Drake Breaks Record for Most Weeks at No. 1 by Any Artist in a Year on Billboard Hot 100, as ‘In My Feelings’ Reigns for 10th Week
Plus, Kanye West & Lil Pump's "I Love It" launches at No. 6 on the Hot 100 & No. 1 on Streaming Songs.
Drake‘s “In My Feelings” tallies a 10th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 22), granting the superstar yet another record: he leads the Hot 100 for an unprecedented 29th week in 2018, via his three No. 1s this year, passing Usher for the most time atop the chart in a single year. Usher tallied 28 weeks at No. 1 in 2004.
Meanwhile, Drake becomes the first soloist, and second act overall, after Boyz II Men, with three songs that have topped the Hot 100 for at least 10 weeks each, as “Feelings” joins Drake’s two other smashes that led for at least that long: “God’s Plan,” earlier this year, and “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla, in 2016.
Plus, Kanye West and Lil Pump‘s “I Love It” soars onto the Hot 100 at No. 6, as it arrives atop the Streaming Songs chart.
Let’s run down the top 10 on the newest Hot 100, which blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and digital sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 18).
“Feelings,” released on Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records, is the 37th No. 1 (of 1,077 total) to reign for at least 10 weeks. It controls the Hot 100 despite not ranking at No. 1 in any individual metric for a second straight week, as it holds at No. 3 after eight weeks in charge of Streaming Songs, with 39.7 million U.S. streams, down 17 percent, in the week ending Sept. 13, according to Nielsen Music. (The song set the weekly streaming record on the chart dated July 28 with 116.2 million, then driven largely by the viral “In My Feelings” challenge before its official video arrived Aug. 2.)
“Feelings” falls 3-5 on the Digital Song Sales chart, which it led for six weeks (21,000 downloads sold, down 23 percent, in the week ending Sept. 13), and keeps at No. 5 on Radio Songs, where it reached No. 3 (84 million audience impressions, down 3 percent, in the week ending Sept. 16).
Drake has now led the Hot 100 for a record-breaking 29 weeks in 2018, as, prior to “Feelings,” “Nice for What” spent eight weeks at No. 1 beginning April 21, directly succeeding “God’s Plan” after 11 weeks on top, with all three songs from his album Scorpion. Here is an update of the acts to spend the most time at No. 1 in any January-December period (with Drake leading in 29 of the 39 chart weeks so far in 2018):
29 weeks, Drake, 2018
28 weeks, Usher, 2004
26 weeks, The Black Eyed Peas, 2009
19 weeks, Drake, 2016
19 weeks, Puff Daddy, 1997
18 weeks, Monica, 1998
18 weeks, The Beatles, 1964
17 weeks, Justin Bieber, 2017
17 weeks, Beyoncé, 2003
17 weeks, Nelly, 2002
17 weeks, Boyz II Men, 1994
Usher first set the mark for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 thanks to four No. 1s in 2004: “Yeah!,” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris (12 weeks, beginning that Feb. 28); “Burn” (eight weeks, May 22); “Confessions Part II” (two, July 24); and “My Boo,” with Alicia Keys (six, Oct. 30).
Additionally (and as noted by keen chart watcher Jake Rivera), Drake is the first soloist, and second act overall, after Boyz II Men, with three songs that have topped the Hot 100 for at least 10 weeks each: “Feelings,” “Plan” and “One Dance.” Boyz II Men ruled for double-digit weeks with “End of the Road” (13 weeks, 1992), “I’ll Make Love to You” (14 weeks, 1994) and “One Sweet Day,” with Mariah Carey (16 weeks, 1995-96; the song holds the record for the most time at No. 1, tied in 2017 by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber).
As for songs that have led the Hot 100 for at least 10 weeks in the same year, “Feelings” and “Plan” make Drake the first soloist, and second artist overall, to achieve the feat; The Black Eyed Peas ruled (back-to-back) for 12 weeks with “Boom Boom Pow” and for 14 weeks with “I Gotta Feeling” in 2009.
As Rivera also points out, Drake’s Scorpion is the third album to generate a pair of Hot 100 No. 1s to lead for at least 10 weeks. It follows the Peas’ The E.N.D., which yielded “Boom” and “Feeling,” and Santana’s Supernatural, which spun off “Smooth,” featuring Rob Thomas (12 weeks, 1999-2000), and “Maria Maria,” featuring The Product G&B (10 weeks, 2000).
Drake spends his 49th career week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 (among his six career leaders), a week after passing Usher (47) for the most total weeks at No. 1 among solo males. Among all acts in the Hot 100’s 60-year history, Drake trails only Carey (79 weeks at No. 1), Rihanna (60), The Beatles (59) and Boyz II Men (50).
Plus, rap songs have now led the Hot 100 for a record-extending 34 consecutive weeks. Along with Drake’s “Feelings,” “Nice” and “Plan,” the streak includes Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” (for two weeks); Post Malone‘s “Psycho,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign (one); XXXTentacion’s “Sad!” (one); and Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin‘s “I Like It” (one).
“Feelings” concurrently tops the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a 10th week each.
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Maroon 5‘s “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B, ranks at its No. 2 Hot 100 high for a sixth week, while ruling Radio Songs for an eighth frame (123.5 million, down 1 percent), tying for the band’s longest-leading No. 1; it matches the Radio Songs reigns of “One More Night” in 2012 and “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, in 2016-17. “Girls” falls from No. 1 to No. 3 on Digital Song Sales (22,000, down 33 percent) and rebounds 9-7 on Streaming Songs (28.3 million, down 2 percent).
Drake’s “Feelings” narrowly tops Maroon 5’s “Girls” on the Hot 100, with the former down 14 percent in overall activity and the latter down 7 percent.
Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s “I Like It” holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100; Post Malone’s “Better Now” returns to its No. 4 peak from No. 5; and, Juice WRLD’s No. 3-peaking “Lucid Dreams” rebounds 7-5.
Kanye West and Lil Pump’s “I Love It” launches at No. 6 on the Hot 100, as its bows at No. 1 on Streaming Songs with 46.6 million first-week U.S. streams, with its profile boosted by the viral “I Love It” Challenge, in which, perhaps most prominently, James Corden, as well as fans of the song have mimicked West and Lil Pump’s supersized boxy wardrobes worn in the track’s official video.
West earns his second Streaming Songs No. 1, after “All Mine” in June, while Lil Pump notches his first; he reached No. 2 with “Gucci Gang” last November. “I Love It” also enters Digital Song Sales at No. 9 with 16,000 sold.
West adds his 17th Hot 100 top 10, tying Nicki Minaj for the sixth-most top 10s among artists who are primarily rappers, after Drake (31), JAY-Z (21), Lil Wayne (20), Eminem (19) and Ludacris (18). Lil Pump lands his second Hot 100 top 10, after the No. 3-peaking “Gucci Gang.”
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, 6ix9ine’s “FEFE,” featuring Minaj and Murda Beatz, slides 4-7, after reaching No. 3; Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode” rebounds 9-8, after hitting No. 4; Tyga‘s No. 8-peaking “Taste,” featuring Offset, rises 10-9; and, Khalid and Normani‘s No. 9-peaking “Love Lies” returns to the top 10 (11-10), as it becomes each artist’s first No. 1 on the Pop Songs airplay chart.
Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column and, for all chart news, you can listen (and subscribe) to Billboard‘s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast and follow @billboard and @billboardcharts. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 18), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.
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