Rae Sremmurd has the Mannequin Challenge to thank for boosting their song “Black Beatles” to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.
The song has ended The Chainsmokers & Halsey’s 12-week run with “Closer.”
via Billboard:
“Black Beatles,” released on Eardrummer/Interscope Records, has received a big boost from its usage in viral Mannequin Challenge videos (including one by a Beatle himself, Paul McCartney, who joined in on the phenomenon Nov. 10 via a video posted to his Twitter account with the text, “Love those Black Beatles #MannequinChallenge”). The Mannequin Challenge appears to have begun in an Oct. 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses; while that clip didn’t feature music, “Black Beatles” has found synchs in a vast array of subsequent videos. Rae Sremmurd then staged its own version of the challenge in concert Nov. 3; the new Nov. 26-dated Hot 100 reflects the sales and streaming tracking week of Nov. 4-10.
“Black Beatles” bounds to No. 1 on the Hot 100 as the newly-crowned top-selling and most-streamed song of the week (and is the top gainer in both metrics). It vaults 16-1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, up 320 percent to 144,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music, and 5-1 on Streaming Songs (43.3 million U.S. streams, up 122 percent). Of its streams for the week, 20.8 million are from YouTube plays (up from 8.7 million) and 12.1 million are from Spotify clicks (up from 5.8 million). The track also roars 5-1 on Billboard’s audio subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart with 22.4 million on-demand streams, up 108 percent.
“Black Beatles” is more steadily building in airplay, as it debuts on Radio Songs at No. 44 (25 million in audience, up 57 percent). The last song with a lesser airplay showing while atop the Hot 100? On Feb. 20, Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with nearly all its chart points from sales and streaming, along with 17 million airplay impressions; it entered Radio Songs two weeks later.
“Black Beatles,” the 1,058th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 58-year history, also crowns the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (4-1) and Hot Rap Songs (3-1).
Other fab fun facts about “Black Beatles”: the song’s 9-1 jump on the Hot 100 is the greatest to the top since Taylor Swift‘s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, hurtled 53-1 on June 6, 2015 (following the premiere of the song’s official video on the Billboard Music Awards). The last song to jump to No. 1 with a greater leap within the top 10 was Wiz Khalifa‘s “See You Again,” featuring Charlie Puth, which charged 10-1 on April 25, 2015.
Not only is “Black Beatles” the first Hot 100 topper for both brother duo Rae Sremmurd (Khalif “Swae Lee” Brown, 21, and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown, 22) and Gucci Mane, it’s also the first for the song’s producer and co-writer Mike WiLL Made-It, who, among three prior top 10s, had risen as high as No. 2 in 2013 via Miley Cyrus‘ “We Can’t Stop.” (As artists, Rae Sremmurd had previously peaked at a No. 16 high with “No Type” in 2014, while Gucci Mane had hit a No. 14 best as featured, with Sean Garrett, on Mario‘s “Break Up” back in 2009.
As “Black Beatles” dethrones “Closer,” songs by duos reign back-to-back on the Hot 100 for the first time since OutKast‘s “The Way You Move” (featuring Sleepy Brown) succeeded its own “Hey Ya!” on Feb. 14, 2004. The last set of different duos to lead consecutively? You have to jitterbug back to Dec. 8, 1984, when Daryl Hall and John Oates’ “Out of Touch” replaced Wham!‘s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”
Meanwhile, the “Beatles” are atop the Hot 100. The actual Fab Four tallied their record 20 Hot 100 No. 1s in 1964-70, from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “The Long and Winding Road.” Adding to their legend, The Beatles are the first act to have both topped the Hot 100 and had a song that namechecks them in its title lead the list. Honorary mention goes to The Rolling Stones, who, after earning eight No. 1s, had frontman Mick Jagger feted in Maroon 5‘s “Move Like Jagger” (featuring Christina Aguilera).
Beyond The Beatles, the Rae Sremmurd brothers share a connection with more rock royalty: as insightful chart-watcher Pablo Nelson notes (thankyouverymuch), they’re from Tupelo, Mississippi, just like the King, Elvis Presley.
As “Black Beatles” takes over atop the Hot 100, “Closer” halts its 12-week reign, four weeks shy of tying Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men‘s record 16-week domination in 1995-96 with “One Sweet Day.” “Closer” drops to No. 4 after a record-tying 13 weeks atop Digital Song Sales (59,000 downloads sold, down 18 percent) and to No. 2 after 12 weeks at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (27.4 million, down 4 percent). Still, it rules Radio Songs for a seventh week (151 million, down 1 percent). It also tops Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 13th week.
Congrats to these young Black men! They deserve it.
