Chart Watch: Rihanna Lands Eighth No. 1

            Rihanna’s “What’s My Name” featuring Drake leaps 60-1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna’s eighth No. 1 single and third this year following "Rude Boy" which spent five weeks at No. 1 starting in March and "Love The Way You Lie" with Eminem which spent seven weeks at No. 1 starting in July. The last time an artist managed a hat trick? Rihanna in 2008.

             The Barbados-born pop singer has ruled the charts since her appearance in 2005. In only half a decade, she has totaled the fifth most No. 1s of a female singer, behind only Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson. At the rate she’s going, it’s only a matter of time before she passes some of those ladies up.

     With each new No. 1, you wonder if Rihanna deserves to be numbered among some of the most enduring and influential female musicians of the rock era. It begs the broader question of the extent that the Hot 100 is a true barometer of the most popular songs and artists in the country. Although Rihanna has scored eight chart toppers, few would be willing to argue that she has had more of a cultural impact than say, Beyonce, Britney Spears, or Lady Gaga who have charted five, three, and two No. 1 hits respectively.

Chart Watch: Eminem, Rihanna Kick Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg from the Penthouse

     After spending three consecutive weeks at No. 2, Eminem and Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie" finally tops Katy Perry's "California Gurls" [sic] on the Billboard Hot 100, ending it's excruciatingly long six week stay at the summit.    This marks Eminem's fourth No. 1 single, and Rihanna's seventh.

     "Love The Way You Lie" appeared on charts as soon as Eminem's Recovery album was available for download.  After selling 338,000 digital downloads in a week, the song materialized at No. 2.  Strong first week sales for this track were to be expected; Eminem fans already proved their loyalty and buying power earlier this year when they sent "Not Afriad" to the penthouse on the strength of downloads alone.  Teaming him up with Rihanna, a singer with an amazing batting average on the Hot 100, could only improve the single's showing.

Chart Watch: Glee Cast Wraps Up Record Breaking Year on Hot 100

     Katy Perry keeps the top slot this week with her Snoop Dogg assisted "California Gurls" [sic].  The song is inexplicably getting more popular as downloads are up 11% and radio airplay is up 18%.  What's more interesting however is what happened down at No. 37 where the Glee cover of "Faithfully" debuts.  "Faithfully" is one of seven Glee songs on the Hot 100 this week and marks the last hoorah for the show's first season.  Even with only one season, the show has make quite the impact on the Hot 100.

     Glee has an unfair advantage when it comes to chart achievements because new songs are released on a weekly basis after they are performed on each episode.  It's no surprise that one of their major achievements involves sheer quantity.  In just over a year, the cast of Glee landed more songs on the Hot 100 than the Beach Boys and the Temptations did their entire careers.  With this week's chart positions calculated into their final count, the cast of Glee has racked up 59 entries on the Hot 100, second only to the Beatles for non-solo acts.  Considering what they accomplished with season one, it's likely they will pass up the Beatles 71 total chart entries by next year.  The all-time leader in this category is Elvis Presley who has an incredible 151 entries on the chart.

Chart Watch: West Coast Represent - Perry Takes Her "Gurls" to No. 1

     In 2009, the New York Yankees won the World Series as Jay-Z and Alicia Key's Big Apple Anthem, "Empire State of Mind" topped the Hot 100, the first song about New York City to ever do so.  Chart watchers were surprised that a hit so regional in focus managed to get spins at radio stations across the country, especially considering the hated Yankees had just won their 27th World Series.  Let's hope that same scenario doesn't happen in favor of the West coast now.  Unfortunately, California is already halfway there as Katy Perry's "California Gurls" [sic] feat. Snoop Dogg moves up to No. 1 in its fourth week on the chart and the LA Lakers are two wins away from their 17th NBA Championship.

     In an effort to drum up some East Coast-West Coast rivalry (and probably to make her song seem more legit than it actually is), Perry said her song is a response to "Empire State of Mind".

