As of this week, T.I. is the king of the Billboard Hot 100.  “Live Your Life” (with Rihanna) spends a fourth non-consecutive week at #1 with a bullet…which means that he has spent more weeks at #1 than any other artist in 2008 (”Life,” combined with his other #1, “Whatever You Like,” makes 11 weeks at #1, beating Flo Rida featuring T-Pain’s 10-week stay with their song “Low.”)  I’m predicting one more week for “Life” though next week, because last week’s threats, Kanye West’s “Heartless” and Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold,” both dropped positions.  “Hot N Cold” slipped one position to #4 (but retains its bullet), while “Heartless” drops from #4 to #12 and loses its bullet.  The only threat this week is Beyoncé Knowles’ “If I Were a Boy,” which rises two spots to #3 with a bullet and is the Sales Gainer of the week.  This is possibly because of her performance of the song on MTV’s “Total Finale Live” special last week, which included her other single, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” which is ironically the Airplay Gainer of the week (it rises from #39 to #28 this week.) (more…)

Yay! People want to “Live Your Life” instead of listening to “Whatever You Like.” For the second time this year, T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” has been knocked off the top spot by his other #1 song, “Live Your Life” (with Rihanna.) He is the only artist ever to replace himself twice on the Billboard Hot 100 with the same song. It retains its bullet and remains the Airplay Gainer for a second week in a row. I’ve stated before that I prefer “Life” over “Like,” and I think that it will remain #1 for a third non-consecutive week next week. Its only contenders are…surprisingly…two songs that were on a downward slide last week. Former #1 song “So What” by Pink moves up from #4 to #3 and gains a bullet, while Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” moves up from #6 to #4 and also gains a bullet after sliding back one place last week. Beyoncé Knowles’ “If I Were a Boy” apparently didn’t do jack, because it slides back from #3 to #5 and loses its bullet. I’ve been seeing the video on VH1 (a.k.a. the only major music channel that still plays some videos) more often, so it might stick around the top 10 for another couple of weeks. (more…)

Why does America want “Whatever You Like?” T.I.’s song is #1 yet again for a seventh non-consecutive week on the Billboard Hot 100…despite me giving you alternatives like T.I.’s other chart-topper with Rihanna, “Live Your Life” (currently #2 with a bullet, and is the Airplay Gainer for the week), or “Weird Al” Yankovic’s version of the song. Fortunately, it doesn’t have a bullet this week, so it will most likely be taken over by “Life” again next week. If not, then there is one other contender for next week…Beyoncé Knowles’ “If I Were a Boy” from her upcoming album I Am…Sasha Fierce (release date: 11/18/2008.) Thanks to digital downloads, the song jumps from #68 to #3 with a bullet on its third week on the chart. (more…)