Billboard Hot 100: 02/19/2022

[degen]

I just find it funny that a few days ago there will people in these threads predicting that Nicki wouldn’t even debut in the Top 10. But then she debut at #2 and now the narrative suddenly flips to “poor Salty Nicki.” I never excepted DWHAP to debut at #1, regardless of how close it got. It performed beyond many expectations and is still hanging in there on the streaming front. It may fall off next week but it has potential to become a hit with longevity.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Literally no one said DWHAP wouldn't debut in the top 10. Stop lying

[magik]

The sex shaming is just too weird to me. Why does Nicki think she is above what those other girls are doing just because she raps better? She "strips" and having been "stripping" in videos for years. She acts as if she's a Queen Latifah or Mc Lyte.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

I am curious about the charts and how they’re tabulated with regards to a person’s impact. For example, supposedly the rule now limits one’s purchasing power to one per person (or one per email/credit card/whatever). Do streams have that same stipulation? Or can someone listen to a song 50 times in a week and as long as it’s not on a loop, they all count?

I’d be curious, even just as a comparison, in seeing a chart that, in whatever way is possible, limits a person’s footprint to being as singular as possible. Meaning, a stream by one person = 50 streams from another person because rather than being on a per streams basis, it’s per person. Same with sales and (if at all possible!!) radio. (I get radio might be trickier but I imagine there must be some number that captures an estimate of individual listeners?)
I think this approach would show a much more accurate reach of a particular song. To me, seeing a song get billions of streams that might come from a million people is much less interesting and quite frankly not as useful than knowing that a million people are streaming a song each week for weeks on end. This isn’t even a suggestion that the current formula is useless because I’m sure when tracking profits and even how well a song is catching on, this way works too. It’s just limiting as it is now and all the questions and comments that continuously pop up here and elsewhere could be answered using a per-person model.

[crumbumtootles]

Feb 14, 2022 14:31:44 GMT -5 magik said:

The sex shaming is just too weird to me. Why does Nicki think she is above what those other girls are doing just because she raps better? She "strips" and having been "stripping" in videos for years. She acts as if she's a Queen Latifah or Mc Lyte.

She then immediately went on to tweet about having sex with her husband to her newest song. She’s fine with being sexual, she just hates when other female artists do it because she’s bitter.

[Enigma.]

I still can't fathom how someone with TWENTY top ten hits can be so bitter about not being #1... Like, you've had your hits and still getting them..

[artv9]

Feb 14, 2022 14:33:29 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

Do streams have that same stipulation? Or can someone listen to a song 50 times in a week and as long as it’s not on a loop, they all count?

I'm not sure so don't quote me on it, but I think Spotify limits it to XYZ streams per day per IP or something, I've seen speculations about it at least. And then you have the paid streams > free streams. Generally I do think streaming goes through filtering on every platform, but based on what ratio it's probably some internal data that platforms won't explicitly share. 

Only radio that has zero filtering/limits? even for songs that get spammed all the time.

[Choco]

Nicki has always been against other females outshining her although this might be the first time she's resorting to slut shaming?

To the person asking why the Barbz are annoying... Nicki is annoying as well. She enjoys it and feeds into it.

[chebad23]

Feb 14, 2022 14:20:57 GMT -5 degen said:

Feb 14, 2022 14:01:05 GMT -5 chebad23 said:

I remember a lot of barbz clowning Cardi when UP debuted number 2. Good for her though…..just saying. The reaction to another prominent female artist was a little different. I also remember Nicki throwing subs about “Tik Tok” songs only to try to deliberately create a challenge with various dancers.

Let me ask a question. Why is it that Nicki (and her fans) always discredit other women’s success to build up her own? Then it was “this ain’t no Tik Tok song with the challenges” and now it’s “Well I’ll use Tik Tok but….at least this one doesn’t have sexy visuals” like she wasn’t twerking onstage to Anaconda. When you’ll do that, though, it makes it difficult for others to give you’ll props. “All the collaborations couldn’t do it”….Please. Nicki has a habit of taking pot shots at others while accepting accolades that’s a little off putting. But again, congrats.

I totally forgot “Up!” debut at #2. But I don’t think the point you are making is much of anything. Regardless of how Nicki or Cardi perform, Stans are going to engage in stan war culture. This is nothing new, so spare me the “how come Nicki fans” bit. Cardi’s fans are just as guilty. In fact, they rubbed it in Nicki’s fans faces when she never had #1 hits prior to getting her 2.

