www.billboard.com/articles/news/9544280/cardi-b-up-number-one-hot-100/Cardi B's 'Up' Soars to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 After Grammy Awards PerformanceBy Gary Trust
3/22/2021
The song is Cardi B's fifth Hot 100 leader dating to her first, "Bodak Yellow," in October 2017.
Cardi B's "Up" surges from No. 6 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to spend its first week atop the tally. The song, which becomes Cardi B's fifth Hot 100 No. 1, debuted at No. 2 five weeks earlier and tallied three weeks at the runner-up spot before reaching the summit.
Helping power its ascent, Cardi B performed "Up" as part of a medley, with Megan Thee Stallion, of their four-week 2020 Hot 100 No. 1 "WAP" on the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, broadcast on CBS, March 14.
Plus, Dua Lipa's "Levitating," featuring DaBaby, rebounds to the Hot 100's top 10 (13-7) after the pair performed it on the Grammys (also as part a medley, with her prior hit "Don't Start Now").
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated March 27) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (March 23). For all chart news, you can follow
billboard and
billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Here's a look at Cardi B's coronation with "Up," released on Atlantic Records and the 1,118th No. 1 in the Hot 100's 62-year history.
Streams, Airplay & Sales: "Up" drew 22.7 million U.S. streams (down 5%) and 18,000 downloads sold (up 96%, good for the Hot 100's top Sales Gainer award) in the week ending March 18, according to MRC Data. It also attracted 34.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 7%) in the week ending March 21.
The track rises 5-3 on the Streaming Songs chart, which it led for two weeks; 7-3 on Digital Song Sales, where it spent a week in the lead; and 17-14 on Radio Songs.
Cardi B's 5th Hot 100 No. 1: Here's an updated look at Cardi B's Hot 100 No. 1s:
Title, Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
"Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)," three, Oct. 7, 2017
"I Like It," with Bad Bunny & J Balvin, one, April 21, 2018
"Girls Like You," Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B, seven, Sept. 29, 2018
"WAP," with Megan Thee Stallion, four, Aug. 22, 2020
"Up," one (to date) March 27, 2021
Cardi B extends her record for the most Hot 100 No. 1s among female rappers. (Of her five leaders, four have also topped the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart, all except Maroon 5's "Girls Like You," on which she's featured.)
Meanwhile, "Up" is Cardi B's first Hot 100 No. 1 with no accompanying acts since "Bodak Yellow." Thanks to the two leaders, Cardi B is the first female rapper with two Hot 100 No. 1s with no accompanying artists.
Dating to her first week atop the Hot 100 with "Bodak Yellow" (Oct. 7, 2017), Cardi B ties for the most No. 1s among all acts in the span since, matching the five each earned in that stretch by Drake and Ariana Grande.
"Up" to No. 1: Amid an onslaught of No. 1 Hot 100 debuts, "Up" is the first song to rise from another rank to No. 1 for its first week atop the chart in five months, since 24kGoldn's "Mood," featuring Iann Dior, elevated 4-1 on the Oct. 24, 2020-dated chart. All five new No. 1s in between spent their first weeks on the chart at No. 1: Ariana Grande's "Positions"; BTS' "Life Goes On"; Taylor Swift's "Willow"; Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License"; and Drake's "What's Next."
(In that stretch, one No. 1 returned to the top, twice from No. 2, for its fourth and fifth weeks at the apex: Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You.")
In a word … Only one all-time No. 1 Hot 100 song title is shorter than "Up": Britney Spears' "3," from 2009. "Up" is the shortest proper one-word No. 1 title and ties two other hits for the fewest letters in a leading song: Rihanna's "S&M," featuring Spears, and Katy Perry's "E.T.," featuring Kanye West, both from 2011.
