Kehlani Scores First Hot 100 Hit With ‘Gangsta’ From ‘Suicide Squad’ Soundtrack
Singer Kehlani earns her debut chart hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as "Gangsta" arrives at No. 62, on the chart dated Aug. 27. The song, from Suicide Squad: The Album, comes as the soundtrack bows at…
Singer Kehlani earns her debut chart hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as “Gangsta” arrives at No. 62, on the chart dated Aug. 27. The song, from Suicide Squad: The Album, comes as the soundtrack bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with 182,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 11, according to Nielsen Music.
Kehlani Channels Harley Quinn in Video for ‘Suicide Squad’ Cut ‘Gangsta’
Elsewhere, “Gangsta” nets a No. 20 entrance on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it is the week’s highest entry. Over on the Hot R&B Songs chart, “Gangsta” scores a top 10 bow, coming in at No. 8. It is the first time that the 21-year old lands on either chart.
Streams help to drive “Gangsta” onto those three lists — which are all hybrid charts that blend airplay, streams and sales — as the cut logged 5.5 million domestic plays in the latest tracking week, up 1,006 percent. Of the overall clicks, 42 percent stem from YouTube. A music video released Aug. 8 has amassed nearly 10 million global views to date (Aug. 17), with partial week data from the clip counting toward its chart rank (due to being released mid-tracking week).
Downloads also aid the track’s debut. Sales soar 222 percent this week, to 25,000 downloads — driving the track 11-3 on the R&B Digital Songs chart (her best peak of four charting songs). The track has yet to be officially promoted to radio, and only one play was reported in the tracking week ending Aug. 14. The sole spin came from San Diego’s KEGY on Aug. 12.
Kehlani first appeared on Billboard charts in late 2014. She has had a string of 10 songs land on the Billboard + Twitter Emerging Artists chart since, with “Down for You,” featuring BJ the Chicago Kid, reaching No. 1 on the April 18, 2015 chart. Her album You Should Be Here debuted (and peaked) at No. 2 on the R&B Albums chart (dated May 16, 2015), and has sold 51,000 copies to date.
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