     "It's so great that "Empire State of Mind" is huge and that everyone has the New York song, but what the f***? What about LA? What about California? It's been a minute since we had a California song and especially from a girl's perspective," she said to Rolling Stone.  Katy, don't flatter yourself.

Chart Watch: Lee Flops, Idol Runs Out of Steam

     You might not know it from the Hot 100, but American Idol is still the top show on television.  Although it has been slipping in the ratings and will no doubt suffer next year without Simon Cowell, Idol has been No. 1 for six years now according to A.C. Nielsen ratings.  That's unheard of (All In The Family and The Cosby Show did it for five).  If only this season's winner was as successful.

     Season 9 champ Lee DeWyze made his Hot 100 debut this week with a cover of U2's "Beautiful Day", coming in at a pathetic No. 24.  Assuming the single fails to climb any higher, DeWyze will set the record for the lowest charting debut single from an Idol winner.  After the jump are the peak positions of each winner's first single.

Chart Watch: La Roux Risks Losing Blogger Love with Hit

     For the past three months, a former UK No. 1 single has been slowly and quietly climbing the Hot 100.  It's called "Bulletproof"and it's by synth pop-duo La Roux.  Last week, the track lept into the top 20 and this week, it jumps up to No. 14.  La Roux is led by frontwoman Elly Jackson.  Armed with a voice like an electric screwdriver (don't worry, it actually does grow on you) and hair that Lady Gaga wishes she thought of and made a hat like, Jackson is ready to take La Roux to unimagined levels of success in the States...that is, until the very people who broke them here decide they're moving on to the next big thing because La Roux has become pretentious.

     Sound familiar?  It's a trend that is becoming all too common in the modern pop landscape.  A decade ago, Disney was the pop factory that popped out stars (even though they still do, Miley isn't near the level of Britney ten years ago), but now, its a more democratic process.  I'm not talking about American Idol, I'm talking about blogs.

     La Roux actually released "Bulletproof" a year ago, where it topped the charts.  They were huge over there, and thanks to the modern miracle of the world wide web, there was buzz in across the Atlantic too.  Music blogs fell in love with La Roux.  Articles were written, articles were read, and torrents of their debut album were downloaded.  By the time "Bulletproof" was aimed for America, La Roux already had early anticipating fans in the form of bloggers, music enthusiasts, and trend setters.  In fact, a month ago, Gawker featured an article calling La Roux the thinking person's Lady Gaga.  The funny thing is, over a year ago, Lady Gaga was the thinking person's Lady Gaga.

Chart Watch: Heaven Help Us, Katy Perry Is Back

     A week after Eminem's "Not Afraid" became the 16th song to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg make "California Gurls" [sic] the 14th song to debut at No. 2.  The single sold 294,000 copies in its first week and is ranked 31st on the radio chart.  I thought for sure Perry would be a one-hit wonder after the miserable "I Kissed A Girl", but she just won't go away.  Her new track sounds like a Britney Spears B-side reject.  That's a bad thing.

      Let's take a look at the 13 other songs to make their first chart appearance in the runner's up slot and see what "California Gurls" has to look forward to.

Chart Watch: Eminem Debuts On Top

     Rapper Eminem earns his third No. 1 single this week as "Not Afraid", the lead single from his forthcoming Recovery, is set to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 tomorrow.  In case you're not familiar with the Hot 100, debuting at No. 1 is a big deal.  Like a really big deal.  In the 52-year history of the chart, this is only the 16th time a song will debut at the top spot.

     "Not Afraid" was released digitally last Monday, just four days after being sent to radio.  The single scored the biggest sales week of 2010 so far, selling 380,000 digital downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan.  With numbers like that, and no super-strong contenders for the top slot, Eminem becomes the first artist to debut at No. 1 since Britney Spears took the trashy "3" to the penthouse last October.

     When Spears debuted at No. 1, she was the first non-American Idol artist to do so since Lauryn Hill took "Doo Wop (That Thing)" to the top in 1998.  Of the 16 songs to debut at No. 1, eleven occurred from 1995 to 1998 when chart rules made it relatively easy for big acts to orchestrate a debut on top.  Since then, only American Idol had the power to unify consumers to buy enough copies of a particular song to pull it off...until Britney proved it could still happen.

