Childish Gambino Returns with No. 2 Debut on Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks Chart
11/18/2016 by Xander Zellner
Childish Gambino debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart (dated Nov. 26) with “Me And Your Mama,” earning the week’s highest debut. The song arrives after Gambino, the musical pseudonym of actor Donald Glover, premiered the song on Nov. 10 on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 radio show.
Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks is a weekly ranking of the most shared and/or mentioned songs on Twitter in the U.S., ranked by the volume of shares over a seven-day period (Monday to Sunday).
The track becomes Gambino’s highest-charting release on the Top Tracks chart, passing “III. Telegraph Ave.,” which peaked at No. 6 in October 2014, five months after the chart began. The song was also the Gambino’s first of five songs to appear on the chart.
“Me And Your Mama,” Gambino’s first single since 2014, is the first track off his forthcoming third studio album Awaken, My Love!, slated to be released Dec. 2, according to the rapper’s website.
Awaken, My Love! will be the icing on top of a highly successful year for Glover. His FX series Atlanta, which he stars in and created, was lauded by critics and renewed for a second season in September, and he was cast as young Lando Calrissian in an upcoming Star Wars film.
Meanwhile, Justin Bieber climbs 6-1 to reclaim the top spot with “Love Yourself.” The song previously led the Top Tracks chart for two consecutive weeks in January.
Its lofty rise to No. 1 stems from chatter surrounding fan votes on Twitter for the American Music Award (held on Nov. 20) for Favorite Song -- Pop/Rock.
The song never fell off the chart after hitting No. 1 in January, though it dipped as low as No. 50 on July 9. It made its biggest leap on Oct. 22 when it climbed 35 spots to No. 5 on the chart.
When it hit No. 1 in January, “Love Yourself” was Bieber’s third No. 1 on Top Tracks, following “What Do You Mean” and “Sorry” in 2015. He has hit No. 1 twice since then with “Company” in April and as a featured artist on Major Lazer’s “Cold Water” in August.
Bieber’s “Sorry” also benefited from fan votes for the American Music Awards, as the song rocketed 34 spots to No. 3 on the chart.
Elsewhere on Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks, Rae Sremmurd continues their chart success as “Black Beatles” featuring Gucci Mane jumps 24-6. The popularity of the Mannequin Challenge meme is paying off for the hip-hop siblings, as the song is also No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The hashtag #MannequinChallenge was tweeted more than 4.1 million times from Nov. 1-14, according to Twitter. Rae Sremmurd’s Twitter mentions also rose 232 percent to 53,000 in the week ending Nov. 13, according to Next Big Sound.
While “Black Beatles” is Rae Sremmurd’s eighth song to appear on Top Tracks, it’s their first song to appear in the top 10. Their last song to hit Top Tracks, “Set The Roof” featuring Lil Jon, debuted and peaked at No. 4 on Aug. 27.