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…)

As I predicted, people want to “Live Your Life” again. The T.I. featuring Rihanna track spends a third non-consecutive week at #1 with a bullet on the Billboard Hot 100, and it remains the Airplay Gainer of the week. I’m making a bold prediction that it will stay at #1 next week. Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” is still a threat (having moved up one spot to #3), but they are also being threatened by Kanye West’s “Heartless,” which is the Hot Shot Debut for the week at #4 (his third top 10 Hot Shot debut in 2008, following “Swagga Like Us” with Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Lil Wayne, and “Love Lockdown.”) Pink’s “So What” is no longer in play, having dropped from #3 to #6 and having lost its bullet. (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…)

After almost a decade, Britney Spears finally tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time with the song “Womanizer” off her forthcoming sixth studio album, Circus. Spears’ first #1 single on the Hot 100 was her debut song, “…Baby One More Time,” back in 1999. Her first-week download sales of the song were 286,000, the biggest opening-week tally by a female artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital downloads in 2003, topping Mariah Carey’s take for “Touch My Body” by just over 200 units. In addition, the song made a record-breaking jump from #96 to #1 on the Hot 100, breaking the record set by T.I.’s “Live Your Life” (featuring Rihanna), which jumped from #80 to #1 last week. “Live Your Life” has dropped to #3, but it is the Airplay Gainer, and it retains its bullet. T.I.’s other song, “Whatever You Like,” stays in the #2 position with a bullet, and is the Sales Gainer for the week. Despite the song also having a bullet, either T.I. song could easily knock “Womanizer” out of the top spot next week (I think that it will be “Live Your Life.”) Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” inches up one spot to #5 with a bullet, but I don’t think that it is a threat to Britney or T.I. next week. (more…)

So by now you’ve heard “Live Your Life” enough times to get it stuck in your head, right?  Perhaps you’ve even made an attempt to yodel that entertaining sample heard in the intro.  But where did that sample come from?  The answer reveals a true and modern example of the influence of pop culture on pop culture (if that makes any sense.) 

Maybe this will refresh your memory:

Yes, indeed …. it’s the viral video of the fat kid singing the disturbingly catchy “Numa Numa” song.  But just where did that song come from?

(more…)

Wow…this is T.I.’s week! He is at #1 again on the Billboard Hot 100…but not for the song “Whatever You Like.” His song, “Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna, makes an amazing leap from #80 to #1, making it the highest leap to #1 in Hot 100 history (”Whatever” slips to #2.) Who held that honor previously? None other than T.I. with “Whatever You Like”… when the song jumped from #71 to #1 six weeks ago. He is also the first artist to replace himself at the top of the chart since Usher did it in July of 2004, when his single “Confessions Part II” replaced his single “Burn” at #1. The honors keep rolling though… the song broke the record for highest first week digital sales ever, shifting 335,000 digital downloads to debut at #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan, beating Mariah Carey’s prior digital debut week high-water mark of 286,000 with “Touch My Body.” Rihanna gets some props too, because the song officially makes her the female with the most #1 songs this decade (with five), beating Beyoncé Knowles and Carey. Predictions for next week? I’m almost positive that “Live Your Life” will be #1 for a second week, because it has a bullet and it is the Airplay Gainer for the week. Their are only two possible contenders. Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne with their song “Let it Rock,” which jumps from #15 to #5 with a bullet and is the Digital Sales Gainer this week, and Christina Aguilera’s “Keeps Gettin’ Better,” which debuts on the chart at #7 (her first time debuting in the top 10) with a bullet based on digital sales of 144,000. M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” run on the chart appears to have finally petered out, because it sinks from #5 to #9 and has lost its bullet. (more…)

I guess that T.I. is “Whatever You Like,” because his song is #1 for a third week with a bullet. It has sold 145,000 copies in the United States this week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and it is the Greatest Airplay Gainer for the week as well. To be honest with you…the song is a little boring. I certainly hope that Pink’s “So What” takes the top spot next week. Last week it became her highest charting song to date at #3 (beating her former peaks of 2000’s “Most Girls” and 2002’s “Get the Party Started”…both of which peaked at #4), but this week, it is at #2 with a bullet. It is also the Greatest Digital Gainer after selling 197,000 downloads. Other possible contenders to take T.I.’s crown many, as the top nine songs all have bullets. Pink is a big one, but another one is “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, who moves from #9 to #6. Last week I said that he probably won’t make it to #1 because the song is too quirky, but I have been surprised before. I originally thought that Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” wouldn’t make it…but it went on to top the chart for seven weeks. The last big threat may be from Flo Rida featuring will.i.am’s “In the Ayer,” which jumps from #21 to #9. I have been hearing the song everywhere, from radio airplay to a featured appearance in an episode of the CW’s “One Tree Hill.” I don’t think that it will take the top spot next week, but it might in two weeks. I hope that it does, because it is a fun little dance song that I could see all the high school kids requesting that it be played at their homecoming dances this fall (I should know…I am a part-time mobile DJ on the weekends when I’m not being The Chart Guy.) One possible last contender is the charity single “Just Stand Up!” by Artists Stand Up to Cancer, featuring an all-star group of pop/R&B/rock performers, including Beyoncé Knowles, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Natasha Bedingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, LeAnn Rimes, Ashanti, and Ciara. Last week it debuted at #78, and this week it rockets to #11. Could it be the next “We are the World” by USA for Africa? (more…)