Far*East Holds on Hot 100, Swift Makes Another Top Debut
While Far*East Movement holds at No. 1 for a second week on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Like a G6," Taylor Swift makes a record-breaking arrival with the final single in the countdown to the release of her "Speak Now" album.
After becoming the first artist in the 52-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to post back-to-back top 10 debuts last week, Swift becomes the first act to claim the chart's top debut (Hot Shot Debut) in three successive weeks, as "Mean" starts at No. 11. Her new track arrives at No. 2 on Digital Songs with 163,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "Mean" follows the debuts of "Speak Now" (217,000) and "Back to December" (242,000), which started at Nos. 8 and 6, respectively, on the Hot 100.
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"Like a G6," which features Cataracs & the Dev, reclaims the top spot on Digital Songs with 204,000 (down 9%), its third cumulative week atop that list.
Back to the Hot 100, Rihanna continues her ascent (4-3) with "Only Girl (In The World), swapping spots with Nelly's "Just A Dream" (3-4). "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love," by Usher featuring Pitbull, holds at No. 5.
Trey Songz takes the Digital Gainer award, improving by 18,000 downloads to 125,000 and rising 10-6 on the Hot 100, his best ranking to date on the chart. His only other prior top 10, "Say Aah," hit No. 9 in March.
Remaining stationary from Nos. 7 to 9 are Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz and "Club Can't Handle Me," by Flo Rida featuring David Guetta, respectively.
P!nk claims the Airplay Gainer trophy for a second straight week, as "Raise Your Glass" rises 11-10 with an improvement of 13.3 million listener impressions to 57.8 million, according to Nielsen BDS. The song is her 10th Hot 100 top 10 and first since "So What" hit No. 1 in September 2008.
In a rare week bereft of Glee Cast debuts (we'll see tracks from the "Rocky Horror" episode next week), 11 other tracks besides Swift's debut on the chart, including Katy Perry's "Firework" at No. 57 and "Gonna Get This," by Hannah Montana featuring Iyaz, at No. 66.
Also new at No. 78 is "Whip My Hair," by Willow, daughter of Will Smith. She's the second Smith offspring to chart this year, as son Jaden teamed up with Justin Bieber on "Never Say Never," which hit No. 33 in June. Papa Smith was last on the list in 2005, when "Switch" hit No. 7. Willow's song should make a huge jump next week as the single hit digital retailers on Oct. 26.
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Other notable debuts include Kanye West at No. 79 with "Monster," featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj, and Kings of Leon, who begin at No. 82 with "The End" while also re-entering at No. 65 with "Radioactive." Digital sales for the rock band's tracks spike upon the release of the group's "Come Around Sundown."
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