{"id":1003,"date":"2018-05-14T09:43:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T16:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2022-05-12T16:45:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T16:45:51","slug":"childish-gambinos-this-is-america-blasts-in-at-no-1-on-billboard-hot-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/?p=1003","title":{"rendered":"Childish Gambino&#8217;s &#8216;This Is America&#8217; Blasts in at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<script>\r\nif( document.getElementById( \"builder-styles-css\" ) ) document.getElementById( \"builder-styles-css\" ).insertAdjacentHTML( \"beforebegin\", \"<link rel='stylesheet' href='https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/wp-content\/themes\/themify-music\/themify\/themify-builder\/css\/themify-builder-style.css' type='text\/css' \/>\" );\r\n<\/script>\r\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article__deck\">The musical alter ego of Donald Glover earns his first leader, as the track launches as the most-streamed and top-selling song of the week.<\/h2>\n<p>Driven in large part by its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/articles\/columns\/hip-hop\/8454682\/childish-gambino-this-is-america-video\">buzzy, and socially-conscious video<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/childish-gambino\">Childish\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/childish-gambino\">Gambino<\/a>&#8216;s new single &#8220;This Is America&#8221; debuts at No. 1 on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/hot-100\">Billboard Hot 100<\/a>chart, launching as the most-streamed and top-selling song of the week, as it also arrives atop the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/streaming-songs\">Streaming Songs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/digital-song-sales\">Digital Song Sales<\/a>\u00a0charts.<\/p>\n<p>The track is the first Hot 100 leader for Donald Glover&#8217;s musical alter ego, who took the stage to unveil the song as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/articles\/news\/television\/8454685\/donald-glover-childish-gambino-snl-best-moments\">musical guest<\/a>\u00a0on the May 5 episode of NBC&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Saturday Night Live<\/em>\u00a0(as Glover hosted); the song and its video were released simultaneously around midnight ET Sunday, May 6.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;America&#8221; dethrones\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/drake\">Drake<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;Nice for What,&#8221; which ruled the Hot 100 for its first four weeks on the chart, dating to its No. 1 debut. Drake&#8217;s reign halts at 15 weeks overall, as, prior to &#8220;What,&#8221; he led for 11 weeks with &#8220;God&#8217;s Plan,&#8221; which likewise launched at No. 1.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/zedd\">Zedd<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/maren-morris\">Maren Morris<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/grey\">Grey<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;The Middle,&#8221; at No. 6 on the Hot 100, takes over as the most-heard song on radio, rising 2-1 on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/radio-songs\">Radio Songs<\/a>\u00a0chart.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100 (dated May 19), which blends all-genre streaming, airplay and sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (May 15).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/players.brightcove.net\/1125911414\/SJeOLIT3Hf_default\/index.html?videoId=5784562221001\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;America,&#8221; released on mcDJ\/Wolf + Rothstein\/RCA (as Childish Gambino&#8217;s first RCA single) is the 1,073rd No. 1 in the Hot 100&#8217;s 59-year history. Here&#8217;s a look at the song&#8217;s start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>No. 1 bow in streaming &amp; sales:<\/strong>\u00a0&#8220;America&#8221; opens atop Streaming Songs with 65.3 million U.S. streams in the week ending May 10, according to Nielsen Music (covering its first five days of availability). Notably, with the song&#8217;s official video garnering much attention, video accounts for an extremely robust 68 percent of the song&#8217;s streaming total.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;America&#8221; also starts at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales with 78,000 downloads sold in the same tracking period, while drawing 9.4 million in all-genre radio airplay audience in the week ending May 13 (as it enters the Rap Airplay chart at No. 20 and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/hot-r-and-b-hip-hop-airplay\">R&amp;B\/Hip-Hop Airplay<\/a>\u00a0at No. 30).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Childish Gambino&#8217;s first No. 1:<\/strong>\u00a0&#8220;America&#8221; is Childish Gambino&#8217;s first Hot 100 No. 1, or even top 10. He hit a previous No. 12 Hot 100 high last August with his fourth and most recent entry on the chart, &#8220;Redbone.&#8221; His three prior charted titles, in 2013-16, peaked between Nos. 64 and 86.