Rae Sremmurd Rules Hot 100, Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello Hit Top 10
“Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane, reigns for a fifth week, while “Bad Things” blasts 17-10.
Rae Sremmurd leads the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 24) for a fifth week with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane. Meanwhile, Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello‘s “Bad Things” bounds into the top 10, soaring from No. 17 to No. 10.
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, continues atop the Hot 100, having first topped the tally sparked heavily by the momentum of its use in viral Mannequin Challenge videos. 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 top-selling and most-streamed song of the week for a fifth week (and is the top gainer in airplay for a fourth frame).
“Beatles” leads the Streaming Songs chart with 38 million U.S. streams (down 10 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Of its streams for the week, 23.4 million were from YouTube and 9.6 million from Spotify. It also tops Digital Song Sales with 70,000 sold (down 16 percent). (Notably, the sum is the lowest for a Digital Song Sales No. 1 in nearly 11 years, since Beyonce’s “Check On It,” featuring Slim Thug, led the Jan. 28, 2006, chart with 61,000. Nielsen began tracking digital song sales in 2003.)
“Beatles” continues to build in airplay, as it pushes 9-8 on Radio Songs (87 million in audience, up 19 percent) and ranks at No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for a fourth week (36 million in format audience, up 5 percent). The track tops Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a fifth week each.
The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, spends a seventh (nonconsecutive) week at its No. 2 Hot 100 peak. It keeps at No. 2 on Radio Songs (120 million, down 4 percent), Digital Song Sales (60,000, up 13 percent) and Streaming Songs (30.7 million, down 8 percent), while leading On-Demand Streaming Songs for a third week (17.4 million, down 15 percent) and the Hot R&B Songs chart for an 11th week.
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. (Halsey was honored with the Rising Star award at Billboard’s 2016 Women in Music celebration Dec. 9, airing tonight, Dec. 12, at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.) “Closer” tops Radio Songs for an 11th week (133 million, down 4 percent), tying Justin Bieber‘s “Love Yourself” (11 weeks, February-May) for the airplay chart’s longest command this year (Adele’s “Hello” also posted 11 weeks at No. 1 on Radio Songs from November 2015 to February 2016). “Closer” holds at No. 4 on Streaming Songs (21.6 million, down 1 percent) and slips 5-7 on Digital Song Sales (43,000, down 5 percent). The track additionally tops Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 17th week.
Bruno Mars‘ “24K Magic” returns to its No. 4 high on the Hot 100 from No. 5. It stays at No. 4 on Digital Song Sales (52,000, up 12 percent); descends 3-5 on Radio Songs (117 million, down 1 percent); and lifts 10-8 on Streaming Songs (14.6 million, up 9 percent).
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, Ariana Grande‘s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, slips to No. 5 from its No. 4 Hot 100 peak, although, as previously reported, it crowns the Pop Songs airplay chart, where it’s Grande’s second No. 1 (following “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea, in 2014) and Minaj’s first.
Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall remain at No. 6 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 5 two weeks ago, with “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)”; Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, hits a new high of No. 7, up from No. 8; DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Bieber, retreats 7-8, after peaking at No. 4; and Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” is steady at No. 9, after ascending to No. 2, and rules Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart for an 18th week.
New to the top 10, Machine Gun Kelly earns his first top 10 and Cabello her first as a soloist, as “Bad Things” surges 17-10. Following the arrival of the song’s official video Dec. 1, and the pair’s performance of the song on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the night before, the track roars 7-3 on Digital Song Sales (and 4-1 on Pop Digital Song Sales), up 45 percent to 58,000 sold. It also charges 30-12 on Streaming Songs (11.4 million, up 50 percent). On Radio Songs, it powers 27-20 (47 million, up 27 percent).
In his lone prior Hot 100 appearance, Kelly had spent a week at No. 98 (Jan. 28, 2012) with “Wild Boy,” featuring Waka Flocka Flame. Cabello had also made one previous solo visit: “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” with Shawn Mendes, reached No. 20 in January.
Before “Things,” Cabello hit the top 10 as part of Fifth Harmony, whose first top 10, “Work From Home,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, peaked at No. 4 in June. Cabello, thus, joins an uncommon selection of soloists who have earned their first top 10 in the same year that they earned their first with a group. (Most often, unsurprisingly, soloists achieve a first top 10, if they do at all, of course, years after first reaching the region with a group, a la all four Beatles scoring top 10s several years after the group’s first in 1964, among numerous examples over the 58 years of the Hot 100’s history.)
Still, just last year, Diplo made his first trip to the top 10 with “Where Are U Now,” with Skrillex and featuring Bieber, while Major Lazer (of which Diplo is a third) followed in 2015 with the No. 4-peaking “Lean On,” with DJ Snake and featuring MO. (Among others, Jonas Brothers and Joe Jonas each first made the top 10 in 2008.)
Just beyond the Hot 100’s top 10, “Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara, winner of the Rule Breaker award at Women in Music, hits a new high (15-13); Mariah Carey‘s seasonal classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes 23-17 (nearing its No. 11 peak, set last holiday season), while remaining atop the Holiday 100 chart; and, Rihanna‘s “Love on the Brain” leaps into the top 20 (30-20).
Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 13), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.
Also: next week should bring a shakeup in the Hot 100’s upper reaches, as Zayn and Taylor Swift‘s new single, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” is expected to blast in with a lofty debut (on the Dec. 31-dated Hot 100), following its first week of tracking after its Dec. 9 release. The collab from the former One Direction member and Swift is from the forthcoming Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack. As previously reported, the track debuts at No. 25 on the Dec. 24 Pop Songs airplay chart following its first three days of tracking.
In other solo 1D news, the group’s Louis Tomlinson should also debut with his new Steve Aoki team-up single “Just Hold On.” Check Billboard.com this week for projections of how much both “Forever” and “Hold” could sell and stream, and how much airplay they might draw, in their first full week each of tracking.