Also: Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ hits a new peak at No. 3.
Virginia-bred singer Tommy Richman makes his Billboard Hot 100 debut with “Million Dollar Baby” after the single experienced staggering growth in a rollout that started April 13 when Richman posted a snippet of the song online.
The song, which makes the most of its catchy bassline and hook, caught fire on TikTok, where the original teaser logged over 8 million views. It was released April 26 and debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 2 with 38 million streams and 302,000 radio airplay audience impressions, according to data by Luminate. This is Richman’s first time on the Hot 100, and second on the Billboard charts since he featured on Brent Faiyaz’s “Upset,” which landed on Nos. 12 and 33 on the publication’s Hot R&B Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively. Richman is signed to Faiyaz’s ISO Supremacy label.
Richman’s No. 2 debut is the highest for a first Hot 100 entry by an artist with no prior chart history since Oliver Anthony Music became the first act to top the Hot 100 with no previous chart history with “Rich Men North of Richmond. ”
While Taylor Swift and Post Malone’s “Fortnight” keeps at No. 1 for a second week (the single’s parent LP, “The Tortured Poets Department,” is at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 439,000 units), Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” occupies the No. 3 slot on the list, just two weeks after it debuted at No. 36, with 35 million streams, 1.4 million in radio reach and 21,000 sold.
Shaboozey is one of many of the young Black artists featured Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album. In an interview with Variety, he said of the collaboration, “For the past couple years, my mission has been the same with hers, bringing people to this space and using my voice to just show people that we’re here as well,” he says. “I’m super artistic and super intentional with the imagery and the way I tell my stories, and Beyoncé is the same way, so I think we connected on that part — we had the same vision, the same creative kind of mind, hopefully .”
Elsewhere, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” keeps heating up, entering No. 4 on the list, two weeks after it first entered the chart at No. 7. “Espresso” has nearly 31 million streams and 14 million airplay impressions. In a statement to Variety, Carpenter’s manager Janelle Lopez Genzink of Volara Management, said, “It’s been incredible to see all of Sabrina’s hard work pay off. It’s a reflection of prioritizing her genuine connection with her fans and commitment to her songwriting and overall artistic vision.”
Carpenter will be making her “Saturday Night Live” debut on May 18, performing her chart-topping hit on the episode hosted by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Rounding out the remainder of the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 is Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” at No. 5; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” at No. 6; Hozier’s “Too Sweet” is at No. 7; and, following a lengthy rap battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the song that started it all — Future, Metro Boomin and Lamar’s “Like That” — returns to the top of the chart at No. 8. Swift claims No.s 9 and 10 with “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “Down Bad,” respectively.
