Kendrick Lamar Scores First Hot 100 No. 1 Thanks to Taylor Swift
Two months after Kendrick Lamar notched his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with To Pimp a Butterfly, the rapper has landed his first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 chart — and it's all thanks to…
Two months after Kendrick Lamar notched his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with To Pimp a Butterfly, the rapper has landed his first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — thanks to Taylor Swift.
“Bad Blood,” Swift’s fourth single from her blockbuster 1989 album, moves 53-1 on this week’s Hot 100 chart (dated June 6), giving the pop superstar her fourth career No. 1 single and third from her current full-length, following “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space.” Because Lamar, who appears alongside Swift in the star-studded “Bad Blood” music video that premiered at the top of the 2015 Billboard Music Awards earlier this month, guests on the new single edit of the track, he is listed as the featured artist on the new No. 1 song in the country.
The Swift-only version of “Bad Blood” originally entered the Hot 100 chart at No. 80 last November, the same frame that 1989 scored what was easily the biggest debut sales week of 2014 (the No. 1 song on the Hot 100 that week? Swift’s “Shake It Off,” of course). “Bad Blood” spent one additional week on the Hot 100 last fall before falling off, and returned to the chart — with Lamar now credited — at No. 53 last week.
Inside ‘Bad Blood’ Zooming To No. 1 on the Hot 100
Lamar had reached the top 10 of the Hot 100 once before, also as a featured artist: A$AP Rocky‘s “F**kin Problems,” also featuring Drake and 2 Chainz, peaked at No. 8 on the chart in 2013. His highest-charting hit as a lead artist remains “Swimming Pools (Drank),” from his 2012 album good kid, m.A.A.d city, which was the rapper’s first Hot 100 entry and peaked at No. 17.
Released in March, Lamar’s sophomore LP To Pimp a Butterfly landed the second-largest debut sales week of 2015, moving 324,000 units in its first week of release, according to Nielsen Music (Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late remains No. 1 for the year with a tally of 495,000). “King Kunta,” Lamar’s single from To Pimp a Butterfly, tumbles seven spots to No. 90 on this week’s Hot 100 (after peaking at No. 58).
All charts, including the Hot 100, will update tomorrow (May 28) on Billboard.com.
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