     The fact that Spears and Eminem are the first two non-Idol artists of the 21st to debut at No. 1 is interesting.  Although each artist appeals to two different crowds (and I'm sure Eminem would hate being compared to Britney Spears), they both have a number of striking similarities.  Each artist released their first single in 1998 and has three No. 1 hits to their name.  For Britney they are "...Baby One More Time", "Womanizer", and "3".  For Eminem they are "Lose Yourself", "Crack A Bottle", and "Not Afraid".

     Each of their first chart topper is arguably their signature hit and it occurred during the peak of their popularity.  But while "...Baby One More Time" and "Lose Yourself" hit No. 1, so many of their other songs, huge hits in their own right, didn't.  "Oops!...I Did It Again" stalled at No. 9 as did "Toxic".  "The Real Slim Shady" hit No. 4 and "Without Me" barley missed out, peaking at No. 2.  As the 2000s rolled on, both Miss Spears and Slim Shady seemed to lose their relevance.  Gone were the days when albums like Oops!...I Did It Again and The Marshall Mathers LP, both released in 2000, could sell and 10 million copies each.  Although both artists had scores of intensely loyal fans, it seemed like each would be stuck with only one No. 1 hit apiece.

Chart Watch: Whataya Want From Me? Adam Lambert Tries Once More To Get A Hit

     Last November, 17 Tracks sarcastically wondered in sales of the debut album by American Idol's winner and runner-up marked a sort of cultural referendum on Obama.  Foreshadowing the success that the president would have passing one of his highest priority legislative items, the gay Californian Adam Lambert representing the "blue states" schooled the aww shucks Arkansas bred Kris Allen representing the "red states".  Lambert's For Your Entertainment sold 198,000 copies its first week compared to the 80,000 copies Allen sold of his self titled debut.

     Lambert seemed like the Clay Aiken to Allen's Ruben Studdard, a second place finisher who was destined to overshadow the winner.  It's no surprise that Lambert will be Idol's mentor next week, coaching contestants on their performance.  Sure, Allen got to come on and sing "Let It Be" earlier in the season, but he's not going to be asked to mentor anytime soon.

     Even though Lambert is outshining Allen in every possible area, the Hot 100 is not a place where he has done too well.  Allen's perfectly fine but completely inoffensive "Live Like We're Dying" reached the dizzy heights of No. 18 on the Hot 100 while his coronation single, "No Boundaries", peaked at No. 11.  For an Idol winner, those are some dismal numbers.  Although Lambert hasn't done any better, it looks like he might have an actual hit on his hands in the coming weeks.

     "Whataya Want From Me", penned by the heralded (and criminally over-appreciated) Max Martin and Pink, currently sits at No. 20.  That's one spot up from where it was last week.  Slowly but surely, Lambert is moving up. If he can jump three or more spots, he bests the peak Allen got with "Dying".

Chart Watch: Rihanna Holds Down No. 1, Gaga Rises

     Rihanna remains No.1 for a second week with with "Rude Boy".  The song is this week's airplay gainer, with 98.3 million listener impressions, up 16.2 million impressions from the previous week.  This is the fifth consecutive week "Rude Boy" has been the greatest gainer at radio, the longest streak since the Black Eyed Peas had five weeks with the biggest growth in radio for "I Gotta Feeling" last summer.

     Propelled by its epic video, Lady Gaga and Beyonce's "Telephone" moved to No. 3, becoming Gaga's fourth highest peaking hit after her pair on No. 1s - "Just Dance" and "Poker Face", and the No. 2 peaking "Bad Romance".  It makes you wonder how the song would have done without the insane media buzz that followed its video's debut.  The rest of the top ten after the jump.