Here's a recap of the briefest No. 1 Hot 100 song titles (those encompassing three or fewer letters):
"3," Britney Spears, 2009
"Up," Cardi B, 2021
"S&M," Rihanna feat. Britney Spears, 2011
"E.T.," Katy Perry feat. Kanye West, 2011
"WAP," Cardi B, 2020
"Sad!," XXXTENTACION, 2018
"OMG," Usher feat. will.i.am, 2010
"Low," Flo Rida, 2008
"SOS," Rihanna, 2006
"Bad," Michael Jackson, 1987
"Ben," Michael Jackson, 1972
"War," Edwin Starr, 1970
"ABC," Jackson 5, 1970
"Why," Frankie Avalon, 1959
Notably, nine of the 14 titles above have led in the last 15 years, with the advent of social media and hashtags playing into the increase.
Word "up": "Up" is the 16th Hot 100 No. 1 with the word "up" in its title, including those with variations of the word, such as "upside" or "uptown." It's the first since Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk!," featuring Bruno Mars, reigned for 14 weeks beginning in January 2015. The first such "up"-standing hit? Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" in August 1962. (You can go to
billboardcharts for the full list.)
Optimists, celebrate (as you figured you would): The 16 No. 1 titles that include "up" outpace the 10 leaders whose titles include "down." The latter group includes this week's polar-opposite No. 1 title "Down," by Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne, from 2009.
No. 1, R&B/hip-hop, rap: "Up" concurrently rebounds 5-1 and 4-1, respectively, for a fourth week each atop the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100.
"Up" is the first song by a solo female and no accompanying artists to top the Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs since Lizzo's "Truth Hurts" in 2019. Before that, Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" last earned the honor.
Silk Sonic's "Leave the Door Open" ascends 4-2 in its second week on the Hot 100. The song by the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, which they performed on the Grammy Awards March 14, claims the chart's top Airplay Gainer trophy, as it bounds 31-12 on Radio Songs (38.7 million, up 65%). It holds at No. 2 on Digital Song Sales (21,000, down 21%) and No. 4 on Streaming Songs (19.4 million, down 16%).
The collab, billed on the Hot 100 as by Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak), and which contributes to the chart histories of both artists, adds a second week at No. 1 on the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart.
Olivia Rodrigo's former eight-week Hot 100 No. 1 "Drivers License" rises 5-3, as it spends a second week at No. 1 on Radio Songs (72.3 million airplay audience impressions, down 3%).
Drake's "What's Next" falls to No. 4 on the Hot 100 a week after it launched at No. 1. It tallies a second week at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (23 million, down 53%) and 3-24 on Digital Song Sales (4,000, down 78%), while debuting on Radio Songs at No. 42 (17.3 million, up 45%).
The Weeknd's "Save Your Tears" pushes 7-5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 4, and his "Blinding Lights" also reverses course by two spots, rising 8-6, after spending four weeks at No. 1 last April-May. "Lights" adds a record-extending 54th week in the top 10, two weeks after it became the first song in the chart's history to total a year in the bracket.
Dua Lipa's No. 5-peaking "Levitating," featuring DaBaby, returns to the Hot 100's top 10, jumping 13-7 following the act's Grammy Awards performance of the song March 14 (as part a medley, with Lipa's "Don't Start Now," which reached No. 2 in March 2020).
"Levitating" sports gains of 102% to 12,000 sold and 12% to 14.2 million streams in the week ending March 18.
24kGoldn's "Mood," featuring Iann Dior, lifts 10-8 on the Hot 100, after eight nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in October through mid-January, as it tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 29th week each, and
Ariana Grande's "34+35" holds at No. 9 on the Hot 100, after it reached No. 2.
Drake's "Wants and Needs," featuring Lil Baby, falls from No. 2, where it debuted a week earlier, to No. 10. Drake's "What's Next," "Wants and Needs" and "Lemon Pepper Style," featuring Rick Ross (down 3-31), soared in at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the Hot 100 a week ago, making Drake the first artist ever to open in the chart's top three spots simultaneously.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow
billboard and
billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated March 27), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (March 23).
