Rae Sremmurd’s ‘Black Beatles’ Blasts to No. 1 on Hot 100

The track, featuring Gucci Mane, dethrones The Chainsmokers’ “Closer,” featuring Halsey, after 12 weeks at No. 1.

Rae Sremmurd rockets from No. 9 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Nov. 26) with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane, the first Hot 100 leader for both acts. The track unseats The Chainsmokers “Closer,” featuring Halsey, after 12 weeks at No. 1.

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.

“Black Beatles,” released on Eardrummer/Interscope Records, has received a big boost from its usage in viral Mannequin Challenge videos (including one by a Beatle himself, Paul McCartney, who joined in on the phenomenon Nov. 10 via a video posted to his Twitter account with the text, “Love those Black Beatles #MannequinChallenge”). The Mannequin Challenge appears to have begun in an Oct. 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses; while that clip didn’t feature music, “Black Beatles” has found synchs in a vast array of subsequent videos. Rae Sremmurd then staged its own version of the challenge in concert Nov. 3; the new Nov. 26-dated Hot 100 reflects the sales and streaming tracking week of Nov. 4-10.

“Black Beatles” bounds to No. 1 on the Hot 100 as the newly-crowned top-selling and most-streamed song of the week (and is the top gainer in both metrics). It vaults 16-1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, up 320 percent to 144,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music, and 5-1 on Streaming Songs (43.3 million U.S. streams, up 122 percent). Of its streams for the week, 20.8 million are from YouTube plays (up from 8.7 million) and 12.1 million are from Spotify clicks (up from 5.8 million). The track also roars 5-1 on Billboard’s audio subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart with 22.4 million on-demand streams, up 108 percent.

“Black Beatles” is more steadily building in airplay, as it debuts on Radio Songs at No. 44 (25 million in audience, up 57 percent). The last song with a lesser airplay showing while atop the Hot 100? On Feb. 20, Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with nearly all its chart points from sales and streaming, along with 17 million airplay impressions; it entered Radio Songs two weeks later.

“Black Beatles,” the 1,058th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 58-year history, also crowns the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (4-1) and Hot Rap Songs (3-1).

Other fab fun facts about “Black Beatles”: the song’s 9-1 jump on the Hot 100 is the greatest to the top since Taylor Swift‘s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, hurtled 53-1 on June 6, 2015 (following the premiere of the song’s official video on the Billboard Music Awards). The last song to jump to No. 1 with a greater leap within the top 10 was Wiz Khalifa‘s “See You Again,” featuring Charlie Puth, which charged 10-1 on April 25, 2015.

Not only is “Black Beatles” the first Hot 100 topper for both brother duo Rae Sremmurd (Khalif “Swae Lee” Brown, 21, and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown, 22) and Gucci Mane, it’s also the first for the song’s producer and co-writer Mike WiLL Made-It, who, among three prior top 10s, had risen as high as No. 2 in 2013 via Miley Cyrus‘ “We Can’t Stop.” (As artists, Rae Sremmurd had previously peaked at a No. 16 high with “No Type” in 2014, while Gucci Mane had hit a No. 14 best as featured, with Sean Garrett, on Mario‘s “Break Up” back in 2009.

As “Black Beatles” dethrones “Closer,” songs by duos reign back-to-back on the Hot 100 for the first time since OutKast‘s “The Way You Move” (featuring Sleepy Brown) succeeded its own “Hey Ya!” on Feb. 14, 2004. The last set of different duos to lead consecutively? You have to jitterbug back to Dec. 8, 1984, when Daryl Hall and John Oates’ “Out of Touch” replaced Wham!‘s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

Meanwhile, the “Beatles” are atop the Hot 100. The actual Fab Four tallied their record 20 Hot 100 No. 1s in 1964-70, from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “The Long and Winding Road.” Adding to their legend, The Beatles are the first act to have both topped the Hot 100 and had a song that namechecks them in its title lead the list. Honorary mention goes to The Rolling Stones, who, after earning eight No. 1s, had frontman Mick Jagger feted in Maroon 5‘s “Move Like Jagger” (featuring Christina Aguilera).

Beyond The Beatles, the Rae Sremmurd brothers share a connection with more rock royalty: as insightful chart-watcher Pablo Nelson notes (thankyouverymuch), they’re from Tupelo, Mississippi, just like the King, Elvis Presley.

As “Black Beatles” takes over atop the Hot 100, “Closer” halts its 12-week reign, four weeks shy of tying Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men‘s record 16-week domination in 1995-96 with “One Sweet Day.” “Closer” drops to No. 4 after a record-tying 13 weeks atop Digital Song Sales (59,000 downloads sold, down 18 percent) and to No. 2 after 12 weeks at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (27.4 million, down 4 percent). Still, it rules Radio Songs for a seventh week (151 million, down 1 percent). It also tops Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 13th week.

Meanwhile, no next single from The Chainsmokers has yet been announced; Columbia Records plans to release a follow-up to “Closer” in early January. As previously reported, the duo debuts at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with its new EP, Collage (which features “Closer”).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, slips to No. 3 after five weeks at its No. 2 peak (and descends to No. 2 after six weeks in charge of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs); Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” backtracks to No. 4 (after reaching No. 2), although it logs a 14th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart; and DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Justin Bieber, retreats to No. 5 from its No. 4 Hot 100 peak.

Bruno Mars‘ No. 5-peaking “24K Magic” rebounds 7-6 on the Hot 100 (while pushing 4-2 on Digital Song Sales, up by 26 percent to 68,000), swapping spots with Ariana Grande‘s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, which drops to No. 7 from its No. 6 high, although it claims top Airplay Gainer honors, pushing 9-8 on Radio Songs (82 million, up 14 percent); Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall’s “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)” holds at its No. 8 Hot 100 peak; and D.R.A.M.‘s “Broccoli,” featuring Lil Yachty, slides to No. 9 from its No. 5 highpoint.

Capping the Hot 100’s top tier, Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, returns to the top 10 (11-10) after rising to No. 9 three weeks ago. “Know” lifts 11-9 on Radio Songs (78 million, up 9 percent), becoming Maroon 5’s 12th top 10 on the chart, extending the band’s record for the most top 10s among groups since Radio Songs began in December 1990; Destiny’s Child is second among groups with 10 top 10s on the tally.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 15), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The Hot 100 and other rankings will also appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, on sale Friday (Nov. 18).

Source: billboard.com