Rae Sremmurd Tops Hot 100, Zayn & Taylor Swift, J. Cole Debut in Top 10

“Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane, rules for a sixth week, while Zayn & Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” and Cole’s “Deja Vu” debut at Nos. 6 &7, respectively. Plus, Maroon 5’s “Don’t Wanna Know” takes over as the most-heard song on radio.

Rae Sremmurd leads the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 31) for a sixth week with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane. Meanwhile, Zayn and Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)” debuts at No. 6, marking Swift’s 20th Hot 100 top 10, and J. Cole‘s “Deja Vu” begins at No. 7. Plus, Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, is newly minted as the most-heard song on radio.

As we do every Monday when the chart is compiled, let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and streaming data. Highlights of the Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.

“Beatles,” released on Interscope Records and the first Hot 100 No. 1 for the brother duo of Khalif “Swae Lee” and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown (and likewise the first leader for Gucci Mane), is the most-streamed song of the week for a sixth week, leading the Streaming Songs chart with 32.7 million U.S. streams (down 14 percent), according to Nielsen Music. It drops to No. 3 after five weeks atop Digital Song Sales with 61,000 sold (down 13 percent), while bulleting at its No. 8 high on Radio Songs (92 million in audience, up 6 percent).

As on the Hot 100, “Beatles” tops Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a sixth week each.

The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, spends an eighth (nonconsecutive) week at its No. 2 Hot 100 peak. It slips 2-3 on Streaming Songs (25.6 million, down 17 percent); 2-4 on Radio Songs (113 million, down 6 percent); and 2-5 on Digital Song Sales (58,000, down 4 percent). Still, it commands the Hot R&B Songs chart for a 12th week.

Notably, “Starboy” becomes the 10th song in the Hot 100’s 58-year history to spend at least eight weeks at No. 2 without reaching the summit; it’s the first since Ed Sheeran‘s “Thinking Out Loud,” which peaked at No. 2 for eight weeks in 2015. Four songs have spent more time peaking at the runner-up spot: Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott’s “Work It” (10 weeks, 2003-03); Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (10 weeks, 1981-82); Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One” (nine weeks, 1998); and Donna Lewis’ “I Love You Always Forever” (nine weeks, 1996).

The Chainsmokers‘ “Closer,” featuring Halsey, holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100 after spending 12 weeks at No. 1, the longest rule of 2016. The song drops to No. 2 after 11 weeks at No. 1 on Radio Songs (125 million, down 7 percent); 4-7 on Streaming Songs (19.9 million, down 8 percent); and 7-11 on Digital Song Sales (38,000, down 12 percent). The track crowns the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for an 18th week.

The Hot 100’s entire top five, in fact, stays in place from the previous week, as Bruno Mars‘ “24K Magic” holds at its No. 4 high and Ariana Grande’s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, keeps at No. 5 after reaching No. 4 (and leads the top 40-based Pop Songs airplay chart for a second week).

Zayn and Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)” launches at No. 6 on the Hot 100 following its first full week of tracking. It bows as the week’s best-selling song, entering Digital Song Sales at No. 1 with 188,000 sold in the week ending Dec. 15 (thus, encompassing all the song’s first-week sales following its Dec. 9 release). Swift scores her 11th Digital Song Sales No. 1, tying Katy Perry for the second-most in the chart’s history; Rihanna leads with 14.

Zayn adds his second Digital Song Sales No. 1, following his debut solo single after leaving One Direction (with whom he notched two), as “Pillowtalk” likewise launched on top (Feb. 20).

“Live” also debuts at No. 26 on Radio Songs (39 million), drawing 3.5 million domestic streams for the week. Notably, the track, while available on Apple Music, Tidal and other subscription-only streaming services, was withheld from Spotify during the tracking week; however, it was made available on Spotify as of Dec. 16. Plus, the lack of an official video for “Live” kept it from bowing even higher on the Hot 100 (as YouTube clicks are often a major driver for songs’ streaming totals).

With the debut, Swift earns her 20th Hot 100 top 10, and Zayn, his second as a soloist (after four with 1D). She’s the 16th artist in the Hot 100’s archives to tally at least 20 top 10s, and the sixth woman; Madonna leads all acts with 38 top 10s. The other women to have reached the milestone: Rihanna, with 29; Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson, 27 each; and Whitney Houston, with 23. (Now with 20 top 10s, Swift matches the totals of Chicago and The Supremes.) “Live” is also Swift’s record-extending 13th top 10 Hot 100 debut.

“Live” is from Fifty Shades Darker, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. The film, the follow-up to 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey, hits theaters Feb. 10, the same day that its soundtrack will be released.

Meanwhile, J. Cole achieves his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Deja Vu” debuts at No. 7. (He had reached a prior best peak of No. 13 with “Work Out” in January 2012.) “Deja Vu” is from Cole’s new album, 4 Your Eyez Only, which arrives as his fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 492,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 15, marking the third-highest unit debut of 2016. The song starts at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (26.9 million) and No. 21 on Digital Song Sales (30,000). It launches at No. 1 on the audio subscription services-based On-Demand Streaming Songs chart (26.9 million on-demand clicks), where the rapper ranks at Nos. 1 through 7, an unprecedented lock on all those spots in a single week.

All 10 songs from 4 Your Eyez Only debut on the Hot 100, along with “Everybody Dies,” from Cole’s recently-released Eyez documentary. He charts 12 titles in all on the Hot 100, as “False Prophets,” also from the Eyez doc, bounds 93-54.

With “Live” and “Deja Vu” entering in the Hot 100’s top 10 simultaneously, two songs debut in the top 10 in the same week for the second time in 2016, and both frames have featured Zayn. On Feb. 20, when “Pillowtalk” premiered at No. 1, Drake’s “Summer Sixteen” started at No. 6.

Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall’s “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)” retreats 6-8 on the Hot 100 after reaching No. 5, and DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Justin Bieber, drops 8-9, after peaking at No. 4.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Maroon 5’s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Lamar, falls to No. 10 from its No. 7 high, while lifting 3-1 to crown Radio Songs (126 million, up 6 percent), where it’s the group’s fifth leader and Lamar’s second (following his featured turn on Swift’s five-week 2015 No. 1 “Bad Blood”). Dating to the inception of Radio Songs in December 1990, Maroon 5 ties Boyz II Men for the most No. 1s on the chart among groups. (Rihanna is the overall leader with 12 Radio Songs rulers.)

“Know” also takes over atop the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart (2-1), where it’s Maroon 5’s record-extending 12th No. 1. (Perry and P!nk follow with eight each.) Earlier this year, Maroon 5 earned the honor of the top act of the Adult Pop Songs chart’s first 20 years.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 20), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.

Source: billboard.com