The Top 10 Selling “Urban” Singles in Australia last year were split between Canada, UK, Australia.
Like the Top 10 Selling “Urban” Albums in Australia for 2015, American artists dominated. The Weeknd, Mark Ronson, Drake and A$AP Rocky made the Top 10 Urban Singles as they did for Top 10 Urban Albums in terms of sales in Oz last year. Legendary Australian Hip Hop group Hilltop Hoods had four singles between 11 – 35 on the wider Top 50 ARIA Urban Singles chart for 2015.
“Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
The highly successful partnership between Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars continued in their fourth installment and also topped the Australian Overall Singles Chart, despite the single being released in November 2014. Behind the scenes, hit maker Jeff Bhasker has been responsible for all four of the Ronson + Mars collaborations. “Uptown Funk” went on not only to win Grammys but top Weekly Overall Charts in multiple countries, and sold almost 15 million copies internationally. The accompanying video clip is currently the third most viewed video on YouTube, amassing over 1.7 billion views since November 2014.
“See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s collaboration for the Fast & Furious movie franchise soundtrack “See You Again,” a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker, came in at #2 (3 overall). The accompanying film clip has surpassed the aforementioned Ronson/Mars collab, and sits as the second most viewed video on YouTube only behind the obscure South Korean K-pop hit “Gangman Style” by Psy.
“See You Again” was the best selling-song of 2015 worldwide, with combined sales and track-equivalent streams of 20.9 million units despite not being released until mid-April worldwide. It set the record for most streams in a single week across the world. In October 2015, the video reached over a billion views on YouTube, making it the very first hip-hop song to do so. The song went weekly number one in not only Australia, but also America, UK, Canada, Mexico and another 20+ countries, as well as topping the 2015 US Hot R&B/ Hip Hop Songs for 2015.
“FourFiveSeconds” – Rihanna, Kanye & Paul McCartney
The collaboration from Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney was destined for commercial success from conception, and was the first time they have all collaborated together. The single sold almost 3 million copies internationally while McCartney made a record by ending the longest break between top-ten singles on the chart
“Downtown” – Macklemore & Lewis ft. Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee + Grandmaster Caz.
“Downtown” is a song by American duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz. The single has been compared to “Uptown Fun”’ stylistically with a more Hip Hop sound, lent to by Grandmaster Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz (original writer of Sugarhill Gang’s hit 1979 record “Rapper’s Delight”). Notably, Macklemore & Lewis employed the talents of three of the best emcees from the 1980’s in Furious 5’s Melle Mel, Treacherous 3’s Kool Moe Dee and GM Caz from the Cold Crush Brothers.
The incorporation of the three legends was praised by many, such as Big Daddy Kane, and sparked much discussion on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis as artists.
“Do You Remember” – Jarryd James
“Do You Remember” is the debut single released from Australian singer-song writer Jarryd James. In Australia it went Triple Platinum and also experienced some success in New Zealand, going Gold. The R&B influenced song also proved popular throughout continental Europe. This single helped propel Jarryd James’ album to 47 in overall Australian selling albums (peaking at #2) and led to a further American-orientated release.
“Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd
“Can’t Feel My Face” is a song performed by Canadian singer The Weeknd from his second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness. The song was released in June 2015 is the second single from the album. It peaked weekly at #1 not only in Australia, Canada, America, South Africa and the UK, but also near half a dozen other countries throughout Europe.
“Bills” – LunchMoney Lewis
“Bills” is the debut single by American rapper LunchMoney Lewis, which peaked at number 1 in the weekly charts in Australia, also achieving the same feat in Croatia, Czech Republic, Scotland and #2 in the UK and Belgium. The single achieved Triple Platinum status Australia, while also achieving Gold Status in Austria, Germany, New Zealand and the UK.
“The Hills” – The Weeknd
The Weeknd’s second single The Hills places them as the only artist to have two entries in the Top 10. The various remixes of the song were also notable with the inclusion of Eminem on one of the remixes. Apart from peaking weekly at number 1 in his native Canada, this single also peaked at #1 in America, and the UK, as well as inside the Top 3 in Australia, New Zealand and reaching at least double platinum across these countries. The single also went Gold or better in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
“Hotline Bling” – Drake
“Hotline Bling” is a song by Canadian rapper Drake, which serves as the lead single from his fourth studio album Views. Reaching a weekly peak in Australia in the Urban and Overall charts at #2 (yearly overall #43), the single also reached weekly #1 in America, UK, Belgium and also found success in Italy, Scandinavia, Poland and New Zealand.
“Good For You” – Selena Gomez ft. A$AP Rocky
“Good For You” is a song by American singer Selena Gomez, recorded for her second studio album Revival (released in 2015). It features vocals by American rapper A$AP Rocky and is noted for being her first collaboration with a rapper. The single peaked weekly at #2 in Australia, also finding widespread success in America, Greece, Czech Republic, Canada, Sweden and Poland.
