Week 6 (May 18): Another week, another new contender -- actually two this time, in Shawn Mendes' "If I Can't Have You" and Logic's Eminem-featuring "Homicide." The former is arguably Mendes' most radio-ready pop single in years, and the latter is an event release featuring a duo of generation-crossing rap stars. However, neither debut proves resounding to truly threaten "Old Town Road," which reigns on Streaming Songs again with 100 million streams, and also rebounds to No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, its fourth week atop the chart. "If I Can't Have You" still ends up debuting at No. 2 -- a career best for Mendes -- while "Homicide" checks in at No. 5.
Week 7 (May 25): For the third straight week, a song lands at No. 2 in its first full week of tracking: This time, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber's collab "I Don't Care," the lead single from the former's then-upcoming No.6 Collaborations Project LP. Though Sheeran's most recent lead single "Shape of You" debuted atop the Hot 100 -- as did Bieber's "What Do You Mean" -- "I Don't Care" still falls short of No. 1, with its streaming numbers (34.1 million) dwarfed by those of "Old Town Road," which exceeds 100 million for the sixth straight week. Between Bieber, Sheeran and Swift, Lil Nas X has now held off three artists who've scored a combined 11 Hot 100 No. 1 hits in the previous half-decade.
Week 8 (June 1): Another new bump for "Old Town Road," whose long-awaited official music video debuts on May 17. The star-studded clip -- which features well-wishers Diplo, Chris Rock, Vince Staples, Rico Nasty and more, as well as Nas X and Cyrus as co-stars -- draws a great deal of attention, and gives the song's totals a large spike, resulting in its best overall streaming showing (130.7 million) since its first week with Cyrus in tow, and a return to No. 1 on Digital Song Sales. "I Don't Care" holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100 for a second week.
Week 9 (June 8): With "Old Town Road" still ahead of the pack, an emerging challenger pulls into second place behind it: Billie Eilish, whose "Bad Guy" has bounced around the Hot 100's top tier since its No. 7 debut nearly two months earlier, and which now climbs 3-2 for its highest peak to date. Nonetheless, the margins are not yet particularly close; even with a 12 percent drop in streams (to 115.3 million), "Old Town Road" still holds a 3 to 1 points lead over "Bad Guy."
Week 10 (June 15): Three huge names in '10s pop music return this week with new singles: Katy Perry ("Never Really Over"), Miley Cyrus ("Mother's Daughter" and the rest of her She Is Coming EP) and Cardi B ("Press"). However, in a moment perhaps representative of changing tides in the musical mainstream, none of them even come close to threatening "Old Town Road"; Perry's "Never Really Over" has the highest debut of the week at No. 15. Meanwhile, in its 10th week atop the Hot 100, "Old Town Road" climbs to No. 2 on Billboard's Radio Songs tally, while staying firmly atop both Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales -- the closest it's come to date to topping all three charts at once.
Week 11 (June 22): Another relatively easy week for "Old Town Road" at No. 1, as "Bad Guy" and Khalid's "Talk" remain static at No. 2 and 3 and the top debut is Chris Brown's Drake-featuring "No Guidance" at No. 9. However, there are finally some signs of slippage in the song's performance: For the first time since the debut of its Billy Ray Cyrus remix 10 weeks earlier, "Old Town Road" finally dips below 100 million in streams -- though just barely, at 99.9 million, which is still easily the week's highest total.