<\/p>\n<p>He likewise earns his first No. 1s on Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales, passing his prior respective highs of Nos. 10 and 14 with &#8220;Redbone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;America&#8221; concurrently begins atop\u00a0<em>Billboard<\/em>&#8216;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/r-b-hip-hop-songs\">Hot R&amp;B\/Hip-Hop Songs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/rap-song\">Hot Rap Songs<\/a>\u00a0charts, also marking Childish Gambino&#8217;s first No. 1 on each chart (which, like the Hot 100, mixes streaming, airplay and sales data).<\/p>\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"fitvid1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VYOjWnS4cMY\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>31st No. 1 debut:<\/strong>\u00a0&#8220;America&#8221; arrives as the 31st No. 1-debuting hit in the Hot 100&#8217;s history. &#8220;America&#8221; and Drake&#8217;s &#8220;Nice&#8221; (which entered atop the April 21-dated chart) and &#8220;Plan&#8221; (Feb. 3) further make for the first trio of back-to-back-to-back No. 1 debuts since 1995, when Mariah Carey&#8217;s &#8220;Fantasy&#8221; (that Sept. 30), Whitney Houston&#8217;s &#8220;Exhale (Shoop Shoop)&#8221; (Nov. 25) and Carey and Boyz II Men&#8217;s &#8220;One Sweet Day&#8221; (Dec. 2) all opened atop the chart in succession.<\/p>\n<p>Back then, a strong first week in physical sales (via cassette and CD, primarily) could help a song begin atop the Hot 100; now, a lofty first frame of streaming can similarly spark a No. 1 Hot 100 entrance. &#8220;Fantasy,&#8221; &#8220;Exhale&#8221; and &#8220;Sweet&#8221; launched with 229,000, 125,000 and 205,000 physical singles sold, respectively; Drake&#8217;s &#8220;Plan&#8221; and &#8220;Nice&#8221; entered with 82.4 million and 60.4 million U.S. streams, respectively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Three No. 1 debuts in 2018:<\/strong>\u00a0As noted by reader Jake Rivera\u200f (@jjr4897), 2018 ties 1997 and 1998 as the years with the second-most No. 1 Hot 100 debuts (three each). 1995 leads, having supplied the chart&#8217;s first four No. 1 bows; before the three 1995 hits noted above, Michael Jackson&#8217;s &#8220;You Are Not Alone&#8221; became the first single to start atop the Hot 100, that Sept. 2.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Acts who act:<\/strong>\u00a0Meanwhile, fellow insightful chart watcher @rock_golf notes that, even with Drake&#8217;s departure from No. 1 on the Hot 100 after 15 weeks, the streak of an artist first known for acting as a student on a TV series extends to 16 weeks. Drake played Jimmy Brooks on\u00a0<em>Degrassi: The Next Generation<\/em>, while Glover portrayed Troy Barnes on\u00a0<em>Community<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Glover is also the first Emmy Award-winning actor to top the Hot 100 since Justin Timberlake, who most recently led with &#8220;Can&#8217;t Stop the Feeling!&#8221; in 2016. Glover won two Emmys in 2017, for outstanding lead actor and outstanding directing in a comedy series for FX&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Atlanta<\/em>, which he created. (Timberlake has taken home four Emmys, all for his music and\/or acting on\u00a0<em>Saturday Night Live<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;America&#8217; at No. 1:<\/strong>\u00a0The Hot 100&#8217;s new leader is technically the first with &#8220;America&#8221; in its title, although three prior hits reigned with &#8220;American&#8221; in their names, all in the early 1970s: The Guess Who&#8217;s &#8220;American Woman&#8221;\/&#8221;No Sugar Tonight&#8221; (three weeks, 1970); Don McLean&#8217;s &#8220;American Pie (Parts I &amp; II)&#8221; (four, 1972); and Grand Funk&#8217;s &#8220;We&#8217;re an American Band&#8221; (one, 1973). Also in that span, the band America topped the Hot 100 with &#8220;A Horse With No Name,&#8221; for three weeks in 1972 (while one act with &#8220;USA&#8221; in its name has led: USA for Africa, with &#8220;We Are the World,&#8221; for four weeks in 1985).<\/p>\n<p>Childish Gambino&#8217;s &#8220;America&#8221; is additionally a rare socially-themed Hot 100 No. 1 (such as &#8220;We Are the World&#8221;) and perhaps the most pointed example since Lady Gaga&#8217;s equality anthem &#8220;Born This Way&#8221; in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Drake&#8217;s &#8220;Nice&#8221; ranks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 following its first four frames at No. 1, while his former 11-week &#8220;Plan&#8221; holds at No. 3. As Drake&#8217;s run of consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 ends at 15, he claims the fourth-longest such run in the chart&#8217;s history. The Black Eyed Peas ruled for 26 straight weeks in 2009 with &#8220;Boom Boom Pow&#8221; (12) and &#8220;I Gotta Feeling&#8221; (14); Usher led for 19 frames in a row with &#8220;Yeah!&#8221; (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris; 12) and &#8220;Burn&#8221; (seven) in 2004; and, Justin Bieber linked 17 straight weeks at No. 1 as featured (with Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne) on DJ Khaled&#8217;s &#8220;I&#8217;m the One&#8221; (one) and Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee&#8217;s &#8220;Despacito&#8221; (16) in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its drop to No. 2 on the Hot 100, &#8220;Nice&#8221; is the chart&#8217;s top Airplay Gainer award-winner for a fourth week and enters the Radio Songs top 10 (11-8; 72 million, up 18 percent), becoming Drake&#8217;s 20th top on the airplay tally. He ties Lil Wayne for the most Radio Songs top 10s among solo males, dating to the chart&#8217;s December 1990 inception, with the hip-hop stars trailing only the totals of Rihanna (29) and Mariah Carey (23).