Rihanna & Drake’s ‘Work’ Leads Hot 100 for Second Week

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Rihanna’s “Work,” featuring Drake, spends a second week at No. 1 on theBillboard Hot 100 (dated March 12), vaulting in streaming following the Feb. 22 premiere of its official video.

“Work,” released on Westbury Road/Roc Nation, holds atop the Hot 100 boosted by an 80 percent blast to 46.5 million U.S. streams in the tracking week ending Feb. 25, according to Nielsen Music, following the arrival of its official music video Feb. 22. Notably, the song sports 13.9 million Vevo on YouTube clicks for the week, up from 575,000 the prior frame. “Work” leads the Streaming Songs chart for a second week and tops the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart (18.1 million streams, up 19 percent) for a third frame. It rules Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a fourth (nonconsecutive) week.

Impressively, only two titles have scored a higher weekly streaming sum than the 46.5 million tallied by “Work,” dating to the Streaming Songs tally’s 2013 inception. Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” peaked with 103 million domestic streams (driven primarily by user-generation videos including the track’s audio), reflected on the March 2, 2013 ranking, and logged four total weeks of more than 46.5 million streams. Adele’s “Hello” peaked with 61.6 million streams (Nov. 14, 2015) and posted a second week of more than 46.5 million. (Note that while the official “Work” video includes two plays of the song, each click counts as one stream for chart tabulation purposes.)

“Work” rebounds 2-1 for a second week atop the Digital Songs chart (169,000 downloads sold, up 42 percent) and bounds 10-5 on Radio Songs(90 million in airplay audience, up 18 percent). The song claims all three of the Hot 100’s top Gainer awards, for streaming, digital sales and airplay, becoming the first title to triple up with the nods since Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick Lamar) on the June 6, 2015, chart, when it rocketed 53-1 after the arrival of its official clip (premiered at the kick-off of the 2015 Billboard Music Awards).

As reported last week when the song dashed 4-1, “Work” is Rihanna’s 14th Hot 100 leader, lifting her into a solo share of the third-most No. 1s all-time, breaking a tie with Michael Jackson. The Beatles lead with 20 No. 1s, followed by Mariah Carey (18). “Work” is additionally the record-breaking ninth Hot 100 No. 1 in a row by non-U.S.-born acts (Rihanna is from Barbados; Drake, from Canada), while this week marks the record-extending 34th straight week that non-American talent has crowned the Hot 100.

Also, as noted in yesterday’s “Ask Billboard” reader mailbag, Rihanna is the first artist to have notched two Hot 100 No. 1s with two different artists: Eminem and her co-“Work”-er Drake. Rihanna previously topped the chart with “What’s My Name?,” also billed as by Rihanna featuring Drake, in 2010 and has assisted on two of Eminem’s leaders: “Love the Way You Lie” (2010) and “The Monster” (2013).

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Paula

I am a fan since 2005, a stan since 2007. She is empowering, daring, fearless and anything anyone always dreams to be in their lives. She also makes amazing music and never fails to surprise her fans.