accounted for 26,000 of the set’s sales for the week – it reenters at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Lucy Dacus nabs her first top 10 on Top Album Sales, and with her largest sales week yet, as Forever Is a Feeling bows at No. 2 with 24,000 sold. Sales of the project were helped by its availability across nine vinyl variants (some signed), three CD variants (including a signed edition), a cassette tape and a standard download album. (Vinyl accounted for 17,500 of the album’s first-week sales. It debuts at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart.)
Lady Gaga’s former leader MAYHEM falls 2-4 on Top Album Sales (nearly 10,500; down 22%), Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX dips 4-5 (almost 9,500; down 18%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s former No. 1 Short n’ Sweet rises 7-6 (just over 9,000; down 4%).
Alison Krauss and Union Station’s Arcadia – the first album from Krauss and Union Station in 14 years – debuts at No. 7 with nearly 9,000 sold. Krauss and Union Station last released a new studio project with Paper Airplane in 2011. The new set was issued across three vinyl variants, three CD variants (including a signed edition) and a standard download album.
NAV’s OMW2 Rexdale rounds out the debuts in the top 10 on Top Album Sales, as it enters at No. 8 with nearly 7,500 sold. It was available to purchase on vinyl, two CD variants (including a signed edition), four deluxe boxed sets (containing a copy of the standard CD and branded clothing), a standard download album, and eight artist webstore-exclusive variants of the download album (each with bonus tracks and alternative cover artwork).
Closing out the top 10: Selena Gomez and benny blanco’s I Said I Love You First falls 1-9 in its second week (7,000; down 90%) and Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a non-mover at No. 10 (nearly 7,000; down 4%).
Los Alegres Del Barranco’s “El Del Palenque” debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s LyricFind Global chart dated April 12 following interest in the 2021 song amid the Mexican band’s controversy over a concert during which it showed images of a cartel leader while performing the tune. The LyricFind Global and LyricFind U.S. charts rank the […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated April 19, we look at a number of albums threatening to end the seven-week reign of Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther” — led by a recent rival’s own runaway hit.
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Drake, “Nokia” (Santa Anna/OVO/Republic): Well at this point, it’s official: Drake has another smash on his hands. Aided by the debut last Monday (March 31) of the song’s long-awaited, IMAX-filmed music video, “Nokia” jumps from No. 7 to a new peak of No. 3 on the Hot 100 this week – now making it the biggest hit from his and PartyNextDoor’s new collaborative album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, passing the No. 6 peak of “Gimme a Hug,” and rating as his highest-peaking hit since 2013.
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Now, it’s a question of whether it could climb those last two spots to No. 1. It’s certainly trending in the right direction, as its streaming numbers continue to climb, with the song currently sitting atop both the Apple Music real-time chart and the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA listing. It’s also been lingering near the top of the iTunes realtime chart, after rebounding to No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart last week. And most crucially, it’s been growing on radio, debuting at No. 44 on Radio Songs this week and trending towards the top 40 for next week (up 32% in audience from March 4-7, according to Luminate).
That last part is where it has the most ground to make up if it’s going to have any shot at unseating the current longtime frontrunner – which just happens to be from Drake’s recent opponent on the mic, Kendrick Lamar, with SZA on the seven-week No. 1 “Luther.” That song tops Radio Songs for the first time this week, and should be widening its lead on the listing next week, while also still reigning on Streaming Songs. Drake’s got the momentum, but he’s going to probably have to keep riding it for a little while to replicate his Billboard 200 unseating of Lamar a couple months ago on the Hot 100.
Alex Warren, “Ordinary” (Atlantic): One of the surprise breakout hits of 2025 has come from YouTuber-turned-performing artist Alex Warren. The California singer-songwriter has been climbing the Hot 100 in recent weeks with his ballad “Ordinary” — which first took off on TikTok, and then exploded after he performed it on a reunion episode for season eight of Netflix’s hit reality show Love Is Blind. Last week, the song became Warren’s first top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and this week, it jumps another six spots to No. 14 on the chart.
Next week, the song might have the top 10 in its sights. It continues to build on streaming, now residing in the top 10 on both the Apple Music real-time and Spotify daily charts, and has taken over the top spot on the iTunes real-time chart as well. Most crucially, radio is beginning to embrace “Ordinary,” with the song up 81% to more than four million in airplay audience March 4-7, according to Luminate, as it debuts at No. 31 on the Pop Airplay chart this week. The U.S. is just catching up to the rest of the world at this point, as “Ordinary” has already reached No. 3 on both Billboard Global charts, as well as topping the Official UK Singles chart for three weeks and counting.
BigXthaPlug feat. Bailey Zimmerman, “All the Way” (UnitedMasters): BigXthaPlug and Bailey Zimmerman have both been frequent presences on the Hot 100 the past couple years, and now both look to potentially be headed for their biggest hit yet with their new collab. “All the Way,” expected to be the lead single from an upcoming country-themed set from rapper BigX, is off to an awesome start on streaming — rating in the top five on Spotify’s daily chart and behind only “Nokia” at No. 2 on Apple Music, while its domestic drama-and-monster-trucks-themed music video leads even “Nokia” on YouTube’s trending page for Music. The song hasn’t found its radio footing yet, but if it ever does, it looks like it could easily become one of the biggest hits of spring and summer.
Morgan Wallen, “Just in Case” (Big Loud/Republic/Mercury): Morgan Wallen currently has five songs rating in the top 40 of the Hot 100 – including last year’s “Love Somebody” and Post Malone-led “I Had Some Help,” as well as newer cuts “I’m the Problem” and “I’m a Little Crazy.” But the one with the most momentum currently is probably “Just in Case,” which notches a second week in the top 10 at No. 8. this week, after debuting at No. 4. The song is still performing very well on DSPs, and has already started making inroads at radio, where it is likely to jump into the Country Airplay top 40 next week – meaning it could be peaking right around the time Wallen releases his highly anticipated fourth album I’m the Problem next month.
Lucy Dacus reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts for the first time as a soloist, debuting atop the April 12-dated surveys with Forever Is a Feeling. Dacus’ fourth solo LP bows with 30,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 3, according to Luminate. […]