Chart Watch: Rihanna Scores Sixth No. 1

      Rihanna notches her sixth No. 1 hit this week as "Rude Boy" ascends 4-1.  In less than five years, the singer has accumulated double the amount of chart toppers Britney Spears has got in ten years, and three times the amount of the ubiquitous Lady Gaga (despite what Gaga's little monsters say).  How does she do it?

     Rihanna tends to do well in the spring.  The emerging sunshine and melting snow begs you to roll down your windows and blast bouncy Barbadian pop as you drive down the freeway.  Her first No. 1, "S.O.S.", topped the chart in May 2006, "Umbrella" in early June 2007, and "Take A Bow" in May 2008.

     The singer has never really done well with album sales.  Not only has she never topped the album chart, but her best selling album, Good Girl Gone Bad, only managed to go double platinum thanks to a re-release that included "Take A Bow" and "Disturbia" along with "Umbrella" and skads of other hits.  The average consumer doesn't see Rihanna as an album artist, they see her as a singles artist worth dropping $1.29 for every so often.

Chart Watch: Taio Cruz Gives America Its First 99 Cent No. 1

     I didn't see this coming.  I don't think anyone did.  British singer Taio Cruz goes No. 1 with his debut single in the U.S. as "Break Your Heart" feat. Ludacris leaps 53-1.  That move gives Cruz the record for biggest jump to No. 1 for a debut single, beating out Kelly Clarkson's 52-1 leap for "A Moment Like This" in 2002.

     "Break Your Heart" was released in the U.K. September 2009 where it topped the charts for three weeks.  As an avid British music fan, I took a liking to this disposable pop tune, but was disappointed (as I usually am) when I couldn't legally download it from iTunes.  Despite the success of artists like Coldplay and Leona Lewis, British acts usually have a hard time breaking into the American market and fail (Robbie Willaims) and some, despite being some of the most amazing music makers on the planet, never even try (Girls Aloud).  I assumed "Break Your Heart" would never make any impact on our shores.

     What a surprise it was to see "Break Your Heart" available on iTunes last week.  Naturally, they had to slap on a rapper to appease America, but this British smash hit was now available to purchase legally, and it was only 99 cents.

Chart Watch: Rihanna Hits Top Ten

     The Black Eyed Peas remain No. 1 for a second week with "Imma Be" and Rihanna earns her 14th top ten single as "Rude Boy" jumps 23-8 this week.  This also makes Rihanna three for three with the singles from Rated R.  What's missing however is a No. 1.  From 2006-2008, the singer topped the charts with ease, scoring five No. 1s.  She hasn't been so lucky lately.

     "Rude Boy" has the best chance of any of her recent singles to do the job.  It's an uncharacteristically light track from a rather dark and brooding album.  It was last week's sixth most downloaded song and its growing rapidly at radio, from No. 36 to No. 18 on the radio chart.

Chart Watch: Black Eyed Peas Topple Ke$ha With Third No. 1

    In an ironic twist of fate, 2009's unstoppable Black Eyed Peas are the ones to end the nine week run at the top by Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" as "Imma Be" moves 3-1.  It makes me wonder if we'll be begging for Ke$ha to free us from the Pea's Hot 100 stranglehold in a few months time.

    "Imma Be" becomes the Peas third chart topper following last year's "Boom Boom Pow" which was No. 1 for 12 weeks and "I've Gotta Feeling" which was No. 1 for 14 weeks.  With three No. 1 hits from one album, The E.N.D., the Peas are now the ninth act in chart history to pull off such a hat trick.  The last act to do so was Wilson Phillips all the way back in 1990-1991.

    What makes B.E.P.'s feat all the more remarkable is the fact that "Boom Boom Pow" is nearly a year old.  The single was released in March 2009.  In today's a la carte iTunes marketplace, a major act can count on its first one or two singles selling well and charting high, but the rest of the singles beyond that will probably tank.

Chart Watch: "We Are The World" the 21st Century's Highest Charting All-Star Charity Single

    The top selling download last week was "We Are The World 25".  The updated version (which sounds worse on every listen) sold 260,000 copies in the two days Billboard counted towards the week of February 27.  Those sales, along with very minimal airplay, were good enough to debut at No. 2 on the Hot 100 behind "Tik Tok".

