The Billboard Hot 100 has Shaboozey鈥檚 鈥淎 Bar Song (Tipsy)鈥� at No. 1 for a 15th nonconsecutive week 鈥� only the sixth song ever to top the chart for that long. But while the singles chart stays mostly unchanged, the Billboard 200 albums chart has been flooded with high-profile new entries: Jelly Roll tops the chart for the first time with his supersized Beautifully Broken, while Rod Wave, GloRilla and BigXthaPlug all land in the Top 10. And Charli XCX鈥檚 Brat surges on the strength of an accurately titled deluxe edition.
TOP ALBUMS
Last week鈥檚 Billboard 200 was headlined by Moon Music, the 10th album from that reliable purveyor of frictionless English pop, . And, given how much of Moon Music鈥檚 chart success came from album sales 鈥� as opposed to online streaming and radio airplay 鈥� it seemed likely to post only the briefest of runs at No. 1.
A week later, , as Moon Music plunged from the top spot to No. 29. But instead of merely reverting to the pre-Coldplay reality, this week鈥檚 Billboard 200 is headlined by a flood of fresh titles, with four (!) debuts in the Top 10 plus the return of an old favorite with a generous facelift.
Country singer Jelly Roll leads the pack with his first-ever No. 1 album, Beautifully Broken 鈥� the success of which feels like a victory lap following a years-long stretch of touring, collaborating with other artists, racking up chart hits and even . It鈥檚 consistent with the singer鈥檚 hustle that Beautifully Broken was released in many variant forms, all of them engineered to boost first-week sales: There鈥檚 a 14-song version, a 22-song version (for digital download and streaming), a 27-song version (as a download from Jelly Roll鈥檚 webstore) and a most-deluxe-of-all 28-song version (again, for digital download and streaming). That鈥檚 not even getting into all the different versions on vinyl, CD and cassette.
As it turns out, Jelly Roll had enough competition to make the effort necessary. Rod Wave, who fuses hip-hop and soul, has now landed all seven of his albums in the Top 10; the latest, Last Lap, debuts at No. 2, with the lion鈥檚 share coming from streaming rather than airplay or sales. (As previously discussed in this space, strong streaming numbers generally portend longer chart runs, because sales are only counted once, while streaming algorithms tend to feed people music they鈥檝e already heard. Streaming also helped land 18 of Last Lap鈥檚 songs on the Hot 100 this week, which is a nice bonus.)
鈥檚 Brat surges from No. 14 to No. 3 鈥� matching the peak it hit when the album initially debuted back in June 鈥� thanks to the release of its own deluxe edition, titled Brat and it鈥檚 completely different but also still brat. The album, which previously existed in both 15-song and 18-song forms (the latter titled Brat and it鈥檚 the same but there鈥檚 three more songs so it鈥檚 not), has now been blown out into a 35-song mega-album; the 17 extra songs consist of star-packed remixes featuring the likes of , , , and others. (Technically, there鈥檚 a 34-song version and a 35-song version, but we鈥檙e already so far into the weeds as it is.) All of those versions count as Brat as far as Billboard is concerned, so here we are.
That鈥檚 not even it for major movement on the Billboard 200, as two rappers enjoy their highest-ever chart debuts: 鈥檚 Glorious enters the chart at No. 5, while BigXthaPlug鈥檚 Take Care debuts at No. 8; the latter鈥檚 previous career chart peak came when Amar hit No. 97, so he鈥檚 clearly on the rise. (And, as with , both Glorious and Take Care are charting based primarily on streaming numbers.)
The rest of the Top 10 consists of holdovers, all of which, thanks to the chart鈥檚 newcomers, lose ground this week: 鈥檚 Short n鈥� Sweet (from No. 2 to No. 4), 鈥檚 The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess (from No. 3 to No. 6), Billie Eilish鈥檚 Hit Me Hard and Soft (from No. 5 to No. 7), 鈥檚 One Thing at a Time (from No. 4 to No. 9) and 鈥檚 The Tortured Poets Department (from No. 6 to No. 10).
TOP SONGS
For the umpteenth week, on the Hot 100 singles chart. But 鈥檚 鈥淎 Bar Song (Tipsy)鈥� keeps occupying ever-more-rarefied air, as the track spends a whopping 15th week at No. 1 鈥� a feat that puts it in the company of just five other songs, ever. It and 鈥� 鈥淎s It Was鈥� have posted 15-week runs; Morgan Wallen鈥檚 鈥淟ast Night,鈥� & 鈥檚 鈥淒espacito (feat. )鈥� and & 鈥檚 鈥淥ne Sweet Day鈥� posted 16-week runs; and 鈥檚 鈥淥ld Town Road (feat. )鈥� holds the record, with 19 weeks at No. 1 in 2019.