You mean after they continuously ridiculed Cardi and discredited her success by saying it was the result of “payola and sympathy”? The harassment towards Cardi got even worse after Nicki’s radio rants where she accused her of being a culture vulture, weaponized her postpartum depression, and heavily implied her success was by illegal gains. I have seen Barbz at the helm of some of the worst LIES spread about Cardi (herpes, drug/rape, anti-black, etc.) bullying this woman under every single post, threatening to harm her child. Easy to forget that right….how Nicki’s fans were texting this woman’s phone (after her number was leaked by someone in her camp) and threatening her and Kulture. And they have engaged in this type of behavior, for years. You’re leaving out critical context. What you’re seeing is a response to the repeated harassment Cardi and her fanbase endure.

While Nicki actively encourages her fans bullying behavior, Cardi has repeatedly asked her fanbase not to speak negatively about other female artists. Personally messaging the bigger fan pages. That’s the difference.

So it is absolutely relevant. It would be one thing if it’s just Cardi…but, Nicki has shown a repeated propensity to undercut people who disagree or criticize her and her fanbase’ nasty behavior is a direct reflection of that.

My point though is that you’ll clown people for the very things you’ll later celebrate and then act surprised when others take the opportunity to poke fun.

[Private Dancer]

Feb 14, 2022 14:40:33 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

I still can't fathom how someone with TWENTY top ten hits can be so bitter about not being #1... Like, you've had your hits and still getting them..

It's called insecurity 

[kcdawg13]

A No. 2 debut isn't bad for an artist like Nicki who hasn't really been musically relevant outside her own rabid fanbase in like 6 years, but of course she has to whine about it. She's so insecure it's unbelievable, but the slut shaming is pretty bad, especially since she had her own controversial moment with Anaconda but when other women put their bodies out there it's bad apparently?

[rainygirl]

Feb 14, 2022 14:31:44 GMT -5 magik said:

The sex shaming is just too weird to me. Why does Nicki think she is above what those other girls are doing just because she raps better? She "strips" and having been "stripping" in videos for years. She acts as if she's a Queen Latifah or Mc Lyte.

considering who she’s married to , it’s kinda rich . She shouldn’t be shaming anyone or anything

[degen]

Feb 14, 2022 14:43:55 GMT -5 chebad23 said:

Feb 14, 2022 14:20:57 GMT -5 degen said:

I totally forgot “Up!” debut at #2. But I don’t think the point you are making is much of anything. Regardless of how Nicki or Cardi perform, Stans are going to engage in stan war culture. This is nothing new, so spare me the “how come Nicki fans” bit. Cardi’s fans are just as guilty. In fact, they rubbed it in Nicki’s fans faces when she never had #1 hits prior to getting her 2.

You mean after they continuously ridiculed Cardi and discredited her success by saying it was the result of “payola and sympathy”? The harassment towards Cardi got even worse after Nicki’s radio rants where she accused her of being a culture vulture, weaponized her postpartum depression, and heavily implied her success was by illegal gains. I have seen Barbz at the helm of some of the worst LIES spread about Cardi (herpes, drug/rape, anti-black, etc.) bullying this woman under every single post, threatening to harm her child. Easy to forget that right….how Nicki’s fans were texting this woman’s phone (after her number was leaked by someone in her camp) and threatening her and Kulture. And they have engaged in this type of behavior, for years. You’re leaving out critical context. What you’re seeing is a response to the repeated harassment Cardi and her fanbase endure.

While Nicki actively encourages her fans bullying behavior, Cardi has repeatedly asked her fanbase not to speak negatively about other female artists. Personally messaging the bigger fan pages. That’s the difference.

So it is absolutely relevant. It would be one thing if it’s just Cardi…but, Nicki has shown a repeated propensity to undercutting people and her fanbases nasty behavior is a direct reflection of that.

No, we are not going down this road again. This is taking me back to 2018 and I’m not doing it. At the end of the day, both fanbases are guilty of shaming and ridiculing and both women engaged in the feud. As if Cardi is innocent in this scenario when she literally was trying to have a physical confrontation with Nicki. It’s hilarious to me how Cardi is perceived innocent despite all her wildin’ out. Give me a break dude.

[iHype.]

This discussion is pointless. Every single time she has returned the last 4 or 5 years this has happened. She will continually meltdown, throw shade, act above charts/#1, claim Billboard made rules specifically to limit her success, the industry is against her, etc. She is lost in her own MAGA-style dystopian world.

Just ignore it and move on tbh.

[Choco]

Nicki gonna be real quiet next week though when the song plummets.

And fans are gonna be like: rAdIo's FaUlT.

[degen]

Feb 14, 2022 14:49:28 GMT -5 Choco said:

Nicki gonna be real quiet next week though when the song plummets.

And fans are gonna be like: rAdIo's FaUlT.

Well let me ask you this. What do Taylor fans say when her songs plummet in week 2?

