Will Morgan Wallen Be That ‘Somebody’ to Stop Shaboozey’s Reign Atop the Hot 100?
The Contenders is a midweek column that appears at artists aiming for the manage of the Billboard charts, and the methods at the back of their efforts. This presen, for the nearest Billboard Hot 100 dated Nov. 2, we take a look at our possible first brandnew Refuse. 1 in months, as a couple of obese brandnew releases compete with Shaboozey’s 15-week champ to say the manage spot.
Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (American Dogwood/EMPIRE/Magnolia Song): The tune to overcome at the Scorching 100 for the extreme three-plus months has been Shaboozey’s hip-hop-assisted nation anthem, which spends its fifteenth presen in pole place in this presen’s chart (dated Oct. 26). With another presen on manage, it could fit the 16-week run of Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” because the longest-reigning Scorching 100 Refuse. 1 of the 2020s, date additionally shifting right into a four-way fix with “Last Night,” Mariah Carey and Boyz II Males’s “One Sweet Day” and Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s Justin Bieber-featuring “Despacito” for the second-longest-lasting Refuse. 1 within the chart’s entire historical past.
The tune, after all, residue a manage performer around the Scorching 100 detail charts, because it tops Radio Songs, Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales this presen – its 3rd pace tripling up at the 3 listings. It’s starting to slide in totals, on the other hand, slipping 2% in radio airplay target market impressions, 6% in authentic streams and eight% in virtual tune gross sales, in line with Luminate – that means that its accumulation at the manage spot is increasingly more inclined, will have to a truly obese brandnew tune come alongside to problem for the throne. (In the meantime, a moment unmarried, “Highway,” from the singer-songwriter’s booklet The place I’ve Been, Isn’t The place I’m Going has simply been despatched to radio.)
Shaboozey isn’t laying ill for any individual, although – and actually, he made his maximum high-profile look of the season on Tuesday night time, appearing “A Bar Song” on TNT sooner than the NBA season formally tipped off with Knicks-Celtics.
Morgan Wallen, “Love Somebody” (Bulky Rowdy/Mercury/Republic): It might virtually be poetic if the tune that avoided – or no less than behind schedule – Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” from tying the 16-week mark of “Last Night” used to be if truth be told by means of Morgan Wallen himself. Wallen will have to have a anticipation to journey for the ban then presen following the Friday (Oct. 18) shed of his brandnew unmarried “Love Somebody” — his follow-up to the manage 10 accident “Lies Lies Lies” — which he broadly teased on TikTok and thru reside performances, and has an uptempo power extra harking back to his fresh Scorching 100-topping Put up Malone teamup “I Had Some Help.”
The tune is off to a superior get started each on streaming — the place it’s been Refuse. 1 on Apple Song’s genuine pace chart necessarily since its shed pace, and debuted at Refuse. 1 on Spotify’s Day-to-day Govern Songs USA list (although it’s since slipped to Refuse. 6 there) — and in gross sales, because it’s been within the manage two on iTunes for many of the monitoring presen. It’s additionally off to a scorching get started on radio, with 11.5 million in all-format airplay target market in its first 4 days (Oct. 18-21), together with 10.2 million from journalists to the Country Airplay chart, the place it’ll problem for an especially uncommon debut within the manage 10. (He’d be in habitual range there, on the other hand, as each “Lies” and “Help” are these days living within the manage 10.)
Will or not it’s plenty to knock off “A Bar Song”? It is usually a similar race, coming right down to the general days – so we’ll see if Wallen and his staff have any aces up their sleeve to struggle to offer protection to their “Last Night” mark. (A Thursday Evening Soccer look on Amazon Top, possibly?)
ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, “APT.” (Atlantic): A high-profile Bruno Mars pop team-up will get off to a modestly a success get started sooner than rising all the way through the presen and finishing up an surprising challenger for a debut within the Scorching 100’s manage tier. Pitch habitual? Smartly, only a couple months in the past, it used to be the early tale for “Die With a Smile,” Mars’ teamup with fellow pop famous person Woman Gaga, which in the end debuted at Refuse. 3 at the Scorching 100 and has spent the primary 9 weeks of its chart run within the manage 10. Now, it’s déjà vu all over the place once more for Mars – although this pace with a duet spouse with a lot much less established chart historical past than Gaga.
“APT.,” Mars’ much-promoted collab with BLACKPINK solo megastar ROSÉ, debuted at Refuse. 11 on Spotify’s Day-to-day Govern Songs USA chart for Friday (Oct. 18) — however by means of Sunday, it had bounded to Refuse. 1, the place it has stayed since. (The tune has additionally been rising on Apple Song, however has but to split the real-time chart’s manage 50 as of posting.) The tune may be promoting smartly, these days living at Refuse. 3 on iTunes, and is aiming to debut at the Pop Airplay chart next its first presen of monitoring – which might create it ROSÉ’s first access at the chart as a soloist. (Her solo historical past at the Scorching 100 has additionally been slightly muted, along with her “On the Ground” peaking at Refuse. 70 – although she’s after all reached the chart’s manage 20 as a member of BLACKPINK.)
The tune may have began a negligible too sluggish to be an actual contender for Refuse. 1 then presen in its debut – but it surely is usually a moment manage 10 accident for Mars this future, and if it helps to keep rising like this, we may nonetheless be speaking about it in hour Contenders columns.