Drake’s ‘Nice for What’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, Lil Baby, Ella Mai & BTS Earn First Top 10s
Drake passes Elvis Presley with his 26th top 10, while BTS earns the first top 10 for a K-pop group.
Drake‘s “Nice for What” — which ruled the Billboard Hot 100 chart for its first four weeks on the chart and then spent two weeks at No. 2, below Childish Gambino‘s “This Is America” — returns to the summit for a fifth total week at No. 1.
Meanwhile, three artists tally their first Hot 100 top 10s: Lil Baby, whose “Yes Indeed,” featuring Drake, vaults from No. 49 to No. 6 following its first full week of tracking; Ella Mai, whose debut hit “Boo’d Up” bumps 11-8; and superstar Korean boy band BTS, whose “Fake Love” launches at No. 10, marking the first Hot 100 top 10 ever for a K-pop group, as parent album Love Yourself: Tear debuts as the group’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200, where it’s also the first No. 1 for an album in the K-pop genre.
Let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100 (dated June 2), which blends all-genre streaming, airplay and sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (May 30).
Drake’s “Nice,” released on Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records, dips 2-3 on the Streaming Songs chart, down 8 percent to 36.8 million U.S. streams in the week ending May 24, according to Nielsen Music. It tumbles 3-10 on Digital Song Sales, with a 10 percent decline to 23,000 downloads sold in the week ending May 24, while backtracking 6-7 on Radio Songs, but with a 2 percent lift to 78.9 million in all-format airplay audience in the week ending May 27.
“Nice” rebounds for a fifth week at No. 1 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.
Childish Gambino’s “America,” the first Hot 100 leader for actor-director Donald Glover’s musical alter ego, slips to No. 2 after logging its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1. It tops Streaming Songs for a third week (45.2 million, down 35 percent), falls to No. 5 after its first two weeks atop Digital Song Sales (24,000, down 52 percent) and debuts on Radio Songs at No. 46 (21.7 million, up 30 percent).
Drake holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100 with “God’s Plan,” which launched at No. 1 and spent 11 weeks at the summit prior to “Nice,” and Post Malone‘s “Psycho,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, is additionally steady on the Hot 100, at No. 4 after reaching No. 2, while earning the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer award for a second straight week, as it rises 8-6 on Radio Songs (83.9 million, up 11 percent).
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey‘s “The Middle” returns to its No. 5 high, from No. 6. It leads Radio Songs for a third week (115 million, down 3 percent) and the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 17th frame.
Atlanta rapper Lil Baby logs his first Hot 100 top 10, as “Yes Indeed” blasts 49-6 following its first full week of tracking. (In his lone prior appearance, he reached No. 71, with “My Dawg” in January.) Streaming accounts for the bulk of the track’s activity, as it flies 30-2 on Streaming Songs (39.5 million, up 190 percent). It also rockets 12-1 to top the audio subscription services-based On-Demand Streaming Songs chart, up 158 percent to 32.2 million on-demand U.S. audio streams.
Drake scores his 26th Hot 100 top 10, breaking out of a tie with Elvis Presley for a solo share of ninth place among artists with the most top 10s (with Presley’s chart career having predated the Hot 100’s inception by two years). Madonna leads with 38 Hot 100 top 10s, followed by The Beatles (34), Rihanna (31), Michael Jackson (29), Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder (28 each) and Janet Jackson and Elton John (27 each).
Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line‘s No. 2-peaking “Meant to Be” slides 5-7 on the Hot 100, while topping Hot Country Songs for a 26th week.
London-born Ella Mai scores her first Hot 100 top 10 with her first chart entry, as “Boo’d Up” rises 11-8. It advances 7-6 on Streaming Songs (28.6 million, up 23 percent), holds at No. 30 on Radio Songs (35.1 million, up 5 percent) and lifts 38-27 on Digital Song Sales (12,000, up 14 percent). Her breakthrough hit spends a second week at No. 1 on the Hot R&B Songs chart.
Mai is the first artist to take a debut Hot 100 entry to the top 10 in 2018, and the first since Lil Pump, whose “Gucci Gang” hit No. 3 in December. She’s the first female to earn the honor since Cardi B, whose “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” reigned for three weeks in October.
Ariana Grande‘s No. 3-peaking “No Tears Left to Cry” retreats 7-9 on the Hot 100.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, BTS bows at No. 10 with “Fake Love,” from the group’s new album Love Yourself: Tear, which, as noted above, roars in as the group’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200, where it’s also the first leader for an album in the K-pop genre.
BTS additionally breaks its own record for the highest-charting Hot 100 hit for a K-pop group, passing its “MIC Drop” (featuring Desiigner), which reached No. 28 in December. Only one other K-pop act has charted top 10s on the Hot 100: South Korean rapper/singer PSY, whose smash “Gangnam Style” peaked at No. 2 for seven weeks in 2012 and “Gentleman” hit No. 5 in 2013.
Further, “Fake Love” is the first K-pop song to debut in the Hot 100’s top 10, besting PSY’s “Gentleman, ” which started at No. 12.
“Fake Love,” which BTS performed on the Billboard Music Awards May 20, is likewise BTS’ first No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, where it opens with 29,000 sold. On Streaming Songs, it starts at No. 7 with 27.4 million U.S. streams.
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 (May 30), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (June 1).
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