“It’s NOT about chart PlaCEmENTs”?

[rainygirl]

Feb 14, 2022 14:48:44 GMT -5 iHype. said:

This discussion is pointless. Every single time she has returned the last 4 or 5 years this has happened. She will continually meltdown, throw shade, act above charts/#1, claim Billboard made rules specifically to limit her success, the industry is against her, etc. She is lost in her own MAGA-style dystopian world.

Just ignore it and move on tbh.

Succint and perfect post . It’s wash, rinse , repeat with her

[degen]

Also y’all are forgetting Nicki also has “Bussin” coming for a debut next week. If she gets another Top 10 it will be the icing on the cake.

[Mayman]

I think #2 is a great debut for her. If they would send the song to radio and give it an adds date, it could have decent longevity. Not sure why they haven't done that already.

[wavey.]

Feb 14, 2022 14:54:54 GMT -5 degen said:

Also y’all are forgetting Nicki also has “Bussin” coming for a debut next week. If she gets another Top 10 it will be the icing on the cake.

Right. The new team tested the waters and got positive results. I don't know why they removed the add date, but if they have a plan, let's see it unfold. It's great to see her back in the Top 10 after the past few songs have peaked Top 20/50. Very refreshing. Everything else is subjective but who cares lol.

[chebad23]

Feb 14, 2022 14:48:18 GMT -5 degen said:

Feb 14, 2022 14:43:55 GMT -5 chebad23 said:

You mean after they continuously ridiculed Cardi and discredited her success by saying it was the result of “payola and sympathy”? The harassment towards Cardi got even worse after Nicki’s radio rants where she accused her of being a culture vulture, weaponized her postpartum depression, and heavily implied her success was by illegal gains. I have seen Barbz at the helm of some of the worst LIES spread about Cardi (herpes, drug/rape, anti-black, etc.) bullying this woman under every single post, threatening to harm her child. Easy to forget that right….how Nicki’s fans were texting this woman’s phone (after her number was leaked by someone in her camp) and threatening her and Kulture. And they have engaged in this type of behavior, for years. You’re leaving out critical context. What you’re seeing is a response to the repeated harassment Cardi and her fanbase endure.

While Nicki actively encourages her fans bullying behavior, Cardi has repeatedly asked her fanbase not to speak negatively about other female artists. Personally messaging the bigger fan pages. That’s the difference.

So it is absolutely relevant. It would be one thing if it’s just Cardi…but, Nicki has shown a repeated propensity to undercutting people and her fanbases nasty behavior is a direct reflection of that.

No, we are not going down this road again. This is taking me back to 2018 and I’m not doing it. At the end of the day, both fanbases are guilty of shaming and ridiculing and both women engaged in the feud. As if Cardi is innocent in this scenario when she literally was trying to have a physical confrontation with Nicki. It’s hilarious to me how Cardi is perceived innocent despite all her wildin’ out. Give me a break dude.

You mean after Nicki’s repeated pot shots? Nicki had been throwing shade in songs, posts, etc. for several months….without Cardi ever uttering a word publicly. So give me a break.

Until you show me evidence of Cardi’s fans sending threatening messages to Nicki about her child…I don’t want to hear it. Sounds to me like you’re trying to excuse some really deranged behavior. This woman has continued to take shots at Cardi…who hasn’t spoken on the topic in years. This coming after dissing her in songs, throwing shots in multiple interviews and on social media - all of which came before the shoe incident. This is after the multiple radio rants and Nicki linking up with bloggers like Tasha K to spread harmful narratives; after she “allegedly” paid for the lawyers of the two women who filed criminal charges against Cardi. The woman is obsessed.

But I digress. I certainly am not trying to take a walk down memory lane. I only bring this up as context, respective to your earlier comments about “both fanbases engaging”. There is a major difference in behavior.

Regardless, as I said, Nicki seems to not be able to accept accolades without discrediting others in the process.

[Choco]

Bussin already down to #20 on iTunes, #28 on Spotify and #8 on Apple Music (below "Problem"). It's not going top 10 on debut unless sales are even bigger than "Problem".

[rainygirl]

Feb 14, 2022 15:00:09 GMT -5 chebad23 said:

Feb 14, 2022 14:48:18 GMT -5 degen said:

No, we are not going down this road again. This is taking me back to 2018 and I’m not doing it. At the end of the day, both fanbases are guilty of shaming and ridiculing and both women engaged in the feud. As if Cardi is innocent in this scenario when she literally was trying to have a physical confrontation with Nicki. It’s hilarious to me how Cardi is perceived innocent despite all her wildin’ out. Give me a break dude.

You mean after Nicki’s repeated pot shots? Nicki had been throwing shade in songs, posts, etc. for several months….without Cardi ever uttering a word publicly. So give me a break.