    The No. 2 placing makes "We Are The World 25" the highest charting all-star charity single of the 21st century and the fourth highest charting in the history of the Hot 100.  Check out the other songs after the jump.

Chart Watch: Ke$ha Reaches For Record Despite Black Eyed Peas Gains

Ke$ha makes it two months on top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week.  That gives the trashy pop tart the record for the longest time spent at No. 1 by a debut female artist since Debbie Boone in 1977 with the delightful "You Light Up My Life" which spent ten weeks on top.  Let's hope that's a record Ke$ha doesn't break.

In terms of female musicians in the 21st century, Ke$ha surpasses two pop stars who spent seven weeks each at No. 1 with their first single.  Ciara did so in 2004 with "Goodies" as did Katy Perry more recently in 2008 with "I Kissed A Girl".

Several other singers have done even better with their first single, namely Ashanti, Beyonce, and Kelly Rowland, but each singer's previous appearance in a charting song such as Beyonce and Kelly in all of their Destiny's Child hits, disqualify them.

So, with only two or three weeks left to either equal or break the record for female debut singles, what are the chances that "Tik Tok" can pull it off?

Chart Watch: Artists Bring "Hope For Haiti"

Ke$ha remains at No. 1 with "Tik Tok" for a seventh week and Taylor Swift's "Today Was A Fairytale" dropps 2-22, butthe most interesting happenings on the chart are the standout songs from Hope for Haiti Now.

Following the earthquake in Haiti, American musicians and celebrities banded together for Hope for Haiti Now, a telethon to raise funds to help the victims of the tragedy.  With artists like Coldplay, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder, and Jay-Z participating, the event raised $61 million.

Chart Watch: Taylor's "Fairytale" Contiues

    Country star Taylor Swift scored her third top three hit this week with the record breaking "Today Was A Fairytale", giving her yet another reason to celebrate.

    Swift, who has been nominated eight times at this week's Grammy awards, debuted at No. 2 with "Fairytale", from the soundtrack to Valentine's Day.  With digital sales of 325,000, Swift broke the record for best first week sales by a female artist.  The previous record holder was Britney Spears who sold 286,000 downloads of "Womanizer" in October 2008.

     Even with a stellar week in sales, radio airplay for "Fairytale" is non-existent, giving Ke$ha her sixth week at No. 1.  It does beg the question though, will Taylor Swift ever get a No. 1 single?

Chart Watch: Timbaland Desperate For A Hit

To say that Timbaland's Shock Value II is failing to match the success of its predecessor is a bit of an understatement.


The producer-turned-rapper was ubiquitous in 2006 and 2007 as hits from his own Shock Value in addition to Nelly Furtado's Loose and Justin Timberlake's Futuresex/Lovesounds ruled the airwaves.  His second attempt at pop domination has fallen flat on its face however.

It's surprising, as Shock Value II seemed destined to be a smash considering its featuring credits.  Besides the aforementioned Furtado and Timberlake, the album includes Keri Hilson (another Timbaland favorite), the artist formerly known as Hannah Montana, Katy Perry, OneRepublic, and Drake.  Still, the album stalled at a miserable No. 36.

Chart Watch: She's An Animal - Ke$ha Conquers America

Trashy pop tart Ke$ha has now done what not even Lady Gaga has been able to do.  She has the No. 1 album and song in America.

Ke$ha stays at No. 1 of the Hot 100 with "Tik Tok" for a fourth week as her debut album, Animal, knocks reigning champ Susan Boyle out of the penthouse after six weeks.

With that, Ke$ha becomes only the twelfth female artist in chart history to have a No. 1 album and song on her first try, making some doubt her inevitability as a one hit woner.  The complete list of female artists to top both the album and singles charts right out of the gate is made mostly out of superstars, so what does this mean for Ke$ha?  The list: