Wiz Khalifa’s ‘See You Again’ Knocks ‘Uptown Funk’ Off No. 1 on Hot 100
Wiz Khalifa completes a fast and furious vault to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, as "See You Again," featuring Charlie Puth, and from the box office smash 'Furious 7,' zooms 10-1.
![Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack](https://www.billboard.com/wp-content/uploads/media/wiz-khalifa-see-you-again-ft.-charlie-puth-official-video-furious-7-soundtrack-2015-billboard-650.jpg?w=650&h=430&crop=1)
Wiz Khalifa completes a fast and furious vault to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, as “See You Again,” featuring Charlie Puth, and from the box office smash Furious 7, zooms 10-1. The song stops the command of Mark Ronson‘s “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars, after 14 weeks. The latter remains tied for the second-longest rule in the Hot 100’s history.
Spurring its Hot 100 coronation, “Again” holds at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart and roars to No. 1 on the Streaming Songs and On-Demand Songs charts.
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Plus, Walk the Moon takes one giant leap into the Hot 100’s top 10 with “Shut Up and Dance.”
As we do each Wednesday, let’s run down all the songs in the top 10, and a bit beyond, on the sales/airplay/streaming-based Hot 100 (dated April 25).
“Again,” released on Atlantic Records and promoted to radio by Roadrunner Promotions, is the 1,042nd No. 1 dating to the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958 launch. It’s Khalifa’s second No. 1, following his debut hit, “Black and Yellow,” which topped the Feb. 19, 2011, chart. Puth reigns in his first Hot 100 appearance.
With the track’s 10-1 leap, “Again” makes the biggest jump to the summit since … well, the No. 1 before “Funk.” Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” bounded 13-1 on the Nov. 29, 2014 Hot 100. (The all-time record: Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You” rocketed 97-1 on Feb. 7, 2009.)
Notably, the Hot 100 greets just its second new No. 1 of 2015 on the chart dated April 25. That’s the fewest No. 1s in a single year through the last week of April in 10 years. In 2005, Mario’s “Let Me Love You” began a nine-week rule on the Jan. 1-dated chart and 50 Cent followed with his own nine-week domination for “Candy Shop,” featuring Olivia, through the chart dated April 30.
‘Furious 7’ Soundtrack Drives to No. 1 on Billboard 200
More trivia: with, as previously reported, the Furious 7 soundtrack newly-crowned atop the Billboard 200 albums chart and a single from it No. 1 on the Hot 100, a soundtrack and a corresponding single from it top both tallies simultaneously for the first time in more than 12 years. The last such pair? The 8 Mile soundtrack and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” doubled up at No. 1 the weeks of Nov. 16 and 23, 2002 and again on Jan. 11 and 18, 2003. (While those four weeks mark the soundtrack’s entire stay at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, “Lose Yourself” led the Hot 100 for 12 weeks overall.)
How did “Again” ascend to No. 1 on the Hot 100? The track spends a second week at No. 1 on Digital Songs with a 176 percent surge to 464,000 downloads sold in the week ending April 12, according to Nielsen Music. The song boasts the largest weekly sales this year and the most since “Blank Space” sold 503,000 (Nov. 15); it’s the 19th-biggest week for a song since Nielsen began tracking digital sales in 2003. Flo Rida’s “Right Round” holds the record for most weekly downloads sold: 636,000 (Feb. 28, 2009).
“Again” tops the Hot 100 as Furious 7 continues to dominate at the box office, having taken in more than $803 million in worldwide receipts since its April 3 opening, according to Box Office Mojo. Also largely fueling the song’s rise to the Hot 100’s pinnacle: its video, released Monday, April 6 (first on the Facebook page of the film’s Vin Diesel), which pays tribute to Furious star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013. Powered by the arrival of the clip, “Again” blasts 26-1 on Streaming Songs with 25 million U.S. streams, a 510 percent increase. The track also debuts at No. 1 on the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart (7.7 million, up 1,087 percent). “Again” is the first song to enter atop On-Demand Songs in the chart’s three-year history. (It additionally wins the Hot 100’s top Digital and Streaming Gainer awards.)
Another way to view how big the streams are for “Again”? The song nets the most clicks since Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” drew 32 million on the Sept. 6, 2014 Streaming Songs chart.
Also helping the coronation of “Again”: its build at radio. While airplay accounts for just 3 percent of its Hot 100 activity, the cut enters Radio Songs at No. 49 with a 174 percent gain to 24 million in all-format audience. As previously reported, it debuts on the Pop Songs airplay chart at No. 31, while pushing 35-27 on Rhythmic Songs.
“Again” concurrently takes over atop Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts. It also roars 10-1 on Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks.
With “Again” climbing to the top of the Hot 100, “Funk” has to settle for a tie for the second-longest stay at No. 1 (at least for now? More in a moment …), as it remains one of seven singles to control the chart for 14 weeks. The record for longest reign continues to be held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day”: 16 weeks in 1995-96.
“Funk” slips 1-2 on the Hot 100, although it leads Radio Songs for a 12th week (157 million, down 1 percent). It drops 1-2 on Digital Songs after 12 weeks on top (145,000, down 11 percent) and 1-3 on Streaming Songs, also after 12 weeks at the apex (14.6 million, down 8 percent).
“Again” tops the Hot 100 with a whopping 252 percent gain in overall points, while “Funk” deflates by six percent, with the former holding a hefty 1.6-to-1 points lead over the latter. Could “Funk” return to No. 1 and further make a play for Carey and Boyz II Men’s record? It doesn’t look likely. As for “Again,” it’s possible, if not expected, that it will decrease in sales on next week’s charts, since this week it was powered by the song’s first week following the premiere of its video. But, with the film still red-hot in theaters, sales and streams for the song at a feverish level and airplay on the rise, along with the track’s significant lead in overall activity (and the continued decline of “Funk”), it would be surprising if “Again” were to regress enough for “Funk” to regain the Hot 100’s No. 1 spot.
Beyond the top two on the Hot 100, Maroon 5’s “Sugar” falls to No. 3 after four weeks peaking at No. 2; Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” hits a new high (6-4); and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” holds at No. 5 after peaking at No. 2 for eight weeks.
The Weeknd’s “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” backtracks from its No. 4 Hot 100 peak to No. 6, but with top Airplay Gainer honors for a fourth week. On Radio Songs, it reaches the top five (6-5) with a 19 percent gain to 123 million. From the same hit movie, Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” descends from its No. 3 high to No. 7 on the Hot 100. At No. 8, Flo Rida “G.D.F.R.,” featuring Sage the Gemini and Lookas, holds at its peak to-date.
Walk the Moon lands the Hot 100’s lone new top 10 this week, as “Shut Up and Dance” rockets 12-9. The song charges 10-4 on Digital Songs (136,000, up 27 percent); hits the Radio Songs top 10 (11-9; 70 million, up 26 percent); and grows 43-26 on Streaming Songs (4.6 million, up 27 percent). The synth-infused anthem tops Hot Rock Songs for a third week. Having previously led the Alternative Songs airplay chart for four weeks, “Dance” is the first song to lead that list and reach the Hot 100’s top 10 since Bastille’s “Pompeii” topped Alternative Songs for four weeks in late 2013 and rose to No. 5 on the Hot 100 in March 2014.
The origin of “Dance”? Walk the Moon’s Nicholas Petricca recently told Billboard that he and his girlfriend were at a Los Angeles club and “it was taking forever to get a drink at the bar. I was frustrated because there was great music playing and I wanted to be out there. She was like, ‘Shut up and dance with me!'”
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Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Taylor Swift’s “Style” slips 7-10 after reaching No. 6. Swift has reportedly been filming the video for “Bad Blood,” rumored (but not confirmed or denied by Republic Records, the label promoting her songs to radio) to be the next single from her blockbuster album, 1989.
And, in highlights below the Hot 100’s top 10, Jason Derulo’s “Want to Want Me” rises 14-12, Ariana Grande’s “One Last Time” lifts 16-15 and Omarion’s “Post to Be,” featuring Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko, surges 22-16. More details on action below the top 10 in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column, to post on Friday (April 17).
Visit Billboard.com tomorrow (April 16), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 in its entirety and Digital Songs, Radio Songs and Streaming Songs, will refresh, as they do each Thursday.