Drake Ties Usher for Most Total Weeks at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 Among Solo Males; Khalid & Normani Hit Top 10

Drake logs his 47th frame at the summit, as “In My Feelings” rules for an eighth week. Plus, Khalid & Normani’s “Love Lies” lifts 11-9.

Drake‘s “In My Feelings” notches an eighth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 8). Among his six career No. 1s, he has now led the Hot 100 for 47 total weeks, matching Usher for the most time at the top spot among male soloists.

Drake also leads the Hot 100 for a 27th week in 2018, thanks to his three No. 1s this year, moving to within a week of Usher’s record for the most time on top in a single year: 28 weeks in 2004.

Plus, Khalid and Normani‘s “Love Lies” rises 11-9 on the Hot 100, becoming Khalid’s second top 10 and first in a lead role and Normani’s first as a soloist, apart from Fifth Harmony.

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. 5).

As it leads the Hot 100 for an eighth week, “Feelings,” released on Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records, likewise posts an eighth frame at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, with 50.5 million U.S. streams, down 15 percent, in the week ending Aug. 30, 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” drops 2-4 on the Digital Song Sales chart, which it led for six weeks (26,000 downloads sold, down 14 percent, in the week ending Aug. 30), and holds at No. 4 on Radio Songs, where it reached No. 3 (93 million audience impressions, down 12 percent, in the week ending Sept. 2).

With “Feelings” continuing its Hot 100 command, Drake ties Usher for the most total weeks at No. 1 among solo males: 47 each. Here is a look at the acts to spend the most time at No. 1 (and their number of leaders) in the Hot 100’s 60-year history:

79 weeks, Mariah Carey (18 No. 1s)
60 weeks, Rihanna (14)
59 weeks, The Beatles (20)
50 weeks, Boyz II Men (five)
47 weeks, Drake (six)
47 weeks, Usher (nine)
41 weeks, Beyoncé (six)
37 weeks, Michael Jackson (13)
34 weeks, Elton John (nine)

Notably, Usher has spent all 47 of his weeks at No. 1 with lead-artist billing; Drake has been a lead artist on 37 of his 47 frames at the apex. (Mariah Carey has been lead on all of her record 79 weeks at No. 1.)

Further, Drake has now led the Hot 100 for 27 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 songs from his album Scorpion). As he passes The Black Eyed Peas for a solo share of the second-best yearly sum, here is an update of the acts to spend the most time at No. 1 in any January-December period; Drake boasts the second- and fourth-best totals:

28 weeks, Usher, 2004
27 weeks, Drake, 2018
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, Beyonce, 2003
17 weeks, Nelly, 2002
17 weeks, Boyz II Men, 1994

Usher set the yearly mark of 28 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 over 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, rap songs have now led the Hot 100 for a record-extending 32 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 an eighth week each.

Maroon 5‘s “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B, ranks at its No. 2 Hot 100 high for a fourth week, while ruling Radio Songs for a fifth frame (127.6 million, down 1 percent). It keeps at No. 3 on Digital Song Sales (28,000, down 6 percent) and No. 5 on Streaming Songs (29.7 million, down 5 percent).

Notably, with Drake’s “Feelings” down 14 percent in overall activity and Maroon 5’s “Girls” down 3 percent, the songs could be headed for a fairly tight battle for the top spot on next week’s Hot 100.

Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s “I Like It” holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100; Post Malone’s “Better Now” hits a new peak, rising 5-4 (as it becomes his second No. 1 on the Pop Songs airplay chart, following “Psycho,” for four weeks beginning in June); and 6ix9ine’s “FEFE,” featuring Nicki Minaj and Murda Beatz, dips 4-5 after reaching No. 3. (Plus, as Drake’s “Feelings” declines by 14 percent overall and 15 percent in streaming, it now sports a relatively narrow lead over Streaming Songs runner-up “FEFE”: 50.5 million vs. 48.6 million. That’s the smallest streaming cushion over the top competition for “Feelings” in its run, after it led “I Like It” by a nearly three-to-one points difference the week that it tallied its record 116.2 million streams.)

Juice WRLD’s No. 3-peaking “Lucid Dreams” is steady at No. 6 on the Hot 100; Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode” rebounds to No. 7 from No. 9, after hitting No. 4; and Tyga‘s “Taste,” featuring Offset, returns to its best rank, pushing 10-8.

Khalid and Normani’s “Love Lies” ascends 11-9 on the Hot 100. It bullets at No. 5 on Radio Songs (88.2 million, up 7 percent); No. 16 on Digital Song Sales (13,000, down 2 percent); and No. 31 on Streaming Songs (13.3 million, essentially even week-over-week).

Khalid earns his second Hot 100 top 10 and first as a lead artist, following his featured turn, with Alessia Cara, on Logic’s “1-800-273-8255,” which hit No. 3 in September 2017. Normani reaches the top 10 in her first solo visit to the Hot 100; she previously spent time in the region as a member of Fifth Harmony, which scored the No. 4-peaking “Work From Home,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, in June 2016. Normani is the second member of 5H (which is now on hiatus) to tally a solo Hot 100 top 10, following former member Camila Cabello, who has collected three.

Plus, as it hits the Hot 100’s top 10 in its 28th week on the chart, “Love Lies” makes history for completing the longest climb to the top 10 among duets. It passes Billy Preston and Syreeta’s “With You I’m Born Again,” which took a 19-week trip to the tier, on its way to a No. 4 peak, in 1979-80. “Love Lies” is the 10th single to reach the region in 28 weeks or more, while Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” holds the overall record: 38 weeks to the top 10 in 2006-07.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Ariana Grande‘s “God Is a Woman” slips to No. 10 from its No. 8 peak but takes top Airplay Gainer honors, as it bounds 39-27 on Radio Songs (37.1 million, up 27 percent); it surges 14-9 on Pop Songs, where it becomes Grande’s 10th top 10.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column and by listening (and subscribing) to Billboard‘s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 5), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.

Source: billboard.com