Drake Becomes First Artist To Replace One #1-Debuting Single With Another

Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Drake Becomes First Artist To Replace One #1-Debuting Single With Another

Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Drake’s domination atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart continues, but with a different song this week, as new single “Nice For What” debuts at #1, stopping the command of his own “God’s Plan” after 11 weeks on top.

The Hot 100 (dated 4/21) blends all-genre streaming, airplay and sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (4/17).

“Nice,” released on Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records, arrives as Drake’s fifth #1, as well as the 1,072nd leader in the Hot 100’s history, which dates to the chart’s 8/4/1958 inception.

Here are highlights of the song’s start.

First-week totals: “Nice,” which arrived late on 4/6, soars in at #1 on the Streaming Songs chart with 60.4 million US streams in the week ending 4/12, according to Nielsen Music. It also opens at #1 on Digital Song Sales with 88,000 downloads sold in the week ending 4/12. On the Radio Songs chart, “Nice” enters (as the week’s top debut) at No. 34, drawing 31 million in all-format airplay audience in the week ending 4/15.

Drake earns his fourth Streaming Songs #1, tying Justin Bieber for the top total since the chart began just over five years ago. Drake posts his ninth Digital Song Sales leader, matching Eminem for the most among solo males. Among all acts, only Taylor Swift (15), Rihanna (14) and Katy Perry (11) have notched more #1s on the paid downloads tally (which originated in 2004).

Drake’s fifth Hot 100 #1: Drake’s fifth Hot 100 #1 follows “God’s Plan” (11 weeks on top), “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla (10 weeks, 2016), and two by Rihanna on which he’s featured: “Work” (nine weeks, 2016) and “What’s My Name?” (one week, 2010).

Canadian kings: As previously pointed out by reader Pablo Nelson, Bieber rewrote the record for the most Hot 100 #1s among Canadian artists when Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” on which Bieber is featured, became his fifth #1, on 5/27/2017. With his fifth leader, the Toronto-born Drake ties London, Ontario, native Bieber for the honour. Bryan Adams and Celine Dion follow with four each.

30th #1 debut: “Nice” is the 30th single to debut at #1 on the Hot 100, and the first since his own “God’s Plan” on 2/3. Now with two #1 debuts on the Hot 100, Drake joins just three other acts with multiple chart-topping starts: Mariah Carey, the leader with three, and Bieber and Britney Spears, each with two.

Back-to-back #1s: Drake becomes the 13th act to have replaced itself at #1 on the Hot 100 and the first since Bieber, as “Despacito” dethroned DJ Khaled’s “I’m the One,” featuring Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne. Drake is additionally the first artist to have replaced himself at #1 as a lead artist since Bieber, whose “Love Yourself” supplanted “Sorry” on 2/13/2016. (Before Bieber’s two such takeovers, the Weeknd had last managed the feat in 2015; thus, three Canadian solo males are the last three acts to have replaced themselves at #1.)

Republic, meanwhile, is the first label to directly succeed itself atop the Hot 100 since the label did so when Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” took over for “Despacito” (9/16/2017), ending the latter’s record-tying 16-week rule; Republic shared radio promotion credit on “Despacito” with Fonsi’s label, Universal Music Latin Entertainment (UMLE).

Back-to-back #1 debuts: With “Plan” having debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 and “Nice” making the same start, Drake is the first artist to replace himself at #1 (of the 13 acts that have done so) with both songs having launched at the apex.

Notably (with an assist from reader Jake Rivera), consecutive Hot 100 #1s have entered at the top for just the second time, after three hits that premiered at the top reigned consecutively in 1995: Carey’s “Fantasy,” Whitney Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” and Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day.”

25th top 10, equaling Elvis: Beyond being Drake’s fifth #1, “Nice” marks his 25th top 10, tying him with Elvis Presley for the fourth-most top 10s among solo males in the chart’s history (with the start of Presley’s run of hits predating the Hot 100’s origin by two years). Michael Jackson leads with 29 solo top 10s, followed by Stevie Wonder (28) and Elton John (27). (Madonna leads all artists with 38 top 10s. The Beatles place second with 34 and Rihanna ranks third with 31.)

162nd entry, extending solo record: Further, beyond its instant #1 and top 10 status, “Nice” marks Drake’s 162nd Hot 100 entry, extending his record for the most among soloists. Only the Glee cast boasts more: 207 (tallied in 2009-13 during the show’s run, which ended in 2015). Lil Wayne ranks third among all acts with 137 appearances.

Hill climbs: “Nice” samples Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor,” which hit #7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and #21 on the Hot 100 in 1999. Hill has made one trip to the top of the Hot 100 as a credited artist, with her debut entry “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998.

#1 & #2: Drake’s “God’s Plan” dips to #2 after spending its first 11 weeks atop the Hot 100, marking his longest reign (by a week over “One Dance”) and one of just 24 hits to lead for at least that long. Drake is the 18th act to rank at #1 and #2 simultaneously and the first since Bieber, who did so with “Despacito” and “I’m The One,” respectively, on July 22, 2017. The Beatles first doubled up at #1 and #2 at the same time, with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You,” respectively, on 2/22/1964.

As it slips to #2 on the Hot 100, “Plan” does the same on Streaming Songs (47.5 million, down 9 percent), where it likewise logged its first 11 weeks at #1. The track drops to #3 after eight weeks atop Digital Song Sales (35,000, down 26 percent) and rebounds from #4 to its #3 high on Radio Songs (108 million, up 1 percent).

Three in top five: Drake makes it three songs in the Hot 100’s top five simultaneously, thanks to “Nice” at #1, “Plan” at #2 and BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive,” featuring Drake, which holds at its #5 peak. Drake joins only the Beatles, 50 Cent, and Bieber in charting at least three titles in the top five at the same time. Bieber last tripled up, with “Sorry” (#2), “Love Yourself” (#3) and “What Do You Mean?” (#5) on 1/16/2016. The Beatles are the only act to monopolize the entire top five in a week, on 4/4/1964.

R&B/hip-hop/rap royalty: “Nice” concurrently opens at #1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts. Drake earns his 18th #1 on the former, breaking a tie with James Brown for the third-best total; Drake trails only Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, the co-leaders with 20 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs #1s apiece (dating to the chart’s 1958 launch).

On Hot Rap Songs (which began in 1989), Drake scores his record-extending 19th #1. Lil Wayne and Diddy share second place with 10 leaders each.

A version of this article first appeared at Billboard.

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