Cardi B Joins The Beatles & Ashanti With First 3 Hot 100 Hits in Top 10 Simultaneously; Ed Sheeran & Beyonce’s ‘Perfect’ No. 1
"No Limit," "MotorSport" & "Bodak Yellow" lift Cardi B into exclusive company. Plus, her new track "Bartier Cardi" debuts at No. 14.
Cardi B becomes just the third act – and the first rapper – to place her first three Billboard Hot 100 entries in the chart’s top 10 simultaneously, joining only The Beatles and Ashanti in achieving the feat.
The Bronx rapper earns the honor as G-Eazy’s “No Limit,” featuring A$AP Rocky and Cardi B, lifts from No. 5 to a No. 4 high on the new Jan. 6-dated Hot 100; Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B’s No. 6-peaking “MotorSport” holds at No. 7; and Cardi B’s former three-week No. 1 debut smash “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” returns to the top 10, rising 12-10.
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé‘s “Perfect” tops the Hot 100 for a fourth week.
Let’s run down the top 10 of the Jan. 6-dated Hot 100, which blends all-genre streaming, airplay and sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 3, as Billboard is adjusting how it dates its charts and magazine issues.)
As Cardi B places at Nos. 4, 7 and 10 on the Hot 100, she joins elite company in ranking in the top 10 with her first three charted titles in the same week.
The Beatles first tripled up at the heights of early Beatlemania, as, on the Hot 100s dated Feb. 29, March 7 and March 14, 1964, their first three entries all charted in the top 10 together. In the last of those three frames, the band monopolized the top three, with their first three hits at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively: “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You” and “Please Please Me.”
The feat remained unmatched for 38 years, until Ashanti reached the Hot 100’s top 10 with her first three charted titles simultaneously. On March 30 and April 6, 2002, she appeared in the tier with her own “Foolish” and as featured on Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?” and Ja Rule’s “Always on Time.”
Cardi B is the first artist overall to chart three songs in the top 10 simultaneously since The Chainsmokers, who became the first duo to earn the distinction on the March 18, 2017-dated Hot 100. She’s the first woman to do so since both Iggy Azalea and Ariana Grande on Aug. 30, 2014.
Cardi B, Azalea, Grande, Adele and Ashanti are the only women with such a top-10 triple.
The only other acts to chart three Hot 100 top 10s simultaneously (dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception): Bee Gees, 50 Cent, Usher, Akon, T-Pain, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber (thus, making Cardi B the 15th act to join the club).
The honor is the latest for Cardi B, who, when “MotorSport” zoomed 15-6 on the Dec. 30-dated Hot 100, became the first female rapper to reach the top 10 with her first three Hot 100 entries.
Cardi B’s current trio of top 10s is driven most heavily by streaming, as “No Limit” leaps 7-4 on the Streaming Songs chart with 34.2 million U.S. streams, up 18 percent, in the week ending Dec. 28, according to Nielsen Music; “MotorSport” reverses 5-7 (30 million, down 4 percent); and “Bodak Yellow” holds at No. 9 (24.2 million, down 1 percent).
Not to be forgotten among Cardi B’s bounty this week: at No. 4 on the Hot 100, “No Limit” marks a new career high for both G-Eazy and A$AP Rocky, the latter of whom surpasses his prior No. 5 peak, as featured on Selena Gomez’s “Good for You” in 2015.
Meanwhile, Cardi B adds to her haul this week, earning the Hot 100’s top two debuts with her fourth and fifth Hot 100 entries. “Bartier Cardi,” featuring 21 Savage, bows at No. 14 on the Hot 100, as it launches at No. 10 on the Digital Song Sales chart with 45,000 first-week downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 28 and at No. 11 on Streaming Songs (21.1 million opening-week U.S. streams). The song’s No. 14 Hot 100 entrance matches Cardi B’s best, tying the arrival of “MotorSport” (Nov. 18).
Plus, Ozuna and Cardi B’s “La Modelo” debuts on the Hot 100 at No. 52, starting on Digital Song Sales at No. 40 (19,000) and Streaming Songs at No. 41 (11.7 million). It opens at No. 3 on Hot Latin Songs (where it marks Cardi B’s first appearance).
Atop the Hot 100 for a fourth frame, Sheeran and Beyoncé’s “Perfect,” released on Atlantic Records, and first as a solo song by Sheeran on his album ÷ (Divide), spends a fifth week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales (163,000, up 8 percent). It dips to No. 2 after a week atop Streaming Songs (37.7 million, down 13 percent) and holds at its No. 2 high on the Radio Songs chart, with 129.6 million in audience, up 4 percent, in the week ending Dec. 31.
Post Malone’s “Rockstar,” featuring 21 Savage, ranks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 for a fourth week after eight weeks at No. 1. It rebounds for a 13th week at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (40.2 million, down 6 percent) and leads the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a 12th week each.
Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” featuring Young Thug, keeps at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, while topping Radio Songs for a fourth week (130.4 million, down 3 percent).
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, Imagine Dragons’ “Thunder” rises 6-5 after reaching No. 4, while leading Hot Rock Songs for a ninth week. Meanwhile, a medley version of the song with Khalid’s “Young Dumb & Free,” released at midnight ET Dec. 20 and being tracked as its own title, enters the Hot 100 at No. 69 (and Hot Rock Songs at No. 4), fueled by its No. 8 debut on Digital Song Sales (46,000 sold). The song is a studio version of the medley that the group and Khalid performed on the American Music Awards Nov. 19. (Khalid’s track jumps 33-18 for a new high on the Hot 100.)
Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Lil Pump’s “Gucci Gang” drops 4-6 after hitting No. 3; Sam Smith’s No. 4-peaking “Too Good at Goodbyes” holds at No. 8; and Halsey’s “Bad at Love” rebounds 10-9 after reaching No. 8.
In addition to Cardi B’s debuts outside the Hot 100’s top 10, two songs, especially, are challenging for spots in the region: Kendrick Lamar’s “Love.,” featuring Zacari, zooms 22-11 as the chart’s top gainer in streaming (19.2 million, up 53 percent), following the Dec. 21 arrival of its official video, and Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” rises 13-12.
Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column and by listening (and subscribing) to Billboard‘s Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Jan. 3), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The next issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (Jan. 5).
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