It’s been an onslaught on the charts this summer, courtesy of Drake, who has reigned supreme with his latest album, Views, and hit single, “One Dance.” Both releases have enjoyed at least 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 respectively. This week, however, there’s been another shake-up in the #1 spot.
Previously, Justin Timberlake‘s Trolls soundtrack contribution, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” and Desiigner‘s “Panda” served as interruptions of “One Dance”‘s hold on the #1 spot, and this week it’s a bona fide pop hit, SIA‘s “Cheap Thrills” featuring Sean Paul, that has dethroned the pseudo-dancehall banger.
SIA has been no stranger to hits in recent years. The Australian singer/songwriter notched a top 20 hit in each of the last 3 years: 2014’s “Chandelier,” 2015’s “Elastic Heart,” and this year’s “Cheap Thrills,” which was already the biggest hit of her career when it placed #3 on the Hot 100 last week. (“Chandelier” peaked at #8 two years ago.) However, this week it has launched SIA into pole position.
Her running mate Sean Paul, which made for an enigmatic pairing to say the least, is no stranger to hits himself, though it’s been quite some time since he’s experienced chart success of this magnitude. Paul, in the early 2000’s, dominated Hip Hop and Top 40 radio with his rap/dancehall hybrid jams, and notched 7 top 20 hits from 2002 to 2006, including 5 top 10’s and 2 #1 records (“Get Busy,” “Temperature”). He also teamed up with Beyoncé in 2003 for another #1 hit, “Baby Boy,” and got with Rihanna in 2006 for “Break It Off,” which peaked at #9. All in all, Sean Paul was one of the most prolific hitmakers of this millennium’s first decade, and thanks to SIA, he’s back at it again, despite the stagnant nature of his solo career.
Drake’s “One Dance” slips to #2, while his pal Rihanna’s “This Is What You Came For” with Calvin Harris jumps up a spot to #3. Timberlake’s “Feeling” and The Chainsmoker‘s “Don’t Let Me Down” rounds out the top 5.
As far as the Billboard 200 goes, there’s little news to report here, other than the fact that Drake is running screaming to the history books. This week, Views notched its 11th week at #1 on the albums chart, and it wasn’t even close. NeedtoBreathe finished at #2 for the week, logging about 49,000 sales-plus-streaming units, nearly a full 40,000 units behind Views, which finished the week at about 88,000 units moved. Twenty One Pilots jumped up four spots from #7 to finish at #3 this week, while resilient albums from Rihanna and Beyonce round out the top 5.
Next week, we’ll be looking to a couple of big-name releases to see how they impact the charts. DJ Khaled‘s Major Key, featuring this most star-studded lineup yet–Nas, JAY Z, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, Bryson Tiller, Rick Ross–drops Friday, and he’s got a couple hit singles in the chamber (“I Got the Keys,” “For Free). In addition, PARTYNEXTDOOR is set to drop his third project, PARTYNEXTDOOR 3, on Friday exclusively on Apple Music. In the past, PND hasn’t fared well on the charts–PARTYNEXTDOOR sold just 2,000 copies in its first week in 2013, and PARTYNEXTDOOR 2 moved just 16,000 units in its first week a year later–but in the 2 years that have transpired since his last project, he’s become a decidedly bigger star, thanks to his work with Rihanna and Drake this year. It’ll be interesting to see how he makes out next week.
For every great moment, there’s a song that goes with it. We believe this is the SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIFE – SOL REPUBLIC.