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/post-malone\">Post Malone<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;Psycho,&#8221; featuring\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/ty-dolla-sign\">Ty Dolla $ign<\/a>, drops to No. 4 from its No. 2 Hot 100 high, while, like &#8220;Nice,&#8221; hitting the Radio Songs top 10 (12-9; 67.7 million, up 13 percent). Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign each earn their second Radio Songs top 10.<\/p>\n<p>Rounding out the Hot 100&#8217;s top five,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/bebe-rexha\">Bebe Rexha<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/florida-georgia-line\">Florida Georgia Line<\/a>&#8216;s fellow No. 2-peaking collab &#8220;Meant to Be&#8221; dips 4-5. It leads the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/country-songs\">Hot Country Songs<\/a>\u00a0chart for a 24th week, tying FGL&#8217;s own &#8220;Cruise,&#8221; in 2012-13, for the longest command by a duo or group in the chart&#8217;s history and the second-longest overall; Sam Hunt&#8217;s &#8220;Body Like a Back Road&#8221; ruled for a record 34 weeks in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey&#8217;s &#8220;The Middle&#8221; slips to No. 6 from its No. 5 Hot 100 peak but is the newly-minted most-heard song on U.S. radio: It lifts 2-1 on Radio Songs (119.1 million, down percent), becoming the first leader on the list for each act. The track tops the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/dance-electronic-songs\">Hot Dance\/Electronic Songs<\/a>\u00a0chart for a 15th week.<\/p>\n<p>BlocBoy JB&#8217;s No. 5-peaking &#8220;Look Alive,&#8221; featuring Drake, rebounds 9-7 on the Hot 100 and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/camila-cabello\">Camila\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/camila-cabello\">Cabello<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;Never Be the Same&#8221; descends to No. 8 from its No. 6 high reached last week.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/ed-sheeran\">Ed\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/ed-sheeran\">Sheeran<\/a>&#8216;s former six-week Hot 100 No. 1 &#8220;Perfect&#8221; returns to the top 10 (12-9). The song logs a 26th week in the top 10, becoming just the 10th title to have tallied at least a half-year in the region. Sheeran holds the record for the longest stay: his &#8220;Shape of You&#8221; spent 33 weeks in the top 10 in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Capping the Hot 100&#8217;s top 10,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/ariana-grande\">Ariana Grande<\/a>&#8216;s &#8220;No Tears Left to Cry&#8221; spends a second week at No. 10 after debuting two weeks ago at No. 3.<\/p>\n<p>Below the Hot 100&#8217;s top tier, Imagine Dragons&#8217; &#8220;Whatever It Takes&#8221; leaps to a new peak (21-12), while crowning the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/rock-songs\">Hot Rock Songs<\/a>\u00a0chart for a seventh week; Travis Scott&#8217;s &#8220;Watch,&#8221; featuring Lil Uzi Vert and Kanye West, clocks a No. 16 Hot 100 debut, as it opens at No. 7 on Streaming Songs (23.9 million); Ella Mai&#8217;s first Hot 100 hit, &#8220;Boo&#8217;d Up,&#8221; bounds 37-17; Nicki Minaj&#8217;s No. 10 hit &#8220;Chun-Li&#8221; rebounds 50-19 after the May 4 release of its official video, as it soars 43-13 on Streaming Songs (21.2 million, up 42 percent, good for the Hot 100&#8217;s top Streaming Gainer nod); and Kane Brown hits the Hot 100&#8217;s top 20 for the first time with &#8220;Heaven&#8221; (28-20).<\/p>\n<p>Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly &#8220;Hot 100 Chart Moves&#8221; column and by listening (and subscribing) to\u00a0<em>Billboard<\/em>&#8216;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/chart-beat\/id1082747004?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chart Beat Podcast<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pop-shop-podcast\/id720291560?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pop Shop Podcast<\/a>. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (May 15), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of\u00a0<em>Billboard<\/em>magazine is on sale Friday (May 18).<\/p>\n<p>Source: billboard.com<\/p>\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-1003\" data-postid=\"1003\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-1003 themify_builder themify_builder_front\">\r\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<!-- \/themify_builder_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The musical alter ego of Donald Glover earns his first leader, as the track launches as the most-streamed and top-selling song of the week. Driven in large part by its\u00a0buzzy, and socially-conscious video,\u00a0Childish\u00a0Gambino&#8216;s new single &#8220;This Is America&#8221; debuts at No. 1 on the\u00a0Billboard Hot 100chart, launching as the most-streamed and top-selling song of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-now","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","no-post-comment","no-post-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Childish-Gambinos-This-Is-America-screenshot-billboard-15482.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3050,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions\/3050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}