Back when 鈥淥ld Town Road鈥� was sitting at No. 1, the song most often stuck at No. 2 was Billie Eilish鈥檚 breakthrough single, 鈥渂ad guy.鈥� Five years later, the latest song to hold at No. 2 behind 鈥淎 Bar Song (Tipsy)鈥� 鈥� for a third straight week, in this case 鈥� is 鈥淏irds of a Feather鈥� by 鈥� Billie Eilish.
For an eighth straight week, Sabrina Carpenter posts three songs in the Top 10. 鈥淓spresso鈥� climbs from No. 4 back to its chart peak at No. 3, 鈥淭aste鈥� slips from No. 7 to No. 8, and 鈥淧lease Please Please鈥� dips from No. 9 to No. 10. Meanwhile, and 鈥� 鈥淒ie With a Smile鈥� rises from No. 5 to No. 4, and 鈥檚 鈥淚 Had Some Help,鈥� featuring Morgan Wallen, tumbles from No. 3 to No. 5.
Rounding out the Top 10, 鈥� indomitable 鈥淟ose Control鈥� climbs from No. 8 to No. 6 鈥� that鈥檚 40 weeks in the Top 10, good for the fifth-longest such run in Billboard Hot 100 history 鈥� while Chappell Roan鈥檚 鈥淕ood Luck, Babe!鈥� slips from No. 6 to No. 7. And, though Benson Boone is no doubt up at night thinking he just might lose it all, he can rest easy knowing that 鈥淏eautiful Things鈥� climbs from No. 10 to No. 9 for what only feels like the song鈥檚 one millionth week on the chart.
WORTH NOTING
With Shaboozey鈥檚 鈥淎 Bar Song (Tipsy)鈥� topping the Billboard Hot 100 for a 15th week, it鈥檚 time to start gaming out its chances of topping the all-time record 鈥� set, as noted above, back in 2019, with the 19-week run of Lil Nas X鈥檚 鈥淥ld Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus).鈥� Barring some as-yet-unannounced juggernaut, it鈥檚 within the realm of possibility that 鈥淎 Bar Song (Tipsy)鈥� could reign without a ton of major competition in the weeks to come.
Of course, there鈥檚 an essentially immovable obstacle in Shaboozey鈥檚 path, and she鈥檚 wearing a Santa hat. On the chart dated Dec. 2, 2023, last year鈥檚 biggest holiday singles (鈥檚 鈥淩ockin鈥� Around the Christmas Tree鈥� and Mariah Carey鈥檚 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas Is You鈥�) re-entered the Top 10 at No. 8 and No. 4, respectively, before gobbling up the top two spots for the duration of the holiday season. One can dream of other Christmas songs making a run at the top 鈥� please, for the love of Santa, let it be so 鈥� but one way or another, the Hot 100 is gonna look a lot like Christmas starting no later than Dec. 7 of this year.
That leaves five more installments of the Billboard Hot 100 between now 鈥� with Shaboozey having posted 15 weeks at No. 1 鈥� and the time of year when the world decides that, of all the holiday songs in existence, we ought to reserve spots on the chart for ones recorded by Andy Williams and Perry Como. (Yes, they鈥檒l chart again. No, I don鈥檛 make the rules, as evidenced by the fact that any of this is happening in the first place.)
So let鈥檚 assume that the Mariah Carey Doomsday Clock strikes midnight to coincide with the chart dated Dec. 7, 2024. Let鈥檚 also assume that neither Billie Eilish鈥檚 鈥淏irds of a Feather鈥� nor some as-yet-unreleased sensation tops the chart between now and 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas Is You鈥� o鈥檆lock. And, finally, let鈥檚 assume that the world doesn鈥檛 suddenly reset its algorithms and abandon Shaboozey鈥檚 鈥淎 Bar Song (Tipsy)鈥� en masse at any point in November 2024. That would give Shaboozey five more unobstructed weeks at the top 鈥� and 20 overall, which would break the all-time record.
If it happens, and you鈥檇 like a hint as to what might one day break Shaboozey鈥檚 (still-theoretical) 20-week record, consider this: 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas Is You鈥� has posted 14 very nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 since its release in 1994. During the last holiday season, Christmas songs held the top spot on the Hot 100 for five weeks 鈥� three for Lee, two for Carey 鈥� before getting mothballed. If Carey were somehow able to run the table this time around, she鈥檇 hit 19 weeks early in January 2025. That鈥檇 put her in prime position to break the record in just a little more than a year.
Copyright 2024 NPR
