Cardi B is the first female rapper to rule without any other billed acts since Lauryn Hill in 1998. Plus, Portugal. The Man earns its first top 10.
Cardi B becomes the first female rapper to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart without the assistance of any other credited artists in nearly 19 years, as her debut hit “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on the latest chart (dated Oct. 7).
Plus, Post Malone’s “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage, roars in at No. 2 on the Hot 100, and at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales charts, and Portugal. The Man earns its first Hot 100 top 10, as “Feel It Still” pushes 14-10.
As we do every Monday, let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends all-genre streaming, airplay and sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 26).
“Bodak,” released on The KSR Group/Atlantic Records, makes Cardi B (born Belcalis Almanzar, in the Bronx, New York) just the second female rapper to top the Hot 100 without any other billed artists, following Lauryn Hill’s first solo Hot 100 entry (apart from the Fugees), “Doo Wop (That Thing),” for two weeks beginning with its Nov. 14, 1998, debut at No. 1.
Cardi B is only the fifth female rapper ever to lead the Hot 100 at all. After Hill, Lil’ Kim ruled for five weeks in 2001 with Christina Aguilera, Mya and P!nk on “Lady Marmalade”; Shawnna reigned as featured on Ludacris’ “Stand Up,” which topped the Dec. 6, 2003, chart; and Iggy Azalea’s introductory Hot 100 hit, “Fancy,” featuring Charli XCX, led for seven weeks in 2014.
Cardi B is also the first female soloist to top the Hot 100 with a debut track unaccompanied by another artist since Meghan Trainor, whose “All About That Bass” led for eight weeks beginning Sept. 20, 2014.
“Bodak” bullets at No. 2 on the Streaming Songs chart with 46.4 million U.S. streams, up 14 percent, in the week ending Sept. 21, according to Nielsen Music. It bounds 12-3 on Digital Song Sales, up 85 percent to 56,000 downloads sold in the week ending Sept. 21, marking the Hot 100’s top gain in download sales (aided by a 69-cent discount price in the iTunes Store). The track also lifts 16-13 on Radio Songs, with 62 million all-format audience impressions, up 8 percent, in the week ending Sept. 24. (“Bodak” spends a fifth week at No. 1 on the Rap Airplay chart and a second week atop R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay; crowns the Rhythmic Songs airplay chart, with a 3-1 rise; and debuts on Pop Songs on at No. 37.)
Notably, for a second straight week, a song tops the Hot 100 but is not the week’s No. 1 title in streaming, airplay or sales; still, it accumulated enough overall chart points to reign.
As for Atlantic Records in 2017, thanks to Cardi B’s new No. 1, multiple leaders on the label have ascended to their first weeks at the Hot 100’s summit in the same calendar year for the first time since 2012, as Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” ruled for 12 weeks from its debut at No. 1 in Jan. 28. Five years ago, Flo Rida’s “Whistle” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” each ascended to the top for Atlantic.
Cardi B’s breakthrough hit also spends a sixth week at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and a fourth frame atop Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Post Malone’s “Rockstar” blasts onto the Hot 100 at No. 2, marking the rapper’s second Hot 100 top 10, following “Congratulations” (featuring Quavo), which hit No. 8 in July. Featured rapper 21 Savage earns his first top 10, having previously reached a No. 12 high for five weeks beginning Aug. 26 with “Bank Account” (this week at No. 17).
“Rockstar” debuts at No. 1 on both Streaming Songs (44.1 million) and Digital Song Sales (80,000). (Note that “Bodak” boasts 46.4 million U.S. streams, while “Rockstar” racked 44.1 million, yet the latter is No. 1 on Streaming Songs; that’s because those weekly sums are raw totals before weighting was applied that places a higher value on on-demand streams than programmed streams, like those on Pandora, where “Bodak” sports a significantly higher total than “Rockstar.”)
Also pushing “Bodak” over “Rockstar” on the Hot 100, despite the latter leading Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales: the former’s hefty lead in airplay for the week (62 million vs. 5 million).