Until you show me evidence of Cardi’s fans sending threatening messages to Nicki about her child…I don’t want to hear it. Sounds to me like you’re trying to excuse some really deranged behavior. This woman has continued to take shots at Cardi…who hasn’t spoken on the topic in years. This coming after dissing her in songs, throwing shots in multiple interviews and on social media - all of which came before the shoe incident. This is after the multiple radio rants and Nicki linking up with bloggers like Tasha K to spread harmful narratives; after she “allegedly” paid for the lawyers of the two women who filed criminal charges against Cardi. The woman is obsessed.

But I digress. I certainly am not trying to take a walk down memory lane. I only bring this up as context, respective to your earlier comments about “both fanbases engaging”. There is a major difference in behavior.

Regardless, as I said, Nicki seems to not be able to accept accolades without discrediting others in the process.

Nicki feuded with Cardi , Mariah , Miley , Lil Kim , Remy Ma , Taylor etc etc . I think it’s clear who the problem is 😂

[Ryan]

I personally don't think Nicki was trying to sex shame other female rappers with that particular tweet. It's Nicki Minaj we're talking about lol. Sexual visuals always have been such a big part of her career and artistry. She knows that they sell and uses them strategically. (Anaconda, anyone?) I think she's just saying she knows her chart playbook so damn well but she didn't really follow it this time, which is why she had a lower expectation this time.

[Mayman]

I also find it pretty impressive that Lil Baby has had three songs debut at #2 in the last year. Both "Wants and Needs" and "Girls Want Girls" had decent longevity too. Hopefully he can get a #1 soon.

[crumbumtootles]

Feb 14, 2022 15:00:24 GMT -5 Choco said:

Bussin already down to #20 on iTunes, #28 on Spotify and #8 on Apple Music (below "Problem"). It's not going top 10 on debut unless sales are even bigger than "Problem".

There isn’t as big of a push behind Bussin but that may change. Nicki herself has been streaming the song on Stationhead and this is the song with the TikTok dance she paid for. This song could debut top 10 too.

[rainygirl]

Feb 14, 2022 15:08:23 GMT -5 crumbumtootles said:

Feb 14, 2022 15:00:24 GMT -5 Choco said:

Bussin already down to #20 on iTunes, #28 on Spotify and #8 on Apple Music (below "Problem"). It's not going top 10 on debut unless sales are even bigger than "Problem".

There isn’t as big of a push behind Bussin but that may change. Nicki herself has been streaming the song on Stationhead and this is the song with the TikTok dance she paid for. This song could debut top 10 too.

that’s true a lot can change. 11 more new remixes tomorrow and we’re in business

[Private Dancer]

Feb 14, 2022 15:10:44 GMT -5 rainygirl said:

Feb 14, 2022 15:08:23 GMT -5 crumbumtootles said:

There isn’t as big of a push behind Bussin but that may change. Nicki herself has been streaming the song on Stationhead and this is the song with the TikTok dance she paid for. This song could debut top 10 too.

that’s true a lot can change. 11 more new remixes tomorrow and we’re in business

[iHype.]

Feb 14, 2022 15:07:57 GMT -5 Mayman said:

I also find it pretty impressive that Lil Baby has had three songs debut at #2 in the last year. Both "Wants and Needs" and "Girls Want Girls" had decent longevity too. Hopefully he can get a #1 soon.

He is for sure being positioned as the next 'top' rapper. It feels pretty obvious. 

Nicki and Drake both have now released multiple singles with him to hype their return eras. The most successful male/female rappers of the last decade. It is similar to in 2009-2010 when Eminem/Jay-Z/Kanye were all rushing to do multiple songs with Drake & Nicki during their breakthrough and we saw how that translated.  

Pair that with the fact his last studio album did insanely well and continues to do so.

It all feels like it's building up to one big moment incoming. His next era will be interesting. His team just needs to properly execute it and it could be colossal. 

[chebad23]

Feb 14, 2022 15:05:51 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I personally don't think Nicki was trying to sex shame other female rappers with that particular tweet. It's Nicki Minaj we're talking about lol. Sexual visuals always have been such a big part of her career and artistry. She knows that they sell and uses them strategically. (Anaconda, anyone?) I think she's just saying she knows her chart playbook so damn well but she didn't really follow it this time, which is why she had a lower expectation this time.

But she has before actually. She did an interview a few years ago, referring basically to strippers and IG models (sex workers, in essence) as “modern day prostitutes”. She caught a lot of flack for it, if I recall.

But, let’s give Nicki the benefit of the doubt and say (for once) she wasn’t throwing shade. Again, congrats to her. Wish her continued success moving forward.